Ponyfinder: Potions and Swords

by David Silver

6 - Across the Threshold

They entered, crossing that line between the outside and the inside. Jon at the front, sword out and ready. "Will there be hints if we're getting close to the portal?"

"Rift," corrected Aeorean. "And, usually, yes. Tends to be related to what they are. This one has a lot of cold things, so expect ice and snow and things." He looked around quickly as the went down a hallway. "So far all clear."

Zecora raised a hoof up, a touch of snow at the end. "They have come through here. I suggest quiet, and to use your ear."

"I'll use both of 'em!" Aeorean flapped up, tagging off of Jon as if he were a convenient platform and propeling himself forward while knocking Jon back with the great shove of hooves.

Jon frowned at the rough treatment, and the druidic pegasus speeding ahead of him. "I'm supposed to be on point," he grunted with growing annoyance. They had a plan. A plan! Despite that, they advanced.

"Now we're talking," came his enthusiastic call. "All the snow we left behind."

Hurrying up, they could see Aeorean had found a turnoff that went from a dark hallway to a brightly lit snowy field with no roof in sight. "That is a rift. No doubt about it." He waved a hoof wildly at the impossible geometry before them. "To close one of these, easy. You go in, find the biggest, nastiest thing? You punch it." He swung a hoof in a firm swing, spinning in the air. "Do it right and, poof, gone. You closed it."

Zecora inclined her head at the strange sight. "It seems into winter's embrace we march one more. 'Tis strange to see stone give way to snow and icy décor." She advanced across the new barrier, a shiver running through her as the temperature plunged in that instant. The cape she still wore ruffled and flowed with wind that hadn't pierced the hallway they used to be in.

Aeorean zipped in over Zecora's head. "Oh wow."

Jon pressed in behind them, looking where the pegasus was staring. "Aw damn it..." In the distance, a dragon with folded wings in a fanning forward in front of itself was being attended by a large mob of chilly beings. "At least tell me that is the biggest thing in here?" What rated over a dragon? Was that an adult, or an ancient? In person, he had no idea, just a memory that there was a difference. "Gonna guess it's a cold dragon." But it was the wrong color for a cold dragon. Cold dragons were white, right? That one was a vibrant purple shade.

Aeorean shook his head quickly. "If there's something bigger than that, we may be outclassed." He rubbed behind his head. "Now, uh... seeing as it's... kinda big... maybe we should try something besides punching it."

Zecora raised a brow softly. "Were you hoping for something small? Alas, instead of a moderate beast, we face a dragon tall." She sat up, crossing her arms in almost a pout. "To punch a dragon rarely ends well. Perhaps it is with words this situation we quell."

"One thing." Aeorean wobbled his hoof at the great gathering before the dragon. "They probably don't want us bothering their, uh, lord and master. Or maybe their lady? I'm not so good at knowing with dragons."

Jon hadn't put much thought into it. A dragon was a dragon. It could be a boy dragon or a girl dragon, in theory... The distant shape certainly told him nothing. "If... What if we just come like we're awe struck? If we're just another worshiper of the mighty dragon, why would they be mad?"

"Good idea!" Aeorean landed in the snow with a crunch. "I mean, look at them. They are a great and awesome dragon, right?"

"With teeth long and a breath that would scorch, We shall approach it, like a moth to a torch." Zecora started ahead, the others coming in along her. "Act natural, there is nothing odd to see. Why wouldn't we approach? That's the natural place to be."

And so they did approach, directly, in the open. That they were there was no secret to any. A screech came from above, one of the little demon-like ice creatures pointing a hoof down at them, growling and muttering. Others spoke back to it in strange airy words, and more gathered to peer at them.

The ground beneath them heaved as a much smaller dragon came into view, erupting from the snow just ahead of them. "Stop right there," demanded the human-sized orange beast, their wings flared out. "You're going out of your way to die in an interesting place."

Aeorean gasped dramatically. "Are you the kid of the big dragon? Aw that's so cute! Hi!"

The smaller dragon seemed a bit taken aback at the gushingly warm speak. "I am not cute!" they huffed defensively. A boy? They sounded male. "What have you come for, besides to perish at our claws?"

Jon pointed up at the still screeching and talking snow demon. "What are they saying?"

The dragon huffed. "Pay the mephit no mind. They say you had a fight with them, but who hasn't around here? Little pissers, they get on everyone's nerve at some point. They didn't kill you, obviously. That would have been... sad. Pathetic, really."

Zecorea instead directed a hoof at the large dragon behind the smaller one still some distance away. "We came with admiration and wonder. Your... superior is as hard to miss as a clap of thunder."

"She is kinda big, and awesome," boated the dragon, proud in her sake. "And she's watching us. Watching me specifically."

"Why haven't you eaten them already?" asked the larger one, a booming voice that sounded more bored than anything else. "They could hurt you."

Jon put up his hands. "We wouldn't hurt someone's kid in front of them. Now that's just rude."

The dragon snorted at that, nostrils flaring with licks of electricity crackling before him. "I'm not an infant." He looked over his shoulder, bellowing, "I got it under control!" Looking back to the interlopers, he huffed. "I swear, she thinks she's my mother, which she is not."

Aeorean clopped his forehooves together. "Oh. Are you friends? Lovers? Just neighbors?"

"She's an intruder," he groaned sufferingly. "She parked her big butt and now everyone's paying attention to her. I hate it, and her, but don't tell her I said that."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Jon looked between the two dragons, trying to put it together. "Wait, you were here, in this snowy place, to start then?"

"Yes. I am the true and proper master!" He reared up on his hind legs, striking a magnificent pose.

At least until Jon drew his sword. Even as the dragon began to fall forward onto all fours, Jon had surged ahead, plunging it under that falling chest, thrusting the sharp of the blade up into the dragon's chest as it rattled and hissed with surprised pain. The other two stared with dumbfounded shock as Jon wrenched his sword free just to bring it down in a cruel slice, chopping into the dragon's stunned neck.

Not that it severed. Not that one had to sever a neck to do telling damage, blood spraying out across the once white snow as the dragon thrashed and roared in dying fury.

Aeorean blinked softly. "Why did... Oh no." The rest of the crowd overhead descended upon them, angry, no, furious at what had just happened. Mephits, true elementals, and other ice-borne creatures descended on the group, turning it into a brawl to survive. "This wasn't the plan!"

"Give it... a second." He parried a heavy ice fist with his sword, which sent the sword flying and Jon staggering back. "If this works like you said it would, it'll be fine."

Zecora dived to the side as the area she had been standing in became a blizzard of driving flecks of ice and sub-zero winds. "Your methods leave some room for improvement, For now we should focus on our movement." She was working her way back towards the entrance, hurling with a flick of her neck a flash that exploded in brilliant fire, dispersing a small bit of the crowd, but there was plenty more rushing to take their place.

"You fools!" The crowd suddenly parted, scattering to all sides as the great dragon in the back stormed towards them, stomping the snow beneath its claws as she raged. "Damn you all! I will rip--" Suddenly they were in a dark place, their light sources visible. They were inside a building, the one they had started in.

Jon went to grab his sword from across the room where it had landed. "Portal closed."

"Rift," reminded Aeorean with a pouty huff. "And that was kinda mean. Effective! But also mean."

Zecora sank to her haunches, heaving for breath. "How did you know that would work? It seemed to me you had gone suddenly berserk."

"Nah." He slid his sword into its home. "The dragon, the one we were talking to. It was there first, and it was the largest thing if you discount what showed up afterwards."

Aeorean inclined his head slowly. "You're a genius. But you coulda tried talking to that dragon."

"Or," boomed a loud female voice. "You can try dying." The roof of the building quaked and crumbled as great draconic claws tore it off and free, revealing the scowling face of the larger dragon, clearly not as dismissed as the rest of the rift had been. "Impertinent little fool. Do you even know what you've done?!"

"I'm sorry?"

The dragon inclined her head faintly. "You're sorry? Seriously. Last I checked, your kind treats murder with a bit more gravity than 'oops, my bad.' Or am I completely misunderstanding how these work?"

Aeorean lifted into the air, hooves raised towards the angry dragon. "Sorry, um, ma'am. We were asked to close that rift is all."

"That rift is why I was there." She huffed a strangely sparkling bit of... something. What element it was, a mystery. "What is a rift dragon without a rift? Nothing. Well, more than all of you put together still, but..." She clacked two heavy claws together. "I didn't like that little twerp, too big for his britches, but he held the rift in place... Which you just took from me."

"You did warn him," noted Jon. "If he'd listened to his betters, he could have avoided that whole thing."

"Right?!" she boomed in almost a roar, wings fluttering before folding against her back. "Fool... Whatever... I'm without a rift, and annoyed, and now a little bored, so you will tell me why a pony, a human and a... What even are you?" She was peering at Zecora. "You are not a thing I have seen before. Like a pony... sort of..."

Zecora stopped trying to get out of sight. Beneath that shelf had seemed like such a fine idea... "I am Zecora, a brewer of fine potions. I assure you I did not mean to cause such emotions."

"You made those explosions? Nice... I never met an alchemist before." The dragon vanished from sight.

The three looked at one another, confused a moment before moving quietly for the exit, as if they could sneak away quietly enough they could avoid future problems.

"Took you long enough." There was a purple-furred pony with a brand of destiny of a swirling portal. "I'm joining you. No is not an option you want to entertain. Keep me amused and I won't exact a bloody revenge all over you. A fair trade? Not asking, let's go."

Aeorean slipped out past the menacing mare. "Wow, it's been a long time since I had a real party, but I have one now! A human warrior, a zebra alchemist, and a dragon?! That's actually pretty cool." He sounded pretty chipper about things. "Let's go!"

"And a pegasus druid," reminded Jon. "You count too."

The new party left the narrow valley with 100% less rifts, but with 1 more rift dragon among them.

Author's Note:

Say hello to our newest party mate! This can't possibly go wrong.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Okay, that was suprisingly brutal? Unless he had plenty of prior knowledge and experience of general Rift Monsters?

[badninja]

Well having a dragon is going to throw off the party’s challenge rating by quite a bit. I hope they can handle everything that will be thrown their way.

[Earthpatriot117]

Well, didn't see that coming. Xp
A dragon companion huh? Sounds awesome and actually badass! Thou not a friendly sort, and definitely not on good terms because of what happened, hopefully that will change. The dragon kinda reminds me of ember with a hint of diamond tiara. Lol
How large is she in dragon form? As a pony does she have any dragon characteristics like dragon eyes? Fangs? Claws instead of hooves? Dragon wings?
What's her name? Dont think it was ever mentioned.

[Crescent Glaive]

A rift dragon? First time i hear of such a dragon. Had to look it up and i do admit that i like the color of the dragon.
She IS a Pathfinder dragon, right?

[David Silver]

10812115
She's an Everglow dragon, so she's compatible with three different RPG systems and she doesn't even know it! Also I fixed the image link at the end, so you can see a picture of their splendor.

[Earthpatriot117]

10812300
I LIKE it!
How tall is she?

[David Silver]

10812725
As a dragon? She is a big girl who isn't taking any of your nonsense.

As a pony, she still isn't taking your shenanigans, but is normal for a pony. What's the point of hiding as a pony if you're still worrisome at a glance?

[Earthpatriot117]

10812733
Fair enough.

Lol

[David Silver]

10811204
He was told that 'the biggest thing holds the rift there'.

The dragon said it was in charge first.

1+1=Kill the dragon!

[Chrome Masquerade]

Say hello to our newest party mate! This can't possibly go wrong.

We'll soon find out.