Üā Sūt Cktüis (How to be Dragon)

by Rammy

Chapter 15 Tzīve Caur Thāvi (Life Through Death)

The butterfly mourns not the caterpillar, and the moth not the cocoon, so too the dragon mourns not the former whelp. ~ Ancient Dragon Proverb

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"I strongly advise you to end this line of inquiry."

Twilight gulped, frozen in fear as she felt Leafcutter press against her neck. All it would take for her to lose her life was one false move on her part or one fast one on Šizra's.

"How..." She whispered, scanning as much the darkness as she could while keeping her head as still as she could.

"How am I alive?" Šizra's voice echoed out from the darkness beyond the light of the fire. Of all the times for her to read by firelight! Because of that she could not see where Šizra was lurking. And the stacks of books, which normally would bring her comfort, only heightened her rising anxiety as they deepened the shadows in ways she had not seen nor felt in years.

"I should not be," He paused as he stepped into the light. "Alive."

Twilight wasn't sure what to expect, but she still found herself a bit surprised at Šizra's appearance. He looked remarkably healthy considering how deathly he looked the last she laid eyes on him. His mane, once jet black, was now mostly silver with a few streaks of white and black and laid limply across his head and shoulders allowing his horns, which had before been covered by his mane, to easily seen. He was still thin but not as dangerously so, although she could only barely make out a rib or two as Šizra breathed. But the part that most captured her attention was his forelegs.

With the extent of his burns, Šizra's forelegs would have had to been amputated at the knee at the very least, but whatever kind of prosthetic he was wearing they had to be the most life like prosthetics she had ever seen. She had no idea where leg ended and prosthetic began. (Assuming he didn't magic them to appear lifelike) Unless... She gulped. She really hoped that it wasn't that possibility...

"Tell me..." Twilight attention snapped to a floating paper that was settling onto a short stack of books in front of her. "Do you know what this is?"

On the paper she could see a series of black thick lines made most likely in ink. The placement, orientation, and length of the lines look to her as too deliberate and too thought out to be random but she had no idea what it could mean. It was a bit more complex then old ponic runes making it more likely to be a logogram of some form. But what the logogram meant she had no clue off hoof. There might be answers in one of her books...

Twilight shallowed hard when Leafcutter suddenly shifted. It was a clear message to her that she could not remain silent. She would need to say something. "Judging by the compact lines that crisscross each other along with the swirl like mark that intersects it appears to be a logogram or glyph..." She gulped again as Šizra's eyes narrowed. No matter what I say he is going to slit my throat! "But I... I... don't... know what it means... But I'm sure there is a book here that can shed some light..."

She fought to keep herself from shaking in fear as Šizra walked past her and stood between her and the fire, the sword still pressing up against her neck. For a while he just stood staring at the fire. "Contain..." The word was so soft that Twilight almost didn't hear it over the crackling of the fire.

"Contain?" Twilight repeated, confused. That's it? Her life threatened over the word contain? Why did he ask her to identify the logogram if he already knew what it was? What was he after? "Contain what?"

Twilight heart skipped a beat as Šizra's gaze snapped to her, his red eyes glinting from the light of the fire. His head slowly tilted from one side then to the other. "Interesting..."

Suddenly Leafcutter vanished. Reflexively she rubbed the area where the sword had been pressing against. Even though the sword was no longer pressed against her neck she was under no illusion that she was now safe. She had seen how fast Šizra moved while supposedly dying.

"What did you do to him?" Twilight dared to ask, embolden, if only a little, from removal of Leafcutter.

"Who is 'him?'"

"Spike!" Twilight snapped, for a moment forgetting that it wouldn't take but a thought for Šizra to resummon Leafcutter, irritated at the smug expression he was giving her. "What did you do to Spike!?"

"I did as I said. I took him to the Reliquary of the Ancients located within the Glittering Isles."

Twilight's jaw dropped at the audacity of Šizra's claim. He didn't just take Spike to 'the Reliquary of the Ancients,' whatever that was, he dragonnapped him. And then he imprisoned him there for ten years doing who knows what to him. "Y-You... You did far more then take him on some Daring Do island adventure! He resorts to violence first when he's frighten. He has so much memory loss that he can hardly remember who he was! He-"

"On my life and by my magic I do swear that the dragon you welcomed back is not and was never Spike." Šizra swore. "Šis cktūüis thav uth theüat thav bijis Spike. But you have met him twice before. Once when Spike was overwhelmed by greed... and again the day I took Spike away."

What? Twilight could feel the start of a migraine to rival the one she got from trying to quantify Pinkie's Pinkie Sense. That made no sense! How could that not be Spike and yet have been Spike when he... And he couldn't have lied under a geas... which meant that... that... What!?

"The question isn't what I did to Spike, but what did Spike do to himself."

Twilight's eyes twitched, not liking what Šizra was implying. "Are you implying-"

"Leafcutter aizsartzīsas."

Twilight watched warily as Leafcutter reappeared again. This time floating in the air blade down in front of Šizra. It was in that moment, that she noticed the swirling along the blade was not as random as she first thought. Down the center of the blade was pattern that closely resembled a branch with leaves coming out from it. Coupled with a guard that, to her, looked like it was made haphazardly with barb wire and ruby gem in the pommel it was reminding her of a rose bush. Was that why it was called Leafcutter?! Its resemblance to a rose bush?!

"Spike was burned away five years ago in a manner not dissimilar to Cozy Glow or Tirek."

"Please..." Cozy Glow cried out, blood dripping down from where SoulSunder pierced her back

"There is nothing anyone can do for you. I suppose... except, maybe... burning your entire being... body... soul... and spirit."

"As you wish." Šizra whispered as SoulSunder flew in a wide arc slicing through Tirek, his body instantly turning to ash.

In that moment, something snapped within Twilight. A massive mana beam exploded out of her horn towards Šizra. As it hit Šizra she poured all her grief, guilt, and rage into powering up her spell even more. She was going to make him pay for all the suffering he caused.

It was nearly a full minute later before she had no choice but to let her spell sputtered to a stop. The strain to keep going too much to bear. Twilight panted hard as she waited for her eyes to adjust back to the now comparatively dark library. She had not expended mana like that in a long time. Not since her fight with Tirek, and she had four alicorn's magic flowing through her then. To her shock, through the haze of smoke and fluttering remains of books, scrolls and paper, she saw that the wall was intact if a bit singed. The force of her attack should have blasted Šizra through the wall and beyond! The shock was replaced by annoyance when she could not see Šizra anywhere. She would mourn the loss of her books later, but first...

Where the buck did he go?

A glint of a metal was all she needed before she unleashed a second wave of mana. She nearly lost control of her mana in surprise when Leafcutter spilt her attack like a hot knife through butter allow her beam to harmless flow to either side.

How?!

"You used no earthen or air mana in your shield. If you had, my sword would not had pierced it so easily."

She had not been sitting on her haunches these past ten years. She had taken what she assumed was a slip of tongue from him about her nonuse of earth and pegasi magic to heart and diligently researched and practiced how to use earth and pegasi magic at the same time for this very reason! And still the sword was hardly affected by her magic?!

How?!

"Was that an attempt to use earthen mana?" Šizra yelled over the roar of mana.

Is he enjoying this?! Twilight roared in fury as Šizra laughed. She gritted her teeth as she push even more mana through her horn while switching up the types of mana she was using. She was not going to let this... monster win again.

"Sadly, as educational as this fight may be," Šizra mused as he walked towards her, the sword still effortlessly splitting her mana beam, "there is more important information you still need to know, so sūt lierīzs."

At those last two words Twilight's spell collapsed. Her mind suddenly felt thick, her emotions muted. She knew she should be feeling panic from the collapse of her spell and the strange way she feeling, but she just could not muster much in the way of any emotion. It almost was like she was drugged. Then, just as fast as the onset, her mind snapped back into full awareness.

A torrent of blood suddenly came gushing out of Šizra's mouth. His body began to shake, his fur glistening from sweat. Twilight marveled as she watched. She had seen those very symptoms in him before... But why now? In comparison to her he had not, or at least should not have, expended as much mana. Unless... "I should not be... alive." Could the injuries that he suffered ten years ago still be effecting him now?

"The Reliquary of the Ancients..." Šizra weakly panted out, "is an archive... that houses what remains of the knowledge... and history of the world before the cataclysm. What Spike needed was that knowledge."

"You sick and twisted... He needed his family not-"

"Repeat these five words:" Šizra interrupted, his voice no longer weak and labored. "Spike."

"Repeat. It." He growled when Twilight stood mute.

"Spike."

"Uth."

"Uth."

"Es."

"Es."

"Ir."

"Ir."

"Źilethe."

"Źilethe."

"Now say those five words again one after the other."

"Go on..."

"Say the words."

Twilight started to panic. She could see that the lack of speaking the words were beginning to anger Šizra, but she, for some reason, could not get the words to form. It was like her mouth was glued shut.

"SAY THEM!" Šizra roared, his face mere inches from her.

"I can't!" Twilight blabbed out reflexively.

"Of course you can't." Šizra frowned as he stepped back, no longer muzzle to muzzle with her. "Those words translates to 'Spike and I are family.' One can only speak what is true in the ancient draconian language. Your hatching of him does not make you his mother nor does a piece of paper make him family. You were never his sister; he was never your brother. You can scream to the highest heights all you want and it will never change the fact that all you ever were to him was his guardian."

Šizra turned to the side as he vomited blood a second time. Wiping the blood away he sighed heavily before strangely limping over to the fireplace, picking up a fire poker, and idly stirring the fire with it.

After a moment of stirring the fire he began to speak slowly and softly. "If only Spike's egg had been turned over to Cktüis Zuserthators Lāckta when he was first found... If only Spike had been any other dragon in the last twenty five thousand years... If only you had listened to the maps prompting... If only I had noticed sooner... So many if onlys..." Twilight tried not the roll her eyes too much. If he thought that sounding contemplative and pained was going to win her over he was sorely mistaken. Maybe if he had tried this ten years ago before he dragonnapped Spike and before he used SoulSunder against Cozy Glow and Tirek. "The cataclysm was catastrophic... it wiped out over seventy percent of all life... and changed those that survived... It broke a fundamental... aspect of dragons that degraded them... into the near feral barbarians that Equestria knows today... The Choosing."

"'The Choosing?' To choose what?"

For the second time that night Twilight had the distinctive feeling that she was under intense scrutiny as Šizra stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "A name."

Twilight blinked. He dragonapped Spike so he could pick "A name?! You tore him from those he loves over a name!?"

Šizra growled, dark, black sparks flowing from around his duel horns and towards the library door. "I tire of this... obstinance. If you ever hope to regain what little is left I suggest you learn to listen."

Twilight gritted her teeth as she resisted the urge to snap a snide comeback. She was 'listening' but Šizra seemed to take sick pleasure in either explaining in the most convoluted and incoherent way possible or expect her to take leaps of logic that not even Pinkie at her zaniest would! She could not believe that she would ever think this, but Discord at his worst could teach better! But as she watched Šizra limp towards the now open library door she couldn't let him leave without at giving least a token defiant remark. "I hope you rot in the deepest pit of Tartarus for all eternity."

"Hmph." Šizra grunted, looking at her over his shoulder. "I doubt you can even open the second gate much less all seven." And with that he vanished into the shadows of the hallway beyond.

Twilight eyed the darkness for a bit longer, watching to see if Šizra had truly left or not. After a moment of nothing she collapsed to the floor shaking and crying, emotionally spent. The adrenaline that had kept her going through the encounter thoroughly spent.

Author's Note:

This proved to be a tough chapter to write. I went through so many Chapter titles and rewrites... I wrote a lot of plot and exposition that ended up discarding. Sections of the chapter were shifted around several times. And once again I had to tone down Sizra... I had him bashing Celestia needlessly and attacking Twilight far more emotionally then he did and while he is a broody, dark(for MLP) jerk of a character he is not a super evil villain type of a character... Hopefully I managed that.

Comments

[eiggengrau]

Chapter 12

butternut squash sandwich with cheddar cheese and pickled red onion -- there seems to be an error in this recipe.
Just kidding, i'd eat it, depending how the butternut squash was seasoned; perhaps a balsamic reduction with just a hint of clover. Also, bad news, i am back.
It wasn't like Princess Luna would show up or anything with the nightly not stopped nightmares he suffered through. I am not 11% sure if i am parsing this sentence correctly, it is awkward.

Chapter 13

Private Wing Blade/Private Steel Blade is this Twilight not being sure about his correct name or is this a boo-boo?
"Ssspike faaate... sssseealed... buuut... wannn... want one... tooo live..." I don't know who is talking/thinking?/remembering? here, nor in the next four lines

Chapter 14

...being shaved bare and dropped into the middle of the Canterlot market with obscene tattoos... Ah! So I'm not the only pony alive who has read _Oath of Fealty_ by Niven Pournelle!

Chapter 15

Twilight watched wearily warily? Is she tired or cautious?
he signed heavily sighed?
Hopefully I managed that I really hate Sizra, but i will admit that at least he's not some one dimensional over-the-top "for the evulz" bad guy. But he is probably insane. Even if he is 'right' about whatever big important dragon mysteries have his lacy panties in a knot, he is so bucking dysfunctional about conveying any actual useful information that he is utterly without sympathy. It is ofbetimes better, IMHO, to be clearly and definitively wrong than to be impossible to understand and right. He acts like a fourtine year old boy. "You'd never understand..." Not if you won't bucking explain I won't. [/rant]

Oh, wait, i know who S̑izy-pants reminds me of! Bucking time-cube guy! Do you remember him? He's dead and stuff now, but he would rant on, anon, about how stupid and evil people were for not understanding time-cube but he would never explain it. LOL

[Rammy]

11579578
"It wasn't like Princess Luna would show up or anything with the nightly not stopped nightmares he suffered through." I am not 11% sure if i am parsing this sentence correctly, it is awkward.
Yeah that is a bit awkward I will have to think a bit on how I might unclog it...

Private Wing Blade/Private Steel Blade is this Twilight not being sure about his correct name or is this a boo-boo? A boo boo. Private Wing Blade and Captain Wild Spark are the only two names guards at the moment... Will fix that after I finish my responses.

"Ssspike faaate... sssseealed... buuut... wannn... want one... tooo live..." I don't know who is talking/thinking?/remembering? here, nor in the next four lines It's Twilight remembering... I try to keep the perceptive fixed on one character for each chapter. Ember: chapter 1, Twilight: chapters 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14 Spike: chapters 4, 11, 12 Sizra: chapters 8, 9... I think chapter 2 is the only one that had two with Fluttershy at the beginning before switching to Twilight half way through. Wow... so many on Twilight...

The lines are Sizra and The Tree of Harmony talking from the end of chapter 10 when Sizra is about to take Spike away. I actually started the Chapter with the last 4 lines before I do the 10 years time skip.

...being shaved bare and dropped into the middle of the Canterlot market with obscene tattoos... Ah! So I'm not the only pony alive who has read _Oath of Fealty_ by Niven Pournelle! WHAT!!? Uh... no? More like The Monster of Canterlot Never heard of Oath of Fealty (and I don't have the slightest idea why Fimfiction picked I, Changling for the best match for Oath of Fealty... I refuse to acknowledge the other 'story' *shutters*)

"Twilight watched wearily" warily? Is she tired or cautious?CURSE YOU PERRY THE HOMOPHONE!!! Warily
"he signed heavily" sighed? Sighed.

I really hate Sizra, but i will admit that at least he's not some one dimensional over-the-top "for the evulz" bad guy.Good then I did my job decently. But he is probably insane. Even if he is 'right' about whatever big important dragon mysteries have his lacy panties in a knot, he is so bucking dysfunctional about conveying any actual useful information that he is utterly without sympathy. It is ofbetimes better, IMHO, to be clearly and definitively wrong than to be impossible to understand and right. He acts like a fourtine year old boy. "You'd never understand..." Not if you won't bucking explain I won't. [/rant] its interesting to read your rant because 'Spike' is going to be saying a lot of the same things in 16 LOL

Oh, wait, i know who S̑izy-pants reminds me of! Bucking time-cube guy! Do you remember him? He's dead and stuff now, but he would rant on, anon, about how stupid and evil people were for not understanding time-cube but he would never explain it. LOL Time-cube guy? All I can think of is Doctor Who but I don't think that is the reference... On that note if someone told me they decided to name The Doctor "Doctor" because they really loved that one Abbott and Costello skit I would not be surprised... Hmm... Did a Googlily of 'time cube guy' and nope never heard of the nut.