Twilight's Dawn

by Dinkledash

Chapter 10: Diplomacy

Twilight Sparkle’s Log, 23rd day of Neighvember, in the year 11,546 AL via AutoQuill

The ship has been operating without my presence for the past two days. I’m afraid I’ve been feeling rather sorry for myself, and I have been neglecting my duties. However, I got out of my funk rather quickly when I heard the bell ringing and Rainbow Dash burst into my cabin saying “Dragon on deck!” This is the point at where I started recording.

I immediately donned the element of magic and followed Dashie. When I got to the deck, I saw that Pinkie Pie was giving the hairy eyeball to a reddish-brown dragon who had landed on our deck and was stretching out his wings. He was a little on the smallish side for a dragon, perhaps a little bigger than Princess Celestia had been. His scales shimmered with ruby and gold highlights in the noonday light and he preened for a moment. His features were fine and muscles rippled powerfully on his lean form. Then I caught his eye.

“Ah!” he said, in a surprisingly cultured voice, “an alicorn! Well! I believe that would make you a princess among your people, so if I may introduce myself to your highness, the name is Snargle. They call me that because when I growl, it sounds like a cross between a snarl and a gargle.” He bowed gracefully as he demonstrated his namesake and indeed his growling sounded quite like a snargle.

“WELL MET SNARGLE,” I replied using a toned down but still hopefully imperious Canterlot voice. “WE ARE THE PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, OF CANTERLOT.”

“THE Twilight Sparkle?” He seemed surprised, but how many lavender alicorns are there in the world? “Word of your deeds has reached to the West, madam. Did you not imprison Discord the trickster?” Perhaps they did not hear that he had been reformed. Whatever happened to Discord anyway? Did he fight in the last battle, or flee, or has he some yet undisclosed part in Celestia’s devious plans?

“INDEED WE DID. HOW DID YOU HEAR OF THIS? WE WERE NOT AWARE THAT THERE WAS TRAFFIC BETWEEN EAST AND WEST.”

“It is infrequent, your highness, owing to the vast distances and contrary currents, but sea dragons and sea ponies gossip with us fliers. Trade is not possible, except in the currency of information. As you can see, I speak the common tongue of the East with you. If I may ask your highness, to what do we in the impoverished West owe this honor?”

I saw no point in deceiving him. He was quite intelligent and would guess, and would certainly hear soon enough. I also decided I would not try to impress him further with the voice. “Canterlot…” I swallowed. “Canterlot has fallen.”

“To who? To what? All dragonkind could not have hoped to stand against the might of Sun and Moon.” He was aghast. Perhaps he hadn’t heard tales of Queen Chrysalis, or did not know of Luna’s earlier rebellion.

“An ancient curse of vengeance was cast upon us by spiteful Man.” The dragon flinched at that word, for dragons, griffons and all the other magio-genetic creations of self-indulgent, fantasy-drenched Man had fled with the Equines, and we were the last to escape, and thereby earned the full weight of Unslaad Yol’s wrath. "A demonic horde, summoned from the depths of space, invaded us through the Crystal Empire. All of Equestria is in ruins."

“Then you have my condolences, great princess. It is a tragedy for the entire world.” He bowed his head and closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up. “I have the honor of being an emissary of Dakroon Veigh, King of Dragons. Your vessel passes along the edge of his territorial waters and I was sent to investigate. Allow me to pass along how deep his majesty’s sorrow will be at hearing this weighty news. Are Sun and Moon both fallen?”

I should have asked his business before I revealed so much, but at least he had the honor to name himself emissary, else he would have been a much more effective spy. Perhaps the dragons of the West are more civilized than their Eastern cousins. Certainly this one appeared to be educated. “Once fallen, do not the sun and moon rise in due course?”

At this he tilted his head. He could tell I had departed from true candor and entered the realm of courtly rhetoric. I knew he wanted to ask me exactly what I meant by that statement, but was constrained by etiquette; that and a certain amount of pride. “Does this curse follow your people?”

“No, at least we do not believe so. It is a curse upon Equestria, to our knowledge, and spent once it believed all were slain. All were, however, not slain.”

“That is indeed a measure of blessing, but perhaps your curse is not all spent, your highness.” I shrugged, truly not knowing. “I take it you and your people are refugees. Beware, Princess Twilight, the west is not a kindly land. Not all dragons bend talon to Dakroon Veigh and his just laws, nor are all lands here free of the greatest scourge; Man.”

I could feel the physical reaction to my hearing that nightmare news. My skin must have blanched and my pupils dilated, and I barely kept myself from whimpering. “Say you jest sir.”

“A grim jest that would be indeed, your highness. Man is here, with his murders and his battles, his venality and stupidity in fine array. Many of their nations make unceasing war on dragonkind, stealing our treasures and slaying our kin for scales to fashion into armor and jewelry. Imagine that barbarity and heap that imagining upon itself a hundred times. And they ride against us on horses.”

“HORSES? You mean our ancestors, the un-uplifted?” Pinkie Pie was staring at him slack-jawed while Rainbow Dash covered her mouth in horror. The younger ponies did not understand just what we were talking about, not knowing what matters were discussed in privy council about discoveries in the royal archives. Our histories told us that man warred upon himself for millennia using horses as weapons platforms on ancient Earth, the poor dumb brutes, and man and horse died in their millions. “How did they come to be here? And how could we not have heard?”

“There were several ships that made the great escape from Earth’s pleasure colonies, your highness, before the Apocalypse that consumed the home world. Not just the Eohippus, Draco and Fury. Perhaps some humans found our subspace pathways and followed, looking for their own refuge. Fortunately for all of us, they did not bring their magic and science with them, at least not in full measure. One hundred and twenty centuries have seen their cities rise and fall many times. And as to why you have not heard, we did not speak of it to any; we did not want our kingdom to become the passageway for armies of vengeance from either side. But if you are come to stay, you had best know the lay of the land.” He shook himself, obviously uncomfortable about the subject. “You will be told all this and more in due course, when you meet Dakroon Veigh, your highness.”

“When shall we meet his majesty?” This was disturbing. "We are eager to greet him."

“As soon as I return, he shall want to come out to you to pay his respects with his court. He will want to take your royal measure himself. It is not every day a progress passes through his demesne. And he will wish to meet the Elements of Harmony, of course.”

“He will come here? Will he and his court fit on this ship?” The thought of the King of Dragons landing on the Ark seemed ludicrous.

“We of the West are not as our cousins in the East, oh princess. Dragons grow large through greed and consumption, and sometimes through other means, but by the main, the Easterners are an ill disciplined, unruly lot. We grow more wisely here, and more powerful. If I may demonstrate, could yon colorful pegasus take some target aloft? Something small, perhaps this stool?” He hefted a small wooden stool that was near the railing, which some of the younger ponies could stand on to take in the ocean view, and tossed it to Rainbow Dash. She looked to me and I nodded, so she flew about 10 yards out and made to drop it. “No, no, if you please, higher and further than that surely.” Rainbow cocked her eyebrow at him, but flew out about 50 yards and up another 50. He nodded, and she dropped.

With only a moment to judge his shot, he spit a searing spear of fire which broke the stool to bits on impact. The broken pieces scattered, and fell into the sea bearing fiery tails. My eyes beheld the afterglow for several minutes, though it seemed very little heat was wasted away from the target. The deck was scarce any warmer for all the violent energy. “Focus, skill, and practice, if it please your highness. Have you seen any of your Eastern braggarts do the like?”

Indeed I had not. “That was a most impressive display, Snargle. I would not wish to see anypony on the receiving end of such a powerful and precise strike.”

He bowed in a most graceful and courtly manner. “May my scales fall off and the teeth rot in my head, should I ever do any such thing to any of your highness’ subjects. My thanks your highness for your kind words. I am one of his majesty's more experienced flame lancers, but by no means the most skilled.”

Rainbow Dash landed next to me. “That was awesome! I mean, um, highly accurate. We really could have used you at the last battle!”

He smiled to her and bowed with a flourish. “My thanks, lovely skymare. I am sure that as your skills could not equal the test, there is precious little that I could have done to be of much aid against a foe of such eldritch might.” He was as courteous and chivalrous, and dangerous a creature as I had ever met. I wondered what Spike would have become if he had been raised among such noble drakes, and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. “What aught is the matter, your highness? Forgive me, did I speak foolishly?”

“No, no, you speak beautifully and truthfully. A hundred bold lancers such as yourself could have but delayed the end. But I was thinking of a friend, a dear friend who I knew from an egg. He, alone of dragons, fought at the last battle, and he died for his true love, died defending her body from the defilement of the foe. His name was Spike, and he was surely the best and greatest of dragons, with your king as the only possible exception. I was just thinking that had he been raised among such dragons as you, what may he not have done?” I bowed my head as the tears came unbidden and wet my face.

“A good death, then. The best death, to die for someone or something you love. The only truly noble death.” He bowed his head in turn and folded his wings in a way that made him seem to pay homage to Spike’s memory. Then he looked up sharply. “If your highness will forgive me, was there issue from this love? Do you bear the egg of a mare on board?” What?

“Issue? The egg of a mare? I do beg your pardon, are you saying dragons and equines can… breed?”

“Your highness, it is unusual, but not unheard of, where there is true love. Your erstwhile foe Discord hatched from such an egg.”

That was shocking. “I had not realized. I thought he was a magical creature.”

“The most magical of creatures. But even magical creatures have to come from somewhere, your highness.” He seemed a bit bemused by my naiveté. “Perhaps my… king will be able to explain it better.”

That would be interesting. “I thank you for your kind words, and for the honor you have shown us, emissary. Would you care for something to eat? I think we may have a few gems in one of the chests we carry for trade.”

He seemed intrigued, but mastered his appetite as Spike could never have done. “Great is my thanks to your highness, but no, I must away to my king to tell him of your plight. Is there anything you would need? Food? Water? Medicines?” He reached into a small leather satchel and took forth quill and paper.

I trusted this dragon. We’d have to trust some beings here, and his story was very consistent. He was holding some things back, and so was I, but that’s diplomacy for you.

“We would greatly appreciate some fresh hay, fresh apples and if you have any sugar cubes the little ones would love you for it. Butter, flour and milk would make Pinkie Pie very happy; she could bake us some cakes. And we have some griffin chicks with us. If you have any, um, meat?” He jotted down notes but looked up at that last in some alarm.

“Our water supply is sufficient, but we could definitely use some Valerian, white willow and peppermint.” He finished his writing, rolled up the paper into a scroll, and saying some sort of incantation under his breath, breathed green fire upon it. It vanished. He looked to me to see if I registered surprise. Of course I did not, but the additional reminder of Spike saddened me.

“Your highness, all will be in preparation momentarily. I will go now to inform my king of what has passed between us. I give you my word of honor that I will repeat word-for-word any message that you would wish to give him. Some things are better not put down on paper.” His voice dropped. “There are spies, even in the kingdom.” So the dragon kingdom had its little intrigues; this was good to know.

“Pray tell his majesty that we look forward to his visit with the greatest pleasure. And tell him the elements will be present to greet him as well. We wish him and his family the best of health and a safe voyage.” He bowed yet again.

“Most excellent, your highness. You should expect his majesty’s arrival…” he calculated briefly, “… when the sun kisses the sea.” So soon? “And I too shall look forward to seeing you again. And the elements. I hear they are all quite exquisite.” He emphasized the all, very slightly. “And now I must take my leave of your highness. Until this evening, princess Twilight Sparkle.” He leaped up from the deck with a final flourish and beat his wings northward at a considerable clip. I estimated that at that speed, he’d cover roughly 1,000 furlongs in the three hours which would be the maximum distance to the kingdom of Dakroon Veigh.

We had six hours on the outside, to come up with something.

“Dashie, I think we may need the Crusaders to help us.”

End log.

Comments

[James Rye]

Uuuuuhh, interesting, most interesting indeed.