• Published 13th Dec 2011
  • 16,758 Views, 1,221 Comments

The Ambassador's Son - Midnightshadow



A colt loses his family, Celestia deems his best hope lies not with ponies, but a dragon.

  • ...
31
 1,221
 16,758

A Change of Place

The ══════════
Ambassador's
══════════ Son

Chapter Nine
A Change of Place
An MLP:FiM Fanfiction by Midnight Shadow


He swept lower over the plains, great wings flapping in long slow strokes that stirred the cold air. Night time, the world was still but for him, the stars and the whispering wind as it went about its lonely trek through the mountains far behind him, the mountains that made up his home. Almost skimming the surface, he breathed deeply and let forth a gout of flame, searing the vegetation to ash. Rejoicing in his power and might, he rose once more to the skies, master of all he surveyed. Muscles rippled beneath his hide, the air itself fled before him as he lifted to the stars themselves, pinpricks of brightness that dazzled in the velvet darkness. It felt like he could almost reach out and touch them, it was as if they were singing to him... no, not singing, speaking. Calling a single word, a name. It sounded like...

“Chip! Chip lad, are you okay?”

Chip woke up, shaking his head to clear the fog of sleep. For a moment he didn’t quite remember where he was, or even who he was. He lingered in that half-way point, mind still clearing away the cobwebs. Even his name sounded foreign, a jumble of meaningless sounds forced together.

“Chip?”

Chip blinked. It was Sharptooth, his adopted father. He was Chip, Chiphoof Irontail Leatherback of the Diamond Expanse, pony-shaped dragon, and monster-in-training. The brief euphoria left him, it still hurt. He hadn’t asked for any of this. He shook his head again; no, he had no reason to act like this, even if it was all a bit much. “Hey, S-Sharptooth,” he said, not quite feeling ready to use dad again so soon after his outburst the previous night, “I’m okay.”

The dragon looked hurt at the name change, but tried not to show it, “Are you ready to get up?”

Chip yawned, stretching, one leg after another followed by his tail. “I think so... hey, what’s the time?”

“I let you sleep in.”

“Oh horsefeathers, I’ll be late for school!” Chip leaped out of bed and skittered towards the door out of the sleeping chambers. He was stopped by a friendly paw on his withers.

“No, Chip,” said Sharptooth slowly, “you won’t be. You’re not going to school today.”

“But the weekend’s not until three days from now! I’m not sick...”

“We... you, you have something else to go to. I’m sorry to bring this up so suddenly, lad, but-”

“T-there’s only one place I could need to go that badly.” Chip’s stomach fell, he gulped, mouth tasting of ash again. “The funeral.”

“Indeed, young one. It is to be held tomorrow, and we must travel by chariot to Canterlot for some official business, where we will spend the night, and then back down to Rein, Neighvada. Princess Celestia will be sending us a personal chariot as befits your station and mine, but it is a long voyage and not one that should overly tax either of us. We will be making a brief stopover in Ponyville each leg.”

Chip whistled, “That’s... a long way.”

“It is unavoidable, I apologize. If I thought I could leave you in Rein-”

“Why can’t you? Those diamond dogs? I thought they weren’t looking for me?”

“They weren’t, they were... they were looking for me. I may have inadvertently put you in the kind of danger your princess sought to avoid.”

“I don’t understand! That makes no sense!”

Sharptooth shook his head, “I am being frank with you, little one, but I cannot explain more. The less you know, the better.”

“That makes even less sense! Why would anypony want to hurt you?”

Sharptooth smiled, “I thank you for such kind works, Chip, but you forget who I am. I am an ambassador, privy to many secrets.” The dragon narrowed his eyes, looking left and right as if checking for spies, “Can you keep a secret?”

Chip nodded, enthusiastically.

“Good. Come on; breakfast, teeth, brushing, dressing and then we go. We travel light, nothing but ourselves, some documents and a few necessary sundries. The princess will see to both our formal attires”

Chip’s mouth worked emptily as the dragon sauntered away, infuriatingly. He scowled, and then skittered on the dirt floor to catch up.

♦♦♦

True to the dragon’s word, they had packed lightly. Sharptooth had decided on a mere two relatively small boxes; one was the box of ‘training spikes’. Although the collection featured blades and armor more often than not, almost every single piece featured at least one if not more sharp points to it, so the name made at least some sense. The other box was a mystery to Chip, and had been brought out from the hoard-room already packed.

Four seemingly indefatigable pegasi had arrived just as Chip and Sharptooth were finishing their breakfast of hay pancakes. The squad landed on the wide ledge with expert precision and very little fuss. One had shrugged herself out of the harness and had knocked politely on the front door, not even winded. The dragon had bid them enter. They had accepted a cup of tea but declined offers of food stating that long flights required lighter, energy-packing feed which they had already ate.

Chip eyed the chariot in the late morning sunlight, it was indeed part of the royal fleet, bearing the seal of the sun princess herself. It was large, far larger than normal chariots, which were usually pulled by just one or two pegasi. The pegasi also bore the seal of the royal pony sisters on their armor. They were royal guards, the elite of her barracks, soldiers sent on a mere escort mission. Either the guards deserved a holiday, or Sharptooth was in some real danger.

Chip wore the three training spikes that had been given to him. He had been reluctant to wear the ripper ring, but Sharptooth had placed it upon his tail anyway. He wondered if he should be worried.

“Up you get, lad, get in.” the dragon said.

Chip eyed the plush velvet, and suddenly felt as small and helpless as he had on his first night after Celestia... he gulped, memory still fresh, made all the more real despite how strange it felt. He’d been somehow scared of the old sofa, and scared of the dark like a stupid foal. He’d even gone to seek shelter with a fire-breathing dragon rather than brave the dark of an empty room, and had felt small and helpless as the strange beast had tucked him in tenderly, just like mom used to.

The carriage had a small awning at the back, and two large wheels sprung wheels. A door opened on one side with a simple yet sturdy latch. Chip flicked it open, the door moved silently and easily. The bottom of the carriage was soft and yielding, warm and comfortable. The whole thing was a sofa. A flying sofa. Chip clambered in, and to his surprise Sharptooth shut the door, placing the two chests into the main body and securing them into a travel-net.

“Aren’t you coming?” Chip asked.

“Of course, but I feel a need to stretch my wings, my boy. Good sirs, my ladies, you may take off when ready.” The dragon locked the front door with both locks, incanting a short spell to finalize things, before taking a running jump off the edge. As always, he dropped out of sight to come shooting back up with the thermals.

Almost as one, Chip felt the four pegasi and the chariot move. He whimpered, though he knew the dragon would catch him if there were any trouble. This wasn’t like flying with Sharptooth, it was somehow far scarier. He could feel the wind as they picked up speed, and whilst he didn’t feel any different, somehow the whole chariot seemed to just hover as if it were a fancy party balloon. Chip’s mind rang back his lessons, and a small part of him paid rapt attention. The rest of him was trying to relax into the plush warm alcove, scrunching up low into the royal conveyance to get out of the wind. Princes and princesses have sat here, he marvelled, and now he did too. He hadn’t paid attention to what his parents called him, what their station was. They had some title or other, but it hadn’t meant much, mostly just ancient history. To him they’d just been mom and dad, they owned nothing but a small metal-smelting business and a few scattered and mostly dead mines and the tattered remains of the Irontail name.

He’d just wanted to be a ordinary pony, and when he thought about it honestly that’s what he’d been. He’d had friends, it was true. He wondered about them. He’d had private tutors, he hadn’t gone to normal school like he’d wanted, but he had had ‘normal’ friends. He kind of missed them, even Frostpepper. Sunkiss the pegasus, flintstrike the unicorn, tinderbox the other earth-pony. Just neighbourhood foals, trying to work out who they were, finding their place in the world. Then his place had been torn up and dashed to pieces.

The wind stole the tears from his eyes, and he sniffled as the flight levelled out. Would he ever have a place again? All he wanted was friends... like Carmine. His heart jumped. He kind of liked Carmine. She kind of liked him, in that sort of not-liking way that she had, even if she was a girl. And Beth, and Bella, and Penny. They’d always like him, right? They’d seen him breathing fire, he realised. Carmine even thought it was cool. He thought again about that word, monster, and remembered the other meaning. It didn’t always mean fierce, ferocious beast. So what if he was different, they were all different in Tacksworn, in the middle of nowhere and halfway to anywhere else. He could be a draconequus, right? Monster just meant... different. So if he couldn’t have herdmates, he’d have... whatever it was that draconequus’s had. Yeah.

Chip settled down into the soft embrace of the flying sofa-chariot. He felt like a prince, swooping high above the world, laid out before him. The snatches of a dream flowed briefly through his head but it was gone quick as the wind. He didn’t know who he was, he realized, or who he was going to be, but maybe that didn’t matter. Just so long as he had Sharptooth, Carmine and all the others. Chip lay his head on his hooves, staring at the blue expanse of the sky. The soft rocking of the chariot, the rhythmical beating of pegasi wings, the sun high overhead - he felt sleepy. He closed his eyes for a moment against the glare. He could rest them, no problems.

♦♦♦

It wasn’t the jolt that shook him awake, it was the gentle but insistent paw jogging his shoulder. “Chip,” called Sharptooth softly, “wake up, we’re in Ponyville.”

“Pony-whatnow?” Chip asked, yawning. He peeked his head up over the railing just as a light purple unicorn came barrelling out of a tree-house. It wasn’t a house in a tree, it was a house made out of a tree. How strange.

“Princess Celestia!? Princess what are you-” the unicorn cried out, stopping in her tracks when she saw the real occupant of the chariot.

“Er, hi.” Chip said, laying his ears flat back against his head and blushing.

“You’re not the princess.”

Chip shook his head, “Uh-uh.”

“You do know that’s her chariot, right? Of course you do, you must be her... er... nephew? Nephew-in-law? No, that’s silly, she’s not even married... at least I don’t think she’s married, I’m pretty sure she’d have told me...” The unicorn started to prattle nervously on, tail and ears beginning to twitch as she attempted to work out just who this mystery colt was.

“I’m, uh, Chip. Chiphoof Irontail.”

“And I, my dear madame, am Ambassador Sharptooth of the Diamond Expanse.” Sharptooth took hold of the purple unicorn’s front hoof and gave it a kiss. “And whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

The purple, no she was lavender, decided Chip, unicorn blushed, “I’m Twilight-”

Dragon! Get away from her you monster!” came a loud cry, and streak of rainbow and blue sped past, slapping the dragon in the muzzle with a wing.

“Hey!” cried Chip, “Get off my dad!” As the rainbow-hued streak of trouble came flying past a second time, Chip leaped onto the roof of the chariot and onto the rowdy pegasus. They both tumbled to the ground in a heap and Chip started biting and kicking.

There was an “Oh my!” followed by a bizarre bleating noise, and a yellow-and-pink pegasus curled up, trembling. This was followed by an overly-enthusiastic “Whee! New ponies!” and a pink blur joined the hue and cry, bouncing around in a circle.

“Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! What in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing? Royal guests and this is how you treat them?” came another voice, prim and proper, scolding above the noise.

“Jest what in TARNATION is all the ruckus! Quit that right now, y’hear? All y’all knock it off! Fluttershy, git up. Ah think we all should jest calm down and introduce ourselves properly like. Pinkie, Pinkie Pie! Calm down, go... go get some cookies or summat.” an orange earth-pony with blonde mane and tail said in a frustrated tone of voice.

“Ooh! Excellent idea, Applejack!” said the pink earth pony, and she disappeared almost as fast as she had arrived. Chip swore she left contrails.

“Dash, apologize!”

“But...”

“Don’t you but me Rainbow...” the orange earth-pony repeated.

Chip stopped biting and gingerely got off the blue pegasus with the amazing rainbow mane. “Sorry, you were... attacking my dad.”

“Your dad!?

“Yeah. Kind of a long story.”

Sharptooth chuckled, “It seems we got off on the wrong, er, hoof. Now, you were saying, miss Twilight..?”

“Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ah, Celestia’s prize pupil!”

“You’ve heard of me?”

“In passing. Very pleased to meet you, I intended to look you up since I believe you run the library here?”

“I do! You want to borrow a book? Oh! You do want to borrow a book!” the pony sounded both in awe and terrified of the idea as the dragon nodded.

“So you’re... not the fire-breathing pony-snatching type of dragon?” asked the blue pegasus, Chip surmised she was Rainbow Dash, probably after the rainbow-coloured mane and tail.

“Oh I breathe fire, my dear Rainbow Dash, but I can assure you I do not snatch ponies, not even ones as pretty as you.”

Dash thought for a moment, then brightened, “I like you. Sorry about the whole... wing thing. You wanna hang later?”

“Rainbow!”

This time, noted Chip, it was Twilight who stomped a hoof.

“Quite alright, miss Sparkle. I would be honoured, miss Dash, to accompany you later. Maybe there is a good local cafe?”

“Sure is! Catch ya later.”

“Heh, smooth talker.” piped up the orange pony that Chip had heard called Applejack.

“She is, quite.” replied Sharptooth.

“Ah meant you. Name’s Applejack. Anybody who’s fine with Rainbow is fine with me. Sorry ‘bout yer introductions, we’ve had but few troubles with dragons and it’s always ended the same way.”

Sharptooth nodded, noting how the street was getting more or less back to normal. “I do apologize for my more... feral cousins. Youth seldom apologizes for itself, leaving us more mature individuals to make up for them. Now, miss Applejack, was it?” Sharptooth inclined his head as Applejack nodded, “I don’t suppose you happen to know where the realm-renowned designer, madame Rarity is?”

The white unicorn with what even Chip would have to call a stunning purple mane and tail, squeaked and seemed to swell almost three sizes as Applejack pointed at her, “Why, my dear... ambassador?”

“Lord Diamond, you may call me Sharptooth, or Sharpie to my friends.”

Lord Diamond!” her intake of breathe was audible, and made Sharptooth chuckle. “Sharpie,” she squeaked again, “I would be honoured to make you some clothes... you do want clothes, yes?”

“Why of course, my dear. Something simple, yet refined for myself and the boy, Baron Irontail.”

Baron!

Chip was quite sure she’d explode sooner or later if she kept inhaling that much.

“Indeed, the boy and I are to travel to a most somber occasion on the morrow and we need formal attire. Princess Celestia herself has recommended you, I do hope I am not putting you out.”

Chip shook his head, he wondered idly if this ‘Rarity’ believed it, but he was quite sure Sharptooth meant it.

“Oh, the chance to design for a dragon! Oh I simply cannot turn this down. It will...” she sounded scandalously shocked, “it may have to be loose-fitting and not quite up to my normal exacting standards...”

“Quite alright, I believe loose and airy is all the rage this season!”

“And you will both have to model for me...”

“Of course.”

“Oh I have so much to do! Please excuse me! Drop by my shop later, Carousel Boutique!” Rarity fled, already mumbling to herself about designs and colourschemes.

“I shall, madame Rarity!” Sharptooth called after her, before laughing softly and turning to the ever-patient Twilight, who was practically vibrating with pent-up questions. “Shall we go inside? I may have to make do with sitting on your lawn, however.”

The door opened before either the unicorn or Sharptooth could get to it, and a small purple and green dragon shot out, calling, “Twilight! Twi! I heard somepony shout dra-” The small dragon stopped short, glancing up at Sharptooth, and then behind him at Chip who was slinking around near the chariot. The four pegasi had disentangled themselves from the straps and were stretching their wings.

“It’s okay, Spike. This is Sharptooth-”

“A dragon!”

“Yes, Spike, we have a dragon visiting us.”

“But-” Spike watched as Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled, nosing the front door open. He turned back to look at Chip, “that wasn’t the dragon I was talking about. Who are you?”

“Hi, I’m, er, Chip. You smell like ponies."

"And you smell like dragons. Why do you smell like dragons?"

Chip cocked his head at the baby dragon, "You live here, don't you?"

Spike nodded, "Yeah, that's Twilight. I'm her number one assistant! What're you, his?"

"I'm kind of his son."

Spike blinked, "You know that kinda makes sense? But don't get any funny ideas, I'm the only cute baby dragon allowed in these parts, bub."

Chip laughed, "I'm just moving through, don't worry."

"Well good. Hungry?"

"Kinda. Got any gems?"

Spike sighed, "I wish. Come on, I can at least get you set up with some good hay fries."

♦♦♦