Ponyfinder: Potions and Swords

by David Silver

16 - The Laws of Dragons

"You are healthy."

"I am." Longma did not deny that, smiling with pride. "See how my scales glisten." She raised a hand into view, curling her fingers to show off her manicured claws, as deadly as they were shiny, thanks to a little care.

"You are successful," continued the other great beast, speaking with Longma in the hissing tongue of dragons.

"That's hurtful." Longma frowned at the other one. "I told you my rift got trashed. I'll get a new one, no doubt, but a rift dragon without a rift? Successful?"

"You should see mine." He slid in closer, trying to get his snout close to hers, but she edged away just far enough. "Don't be cold. There's room enough for two..."

Longma rolled her eyes. "Only if one dragon is atop the other, which I imagine is exactly what you're hoping for."

"You're in season," hissed the male. "Does that not... encourage you?"

Longma hiked a scaled ridge. "I will assume you are addled by my enchanting presence. You should know by looking at me that I am not a young little hatchling."

"A great and powerful wyrm," crooned the male in a complimenting way. "Majestic and worthy of my time. Let us do as our natures demand."

"Nuh-uh." She shoved the male back, knocking a few trees over with his skidding form. "I'm old enough to not be a slave to that. You are too. Seriously, to come making such a fuss just because you got a whiff of me?"

He flared his wings wide, glaring at her. "Don't be unreasonable... Besides, I have not had eggs in too long. And last wasn't even a rift dragon, I am shamed to say."

"Bet you weren't 'shamed' at the time," scoffed Longma. "Typical male, embarrassed only after the fact. Like it even counts then."

In the distance, the friends of Longma watched on, not understanding the language, but watching the movement and trying their best to pick up on the emotions being displayed.

"I've gone over how lovely you are, why not give me a turn?" The other rift dragon buffed his claws, not touched up expertly, but at least healthy and serviceable. "I have a rift with a nice tiny entrance, but the inside can fit half a city," he hissed with pride and joy. "You should see it, marvelous. The denizens are helpful too. Intelligent, eager to please their betters. Probably useless in a scrap, but that's what they have me for."

"Element?"

A curious question for some, but the male dragon seemed to understand the question without an issue. "That's another curious part. While there I am charged with the power of the mind. My breath is a burning cone, not of fire, but of psychic noise. Quite nice. Come, visit... I do not like guests, but for you, an exception..."

"Rare is the dragon that likes unasked for guests." Longma rolled her eyes at the thought. "But common is one that wouldn't mind a potential partner stopping by. But I'm busy!" She jumped at him. To his credit, he hopped back, only to lunge at her, their claws meeting in a moment of struggle before both backed away, sharing their glare.

"What could be occupying you?" He circled her cautiously, expecting another attack perhaps. "It will only be a moment, and you'll enjoy it."

"You're not selling yourself well there. Only a moment." She scoffed softly, lifting into the air on grand wings. "I want to watch these little insects of mine. Their frantic scrambles are more interesting to me right now than everything you've offered. Oh, did that sting? Good. Now go the hell away."

He roared with breath, but he was not in an elemental place. Like Longma, his breath came as a futile puff of sparkling potential, a threat to no one but his own dignity in its sparkling vapor. "Damn you to the deepest depths," he fumed and raged. "Is this how you--"

She landed on him, claw holding his face down. "Gonna cut you off right there. Offering the chance to roost some eggs is not a favor. You aren't hot enough for me to pay for. You asked, I answered. Act your age." She hopped free, slashing his face on the way. As she struck the ground, it trembled with the impact. "You're playing a mewling young adult with nothing better to do than sow his oats in any field that'll hold still a moment."

The time for flowery words was at an end, the offended great wyrm lunging for Longma, not to pounce or promise, but with gnashing teeth and claw. Patience expended, he became a tornado of fury, and the fight was on in earnest between them.

"It seems talk has reached its end, we should go and help our friend." Zecora pointed at the two great behemoths that crashed against one another.

Aeorean took off like a bolt. He was much smaller than most of the others on the field of battle, but he was doing his best to make up for it by being small, and fast. That he controlled the forces of nature was also a perk. With a primal cry of power, lightning struck him from above, only to bounce free towards the male dragon. "Leave her alone!"

For all the creature's pathetic size, its magic stung all the same, the dragon roaring with renewed fury at the sudden electrical arc that ran over and through his form. "The ants scurry to defend you. Is this how far you fell?" he taunted in the dragon's tongue, smirking as he brought in a wing to crash into Longma's side with the force of a falling house. "Face me at least."

"I." Longma grabbed the wing before it could get away. "Owe." Her claws dug into the relatively fragile flesh that made up the wing's membrane. "You nothing!" She pulled her claws apart, blood spraying the area as they fell away from each other, the male's wing savaged with a new wound.

Dragons were many things. Stupid was not one of them. For all he insulted the little things, he knew what power they had, and that several were approaching made his odds look... poor, when placed alongside the angered she-wyrm. He could mount a grand battle, surely, but win it? That seemed... unlikely.

"Another time." But he didn't fly away. Well, he did, but not from all of them. He was on Aeorean in a flash, his injured wing barely slowing him down. "Was this your favorite?" He couldn't know, and he couldn't wait to be sure. He dug his claws into the squealing pegasus, teeth coming in sharply. In an instant, the champion was rended into without mercy, his broken body thrown aside. "Get better pets."

Longma spoke the strange words of a spell, several images of her springing into being in a confusing display, all moving with her, making it hard to tell where she was standing exactly. "I will tear you apart so badly, you'll be able to lay eggs yourself!"

But he wasn't fighting. He was leaving. His point, as small as it was, had been made.

Zecora raced to find Aeorean where he had been tossed. The pegasus was flopped across the ground, not hidden, but also not really moving. Zecora was on him, drawing out herbs and supplies to treat him as quickly as she could.

Longma's approaching steps were hard to miss, the ground shuddering softly with each hurried step. "Did he break the birdbrain?" she asked, leaning in over the tree line to get a better view of things. "Damn it all. He was trying to help me."

"To enter into a lover's fued. A reprise that was quite rude." Zecora reached for the pegasus's head, carefully getting it at a less unnatural angle, a wince on her face. "Jon followed your commands to the letter. Informing him gently would be better."

"Yeah..." Longma leaned in as if she was about to fall over, but the bulk that struck the ground was that of just a pony, at Zecora's side, strangely patterned with multiple copies moving about at odd angles. The spell had not stopped just because the battle did. "He'll be upset, won't he?"

Zecora did not answer, occupied as she was with trying to keep Aeorean with them. She was bandaging the worst of the bleeding, applying pressure and herbs to slow the oozing loss of life's water.

"Damn him... Damn it all." Longma turned away from Zecora and her work. "He wasn't wrong, in a way. When a beekeeper gets too close to their bees, the insects suffer." She glanced over her shoulder at Zecora. "Tell Jon I said he did well. Tell him I'm not angry with him."

"Why do you not--" But Zecora didn't get to finish her words, a strong gust of wind almost knocking her over. Longma was leaving in another direction then the male dragon had. She was left alone with the broken Aeorean and a story to bring back to Jon. She didn't even bother finishing her rhyme, instead letting out a slow sigh. That day had... not gone well.

---

The guard quirked an ear as another guard spoke something into it. "It seems the dragons are leaving. This crisis is over." He sat with a relieved smile. "Thank you for cooperating, even if it didn't come down to much this time. We appreciate when people work with us. We're here for your safety, you know."

A good cop? Jon wasn't angry at that. "You did your best, thanks. Anybody get hurt in all that?"

"Thank the gods nothing severe." He shook his head lightly. "Mostly property damage, and that too was, relatively mild considering what we were dealing with. A great wyrm shows up and 'mild property damage' is a call for celebration more than anything else. No offense to yours. All the reports agreed with what you said, she was just visiting, and being a good citizen while she was. If all dragons could be that way."

"That'd be nice." Though Jon struggled to imagine all the dragons of a world just peacefully chilling in its various cities. Would they still be dragons? "Still, glad this worked out then. My friends should be back soon, if it's all calmed down. Wait, you said 'the dragons'? Both of them left?" Wait... "Together?"

"Different directions," corrected the guard with a nod. "Both away from the city, thank the sun." He let out a relived grunt. "Now, been right nice chattin', but I really should get back to work." He inclined his head down a road. "City won't patrol itself."

"Sure, of course." Jon waved as the guard pony trotted off to find something in need of his presence. If all cops were ponies, there'd be less trouble, he decided, though that was terribly unlikely, at least in the world he had come from. But Longma had taken off? What had he missed? And why weren't the others already back?

It was time to find out. He began in the direction Aeorean and Zecora had left a short time before. "Won't leave the city." Or even the road he started on. The odds would only go up that they'd miss each other and then they'd all be lost.

He reached into a pocket to feel the comforting weight of coins in there. Worst came to worst, he'd be able to manage a little while if they really got lost.

Author's Note:

The party's fortunes take a sharp turn. Say goodbye to having a dragon around.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Owww.. Zecora needs to roll some serious critical sucesses, be even better if she gets an exploder if possible? That aint damage normal basic healing can even stabilise?

[Earthpatriot117]

I...dont know what to say. It happened so fast, did NOT expect any of that! I mean it's bad enough that longma left, Aeorean is on his death bed as well. If I was Jon I wouldn't know what to do, I'd be beating myself up for letting them go alone, but for some reason it never clicked that zecora or Aeorean would join the battle. In hindsight it should have been obvious, Aeorean is like jon when it comes to treasuring friendships, no matter the odds he would aid his companions! A mistake I bet he plans on never making again.
I can only pray that Aeorean makes it. Zecora out of the whole team is his best chance of making it, at least until they can get to a healer. Is there nothing Jon could do Besides carrying him? Does he have an item somewhere on him that could help?
Then theres deciding on what to do when, you heard me right, WHEN Aeorean gets better what should they do? Is it even possible to try and find longma? Odds are extremely low unfortunately, unless they have outside help. Then they have to decide if they go after her. If not, I'll certainly be sad, I'll miss longma, but hopefully we see her again.

[Chrome Masquerade]

"You should see mine." He slid in closer, trying to get his snout close to hers, but she edged away just far enough. "Don't be cold. There's room enough for two..."

"A great and powerful wyrm," crooned the male in a complimenting way. "Majestic and worthy of my time. Let us do as our natures demand."

I had no idea that dragons could be so red-blooded.