Never Seen

by semillon

GET IN, LOSER, WE'RE GOING TO KLUGETOWN

Ocellus woke up to a firestorm. It was already noon, which meant that the storm had likely been going for a while. The roaring of the participating dragons melted into a warm, muffled sound not unlike the sound of rain on pavement. It nearly lulled her back to sleep.

Her room, along with the other four guest rooms, was located at the top of Smolder’s snake-shaped lair, inside one of the snake’s giant eyes. In it was a window that allowed her a perfect view of the center of the Dragonlands where, all around, dragons of varying sizes—but mostly those larger than the average train car—breathed fire directly up into the sky. Their flames shot up uncommonly high, formless and natural at first but getting thinner as they reached the amber clouds up top—ribbons of fire that zigged and zagged in a way that was normally impossible. Each dragon’s fire met with that of another dragon’s, and another, and another, and so on, creating a swirling pool of light and heat that burned a molten orange over the land.

At first, Ocellus was surprised that it wasn’t hot. She then remembered what a firestorm actually was.

It was fire, sure, but not just any kind of fire; the dragons scheduled their firestorms for times when the natural magical ambience in the air was at a high. A dragon’s fire was their soul. It came from a place deep within them: a sacred part of themselves that they called their Inner Fire. By combining their souls and washing the land with their heat, the magic responded by rebuilding itself, coming alive, healing cracks in the arid rock and making the occasional plant grow. It was the closest thing that dragons had to a communal practice. Since Smolder was deputized by Ember to oversee a large part of their people, it had only become more popular.

“Shows unity,” Smolder had said to her once. “Keeps us strong. A single dragon missing from a firestorm changes the whole thing.”

The actual firestorm wasn’t particularly hot, despite appearances, and while most pony tourists would be scared off by the sight, no harm would come to them.

“Looks awesome, doesn’t it?” Ember asked. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

Ocellus turned to see the lithe, quadrupedal dragon lounging across the room. Her eyes were as red as the Bloodstone Scepter she held in one of her claws.

“Dragon Lord,” Ocellus said, bowing her head.

“Come on, Celly. We’re family at this point. Give me a hug!”

Ocellus smiled and cantered over to wrap her legs around the dragon’s neck. It had been a while since they had seen each other.

Ember’s legs were strong and warm, and as she squeezed, Ocellus felt like she had been flying for a week and was only just now touching the ground—steady and easy and relieved. Ember was remarkably warm, like a black sweater left out in the sun. Ocellus squeezed her back. Evidently a little too hard, for Ember’s breathing cut off and Ocellus felt her shoulders quiver as she tried her best to hide the fact that she was being choked.

Ocellus blushed, but said nothing as she let go, and Ember all too eagerly walked a few feet backwards.

Ember coughed. “You been working out?”

“Lots of giant sandworms around the hive lately,” Ocellus said.

Ember nodded, looking past her. “Keep it up.”

Ocellus glanced back to the firestorm. The streams of fire had started to die down.

“Smolder’s not expecting me,” said Ember. “Wanna come surprise her with me?”

“Why not tell her beforehoof?” Ocellus asked.

“I like keeping her on her toes. Don’t want her to start slacking just because she’s a hotshot now.”

Ocellus grunted vaguely in agreement.

“Have you eaten yet?” Ember asked.

Ocellus shook her head. Suspicion flared in her like a flame. Had Thorax told Ember she was broken? He’d promised not to anyone, but...

“Want some breakfast?” Ember asked, laying a claw on Ocellus’s shoulder. Her smile grew sheepish. “My treat.”

Ocellus relaxed slightly. Ember’s face was genuine. She had no idea.

“Sure!” Ocellus chirped.

Ember sidled up to her and put a large claw on the crown of her head, just behind her antlers.

Ocellus sighed as the dragon bent her neck down and touched their foreheads together. She opened her emotion receptors up.

Nothing.

She could feel that she was draining energy, but it tasted like nothing. It felt like nothing. There was a hunger in her that slowly went away, but it was nothing, too. No cozy satisfaction came from her feeding. No feelings of love or merriment.

Ocellus ate nothing until she was full of nothing, and when she felt that she had taken enough she closed her receptors and nudged Ember away.

“Thank you,” Ocellus said. “Your love is delicious.”

“You barely took anything,” Ember said, brows furrowed. “You alright?”

“I’m a light eater,” Ocellus said.

“Right,” Ember said, raising a brow. “Well, I won’t judge.”

“Thank you,” Ocellus said. “Shall we go see Smolder? I doubt she’ll be in the throne room very long.”

Ember’s lips twitched—she wanted to say something, Ocellus figured, but she simply nodded and let Ocellus take the lead as they exited the room and went down the spiral stairs leading out of the guest apartments. Ember was usually the type to speak her mind, but she had been better about keeping her cards close to her chest as of late. Thorax probably had a hoof in that.

Ocellus couldn’t stop a small sigh from escaping her. Every time she thought about the relationship between the two, it always ended in a headache. Would they marry? Turn dragons and changelings into one nation? Would they simply be allies? How would the other countries’ leaders react? Would Twilight officiate the ceremony? Would Torch approve? Where would the wedding be held?

Who would come to ruin the wedding? An enemy of Twilight’s? Someone Ember wronged? Someone Ocellus did?

“Celly,” Ember said.

Ocellus stopped, her hoof on the doors.

“Dragon Lord, remember?” Ember said, tapping her chest. “It doesn’t really matter, but… I should go first.”

Ocellus stepped aside for Ember to push through, then followed her into the room, only a hoofstep behind.

Smolder sat alone on her throne, scratching her neck. Her wings were agitated, twitching as she kicked her legs back and forth. She seemed deep in thought.

Ocellus got wind of something sour in the air.

“Yo, Smolder!” Ember called.

Smolder didn’t move until a few seconds later, when she turned her head and realized she wasn’t alone. Her eyes widened, something cold in them warming to an anxious fire, and she stepped off of her gaudy throne.

“Hey,” Smolder said. Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “What’s up?” she asked as Ember and Ocellus approached.

“Nothing, really,” said Ember. She held out her fist, and Smolder gave a half-hearted grin as she bumped her own fist against it. Ocellus noticed Ember cared less about proper procedure when it came to Smolder. “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she elaborated. “I was telling Celly that I like to keep you on your toes.”

Smolder laughed. But, bit by bit, her smile dropped. “Well, if you were expecting a normal conversation over gems and booze, you kinda came at the wrong time.”

“Why?” Ember asked. She sat back on her haunches and crossed her arms, looking worried. “What’s wrong?”

Smolder’s gaze drifted past Ember to Ocellus. “Got a letter this morning. Strata’s missing.”

Ocellus searched her memory for a moment, eventually coming to the image of an olive-scaled dragon with bubblegum pink eyes. “That girl that you put in charge of your correspondence with Klugetown,” Ocellus said. “She helps them keep the gangs in line and facilitates the trade of precious gems for—”

“Just about anything we need,” said Smolder. “Klugetown’s a goldmine. Twilight knows that. She’s counting on us dragons to come to an understanding with them because we’re a lot sturdier than the average pony. You never know what you’re going to find over there. Strata was a big part of us finally getting into trade talks. She’s smart. More importantly: they like her. And she hasn’t shown up to any of her scheduled meetings for the past three days.”

Ember hung her head for a moment, one of her claws curling into a quivering fist against the floor. Ocellus took a moment to notice how that would have been a subtle gesture if she had been bipedal. Then again, maybe not. Ember had always been easy to read.

“What are we going to do, then?” asked the Dragon Lord.

“I’m going to go find her.” The look in Smolder’s eyes was scalding. “Personally.”

Ember tilted her head and said, “No.”

“Why?!” Smolder yelled. The sudden increase in volume caught Ocellus by surprise. She moved back a step.

Ember, however, stayed in place, and kept her cool. “I sure came at the right time—you probably would’ve left without even sending me a message. Smolder, you run a lot more here than you do in Klugetown. The Gathering of Eternal Fire is coming up and there are still some dragons who haven’t come into contact with us. I need a team to search for Grayfyre. Or his bones. The last time he was seen was three-thousand years ago.”

The Gathering of Eternal Fire was an event in which the oldest, biggest dragons in the world met up to share stories and wisdom, as well as dictate last rites and say goodbye. The Call of the Dragon Lord was usually more than enough to bring them the message, but sometimes dragons took naps in places where magic could not go, and they needed to be woken up by manual means.

Ocellus had never witnessed a Gathering before, and she had hoped to see this one. There were only two or three every hundred years or so, and the last time one had happened, she had been comatose in a hospital.

“Not to mention the other dozen dragons that we have to find,” Ember continued, “on top of making sure that everything’s going to go okay while I’m at the Friendship Summit. And you need to help me settle a bunch of hoard disputes after the party last week. Your party, in case you forgot. You can’t just go running off like a hatchling trying to save the world.”

Smolder laughed harshly. “Are you trying to call me a child?”

“I’m saying that you act stupid when you don’t take the time to think,” Ember said, eyes narrowing. “Don’t prove me right.”

“Strata’s our friend, Ember,” Smolder spoke, her voice suddenly low and hushed. “Something’s happened to her and we need the best. And that’s me.”

“No, Smolder, that’s me.” Ember turned the Bloodstone Scepter, and it began to glow. The rest of the throne room was bathed in a sickly red glow that made the red in Ember’s eyes even brighter. “Don’t forget that I made you, Lady Smolder, and I will not let you disrespect me in front of a foreign dignitary.”

Ocellus opened her receptors to see if she could sense any of the animosity evidently in the room. She could not. She resisted the urge to sigh.

“You may have sent me to school,” said Smolder. “But there are about a dozen ponies out there who I owe a lot more to, and Klugetown on a silver platter is a good place to start. I’m going and I’m finding Strata. You can take everything else.”

The Bloodstone Scepter’s glow increased in intensity. “I’m not a desk jockey,” said Ember. “Please tell me I haven’t let you run around without a leash for so long that you’ve forgotten that I’m your boss.”

Smolder snorted. “Know what? Maybe I have. What’re you gonna do about it? Gonna make me?”

Ember opened her mouth, fire spilling from her maw like the drool of a hungry dog. Smolder’s claws curled into fists.

They took a single step towards each other before Ocellus stepped between them, an eyebrow raised.

“No fighting,” she said. “Save it for when I’m not here.”

“You better get going quick, then,” Smolder said, crossing her arms. Ocellus couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or disappointed. “Bet you haven’t even started your dress fittings for the Summit yet.”

Ocellus frowned. She should have excused herself and left Smolder to her squabbling a long time ago, but...

But I don’t want to.

She recalled the air of the hive—always just cold enough to encourage closeness but never enough to make anyone uncomfortable—and the warmth of her kin buzzing around, chatting to each other about their day to day lives and their expectations for her.

She wanted to disappear.

She wanted to be nothing. To feel like a spectator and not a player. She wanted to watch. Just for a while.

She was tired—had been tired for a long time. And being here, being with Smolder…getting sucked into her weekly fights with Ember and her impulses and her laugh and all of the things that she loved about her once...

It had always hurt her just enough to make her feel alive.

“Ember, I think that me and Smolder should go after Strata,” said Ocellus.

Smolder’s jaw dropped.

“What?” Ocellus snapped. “It makes sense. We’re geared to deal with Klugetown. No one smart is going to mess with us.”

She resisted the urge to turn to Ember. Instead, she tried her empathy again, tapping the magic deep inside her, reaching out, feeling, feeling—

Nothing. She shook her head.

“If you let us go,” she said, “I’ll personally oversee the construction of the Dragonlands Hive.”

Ember made a surprised sound. “Seriously?”

“You and Thorax have been hounding me about it for the last year.” Ocellus turned to her. “I’ll do it. If you let us go to Klugetown.”

“Why do you care so much?” Ember asked. She narrowed her eyes. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“I thought we were family,” Ocellus countered. “Doesn’t that mean your business is my business?”

“Don’t you have shit to do at home?” Ember pressed.

Ocellus laughed. “No. Not at all.”

Ember squinted at her. “I don’t know your play here, Celly, but if that’s really what you want…”

Ocellus smiled, relieved. “Cross my heart. We’ll be back in just a few days.”

The ocean’s ebb and flow looked as peaceful as ever. Gallus watched as the tide flooded in, crept out, came back again, and repeated. Some creatures felt comfort in the predictable washing sound of waves on a beach, but the endless cycle of the water had only ever made him feel anxious. He could never place a talon on why.

He turned to Silverstream, who sat beside him on a tacky beach chair that hadn’t been used in about five years. His own chair creaked every time it moved, and it was like if he was but a pound heavier it would all break underneath him.

“How many kids?” he asked.

“Dozens. All children of nobility.” Silverstream didn’t meet his gaze. Her eyes stayed fixed on the ocean. “Some of them were supposed to go to the School of Friendship next year. Poof. Gone.”

“And they vanished yesterday?” Gallus said.

“It’s been happening for about a week now.”

Gallus sighed.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” said Silverstream.

“No,” said Gallus. He rubbed his eyes. “No, me neither. At the very least they’re connected. Maybe it’s a single team. Someone got Griffonstone and handed you guys over to someone else. Or maybe it’s all one creature.”

“But either way—”

“Whoever we’re up against has enough power to mind control Gilda, make Gabby and a bunch of sea ponies disappear, summon kelpies to their aid and piss off a kraken enough to make it want to charge Mount Aris.”

“We need to tell Twilight,” said Silverstream.

“So my plans haven’t changed,” Gallus said.

“I’m just going to come with you, now,” Silverstream said.

“Fuck me…” Gallus leaned back, looked up at the vast blue of the sky.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want me to come?”

Out of reflex, he nearly said “no”. He laughed dryly. “I’m just tired.”

“Yeah, me too…” Gallus heard Silverstream sigh. “So when should we leave?”

The sky was mesmerizing. Gallus tried to turn himself away—to sit up or get off his chair or something—but he couldn’t. There was something about the blue.

It was like it was staring at him.

“Gallus?”

Gallus felt his eyes widen. He willed himself to look harder. Maybe if he stared long enough at the endlessness of that blue, he would see it. He wasn’t sure what ‘it’ was, but he knew that he had to see it. He had to—

“Gallus!”

Silverstream’s claw squeezed his shoulder, making him jolt up. He looked at her, feathers ruffled.

“Gallus?” she asked.

“I—” he swallowed, “—really don’t wanna break anything this time,” he said quietly. “My wings were enough, you know? Been there, done that.”

Silverstream’s beak quivered, and she moved to hug him, but then she paused. She put her other claw on his shoulder instead and said, “Look at me.”

Gallus wanted to tease her. He was already looking at her, after all. But his words failed.

“I’m going to protect you,” she said.

Gallus tried to shake his head. “I—”

“You don’t need me, I know, but I’m going to act like you do, and if you never need my help—then whatever.”

He nodded.

“Good,” said Silverstream. She said the word slowly. Calmly. She squeezed his shoulders. “Now what are you going to do?”

“We,” corrected Gallus. His voice was metallic, but sincere. “What are we going to do?”

Silverstream smiled at the word. “Yeah.”

Gallus closed his eyes. He steadied his breathing. After a moment, he opened his eyes and gently brushed her claws off him.

“I have an idea,” he said. “Have a spare airship lying around?”

Ocellus drummed her hooves on the tea table as Smolder paced back and forth in front of her, snorting fire with every sharp exhale out of her nose.

“Why did you do that for me?” Smolder asked. “I mean—you—why?”

“To annoy you, clearly,” Ocellus said dryly.

“Har har,” Smolder said. “You don’t even like Klugetown!”

“So?”

“So why, Celly?”

Ocellus sighed. “Hold your claw out.”

Smolder stopped her pacing, nearly tripping over herself. She turned to Ocellus, mouth agape. “Why?”

“You know why.”

“You remember?”

How could I forget? Ocellus beckoned her closer, and Smolder walked towards her, gliding like a drop of rain over glass.

Smolder held her claw out, suddenly tense. Ocellus took it and she placed her hoof on top of it, tracing over Smolder’s palm lightly but firmly, tracing a complex diagram that only the two of them could translate.

[How-Could-I-Forget], came Ocellus’s first message.

Smolder gasped softly. She turned her palm over. Ocellus kept her hoof against it. When her hoof was the one facing the ceiling, Smolder began to graze her claw over it.

[It’s-Been-A-While], she said.

It was a silly, inefficient manner of communication, but it was undoubtedly theirs. They had gotten bored over summer vacation once and decided to not talk aloud for an entire week.

[I-Don’t-Know-What-I’m-Doing-Here], signed Ocellus.

Smolder used a free claw to guide Ocellus’s eyes to her, and traced a nonsensical pattern over her hoof again.

[I-Like-You-Here,] Smolder said. Then… [I-Still—]

Ocellus pulled her leg away. Smolder didn’t fight, didn’t try to keep signing. She took a step back, a frown on her face.

And they stared at each other, trembling.

“Look at us,” said Ocellus. “World leaders and we still act like emotionally distressed college students.”

Smolder laughed with no humor. “We really fucked each other up, huh?”

Ocellus smiled, despite herself.

Smolder grinned back. “Like I did your dad.”

Ocellus groaned aloud and walked past her, towards the door. “Can we just get flying already?”

“An airship?” Silverstream blinked. “Oh, gosh. I mean… mayyyyyybe we can ask Auntie Novo to borrow one? But she’s super busy. It could be days before we get an audien—”

A pair of shadows stretched out over them from behind, and Gallus turned to see a set of guards, looking ready to put him in chains.

“Captain Silverstream,” said one of them, eyes locked forward, “Queen Novo requests your presence on urgent business.”

Silverstream smiled, turned to Gallus. “Well, that was easy.”

“Wait,” Gallus said in a panic. “Which throne room? The one in Mt. Aris?”

“Oh, Gallus,” Silverstream said. She laid her claw on his shoulder again. “When is Auntie Novo ever in Mt. Aris?”

Gallus hung his head. He hated going to Seaquestria. The only way in, for him, was to be turned into an octopus.

As they swam towards the throne room doors, flanked by an ever increasing number of seapony guards, Silverstream whispered hurriedly in his ear. Did his octopus form have ears? Gallus heard her, somehow.

“I dunno if we can swing an entire airship, Gally. The navy is stretched thin enough as it is. Just play it by ear and if she seems generous, we can try and ask for it.”

Gallus swallowed. Did his octopus form have a throat?

Queen Novo’s throne room hadn’t changed all that much. It was still grand, and underwater, and pretty and spacious and underwater and surrounded by a thousand tons of crushing seawater. Gallus tried not to think about it too much, instead looking for things that had changed since he’d last been here. But the only change he could spot was in Novo herself. Somehow, she looked younger than he remembered. He made sure that was one of the first things he told her.

Novo laughed in response. “Ever the charmer, Captain.”

Gallus was glad he wouldn’t have to fake a smile for her. “Not in the guard anymore, Your Majesty.”

“You’ll return,” Novo said. She gave him a wink. “Just you wait, kitten.”

Silverstream took the chance to interject. “Hi, Auntie! Um. Why are we here?”

“Hey there, niece.” Novo gave her a favorable nod. “I was just getting to that. I wanted to ask what your plans are. I know that you’re planning on finding out what happened to the children, and I’ve been briefed on what happened in Griffonstone. Our only common link right now’s that Captain Gallus here has been to both Griffonstone and Mount Aris. And we know he’s not behind all of this, so something else is. You’re here so you can tell me what you know.”

Novo looked at Gallus. She sighed heavily. “That, and I wanted to apologize to you, Captain.”

Gallus raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“You seemed happy in Griffonstone. I should have contacted your council—checked up on you. We’re supposed to be friends, right? But it just never came to my mind. And I’m told you played a major role in saving my navy, which you shouldn’t have had to do.”

“No one knew the kelpies or the kraken would come for your fleet,” Gallus said. Suddenly he felt unbearably itchy, which was funny because he was completely submerged in soothing water. “Your Majesty, c’mon...there’s no need to make a fuss.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Novo said, “but you know I’d rather be right, so I’d advise that you accept my apology.”

Gallus laughed, despite himself. “Apology accepted, Your Highness.”

Novo smiled. “Good. Now if there’s anything I can do to repay you for your continued service to the Crown…you need only name your price. Nothing fixes friendship troubles like a bit of money and resources, am I right?

Silverstream turned to Gallus. “Wow,” she laughed. “That was really easy.”

Novo’s boon hovered above the clouds, and descended when Gallus and Silverstream made their way back to the shore behind the beach house. It was larger than any luxury yacht Gallus had ever seen, but smaller than the ones he’d seen in the Royal Guard hanger—and those battleships were old and decrepit and gathering dust, what with no wars and all. The airship that Novo had given to them was brand new, made from the finest wood and trimmed with a pale, silvery metal. Lunarite. Hard as a dragon’s scale and lightweight. Princess Luna’s favorite ore.

Gallus whistled in amazement. Silverstream was beside him on the shore, watching as the airship hovered down to land just a mile away, where a field of grass could safely hold the ship long enough for them to gather their things and board. “What do we call it?” he asked.

“Oh, let’s not name her until we get to know her,” Silverstream said.

“And who’s driving?” asked Gallus.

“Someone from the Navy, maybe?” said Silverstream.

“Or a former Royal Guard?” Gallus asked.

“Or someone from the Navy who you owe a lot of emotional reparations to?” Silverstream sang back.

“Or!” called Terramar.

Gallus and Silverstream turned to see the hippogriff standing in a thick blue coat, a red scarf with the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ crest tied tight around his neck.

“Or,” he said through a giant grin, “someone actually, you know, trained to fly an airship?”

“You know weird hippogriff magic and you know how to pilot an airship,” said Gallus.

Terramar waggled his eyebrows. “Am I boyfriend material yet?”

Silverstream groaned. “I’m shutting this conversation down.”

Terramar giggled. He set his eyes on Gallus. “I’ve packed both your bags. Where are we going? Canterlot?”

“No,” said Gallus. He and Silverstream shared a glance before he said, “We have to make a pit stop.”

“Where to?” Terramar asked.

Gallus noticed the confusion on Terramar’s face. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take long,” he said. “We just need to make a quick little trip to Klugetown.”

Comments

[Great White Prime]

Gallus noticed the confusion on Terramar’s face. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take long,” he said. “We just need to make a quick little trip to Klugetown.”

It's all coming together 😁

[Scyphi]

Lunarite. Hard as a dragon’s scale and lightweight. Princess Luna’s favorite ore.

Gee, wonder why.

[Rininani]

Love this latest chapter! It's nice to see G&S getting along again :)

[canehdianbacon]

New chapter!! Yayyy! 🎉

[spoonlol]

Ocellus smiled, relieved. “Cross my heart. We’ll be back in just a few days.”

Press X to doubt.

Another great chapter, loved Ocellus’s interaction with Ember in her scene. Plus it’s nice to see that Ember and Thorax have been rubbing off on each other throughout the years (imma ship them).
Smoulder and Ocellus seem to be on better terms then thee others are, at least Gallus with everyone else. Which means I’m kinda dreaded how everything gunna take off when they do meet up again.
Can’t wait for byte next one

[canehdianbacon]

Gallus hung his head. He hated going to Seaquestria. The only way in, for him, was to be turned into an octopus.

I must see Octo-Gallus. Immediately.