• Published 3rd Oct 2011
  • 5,141 Views, 164 Comments

Long Distance - Ezn



Three ponies from Fillydelphia go on a journey beyond Equestria. Adventure ensues.

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Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The trip to the palace of the Dragon King – a series of caves dug into Mount Olym – was a short one, as it was fairly close to the university's mountain. The three travellers had barely said their parting words of thanks to Jangro when they alighted on a jutting peak in front of their destination.

The mountain's black, jagged peaks gave it a menacing appearance. Taking a step back from the gaping, blacker-still mouth of the entrance cave, Sky half-expected to be startled into the air by a sudden thundercrack.

"Don't ask about signs," said Venkra. "His Highness feels that the unique look of this mountain is indication enough."

White cleared his throat nervously. "So... do we just go in?"

"Pretty much," replied Venkra, waving a claw dismissively. "Don't worry, I can accompany you for at least part of the way."

"We would be very grateful if you would take us as far as you want to go
If we are to succeed, there may be some things we need to know."

"I'll tell you all about the king's hobbies and favourite colour, don't you worry!"

The conversation lulled. After a series of nervous gulps, the four visitors slowly walked into the cave's dark depths, one step at a time. Once the darkness had fully consumed the end of Sibwashie's short tail, White's horn sparked and lit up.

"It gets lighter later on," Venkra advised. "It's just that dark entrance ways are sooo in right now, and his Highness highly values his ability to relate to his subjects."

***

After a few twists and turns, the visitors came to passage where the cave did indeed get lighter. Crude, wooden torches lined the walls, showing that the passageway they were in had grown much narrower since its gaping entrance.

"It's not too much further now," said Venkra. "This castle does take up most of the mountain's interior, but if memory serves, the king's throne room is fairly close to the entrance."

"It looks like the tunnel widens just after this next bend!" said Sky, who had flown slightly ahead of the rest of the party. "It gets brighter too, I think..."

The rest of the party soon rounded the bend and came into view of a place where the tunnel widened into an enormous, bright cavern. The many torches scattered around the walls and ceiling of the cave shed a light that glistened and glinted off the cavern's contents: towering piles of gold, silver and gemstones.

Sky, White and Sibwashie stared out at the treasure with their jaws hanging open, while Venkra, being uncharacteristically quiet, stared at the floor.

"Let's keep going," she said, her voice sounding strained. "There's another tunnel just up ahead."

White ignored her. "So I guess this is the treasury. It's very impressive, but I do wonder why the Dragon King would put it in the middle of the entrance hall. It doesn't seem... prudent."

"Our wise leader has his reasons," Venkra replied curtly, shuffling towards a large wooden door set into the far side of the cave, her eyes firmly aimed at the floor.

White gave his companions a quizzical glance, as if to ask "what's up with her?" Upon eliciting only shrugs and looks of bewilderment, he turned his attention back to Venkra and cantered a short way to catch up with her.

His curiosity got the better of him. "Why is it that –"

"Because, okay!" Venkra snapped, the heightened volume of her voice echoing off the cavern's walls. "It's just how dragons are!"

At that moment, as if triggered by Venkra's sudden outburst, a golden crown – fitted for an equine head – came loose from its precarious position on one of the towering treasure piles and sailed down towards the cavern floor.

BONK!

"Ow!"

By some stroke of misfortune, the crown's path to the ground was blocked by Venkra's scaly head, which it bounced off before landing on the ground in front of her. For a tense moment, everything was still and silent. Venkra stopped in her tracks and stared down at the crown. A shiver went down Sky's spine.

Then, quite unceremoniously, Venkra bent down and scooped the crown up with her right set of claws. She examined it further before straightening up and marching to the treasure pile to her left, presumably to put it back where it belonged.

A small, wicked smile crept across Venkra's lips. Her knees bent. Her wings flared. She jumped...

"GERONIMO!"

...and landed right in the middle of a pile of golden coins, cackling with glee.

"MINE!" she shouted, getting a crazed look in her eyes.

Venkra's companions looked on with concern as she tried to splash and dive in the pile of treasure as if it was a very expensive swimming pool. They offered each other incredulous glances, but said nothing.

"Hee hee!" cackled Venkra. "Treasure! Treasure! Riches! Gold! So shiny! What a sight to behold!"

Sibwashie raised an eyebrow.

Becoming still more concerned, White started to take a step forward before stopping with his forehoof dangling over the ground, which had begun to shake.

WEE-YOOO! WEE-YOO! WEE-YOOOOO!

An ear-splitting alarm blasted through the room, seeming to come from all sides at once. White, Sky and Sibwashie all clutched their ears with their forehooves, but Venkra remained unmoving. If she could hear the alarms, they did not bother her.

CRRRACK.

A slow, sickening snapping sounded through the room as a portion of the rocky floor near the entrance cracked open. The hole widened and widened, revealing a boundless, dark chasm beneath it.

"What's that about?" asked White, getting no response.

Then the wind started.

"Do you feel a that?" asked White. "The, uh, slight breeze. I didn't know caves had breezes."

"They don't," hissed Sibwashie. "Look at the hole."

White glanced casually at the hole. Then he did a double-take and examined it more seriously. Small rocks and glinting bits of treasure were slowly moving towards the hole, as if they were being sucked in.

"It's sucking everything in!" exclaimed Sky. "And look – the sucking is getting faster!"

What had been a slow trickle of the smaller, lighter coins and gems had become a wave of treasure, zooming into the hole from all sides – including the side that the travellers were facing away from.

A fast-moving stream of gold crashed towards the group. Sky took to the air and Sibwashie was alert enough to leap a few feet and avoid being knocked off his hooves. White just stood there.

"Waaaaa!" he shouted, as the current knocked him off his hooves.

"White!" cried Sky and Sibwashie in unison.

"Help!"

Sibwashie looked to Sky and then to White before turning around and galloping for the exit, jumping over the treasure as he went.

Sky swooped over to White, scooping him out of the current with all four of her hooves. She huffed and puffed as she slowly lifted him.

White's horn lit up. He still remembered how he'd tried to lift himself with his telekinesis at a young age. Not wanting to pass out this time, he cast the same spell, but gave it only a third of the power.

It was enough. Sky smiled and flapped her wings, moving swiftly to the edge of the cave with the reduced weight of her burden.

She and White tumbled to the ground next to Sibwashie, who was standing just beyond the opened wooden door, just out of the wind's range.

"Th-thanks..." said White, shakily getting to his hooves. "B-but what about Venkra?"

The three glanced back at their greed-crazed friend. She was still quite oblivious to both the obnoxious alarm that was still blaring and the powerful wind that was slowly sucking her towards the hole in the floor. Sky could hardly bare to watch as she ran coins through her claws and laughed and muttered to herself.

Thanfully, Venkra was moving away from the center of the sinkhole and seemed more than strong enough to escape the current, at least for the time being.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Sky made a decision.

"I'm going in," she said.

"You'll be sucked up!" White cried.

"Somepony has to try to save Venkra," Sky replied. "We can't just leave her there."

White conceded to this, and Sibwashie nodded solemly.

"How are you going to do it?" asked Sibwashie. "I mean no insult, but you're not strong enough to carry such a heavy dragon."

"Well she has wings, doesn't she?" replied Sky. "I just need to snap her out of whatever weird trance she's in, and then she'll be good to fly herself out. White: you know dragons. What's up with her?"

White swung a forehoof back and forth, avoiding eye-contact with Sky. "For all I know about dragons, I really don't know all that much. I have no idea why she's acting like this, but..."

White paused as he cast his mind back to something that both Venkra and the border guard had said to him.

Sibwashie, who had been silently thinking about the same thing, beat him to the punch. "Perhaps this is why dragons are so strongly opposed to being paid or receiving any kind of currency. Perhaps the sight of it drives them mad with greed."

"That's..." White began. "It seems likely, but I pay my dragons in bits, and I've never had them go crazy."

"You must not pay them enough."

Sky nervously glanced back into the treasury while her companions continued to discuss dragon psychology. Venkra's smiling face had edged just a little closer the hole. The wind was gaining force, and she was losing ground.

"Solutions, guys!" Sky snapped. "I need to know how to snap her out of it!"

"White's thought-transferral powers might prove useful," said Sibwashie calmly.

"WHAT?!" White spat, his eyes bugging out. "I – Those – But –"

Sensing an incoming moral crisis that none of them had time for, Sky swooshed over to White and grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a rough shake.

"White!" she said. "If there are any good applications of that kind of magic, then this is one of them. Without your intervention – the special magic only you can do – Venkra will die!"

White stared into Sky's hard gaze, his eyes trembling a bit. Sighing deeply, he nodded.

"Good," said Sky, her expression softening. "Now hop on my back and fire up that telekinesis! ...Unless you'll need to conserve magic to..."

"No," White replied. "I always have enough magic when my friends are in danger."

And indeed, White's horn glowed brighter and brighter as he and Sky flew towards Venkra. Once they were hovering just above her, Sky nodded to White and shucked him off.

White's descent was slowed by his telekinesis, but he still had a bumpy, stumbling landing on Venkra's back. He wrapped his forehooves around her neck, holding on for dear life as he prepared to cast his newest spell.

I can do this, he told himself. Relax, White. It's just like any other spell... just like any... other... spell.

A spark of cyan magic jumped off White's horn. Except it's evil. Magic like this was never meant to be used by mere mortals.

White shook his fiercely. No. I have this spell, so I can use it ethically. All I'm going to do is transfer a few thoughts from one brain to another. I do that all the time – it's what communication's about! And there's nothing wrong with communication!

A second spark of magic left White's horn, followed soon afterwards by a fourth and a fifth. His horn glowed, and finally he closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the thoughts around him. They soon came into view.

Venkra needs to snap out of it and forget about the treasure, or she's going to die! That's okay, right, White?

White smiled. Yeah, but maybe you should leave off the last bit, he thought, quickly firing it off to Sky.

Okey-dokey (this is weird)!

Venkra needs to snap out of it and forget about the treasure, or she's going to die!

Taking a deep breath, White snatched the thought from Sky's mind concentrated on redirecting it. Then he stopped. Where Venkra's mind should have been, he found nothing. He could sense Sky's mind and was even getting a faint reading from Sibwashie's, but, try as he might, Venkra's remained elusive.

White concentrated harder. This doesn't make sense, he thought. Her mind's just... missing.

His eyes shot open, and he turned them up to Sky. "Apparently it doesn't work on dragons!" Somewhere in the back of his mind, this relieved him.

"Treasure! Treasure! Riches! Gold! So shiny! What a sight to behold!" Venkra chanted, not even noticing White or Sky.

Panicked seconds passed as White and Sky stared at each other in terror, both desperately waiting for the other to come up with a solution. When no solution came, Sky shrugged and swooped down towards White.

She grabbed him. His horn lit up. Magic spread over him. She started to rise. His forelegs released Venkra's neck. The magic flickered almost imperceptibly.

"Woah!" White cried.

Sky's eyes narrowed as she gripped him with all four hooves. He felt heavier than he had before.

White's hindlegs left Venkra's back. His magic flickered. His horn spluttered.

The light dimmed.

"Oof," Sky groaned. She dipped lower and lower.

"My magic!" White cried, pulling his hooves up to his body. "It's... I can't –"

Sky lost her grip, and he slipped.

"Help!"

"White!" Sky shouted.

A sudden surge of adrenaline shocked her system and she dove down towards the swirling golden whirlpool.

White reached out a forehoof.

The treasure clattered and clanged as Sky touched down on it, slipping immediately.

"Aah!"

She caught herself with her wings. Bad idea! she thought.

A few metres away, White noticed a golden chain lying next to him. Thinking quickly, he grabbed it between his teeth and rolled his head around, trying to swing it to Sky.

White scowled as the other end of the chain landed not half a metre in front of him. Fortunately, Sky soon swooped in and grabbed the chain in her own jaw.

Unfortunately, the current proved stronger than her. She beat her wings furiously, but still edged closer to the hole.

White cast her a forlorn look. If I get too close, I'll have to let go, he thought, for Sky.

Sky looked behind her to see that Venkra was moving towards the hole as well, but not at a very high speed. She wasn't putting up any resistance, as her attention was fully focused on the large diamond clasped between her claws.

Her eyes flashing with inspiration, Sky lowered herself to Venkra's left forearm and quickly fastened her end of the golden chain to it. Then, without thinking too hard about what she was doing, she snatched the diamond from Venkra's claws and heaved it as close to the edge of the cave as her forehooves could manage.

It worked. Venkra roared and lunged in the direction of the diamond, bringing White out of immediate danger.

"Woo-hoo!" he shouted. "That was a great idea, Sky! You really –"

"AAAAH!"

"Sky!"

In Venkra's mad scramble for the diamond, her tail had hit Sky right in the gut, winding her and knocking her into the whirling treasure. White looked on despondently as she edged closer and closer to the hole at the other end of the cave.

There was only one thing he could do to save her, and it was a long shot. "Venkra!" he yelled. "If any part of you is still there, do something! Sky is going to fall in!"

For a tense moment, nothing changed. Then, without saying anything, Venkra rose up on her great wings and pulled White up onto her back with a swift tug of the chain tied to her left foreleg. Her expression was hardened, but cracked slightly as she cast her eyes down to the diamond she had abandoned, and then hardened once more as her head jerked back up.

Sweat poured down her forehead, and White could hear her groaning as she threw the chain to Sky.

Sky caught it. She was tired and winded, but not unconscious, and quickly used her mouth and hooves to fasten the chain around her midsection, tugging it when she finished.

This seemed to calm Venkra. The groaning subsided as she pulled Sky away from the windy hole and towards the cave's exit.

Sibwashie sighed in relief as his three companions tumbled through the door, and was quick to slam it shut after them.

The chain's far end had come loose from Venkra's forearm as they'd flown through the door. Sky lay panting on the ground, clutching it to her body.

Venkra looked at the chain for a moment, her eyes cold and wet. "Keep it," she said, without understanding why.

Sky was too exhausted to be puzzled by anything just then, so she lifted her head to smile weakly at Venkra instead.

***

The three lay sprawled on the floor of the lamp-lit corridor, catching their breath. Sibwashie sat in front of them, patiently waiting for one to speak. Venkra was looking at the ground quite intently, and Sky was inhaling and exhaling heavily. White, on the other hoof, looked like he was on the verge of saying something.

"What the hay was that about?!" he demanded, quickly forgetting his resolution to always be polite to all dragons. "You almost got us killed!"

Venkra breathed in and out deeply a few times, but said nothing. She avoided eye contact with White, but Sky caught a glimpse of her sorrowful expression and motioned for White to leave her alone.

Once they had all caught their breath, Venkra slowly stood up and started walking along the corridor. A slight motion in one of her right claws was the only indication she gave the others to follow her.

White's brain was abuzz with curiosity. What brought out that greed? he wondered. More importantly, what brought Venkra back out of it?

The trek through the twisting stone corridors was long, and the talkative Venkra eventually grew weary of passing it in silence. With a heavy sigh, she opted to satisfy White's curiosity at last.

"Dragons are greedy," she said. "Really, really greedy."

Pausing to listen to White's hoofsteps speed up slightly as he trotted closer, Venkra smiled and gathered her thoughts.

"Like, if ponies are all about love and friendship, then dragons are all about greed. It's our central instinct. The desire to own more pretty and valuable things is the desire to be a better dragon, and that is our great curse and our heaviest burden."

At this point, Sibwashie and Sky also sped up slightly to listen more closely to what Venkra was saying.

"What you saw back there is the reason I was so emphatic about you not giving dragons any form of payment," she continued. "The accumulation of wealth is a slippery slope – once you have some, you want more, and the more you have, the more you want more. Wealth drives us crazy, but it also helps us grow – and I mean physically grow, like, get bigger."

"Wow," said White. "That's... uh... so that's what you meant about your furniture only costing a few feet!"

"Yep." Venkra chuckled. "I had to spend some treasure on making that cave look nice, and then I had to get some help moving it all in, because I'd shrunk during the transaction. It's a strange feeling, shrinking."

White nodded, the dots beginning to connect in his head. "So... the amount of treasure you own determines how physically large you are?"

"Well, yeah, sorta," Venkra replied, waving an arm dismissively. "Of course, 'treasure' isn't as good a term as 'stuff', but generally gold and gems cause more growth than other possessions. It's not an exact science."

A strange thought suddenly entered Sky's head. "Venkra... why didn't all that treasure you were swimming in make you grow any bigger?"

"I didn't own it," Venkra replied bluntly. "That didn't stop it from driving me crazy, though."

"What was that, um, like?" asked White, his curiosity getting the better of his tact. "Being crazy with greed, I mean."

"...It was like having your priorities really, really messed up," said Venkra. "The entire time, I was vaguely aware of the alarm, of that windy hole-thing and of you and Sky flapping and flitting about around me, but the only thing in the world that seemed to matter was the beautiful, shiny, glistening mountain of gold and silver and jewels and – uugh!"

Venkra groaned in pain and clutched her face with both of her clawed hands, standing still and breathing shallowly for a few moments before recovering.

"Are you okay?" asked Sky.

"For now," Venkra said, straightening up, "but White here almost made me have a relapse!"

White grinned sheepishly at the disapproving glares of his friends.

"Further talk of this dragon weakness strikes me as unwise
Let us cease this, and not burden our guide with further 'why's," Sibwashie concluded sagely.

The dragon and her three companions trudged further and further along the winding passageway, coming closer to the Dragon King's throne with every step.

***

"We're here," said Venkra at last.

She needn't have said anything, for where they were was quite evident to the rest of the group. The narrow tunnel had widened considerably and was completely filled a few metres ahead by the largest set of doors they had ever seen. On either side of these doors stood two guards, who – at around twice the size of Venkra – were easily the biggest dragons they'd ever seen.

The two guards both had blood-red scales, and wore shiny steel helmets as their only armour. They held spears the height of Manehattan apartment buildings at their sides and didn't so much as flinch as the four visitor came into sight.

"Now let me do the talking," Venkra continued.

Her three companions nodded in unison. They were far too busy taking in the scale of everything around them to think about talking to the guards.

Venkra motioned for them to linger behind as she stepped up to the front of the door.

WHOOSH! The guards crossed their spears as soon as Venkra got within spitting distance of the great doors.

"Halt," they boomed.

"Hello, sirs," Venkra replied, shrinking down a bit.

White smiled a little, thinking about how small Venkra seemed just then.

"Greetings," the guards said, pausing for a moment with a far-off look in their eyes, "Venkra, second daughter of Skandar the Great. Please state your business."

"I've brought some travellers from Equestria to see his royal Highness, sirs." Venkra pointed a claw back at her companions, eliciting a timid hoof-wave from Sky. "They wish to confer with our king on matters of communication magic, and have assured me that –"

One of the guards cleared his throat loudly. "We know of your conduct in the Royal Treasury, Ms Venkra."

For a moment, Venkra froze. A horrible sense of dread washed over her and travelled on to White, Sky and Sibwashie. The guards had harsh looks in their eyes and frowns on their snouts.

Don't let them say no... White mentally pleaded, feeling himself start to sweat. Not after all of this...

It was only a few seconds later that the second guard spoke, but it may as well have been a few years.

"Ms Venkra, we and his Highness are sorely disappointed at your lack of self-control," he said gravely. "As a dragon, you should know better. We recommend you seek counselling."

Venkra nodded meekly.

The first guard's frown softened. "However... you did come out of it, and neither you nor your companions stole anything from the treasury. Additionally, your companions displayed great courage and empathy in coming to your rescue."

White's ears perked up and the hairs of his coat stood on edge. And...? he mentally begged.

The second guard blinked a few times before saying, "His Highness will see you. All of you."

"And he will answer whatever questions you have about magic of any kind," added the first guard.

In less formal and solemn surroundings, White might have jumped for joy and danced around, whooping and hollering, but in this case he decided to merely canter up to the guards and thank them as politely as possible.

With another WHOOSH of air, the two spears flew away from each other and uncovered the door, which soon began to creak open.

"It's..." White began.

"...so..." Sky continued.

"...bright..." Venkra finished, shielding her eyes with a foreleg.

The throneroom beyond the door was piled gold and gems, enough to cover every rocky surface that gravity would allow it to. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, on which was painted a beautiful scene with hundreds of multicoloured dragons.

But nopony – or dragon – was looking at any of that once the doors opened fully. In the center of the room, hovering just above the top of the highest mountain of gold, was the wrinkled, crimson head of a dragon with wizen green eyes. His head alone was easily the size of Venkra's entire body, and the rest of him disappeared from sight in the depths of the cave. Upon his head was a golden crown, inlaid with more jewels than anypony present could count.

"Well met, outsiders," boomed the deep, old voice of the Dragon King. "Please, introduce thyselves!"