19. The Meeting
Blazing Aura really couldn’t complain about the cell itself. Despite being in the dungeons below the Canterlot palace, it was surprisingly comfortable. He wasn’t yet a convicted criminal, after all. And Equestrians saw even criminals as worthy of basic amenities such as a bed, private (if small) bathroom, and a desk where they could write letters or read. But the floor under his hooves was still cold rock and the temperature was just high enough that he wasn’t shivering but wasn’t particularly warm either.
To say nothing of how a locked harness held a cover over his horn that completely prevented him from using magic. He hasn’t held a pen with his mouth since he was a foal!
But no matter. He could deal with this. He always knew it was a possibility, and he was going to face it with his usual confidence and charisma.
At least his charm has already won over the guards. Though they’ve heard hints of what his company was doing, they didn’t know the whole story, and so far have treated him as a minor celebrity. Well, they didn’t yank him around quite as roughly as some of the others, anyway.
He turned from his desk at the sound of hoof steps, and the guard for his section of the dungeons got his attention by tapping the bars. “Hey, Blazing, you got a visitor. A Miss Atom came to see you. Says she wants to talk to you about getting a pay raise since she’s filling your spot, haha!”
Blazing gave a humored chuckle. “Oh does she? Go ahead, bring her over.”
He went to get her, and soon the scientist was approaching the bars while the guard took a seat further away, giving them some privacy but nonetheless watching them.
“How have things been?” Blazing asked, going over to the bars.
“They’ve been better. But we’re still conducting business as usual.”
“And what of, ah, the project?”
Atom lowered her voice. “It isn’t safe to resume yet, the princesses have detectives all over the place.”
“I see. Well then, carry on like we discussed. We’ll get everything back on track soon.”
“About that. Many of the others have turned in resignations. They don’t want to work on the project.”
“Have you offered to reassign them for now?”
“Yes. A few accepted. Others still want to leave.”
Blazing frowned, beginning to pace. “Unfortunate. Very unfortunate, with what they know…”
“Indeed. So, should we begin Protocol Renegade?”
“Not yet. It would be too suspicious, considering the circumstances.”
“Understood.”
Blazing glanced around her at the guard, who was now reading a magazine, though occasionally glanced over it at them. He looked back at Atom. “Now then. I am not giving up on this project. Equestria can benefit so much from what we’re doing, and I’m not letting the Princess Ethics Committee stop me,” he said mockingly. “Some may suffer now, but we both agree it’s for the better good, right?”
Atom hesitated, then said, “Yes, sir.”
“Good. At least you still agree with me. I always could count on you. So, did you bring what I asked for?”
“Yes, but are you sure it’s safe?”
“You’ve had it the entire time, yes? Do you feel safe?”
She considered, then admitted, “Not really. Luckily it has been very quiet.”
“Alright. Now, give it to me. Quickly. Just slide one hoof through the bars.”
Atom casually shifted her weight and slid one front hoof ever so slightly between the bars. Blazing looked her in the eyes, continuing to talk to her while touching his own front hoof to hers.
“Now go ahead and get back to the center, they’ll need your guidance,” he said, feeling a warm flow of slime across his hoof, spreading up the inside of his foreleg and through his body. “And go ahead and take that pay raise. You’ve earned it.” He sensed that the transfer was done, and pulled his hoof back. “Thank you for coming.”
Atom shook herself, and nodded, turning away. “Of course. Goodbye.” She walked away, the guard getting up to lead her out.
“Goodbye!” Blazing called after her. And once he was alone, his lips curled into a smile. “And hello, new friend.”
You better have a damn good reason for me to not tear you apart.
Don’t worry, I think you’ll be very interested in what I have to say.
Twilight put on a smile as the three dragons walked into her office. “Good afternoon, Mr. Scorch and Mr. Blaze! I'm glad you could come in. Please, have a seat. You too, Pyro.”
The three sat down, the teenager already crossing his arms and scoffing.
“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice,” Twilight said, setting out her notes.
“Of course,” Scorch said. “Now, what’s this about our son getting into a fight?”
“Well, it’s pretty much what Starlight wrote in her letter to the two of you. Pyro got into an argument between classes and lashed out at another student. She came very close to needing stitches.”
“Are you sure?” Blaze asked. “That doesn’t sound like our little Pyro at all.”
Pyro groaned.
Twilight just smiled patiently. “Very sure. In fact, the student is here today to give her testimony.” She pressed a hoof onto the intercom button. “Violet Dream, could you come to the headmare’s office? Thank you.”
Pyro began to look nervous, though when his fathers looked at him, he slouched back in his chair and put on a bored expression.
“Pyro is such a nice boy, why would he want to fight anyone?” Scorch asked. “Especially at a school where he’s been learning so much about friendship!”
“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “Ask him that.”
How can his parents be in so much denial? Venom asked. Look at him, he just radiates guilt.
Parents never want to think of their children doing wrong. This is all too common, Twilight thought back. But we’ll prove what he did soon enough.
As if on cue, the door opened and Violet Dream walked in. She hesitated when the three dragons turned to look at her, but Twilight gestured for her to approach the desk.
“Thanks for coming, Violet,” Twilight said. “Could you tell us about your fight with Pyro?”
Violet’s ears flattened. “Oh, um, with him right there?”
“Yes, please. Don’t worry, you’re safe.”
The young mare swallowed. “Okay. Well, it was a few days ago. I was just leaving one of Fluttershy’s classes and Pyro was coming in for the next one. We bumped into each other. Which isn’t really a big deal, I said sorry but I guess he was having a bad day, because he yelled at me.”
Pyro sank into his chair, smoke curling out of his nostrils.
Violet shifted slightly, glancing at Twilight, who nodded. Violet continued, “I just apologized again and went out into the hall, wanting to just get away. But he followed me, telling me not to ignore him. I asked what he wanted. And he roared at me! Something about staying out of his way. I was shocked. I just tried to say sorry again, I didn’t know what to do, but I guess he didn’t want to hear that. Because then he kicked me. Right here.” She turned and showed them the long gashes across the back of her right hind leg. They were scabbed over but looked painful.
Blaze and Scorch gasped, and Twilight gave a solemn nod. “See the shape of the marks?” Twilight asked. “That’s not from a pony. They’re clearly from a dragon’s claws, and in the exact arrangement to indicate they’re from a foot. She was kicked. By your son.”
“Then he said he was gonna torch my ass,” Violet added, then gave Twilight a shy glance. “Pardon my language.”
“It’s alright, if that’s what he said, it’s what he said.” Twilight smiled at her. “Could you tell us a little more, please? What happened after that?”
“Well, I’ve learned a lot from Fluttershy about settling things peacefully,” Violet said. “But I’ve also been taught not to be a doormat. As soon as he kicked me, I kicked him back. It was more of a reflex, but I got him good. Knocked him into the wall, heh. Don’t think it hurt him, though.”
“As if,” Pyro said. “None of that happened, I never laid a claw on you.”
“Pyro, we’re hearing Violet’s side of the story,” Twilight said firmly. “You can tell yours once she’s done.”
“Rr.” With a growl, Pyro crossed his arms again. His tail lashed impatiently, and even his parents were starting to give him suspicious looks.
“He got right up and tackled me then,” Violet said. “I uh, don’t remember much after that. We were both screaming, he kept hitting me with his claws, here and here and here…” She indicated a few places on her body where smaller lines cut through her fur, revealing scabs and bruises. “I just kept hitting him with my forehooves, trying to get him off, blocking him from hitting my face. Then he got a hold of my mane and he was starting to pull on it when Counselor Starlight showed up and pulled us apart. She came out of nowhere, one second I’m trying to kick him off and the next we’re floating in the air with her magic around us. I was glad though, I wasn’t really winning that fight. Dragons are tough.”
“And then Starlight separated you, got your stories, and sent you home while we figured things out.” Twilight sighed and got up, pacing while she thought things over. Then she said, “Blaze, Scorch, I’m not gonna mince words. Violet’s parents are furious. They want Pyro sent back to the Dragon Lands. Despite our work here, there’s still a rampant anti-dragon sentiment in Equestria. This didn’t help matters. I know there’s so much your people can teach us, but when a dragon attacks a pony like this, word gets around. It fuels prejudice. It isn’t right, I know, but that’s what happens.” She returned to her seat, sighing. “We’ve warned Pyro about his temper multiple times. We’ve tried counseling. Tried to show him how to solve things without getting violent. But he keeps getting into fights. I don’t want to expel him, but if he’s endangering the rest of my students, he can’t stay.”
“Pyro?” Scorch asked, turning to his son. “What’s your side of the story?”
“Why bother, she’s already made me look like a total psychopath,” Pyro muttered.
“Pyro,” Scorch said firmly.
Pyro groaned and restlessly wrung his tail between his hands, then said, “I wasn’t in a good mood, okay? And she totally saw me, she looked right at me before running into me. Not my fault ponies have terrible reflexes.”
“Whether she did it intentionally or not, attacking her was uncalled for,” Twilight said. “You seriously hurt her. Please, I want to help you. What’s really going on? Is there anything I can do to help with your mood?”
“I don’t want to be here,” Pyro replied. “I like the Dragon Lands, I like how we fight to solve our problems, I like how things work back home! All this pony stuff is just… bleh.”
“But we don’t need to hurt each other to settle things,” Blaze said. “That’s what Dragon Lord Ember has been teaching us. We sent you here so you could learn more about friendship and bring it back, like that girl Smolder did. This pony stuff as you call it is important. It can bring us all together. Ponies, dragons, hippogriffs… even yaks and griffins are bonding thanks to this school! And changelings! Imagine what we can do if our whole world is united, instead of every creature keeping to themselves.”
“Exactly,” Twilight said. “Harmony between the many creatures of our world will only make us stronger. I want you to be part of that. Is there a way we could teach you that won’t stress you out? Or are you just completely unhappy here?”
Pyro was quiet for a while. Then he said, “It’d help if I could at least roughhouse some more around here, ya know? Us dragons have a lot of energy, I gotta get it out, otherwise I just get mad.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “Roughhousing, huh… you know, Rainbow has been wanting to get some sports teams started. Would you be interested in boxing?”
“Boxing sounds awesome!”
“Boxing sounds like a great way to get some of that energy out,” Scorch agreed.
“So, think that’ll work?” Twilight questioned. “If you can work some of that energy off through sports, can I trust you to stop picking so many fights?”
“Yeah, I guess that might work.”
“Good. But I still want you to apologize to Violet.”
Pyro looked like she had just suggested he take a bite out of a lemon. He glanced at his parents, rubbed his arm, and sighed. Then he looked at Violet and said, “Look, Violet, I’m sorry. I just, ya know, back in the Dragon Lands I was never really the biggest or strongest so no one respected me, but here I am pretty strong so I keep wanting to take advantage of it. A dragon running into another dragon like that is usually trying to start a fight, so I just…” He gestured vaguely, then folded his hands in his lap and looked down. “I didn’t think. I just hit you, you hit me back, I got mad and did what comes naturally. But I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry I hurt you. And if you want to stay away from me, I don’t blame you.”
Violet frowned and stepped closer to him. She waited until he looked up, then said, “Thank you for apologizing. And I don’t want to just avoid you. I think we can be friends. You just have to control your temper.”
“Control my temper, yeah, I’ll try.” Pyro nodded, looking at Twilight. “I miss home but I get why it’s important to attend your school. I… want to try and graduate. So, can I have one more chance? Please?”
Twilight considered, and said, “Well, Mr. Blaze? Mr. Scorch? Would you like for Pyro to stay enrolled here, or do you want to take him back home?”
The two looked at each other, then placed their hands on their son’s shoulders. “We’d like for him to stay,” Blaze replied. “I know he can do it. He really is a good boy. He just… has some anger problems. I’m sorry we didn’t believe you about it before, maybe we could have done something.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said. “You love your son, you don’t want to think that he’d do anything bad. But now that we’ve gotten to the heart of the problem, we can work with him. But Pyro? I don’t want to hear about this happening again. I still want you to go see Counselor Starlight after this. Tell her what you told us about your frustrations, and she’ll probably have some anger management advice. I want you to at least try to do what she says, okay?”
Pyro nodded. “Okay…”
“Good. I know you can do so much better. If there’s anything we can do to help, let us know. And I’ll see about starting up some school sports, alright?”
He perked. “Sounds good.”
“Good!” Twilight beamed. “Do any of you have any questions?”
They shook their heads.
“Alright, you three can head out. Violet, stay here.”
The dragons left, Pyro apologizing one more time to Violet. She just gave an awkward shrug, thanked him, and waved as he left. Once they were out of the room, she turned to Twilight. “Should I have said I forgive him, or…”
“That’s up to you,” Twilight replied. “If you have forgiven him, you can let him know. But you shouldn’t lie to make him feel better. He said sorry, and you accepted his apology. If you had said it’s okay, it might make him think it’s okay to do it again. So your wording was fine.”
Violet nodded, and said, “Do you need anything else from me?”
“I just want to make sure you’re really okay. If you want me to move your classes around so you don’t run into him, I can.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay, really. I think he wants to change. If he gets control of his temper, I think he’ll be very nice. I’ve heard dragons are naturally violent, but I don’t think that’s true. They’re just raised that way. They can be nice, if they want.”
“True, I mean my friend Spike was raised by ponies and he’s very friendly. But we still don’t know enough about dragons to know how much of their behavior is from nature and how much is from nurture. I hope it’s just cultural, and that they’ll become more peaceful. But it’ll take work. And I’m sure at least some of them are naturally aggressive and won’t, or can’t, change. But I wouldn’t worry about that. I can see the good in Pyro. He just needs a little help changing how he deals with stress, and we can help him. Well, if you’re okay with attending classes alongside him, then I’m okay with it. But let me know if he bothers you again, okay?”
“Of course. Thank you.”
“Of course. Now you should probably get back to class.”
“Yes, Headmare.” Violet checked the time and headed out, leaving the door closed behind her.
Twilight sighed once she was gone, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the desk. “Ohh sweet Celestia, that could have gone so much worse.”
Venom peeked his head out of her shoulder. “How were you expecting it to go?”
“I don't know, I guess I was expecting his parents to be in denial again, but they finally listened to me. I was even somewhat expecting Pyro to try to hit Violet or me. I'm glad that didn't happen, I really didn't want to have to get the police involved in this. But now his parents know what happened and he's gonna try and change for the better. Hopefully he can.” Twilight got up and went over to the window, glancing up toward the Sun before looking out across Ponyville. “Just a couple more hours and then we can go talk to Blazing.”
“I'm sure he'll be happy to see us.”
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*sigh* Looks like Twilight and Venom are going to get read a Riot act.
Once again the incompetence of the Royal Guard shines through like a beacon in the dark
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I'd love for this to be a trick and they actually have like a sonic barrier around Aura's cell and person after Riot bonded with him.
That feels normal, but I feel as if I had enough stories where " the characters are supposed to lie to make them feel better."
The Blazing part was thankfully not so big, they are needed sometimes but I'm not the biggest fan of some POV changes like that sometimes.
I mean at least always when I wait for a nice scene to continue and then I get more than half of the chapter about some bad guy or something like that.
Nice chapter however, that was nice to see too, the school thing.
9338833
Yep they seem to have not monitored them and instead of doing their job they seems to befriend them and believe their leader probably only made a mistake. It more or less sounded that way.
Sigh, Shining or Celestia should send the guards to train again if they let a visitor approach to the suspect with a package unidentified...
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I for one follow the theory that the guards are there to look pretty with their gold armor. After all it's not like Celestia need protection.
Let's hope the Night Guard is better.
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Do note how the 'package' was carried. No one would have noticed unless they weren't looking at them constantly and saw the exchange.
Uh oh... Whether he's or not, Twilight and Venom aren't going to enjoy the exchange...
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stahp, you are not The Other Sans.
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wait he made a joke and you didn't... is this opposite day?
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I think it might be because he couldn't think of anything that tops mine.
By the end of this "few hours" Blazing will be in his new headout, also I hope that princesses at least put witness protection program in place, so Blazing and his goons won't be able to reach those who gave testimonies.
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And they weren't looking at them, when the prisoner was considered a very high danger, heck, he should not be allowed visitors until they have everything.
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That doesn't stop him normally
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I wish. Twilight only discovered the weakness recently, and Venom didn’t bring it up. There’s no way they’d know.
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Well, we could see that Blazing was having a touching moment with his visiting staff so maybe I didn't want to bar the moment with puns. Or maybe it was actually a comic moment to do so.
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golf claps and bows out gracefully
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and all is right in the world.
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SHUT IT!
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This...will not end well.
Scratch that, this’ll be a disaster! And something tells me that other symbionts was Riot...either way, I’m HOPING you have a good ending planned for this. Btw, how long is this story gonna be anyway?
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I'll admit I have an idea of where this is all going but I'm mostly winging it so I can't tell you how long it'll be exactly (sweats) I don't think it'll be too long though, like it probably won't hit thirty chapters. But I don't know for sure yet, I tend to ramble. welp I think I'm gonna grab a notebook and make myself a proper outline, then I can get back to you with a better idea of how long this'll be
Dammit. The princesses should have said no visitors.
Knew something bad was gonna happenn!
To be fair it had to in order to keep the story interesting. Lol
Ok, so here's what I think will happen. Blazing made a deal with who I'm guess to be that asshole symbiote venom was talking about. As for what kinda deal he made? The only thing I can think of is giving a powerful host to that symbiote, cause since he's already inside blazing there's nothing stopping him from taking control and exposing blazings secrets to the princesses. Sure there's threatening his other alien comrades, but anything would be a better alternative to remaining a prisoner. So he offered him power, and the only real powerful people around...are the princesses. That's my thoughts anyway, will have to see if they come true. Xd
I'm sure they will be
So I would think that Twilight knowing the symboites weakness to sound, would learn a spell exploiting that after she finds out what happened to Blazing, and probably also a way to shield herself from her own spell. I mean, she would also tell the other princesses also about the weakness the symboties have, so they would all be prepare to fight if needed, which it may be.
Any “fight” with Blazing would not last long at all, if there is time to learn the spell. Although they may just get a speaker or something to use the weakness if they don’t have time to learn a spell.
It's like I sometimes say, it's not about about suppressing your anger, it's about controlling your anger.
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Ye. It's okay to be angry. It's not okay to attack other people because you're angry. Something I'm sure Pyro will learn soon.
The Boss has become activated!
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Exactly; unleash your anger not on someone else, but on a punching bag or bike. Go play a hard game or get something inconsequential to destroy to expend rage on.
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Even though he doesn't like to fight my OC has a "rule" when it comes to fighting: "Maintain your calm when in combat, you'll fight better with a clear mind."
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9356022
Okay who down voted my comment? I only stated a rule of combat my OC has which actually does have merit IRL as anger clouds judgement.
9992872
ah I wouldn't worry about it, I've noticed that much like on Reddit, people on here like to use downvotes as an "I don't agree with you" button rather than an "you're off topic" button. but what can you do
9993198
Nothing, they should say that one is getting off topic which IMO it kinda wasn't but that's just an a opinion but back to my OC and him not liking to fight if one firmly believes they can take him and have either gone through great lengths to do so or have outright state that (like RD) his response is "Bring it on." if they could do some damage to him good for them but if not well at least he got amusement out of it especially no harm was done to him and after he let's them do so for a while by that I mean he'd just stand there and take the hits he will end the fight then thank them for the entertainment, the conversations usually go something like this
"Enough!" *uses whatever means to leave them conscious while stopping or avoiding the incoming attack(s)*
"As you can see your attempts have not harmed me in the slightest."
"Then why'd you take the hits and wait till now to end it?"
"Because it amused me and I needed the entertainment for which I thank you for." (yes he's a troll at times)
Words can be a shield, a sword or a equalizer. Good Twilight is herself. Venom might learn something about Co-existance on non host after all.