Failure, Eternally Retold, Part Two: Nature's Blessings

by Kiernan

Chapter the Third: Trial by Fire

It was exceptionally hot the following morning. A magma vent had popped out of the ground overnight, and there was molten rock draining down along the side of the force field. Kai and Twilight shared a knowing smile, glad they'd seen this as a possible outcome. If they hadn't, Twilight's tent, as well as their wooden cart, would have been up in flames in the middle of the night.

"Somepony should stay behind and make sure our equipment stays safe," said Twilight. "I would say either Kai or myself, as we're the only unicorns. I volunteer, because I believe Kai would more likely know what he's doing in regards to the challenge."

"I doubt those are all of your reasons, but I agree," nodded Kai. "You should stay behind for this one. I don't know if you've ever dealt with a dragon before, but they--"

"Dragons!?" squeaked Fluttershy. "There are d-dragons up there?"

Kai thought for a moment. "I think just one the last I heard, but my information may be outdated."

Fluttershy shook her head and retreated into her tent. "No, no, no. No dragons for me, thanks."

Kai poked his head into her tent. "You don't like dragons? I thought you had a love for all creatures."

"Dragons are the exception!"

Kai nodded. "Okay. You can stay here and keep Twilight company. I'll go deal with the dragon."

"What, you're just going to leave me behind?" asked Nik.

Kai looked up. "That's not what I said. Did you want to go with me?"

It's not that he wanted to go, per se, but rather a combination of feeling that he should go mixed with a desire to not be stuck inside the wagon all day again. He'd been across the Equestrian countryside, but he'd barely seen any of it. He wanted to spend some time not sitting in a wooden box. Plus, he'd never seen a real dragon. Much like unicorns and pegasi, they were fictional creatures where he'd come from. "Of course I want to go. Let's be on our way, already."

After about half an hour of climbing, neither Kai nor Nik could see the camp anymore. It wasn't a steep climb, only reaching about a thirty degree grade at the most intense, but there were some rather large rocks to either scale or walk around. For the first stretch, there was no conversation, but as soon as they were sure nopony else could hear them, it began.

"Did you know that Fluttershy was afraid of dragons?"

Kai shook his head. "This is the first I'm hearing of it."

"That's a lousy excuse," scoffed Nik. "I thought you liked her."

"Was your boss allergic to lingonberries, Nik?"

"How would I know that?"

"I thought you were friends?" smirked Kai. "If it doesn't come up in conversation, how does anypony know anything about anypony else? This is the first time she and I talked about dragons, so this is the first I'm being made aware of her phobia. And now I can proceed with that knowledge."

"Still, I feel it's a sign of a good relationship if you can tell each other what you're afraid of. That way you can protect them from it."

Kai stopped and turned around. "And what are you afraid of, Nikolas?"

Nik had to stop and think for a minute. He considered answering honestly, but then he shook his head. "I don't think you and I should be sleeping together. Not exactly the best relationship between us."

Kai let out a deep laugh as he continued up the mountain. "I don't think you're my type, no."

It didn't take particularly long for them to find what they were looking for: a hole carved into the side of the mountain by a small explosion. The main reason they knew it was the right place was because there were hoofprints leading into it. Somepony was living here, in an active volcano. Clearly, this was the right place.

A short walk in led them to a carved stone archway. As soon as they stepped through, Kai pushed Nik back, just in time to avoid a flying piece of ceramic that shattered against the wall. "What do you think you're doing here!?" barked a very angry-looking earth pony. "Leave, now!"

He was immediately tackled by a young pegasus mare. "Found you!" she called out, pinning him to the ground and planting her lips on his.

From a nearby lava pit, a scaly head popped out and rested on the rocks. "What did I tell you about playing around when I'm trying to sleep?" asked a grumpy-looking dragon. "Don't you have any respect for--" As he suddenly realized there were two other beings in his presence, he turned to face them. "Who are you?"

Kai cleared his throat and stepped forward. "We don't want to take up too much of your time. We just want to pass your trial and collect your token."

As Nik nodded, the dragon looked at the other two, still wrestling amongst themselves. "I suppose it's up to me, then." As he clawed his way out of his pool, molten stone dripped off of him, popping as it hit the ground until he kicked it back into the pool of molten stone. "Come on, let's go."

He led them out of the cave and further up the mountain, dragging his tail in the dirt, making it easy to follow his trail. Neither Kai nor Nik had ever directly interacted with a dragon before, so there was understandably a bit of fear in both of them, brought on by the inexperience of not having spent any time interacting with dragons.

When they reached the peak, the dragon turned around and faced them. "Okay. Your challenge is a simple one." he pointed to a pile of bright red rocks. "Heat shoots out through a vent underneath those stones. Cook me a meal."

Kai and Nik looked at each other confusedly, then back to the dragon. "Are you serious?" asked Kai, an incredulous look on his face. "That's it?"

"Look, all the tenets say is that you have to prove that you have some amount of mastery over fire," explained the dragon. "This way, I can go back to my nap. Use whatever ingredients you can conjure up, but keep in mind that I'm allergic to shellfish." He yawned and laid down. "Wake me when you're done."