Scribe
David staggered onward in his search for shelter from the icy winds of the night. The rocky terrain of the moonlit mountain bit into David’s tender feet, his shoes unfortunately unavailable, along with the rest of his preferred outdoor attire. A robe, plain white tee, and boxers were certainly not the best pieces of clothing to wear for a mountainous journey, but then again, David had been trudging down his home’s stairs to go get a drink when he had stumbled and fallen, only to awaken in the cold evening hours on an unknown continent.
Wrapping his robe tighter around himself, David squinted hard into the black.
“If I were a cave, where would I live?” He managed a few more steps before the answer came to him. “In a rock!” The man let out a loud laugh that quickly faltered into a sigh. “I should stop talking to myself.”
Had David not looked to his left, he would have never seen a well-hidden cave. He paused took a step back to make sure his eyes hadn’t deceived him of an opening in the mountainside; the night was dark, but the moonlight kept things visible for the most part. After confirming the existence of the cave, David began a hurried stride to the dark maw.
Slipping into the cavern meant that true darkness would overwhelm his peripheral vision. David fished in his pocket for a moment, then pulled out a thumb-sized laser pointer. From past experiences, the human knew that the pressure-sensitive optic wasn’t too effective, but it at least kept him from tripping or falling suddenly.
Groaning, he decided to ignore the fact that he had not been using the laser pointer when he had fallen down his home’s stairs.
He wiped the sweat that he could from his free hand, then held down the button on the laser pointer.
As soon as the loop between the battery and the LED was completed, David knew something was wrong. The single red diode, which was smaller than his pinkie, shone like a full-size flashlight, illuminating the grey cavern walls in a vibrant spread of crimson. Not only that, but the cavern walls seemed to shake as his light flicked around the entrance. Some unseen aura surrounded the place, and while it did not seem harmful, David still made sure to watch his every step.
His bare feet clapped against the stone as he descended further into the cave. David knew that he should have stayed by the entrance, but now he was curious: something was causing the walls to vibrate, and he felt that it was coming from deeper within the cave. True to his gut, the thrum grew with each step down, and so deeper David went. As the ambience of the cave gave way to dripping stalactites, the air grew warmer and more humid. David was all too happy to see the faint steam that passed his lips disappear alongside the temperature change.
Rounding a corner, David made a discovery; a small sliver of faint blue light. He stepped heel first as he quieted his footsteps slowly, carefully, and with a hint of barely contained excitement. The thrum was at its highest here, and it was now clear that the walls were shaking. David turned off his laser pointer and crept towards the corner to take a peek into a large open cavern.
He stared with his two brown eyes at a light blue dragon. Unnervingly enough, the dragon was ready for him; it was already staring back with two cherry orbs of its own. Ducking back behind his corner, David took in a deep breath and held it.
“I see you.”
The voice was a raspy baritone that carried a tinge of amusement on its edges. David saw fit to stay still as the voice continued speaking.
“Do not fear, wanderer. The night is for words, the day is for actions.”
Hesitatingly, David withdrew from his corner and began to approach the dragon. At least, he assumed it was a dragon; it looked real enough to him.
Nearby, a hovering gout of blue flame kept the area warm and lit. It was definitely the source of the increasing warmth David had felt when descending into the cave. David made sure to slip closer to it as discreetly as he could. The vibrations in the walls had stopped, and David no longer heard the faint buzz that had occupied his ears. The azure dragon had slitted red eyes that watch David’s every move closely. A pair of wings sat folded neatly on the dragon’s sides, and a large gold band hung around its neck.
“When you have acclimated yourself to my presence, then we will speak.” The dragon spoke slowly, but not too slowly.
It’s slow pace relaxed David somewhat, and the man soon found himself laughing awkwardly, though he did have to run a hand over the bristling hairs on the back of his neck. “No, I’m comfortable, it’s warmer here than outside.”
“I would not be able to tell.” The dragon shuffled its wings and leant its long neck down, inspecting David with calculating eyes. From up close, the towering size of the dragon was both impressive and terrifying. It was easily larger than a family home. “My scales protect me from such environmental effects.”
“Yeah, well…” David tugged on his robe. “I don’t have that luxury.”
“I have noticed.” The dragon eased back, causing David to let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “Pray tell, what do you call yourself?”
“David.” He reached a hand out. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, he added, “I’m a human.”
The dragon brought out one of its claws and placed it between the two. David held onto the claw and gave it a hard shake, though it did not move the dragon’s clawed hand even an inch.
“Whistler.” With a chuckle that made the cave system and David’s eardrums rumble, Whistler humored David. “I am a dragon.”
David grinned in reply. “I’ve noticed.”
Whistler set his claw down on the ground again, but then went to work tracing a small circle. David took a step back to watch the dragon work. Something arcane was in play here, as the etched lines began to glow with the same blue color as the hovering fire. David’s mouth dropped agape in awe as Whistler finished and put his claw away again, the two left to watch the process taking place on the floor. The drawing flashed with a bright white light, leaving in its place a now non-glowing rock surface and a strange gold item.
“Take it.”
David looked up at Whistler strangely. “What is it?”
“A gift.”
Not wanting to be rude, David stepped forward and picked up the object. There was something familiar about the object, and off of a gut feeling, David decided to ask a strangely specific question to Whistler.
“Uh… is this a lamp?”
The dragon looked vaguely surprised. “You know of the form?”
David shook his head. “I have no clue what you just did with the magic floor stuff, but this reminds me of a lamp.” He held the lamp-esque object up and inspected it.
A thin golden ring formed a handle for an equally golden frame that housed a glowing cyan gem. It was a solid, unblemished gemstone, and upon pressing his open hand to the stone, David found that it was warm. After pulling his hand away, David found a small steaming imprint left behind on the crystal. Apparently, the lamp served as both a form of light and heat.
“Magic floor stuff?” Whistler laughed heartily, shaking the cavern again. “It is rune magic, and yes, it is indeed a lamp. One of the finer ones from my collection.”
David smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Whistleer…but uh, if you don’t mind me asking,” his smile turned to light confusion, “why did you give this to me?”
Whistler grinned and looked to the floor as he began another carving.
“Many travellers leave prepared for their journeys, but you look as if you have never ventured from your homestead even once in your life.”
David sighed. “Yeah, well. I didn’t really want to leave my house. I had clothes, food…” He trailed off. “...shelter.”
“I suspected as much.” Whistler finished off his latest carving. It was followed by another flash and the appearance of a messenger bag that was tiny in comparison to the dragon. As Whistler flipped open the bag, he said to David, “Tell me of your home.”
David sat down and pulled the lamp close to him, mulling over his thoughts. While he had questions to ask the dragon, he felt as if the gift and the prospect of being in what could be the dragon’s home was an all too clear invitation for him to indulge in the dragon’s interests. David scratched the surface of the gold with a fingernail, and was surprised to find that it was not simply a coat of gold paint.
“It’s a nice place,” he began. “Rural area. Lots of farmland around. I live on a farm with my dad. He works the farm with his employees, and I drive to the city every weekday to go to college.”
The dragon hummed thoughtfully. “Is your father well-educated?”
“Well, yeah. It takes some technical know-how to take care of the farm equipment and run a business, so he’s got some college education. Why do you ask?”
“I am simply curious.” The dragon looked up from the bag with a small piece of parchment. “Ah, blast.” Grumbling with a huff of black smoke that barely managed to clear David’s head, Whistler put the paper away again. “Another visit to the Equestrians is in order.”
Whistler shook his head and pushed the bag aside gently. “I am curious because I have never met any of you ‘humans’ before.” He leant forward slowly, snout nearly pressing up against David’s face. “And I have travelled a vast majority of the Earth’s lands.”
Whistler slipped back again before his looming presence became too overbearing. “Tell me, are you from this land, David?”
“Uh, if we’re on Earth—” Whistler raised an eyebrow at David’s uneasy pronunciation of Earth “—then yeah, maybe. You got a map?”
The dragon kept his brow cocked but pulled a folded piece of parchment from his bag nonetheless. He slipped it to David, who unfolded it carefully.
“Equestria? The Griffon Empire?” David scratched his head. “I… I don’t know any of these places.”
Whistler frowned. “That is most strange to hear.”
The human kept his eyes glued to the parchment. “Which mountain range are we in right now?”
The earth cracked beneath Whistler as he leaned over and placed a claw on the crinkly map.
“Here.”
David eyed the selection as Whistler leant away again. “The Hollow Shade Mountains?” A burst of laughter suddenly escaped David as his hand shot to the east of his previous point. “Fillydelphia? Really?”
Whistler gave a light smile at the human’s amusement. “The Equestrians have quite a… pony-like way, when naming their homes.”
“I think it’s cute,” David said, folding the map neatly. He handed the parchment back to Whistler, then settled back down.
“Do not let the ponies hear you saying that, they may take you as a flirtatious one.”
“Um, what?”
Whistler chuckled. “That was a joke, David.”
“Oh, ha.” David pulled his new lamp closer and watched as Whistler went about making yet another circle, this time centering it around the messenger bag, “Whatcha doing now?”
Whistler finished the final line and watched as the bag disappeared with a pop and flash of light.
“Wow, that is just… amazing.”
Whistler blew on the hovering blue flame nearby, fueling it for a little longer. “Of course. You have never seen a rune-wielding dragon before, have you?”
“I haven’t seen a dragon before, period.”
The dragon pulled back with an inch of surprise. “Really?”
David nodded.
“Then you must tell me about it in the morning.” The dragon’s eyes squeezed shut as he laid his head down. “I may not be hibernating now, but I require as much sleep as the next being.”
David watched the dragon for a moment longer, then leant back against a stone walls and shut his own eyes, the warm lamp tucked neatly into his robe for warmth.
“Thank you, Whistler.”
The dragon snorted a puff of ash from his nostrils. “Sleep well, David.”
David awoke to a plume of smoke in his face. Coughing awake, he waved a hand in front of his face to dissipate the ash. His noise woke Whistler. The dragon lifted his head and exposed his red eyes to the light of the blue flame, a frown gracing his lips.
“I apologize.”
“You’re—” David hacked into a hand “—you’re good.” Groaning, he settled back against the wall and undid his robe, pulling the small lamp out and setting it aside.
“When we last left off,” Whistler began, “you agreed to share your lack of dragon sightings, correct?”
David yawned, covering his mouth with a hand. “Yeah, sounds about right.”
Whistler made a gesture with his claw. “Go on then.”
David readjusted himself, then began to tamper with the ring on his lamp as he spoke.
“Well, from where I come from, dragons aren’t real. I mean, we’ve heard of them in fiction and such, but as a real, living and breathing creature? Never. Same goes for the… the Equestrians, right? Yeah.”
“You say you are not from here, and you seem to have no knowledge as to where you are here. The map truly did not help you determine your position in comparison to your home?”
David shook his head.
“Hmm. Most peculiar indeed.”
“My home… I already told you about where I live, but the world I live in has no other sentient—no—sapient creatures besides us humans. We’ve always been looking for other intelligent life, but so far, the closest we’ve come are just a handful of sentient creatures that are just smarter than average.”
“Do you not get lonely?”
David blinked. “Sorry?”
“I cannot imagine a land of one species alone. The Equestrians may have managed it for such a time, but their exploration era arose as a result of their desire to find other intelligent beings like them.”
The human sat up. “We’ve been looking for years, and it still seems like there aren’t any other intelligent beings close by. But you being here, and the existence of this weird planet I’ve never seen before?” He shook his head. “Unthinkable.”
Whistler laughed and stood, smiling broadly. “I suppose it is quite eye opening, is it not?”
“Yeah…” David mumbled. “If this is even real.” The pain in his feet told him it was very much real.
“Would you care to join me, David?”
David clambered to his feet. “Where to?”
Whistler’s grin grew wider. “Do you have another place to be?”
David bit his lip. Slowly, he shook his head. “No.”
“Then come.”
Whistler stomped out of the cave, bowing his head low to fit through the much more cramped tunnel. David did not think it was on purpose, it was simply the sheer size and weight of the dragon that caused his reverberating steps. Swallowing thickly, David picked up the lamp and followed after his new guide. The blue flame disappeared behind them with a faint puff of smoke.
Whistler was waiting for him outside, and it was there that David found the dragon stretching his wings and legs.
“As I live and breathe,” Whistler groaned. “This must be the brightest day that Celestia has brought in the past decade.”
David certainly agreed. He was glad to see that the lamp in his hand stopped heating itself as soon as they were in the warm morning sunlight; a nice touch to an already elegant tool. Unfortunately, the cold mountain air still blew harshly against the land. David figured now would be a good time to talk to Whistler as they walked to… wherever Whistler was leading them.
“Where are we going?”
“A watering hole. Then, Fillydelphia.”
“What’s up with that anyway?” Whistler threw a questioning glance back at David. “With the Equestrians, I mean,” the human reiterated.
“Ah.” Whistler returned to looking forward. “I suppose being unaware of the world you stand in has its conundrums.” David caught up to Whistler as the dragon began a long spiel.
“The Equestrians are ponies, divided into three tribes: the earth ponies, unicorns, and the pegasi. They are ruled by the benevolent Princess Celestia and the shadowed Princess Luna. We currently stand in their lands, and though we may not be the citizens of their homeland, we must respect their laws. Here in the uncolonized Hollow Shade Mountains, we are beyond their jurisdiction, but that does not mean we should not respect their laws and policies.” Whistler tapped the ground for emphasis. “Other dragons such as myself have used the caves here to rest, but it is strictly prohibited to hibernate here.”
“Wait, why is hibernation so bad for you?”
Whistler paused and turned to David slowly.
“It is not bad for a dragon, it is perfectly healthy to do so. No—” Whistler turned and began walking again “—it is the dwellers around who suffer. Tens of hundreds of years may pass before we awaken, and until then, our flame will continue to burn within us, devastating the land with black smoke and ash.”
David blinked twice. “Yeesh… that sounds pretty bad.”
“Indeed it is.” Whistler sighed and stretched his large wings again. “But that is the life we live.”
The two walked silently for a time. David spoke up a while later, his thoughts finally formed fully.
“So this is real.”
“Hmm?”
“I feel the pebbles between my toes as I walk. They hurt.” David caught up to Whistler and cautiously placed a hand on the dragon’s blue scales. “You’re real. I can feel you breathing, your heart pumping, your scales against my skin.” Shuddering, David pulled away. “It still seems all too surreal.”
Whistler was quiet.
“That means that those ponies are real. The unicorns and pegasi? Earth ponies? Other dragons are real. Civilizations exist. Fillydelphia? The Griffon Empire?” David shook his head and stared forward. “I don’t know how I got here, but this place seems too crazy to be real, and yet...”
Whistler sighed, then gave a gentle nudge to the tired-looking human.
“You have much to learn, young David.”
“Can you teach me?”
Whistler looked down at the smaller creature with a cocked brow. “Pardon?”
“You seem smart. Can you teach me about this place?”
“There…” Whistler sucked in a deep breath, “there is quite a lot to teach you, David.” Suddenly, a thought struck the dragon. “Writing is a good way to retain such knowledge, however.”
“But I don’t have anything to write with.” David paused. “Wait, are you saying…?”
“We are here.”
David looked over the crystal clear lake where a deer and rabbit sat drinking. Both looked up, momentarily surprised at the pair’s sudden appearance. David was amazed to see that they went back to drinking almost immediately.
“Drink to your fill. Then, we fly.”
“I’ll take advantage of your offer, but…” David looked to Whistler “...are you really suggesting that you teach me like… like a student and teacher sort of thing?”
Whistler laughed softly and stepped down to the water’s edge. He cast a look back to David.
“It is difficult to remember knowledge through memory alone, even as a dragon with a capacity for deep-memory storage. If you write for me, however, we both may benefit; you will learn, and I will retain.”
Smiling, Whistler leant down to the water’s edge and took a large swallow of the crystal clear liquid. His head came up again once.
“My claws are too big to write precisely, but you may do it for me.”
Whistler went back to drinking.
David opened his mouth to speak, but let it close on its own. Eyeing the deer and the rabbit, the two still drinking side-by-side, David approached the water and knelt down himself. He splashed a bit of water into his face and stared at his reflection. Looking around at the three creatures drinking, David slowly shook his head and sank down to drink.
“How did I get here?” he whispered, his brown eyes trapped to his reflection yet again.
When Whistler had said that they would fly, David had not suspected he would be invited to ride upon the dragon’s back. He eyed the lamp he had been given, now hanging by Whistler’s neckband for their flight, then looked up into the dragon’s eyes.
“Are… are you sure this is safe?”
“I will not let you fall,” Whistler promised.
Despite his fear of the dragon, David believed his honest tone.
Sucking in a deep breath, David scrambled up Whistler’s side and onto the large dragon’s back. His legs didn’t fit over both sides of the dragon, so he placed himself on the dragon’s thick neck, his legs sloped comfortably enough across Whistler’s flat back. Whistler stood straight again.
“Hold fast, David. I will not let you fall, but you must not let yourself fall.”
Within seconds, the dragon was in the air. It was a much more graceful takeoff than David had expected. Whistler’s wings flapped in tandem every so often to keep himself ascending steadily, but again, they were nothing like harsh flaps that whipped the wind as the human had initially imagined. David peered past the dragon’s neck at the land below, and was amazed at the bright colors that called up to him. The darkness of the previous night had held a beautiful world away from him, and he was very glad that he had not run away from the dragon upon first sight; David didn’t know where he would be now if he had run, but he knew that it would not be up in the sky soaring just beneath the clouds.
“This view is amazing!”
“You may thank the ponies for that!” Whistler called over the wind.
David’s black hair flicked past him, and in a moment of both courage and stupidity, David let go of Whistler’s neck and reached up to touch the altostratus clouds above. His hands passed through the cloud layer, causing a smooth divide that spanned the middle of the clouds. Whistler, upon hearing David’s gleeful laughter, burst through the clouds, spraying water vapor everywhere. David shook his head and looked around, amazed to find a white ocean before him.
The sun illuminated the cotton land before him in a delightful hue of yellow. Further above, the higher altitude clouds soared, plastering the morning sky with white. It was with a wide grin that David placed his hands back down on Whistler’s neck; there was something truly magical to flying above the clouds and seeing the early morning sun amongst the cerulean sky.
All too soon, however, Whistler dove back beneath the clouds.
“And to think, you get to do this all the time!”
Whistler belted out a hearty laugh. “Should you choose to stay with me, you will enjoy such privilege as well!”
Smiling, David looked back down at the earth as Whistler brought them down from their high altitude flight. He could see what looked to be a thatch-roofed village not too far off, and pointed it out to Whistler.
“That’s Fillydelphia, right?”
“Yes, it is!”
“It’s really close!”
“We’ll be there soon enough!”
True to his word, within a short flight of about five minutes, Whistler had brought them both down to ground again. David climbed down from the dragon and let out a loud whoop.
“That…” David began laughing and put his hands on his knees. “That was quite a ride!”
Whistler cleared his throat. David looked to the dragon as he gestured around.
“Welcome to Equestria.”
David eyed the vivid green surroundings; the vibrant colors were even brighter up close.
“Well, it’s certainly… bright.”
“And the ponies are brighter.” Whistler made a motion. “Here comes the welcoming party now.”
Curious, David tightened his robe again and strode forward to see to the ponies’ approach.
“Well…” the man scratched at his head. “You aren’t wrong…”
“Mr. Whistler!” The leader of the vibrant-hued herd prodded forward with a beaming smile. He was a light brown pony with a charcoal mane, but unlike his fellows behind him, he did have a horn or wings. “It is a pleasure to see you here again!”
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Dang, despite the "doomed to fail" bit, this was definitely one of my favorite snippets in the recent batch of updates. I'm a sucker for first contact and pleasant conversations xP
On that note, thanks for publishing these rather than hoarding them in a Google doc. These are fun
10798954
Yeah, I've always had a soft spot for these kinds of starts; it's a big reason as to why I cash in on HiE so often. And like a lot of these ideas, I would've probably gone through with this if I had started working on it years in advance, because by 2017 it was doomed to fail.
Thanks for reading and commenting!