Üā Sūt Cktüis (How to be Dragon)

by Rammy

Chapter 16 Tholiezuls (Denial)

A dragon hurts with truths, A wyrm kills with lies ~ Ancient Dragon Proverb

---

He bit back a growl as he silently slid into the room with the round table and the chandelier made from a tree's root. He wasn't yet sure why but something keep drawing him to this room.

"Feeling better protégé?"

With a sigh and the roll of of eyes Not-Spike looked up to see the Hermit Sage smiling down at him from the chandelier. Of course he would be up there. After all, one of the Hermit Sage's favorite places to lounge was high up the comparatively thin branches near the top of the mammoth crystal tree that grew within the Glittering Isles.

"These damn flash... backs... no... flash memories? Are a fucking nuisance!"

"That's most likely because Spike had very strong personal memories of this place." The Hermit Sage sighed as he explained, "The remnants of Spike's memories will likely continue to be triggered along with the headaches until your mind fully processes that those memories are Spike's not yours. But you knew all of this, and yet, you still insisted on returning now."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Not-Spike waved off the Hermit Sage. The sage had said all of this before, but that still didn't stop his irritation over it. Between the headaches and the feeling that he was forgetting something important when one of Spike's memory was triggered it was making it very difficult to think. "Right now I just want to go to the fucking past and fucking punch past me in the fucking stomach for scoffing and saying that 'It will be fine. The headaches will be future me's problem.' I am future me!"

Not-Spike sigh as he slide a claw over one of the chair tops. "But the pull..."

"...was getting too strong." The Hermit Sage finished for Not-Spike. "I know."

"Doesn't help that everyone keeps calling me Spike." Not-Spike growled, crossing his arms. "And don't get me started on some of those names that the Pink De-Pinkie Pie said. Spikey-Wikey. No self-respecting dragon would ever allow themselves to be call by a name like that."

"Hmm... I didn't catch that interaction..."

Not-Spike turned his head towards the Hermit Sage and stared.

The sage huffed in response, shaking his head. "This is not the Glittering Isles and you're no dragon hatchling fresh out of his egg."

Not-Spike raised a single eyebrow followed by a second. That was a bunch of rockshit and they both knew it. He knew from personal experience that the Hermit Sage was able to keep a very close eye on him even from half way across the ocean. Somehow, the bastard knew about every little barely muttered curse he made during the six months he was learning to be a seafarer on The Kraken's Belch. All while 'supposedly' deep within some unnamed jungle thousands of leagues away.

"I had a question for Ilcktulsivitātes Hzathtola and was attempting to locate him." As if to explain the Hermit Sage gestured to a scroll on the crystal table. Not-Spike had noticed it before but thought nothing of it. Now, however, he was very curious. What possible question could the sage have for Discord that would distract him so?

Not-Spike hand snapped back from the scroll as his whole body shivered in fear. Written on the scroll was a rune, a true rune. And this particular rune was one he had specifically seen in quite a few places on the Glittering Isles. But that was all he knew, all he dared to know. The Hermit Sage refused to teach him anything about them other than to not mess with them. Like at all. And he meant it. The warning, the only warning, the sage gave him was... intense. If that became the only time Not-Spike would be on the receiving end of the Hermit Sage's legendary fury then it would be one time too many.

In an attempt to get his racing mind and heart off of the rune he forced himself to look elsewhere and his gaze landed on one of the gems that hung from chandelier near the Hermit Sage. Projected on the gem was a scene of Twilight passed out in front of a fireplace with scattering of books and scrolls around her. It was a familiar sight, double if the sudden flash that were pounding stakes into his head were any indication.

"She has been at it since shortly after you stormed out of the party."

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE VOICE! I AM NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN SPIKE!!!"

Not-Spike groaned. He had a feeling his headaches was only going to get worse. Which came true as he noted the titles of some of the books that surrounded Twilight.

Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control

Deprogramming: How to

A Guide to Mental Thaumaturgy

"What the fuck!?" Not-Spike cursed, "I am not brainwashed!"

"No, no you’re not." The Hermit Sage nodded in agreement. "Far from it. But thanks to the severing of The Voice what was once known, normal, and eagerly expected for every young dragon twenty five thousand years ago quickly became but a memory faded into myth and legend. By the time Cktüis Zuserthators Lāckta took up the Bloodstone Spector only I retained any knowledge of what was lost."

"Thus," The sage gestured back to Twilight. "Twilight is unaware that you are merely a product of the natural lifecycle that all dragons go through... Of course if that wyrm Celestia had done right.... or If I noticed sooner... but, that is neither here or now..."

Fuck. Not-Spike cursed again as he saw the look that came over the sage. It was clear that the sage suddenly had a thought and Not-Spike just knew he was going to be the one stuck cleaning up the mess afterwards.

---

Not-Spike grumbled as he watched The Hermit Sage resummoned Leafcutter through the scrying spell that the sage had left running. What are you up to Hermit Sage?

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

A look of stunned shocked crossed Twilight face followed quickly by grief and despair before finally morphing into rage. Not-Spike slammed his eyes shut as Twilight's mana beam painfully overwhelmed his eyes and the scrying spell. The scrying spell then, unsurprisingly, quickly collapsed from the strain leaving Not-Spike with no way of knowing what was going on, though he could guess.

"Fuck! Damn it! That piece of sh-" Not-Spike choked in rage before he continued to curse the Hermit Sage in every language he knew. This was exactly what he was afraid of. He was having enough troubles trying to understand his feelings and the Hermit Sage's antagonism towards Twilight was not helping! He didn't know which was more painful the flashes of Spike's memories or the Hermit Sage!

Why me?

---

Not-Spike stopped pacing and frowned as the Hermit Sage reentered the chandelier room. The rant that he had been practicing died as he saw the sage. Something was terribly wrong with him, far more then the limp and stain of blood down his front would indicate. The sage looked thinner, far thinner then he did mere moments ago. "Hermit Sage?"

The Hermit Sage sighed, his gaze turning away, a clawed paw lightly brushing the crystal table. "The methods that were keeping me alive are no longer viable. I have a week or two left, at best. Maybe if Lady Araneae were still alive..."

"What!?" Not-Spike nearly shouted in shock. A week or two left?! He knew that the sage was in poor health but to be dying?! And with Not-Spike being the only dragon that could even hear The Voice that would mean... "No, no, no, no!! You can't be dying now! I can't fucking be CktüisLežothīzs! I barely understand what it means to be dragon-"

"Sūt lierīzs!" The Hermit Sage ordered, instantly quelling the panic Not-Spike was experiencing, "I do not believe that you are to be the next CktüisLežothīzs. If I thought that, I would have trained you in the Staizāt tho CktüisSirts. But as your mentor, I still have a responsibility to you. I would be remiss to not make sure you are in the best position possible... even if it means my final days are to be far from home..."

Not Spike blinked, shocked that the Hermit Sage would leave his hoard knowing that he would not live to see it again. And why him? The sage was CktüisLežothīzs surely the other dragons needed his help more than him. "But what of DragonLord Ember and the other dragons?"

"Too soon to say. I suspect that it won't be known until the next generation is conceived, hatched, and molted..."'

---

Not-Spike licked his lips nervously as he reached out to knock on Twilight's bedroom door. After what happened the night before he was not sure what shape Twilight was going to be in. He knew she was physically fine, emotionally was another matter altogether. He bit back a chuckle as he heard a muffled gasp followed by a muted thunk in response to his knocking. He smirked as he saw one of the guards bite his lip. Must be a common occurrence. He schooled his face when he heard the faint sounds of hooves approaching the door.

He could not help but cringe when Twilight opened the door. Her mane was a knotted mess, huge bags were under her blood shot eyes, and she was swaying a bit. She looked like a complete mess. For a moment he debated on whether he should let her sleep more or not.

"Shpike?" She slurred, "Ish it mornin'?"

"I thought you might want some tea..." Not-Spike said, gesturing to the teapot on the tea cart beside him while barely biting back a growl at the usage of Spike. For now he would chalk the slip up to having just been roused from a deep sleep and her not being fully awake yet.

"Tea?" Twilight echoed, blinking. "Yes... Tea sounds good..."

Not-Spike raised an eyebrow but followed her into her room and to a small table next to a telescope. He paused as Twilight plopped down on a cushion with a groan, once again wondering if it would be better to let Twilight sleep some more. He only relented when he saw a second cushion floating down onto floor across from her. He quickly placed the teapot along with two cups and the covered cloche on the table and sat down.

"Lavender mint tea with just a touch of lemon zest." Not-Spike explained as he poured Twilight a cup of tea before lifting the cloche off of the tray of food he had prepared. "I also made you some scramble eggs and toast if you are hungry."

Not-Spike waited patiently as Twilight sipped her tea and slowly chewed on a piece of toast. He was in no hurry so he waited to speak again only after he poured her a second cup of tea. "Do you want to talk about last night?"

Twilight gulped and shakily put down the tea she was about to sip. "So it wasn't a nightmare that Luna missed..."

"Yeah... the Hermit Sage may be the smartest and wisest being on the planet but his ability to explain anything is sometimes..." Not-Spike sighed, rubbing his spines. "Well, its like if you ask him for the recipe for his world famous gemstone crumble because you must have the recipe. You need to know the recipe!"

"But then... he doesn't really give you the recipe. Sure, he starts off by giving you the ingredients and then the first three steps, but, without missing a beat, he'll skip the next six. And, all of a sudden, he says something that seems completely unrelated to making gemstone crumble but what you don't know is that he is answering an unasked question that was related to one of the missed steps. Of course, you never asked said question asked because, again you didn't even know he skipped said steps! And so you get confused and ask about the answer trying to figure out what he's talking about which only makes him irritated... and an irritated Hermit Sage is... dangerous for one's health."

Not-Spike huffed as he traced a claw around his cooling tea. "Half the time I don't think he realizing he's doing that and he gets worse the more... agitated he gets. It's not uncommon for me to have to go see Index after the fact to fill in any blanks..."

"Index?"

"Index is a..." Not-Spike paused as it dawned on him. He had still no idea what Index was. He had tried asking both Index and the Hermit Sage but neither one could give him an explanation that made any sense. "You know, I'm not actually sure what Index is... Some sort of magical construct. It's avatar usually takes the form of a crystalline fox."

"The cape..." Twilight muttered rubbing a hoof under her chin.

Not-Spike nodded as he blew a bit of his flame over his tea to warm it back up. No need to let good tea go to waste.

"But why?" Twilight asked after some time.

"Why what?"

"Why are you defending Šizra? He wasn't trying to teach me a recipe! He took sick pleasure in, in... in saying that Spike was dead and was never family. He was- is my brother! I hatched him! My parents adopted him not caring that... that..."

Not-Spike rubbed his head spines, not sure what to say to the now hysterical pony. "I... Uh..."

Ssssaaayy ttttooooo hhhiimmmm....

"Tu..."

"Esi..."

"Izvēlēts..."

"Sūt..."

"CktüisLežothīzs..."

Not-Spike breathed out as he relived the memory the day of his choosing. How could he explain to Twilight that he heard a bunch of his ancestors speaking to him in his mind? And that he saw something in the Hermit Sage that gave him pause when he spoke those words to him. In the end, all he could say was, "It's complicated."

"It's... it's complicated!?" Twilight choked out, "He foal-dragonnapped you and then kept you imprisoned pony knows where for ten years!"

"I wasn't dragonnapped and I wasn't imprisoned." Not-Spike pinched his brow. If anything Spike was the one who imprisoned me... "I was free to come and go as I pleased."

But that only seemed to agitate Twilight further, who jumped up and started pacing. "He's only making you think that! He's done something to you that makes you believe that you are not Spike. He tortured or used a brainwashing spell of some sort!"

"Twilight!" Not-Spike shouted, snapping his claws to get Twilight to pay attention to him for a second. "He geased himself and used Ancient Draconian! I am not-"

"I don't know how, but he must have found a way to be able lie while geased!" Twilight ranted, gesturing her hooves wildly before resuming her pacing, "You are Spike! How else would you know about Pinkie Pie assaulting you with cake? Or that I like a little bit of lemon zest in my lavender mint tea and that I brew that blend specifically whenever I've had a stressful night?! How could you know unless you are him?"

Not-Spike blinked, hard. What!? The Hermit Sage swore not only using a geas but with Ancient Draconian. He could maybe get her not understanding that one cannot lie while speaking Ancient Draconian but clearly she understood that one could not lie while under a geas. How could she still say that he is Spike? "Twi-"

Twilight spun around and pointed a hoof at the increasing annoyed dragon. "You said to me your memories were hard... fuzzy... missing. Memory lose is a classic symptom of trauma! Not to mention Pinkie Pie's double pinchy knee! She only gets that when somebody is about to suffer a traumatic flashback!"

In that moment the pull shifted in Not-Spike. He could understand her animosity towards the Hermit Sage. He could be an outright smug bastard at the best of times. At worst, which was often, his ire could make a business that only sold diapers and coffins a dragon's hoard amount of money. Few could stand being around him for any length of time. But this obsession over him being 'Spike' was starting to truly anger him. What was it going to take to get her to understand he is not and was never Spike? And would it even be worth the hassle?

But before he could voice his frustrations, he noticed the markings on Twilight's flank flashing rhythmically. He couldn't remember everything the sage told him about ponies but he was sure that whatever was happening was not typical.

"Why is your..." What's the word again? Not-Spike paused trying to remember the right word, his headache spiking a bit as several memories overlapped. "Cute mark glowing?"

Author's Note:

Gosh darn Poor Communication Kills causing all the drama...

Comments

[eiggengrau]

Chapter 16

the chandler made from a tree's root
chandelier (FWIW, i had to look up the correct spelling, i'm not some spelling genius trying to bug you)

Hermit Sage
do we know him? I looked back one chapter and didn't see him mentioned. Oh, is this a brand new title for Sizzy?

gems that hanged from chandler
hung from the chandelier

being arouse from sleep
aroused (should i point out that this is a correct but unusual usage?)
roused from sleep would also work and perhaps induce fewer sophomoric giggles, tee hee hee

He could be an outright smug bastard at the best of times. At worst, which was often...
This whole bit is kinda a relief 'cos Twi ain't the only pony around here who finds Sizzy frustrating
Actually, that's a rather pleasing turn of phrase, the, "At worst, which was often" part.

[Rammy]

11609635
chandelier
Stupid spellchecker didn't notice that one...

Hermit Sage
do we know him? I looked back one chapter and didn't see him mentioned. Oh, is this a brand new title for Sizzy?
That's because you had to go back 2 chapters. 'Spike' 'name' dropped him when they were talking about Zap Apple seeds. And, yes, its a title of.... Sizzy As for it being new...

roused from sleep would also work and perhaps induce fewer sophomoric giggles, tee hee hee
Ooo that is better but I'm going to one up it and say roused from a deep sleep (I also edited the sentence a bit more as it needed a bit more work then just aroused to roused)

I am curious... have you figured out the significance of the quotes at the beginning of every chapter?

[eiggengrau]

11609658
Errrrr, i guess not. I guess they fell afoul of my "psuedo wise shit" filter and i didn't pay a lot of attention. Hopefully your good readers don't have my strange defense mechanisms. Sorry. I mean, now that you ask, i guess i may have had some sense that they were more than just stage setting. The trouble with Wise Sayings On Demand is that so many ponies come up with nothing better than tautologies couched in cryptic terms -- i should have paid more attention. It's impossible to pay attention to everything; everypony has to have filters or their brain gets numb. Filters sometime make mistakes.

[eiggengrau]

11609658
Reply #2

So I was sitting in a very small room thinking about the most recent Wise Saying On Demand and how it contrasted dragons vs wyrms. And I think to myself, in the text of the recent chapter, someone calls Celestia a wyrm. And i think to myself, maybe the "real alicorns" are just immature dragons who have not gone through the rather harsh maturation process not-Spike seems to've endured. And i think to myself, i hope to Celestia there's a new roll under the sink.

[Rammy]

11609881
"psuedo wise shit" Ain't that the truth...

I actually had to look up tautologies... huh... yeah a lot of the made up 'psuedo wise stuff' could fall under tautologies couched in cryptic terms

It's impossible to pay attention to everything; everypony has to have filters or their brain gets numb. Filters sometime make mistakes.

I wouldn't call it a mistake because to be fair most stories(like 99%) that the "wise sayings" tend to be the "psuedo wise shit"/tautologies in cryptic terms or mere stage settings type. (Assuming they make their own up and not just cop it from from the Googlely...) And a fair number in my story could run afoul of either one (though I don't have any tautologies... I think). The recipe at the beginning of Chapter 4 is a prime example of stage setting... However 5 of them are actually major worldbuilding 'hints' and one of them I was actually going to quote in the chapter proper before I removed it the during the latter part of writing said chapter.

While I believe I did warn that I was very evil about hiding Chekhov's Guns(or at least I think I did.... checking..... Yes I did but to a different commenter) in the end don't worry as it won't be the end of the world if you gloss over them. They are there to provide flavor/depth to the story and allow me a small amount of extra worldbuilding for anyone that is wants to dive deep into the lore of the story. Some like to breakdown a story and play spot the foreshadowing, some don't. And both are valid ways to read a story. Don't feel pressured one way or the other. I was just curious.

[eiggengrau]

11609910

"The good news is the bad news." old wise old saying

I went through from the beginning for a quick review of the chapter-opening quotes. That is also the bad news.

Chapter 4
Crush fine quartz between claws and message gently into meat
Massage?

Šizra said he to give it a taste
had to give?

he was tore between
torn

Chapter 10
To a dragon betraying its trust no different then stealing from their hoard
Than. This one gets you a lot, btw.
Then = a time
Than = part of a comparison: better than, worse than, no different than, more than, less than
"more then" occurs 15 times and should almost always be "more than"
"worse then" 5 times

Chapter 11
A wise dragon is weary of the unknown
presumably wary. Weary of the unk would be more like jaded than wise.

On plus side, i don't think any of your wise quotes are tautological, maybe just truisms. And while they do convey some flavor, add some depth and intricacy to the living lore of the noble race of mighty dragonkind, there is then a disconnect with Exhibit A, our prime example of True Dragonhood, Mr. Sizra.

[Rammy]

11610026
Yeah than/then gets me loads... I usually only catch them when I cross post as that's when I use mircowave word to switch all the [] to <>

Will fix all the CURSE YOU HOMOPHONES!!!!! later tonight when I have time...

On plus side, i don't think any of your wise quotes are tautological, maybe just truisms. And while they do convey some flavor, add some depth and intricacy to the living lore of the noble race of mighty dragonkind, there is then a disconnect with Exhibit A, our prime example of True Dragonhood, Mr. Sizra. Looks like you also have issues with then/than Kidding aside... Of course there had better be a disconnect from the ancient dragon 'truisms' and sizra. But to say more then than that would be spoilers Though I will say sizra has pointed out the disconnect