> The Eclipsed Scale
>  by Maneiac
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Pariah
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This diversion was adequate at best. My honor has been reinstated once more.”

The outcome of this duel was set in stone long before the first slash of claw and gnash of fang. My opponent, once “Salazar of the Western Hills”, laid dead at my ankles; his once vibrant and shimmering blood turning almost abysmal in color as his Spark was snuffed. 

I lifted my plum-colored scaled claw to my maw and licked the crimson talons clean. Dragon’s blood was quite delectable, even for members of the same species. And although I would never view myself as a savage cannibal; I still found satisfaction in the lemon zest taste the blood of my kin carries. 

Even so, I found the notion of burying the losers of all duels to be tiresome and unneeded. Additionally, to challenge me in combat is to throw away life itself. Many dragons know this, which is why I have been made a pariah amongst my kin, banished to this one mountain in the middle of plains and grassland.

They thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately, for their corpses, I did not. 

Regardless, I hunkered down and sunk my teeth into the recently torn out neck of Salazar, using a fraction of my strength to lift the dead drake’s body from the ground and drag him sloppily to the foot of my mountain. The taste of lemons was titillating, and I found my tongue lapping hungrily  at the bloody wound in my maw. 

My intent in taking this carrion should be obvious, seeing as how I haven’t consumed game in quite some time. In fact, these challenges by “honorable” dragons provided me with over half my food in a year’s time. It should stand to reason, then, that I know strife and altercation like bloodkin. 

Taking three more laps of the oozing blood in my mouth, I stretched out my right claw and sunk it into the stone of the mountain. Snapping my head up in order to slam Salazar’s corpse onto the mountain face, I began my slow climb up to my cave some three-hundred feet up.

On my way there, my eyes fell over the familiar evergreens and oak trees which covered the awkward slits and grooves of my mountain. The grey stone underneath my moving claws clashed against the intense tan and dark-green of the trees. The noonday sun didn’t help much in alleviating the warring colors, either. 

“Hmph. I should do a fly-by and scorch any flora I come across. It’ll help with destroying the stark contrast of my abode.” Frowning as I moved out of the way of an oncoming evergreen, I hastily made visual contact with the mouth of my cave. It sat a good twenty feet above me. The sun attempted to hinder me by hovering right at the peak of my mountain, so I slid my nictitating membranes as a visor against the harmful glares.

When I finally reached the mouth, I gave a grunt of annoyance. It had taken far too long to get here, and my jaw was beginning to tire from carrying Salazar’s sixty-foot bulk. And since I was by myself, I couldn’t count on the altruism of others to help me lug this bronze beast into my abode. 

“Not like I would’ve asked for help...” I gave a long grunt of exertion as my head lowered, and then snapped back up to throw Salazar’s corpse into my cave. I followed after my meal quickly, letting the cool air of my cave wash over my plum scales and red underbelly.

Salazar had landed so that his head was facing the entrance of the cave. His body was on its side, his red eyes glazed over in the throes of death. I chuckled as his mouth dropped open and his tongue slipped sloppily onto my cave floor, giving him the appearance of a dead fool.

“Tis a good look for anyone issuing me a challenge,” I spat with distaste and backhanded the dead drake’s head, nearly severing it from his neck. The sound of bones breaking made me sneer, his neck now bent up into the shape of a rainbow. “I fear it may not be the last time someone like you gets brought here, young Salazar. There will be more fools claiming me to be a disgusting, treasonous pig; the sort that insults dragons just by existing, and therefore, must be killed off in order to protect what all Scales hold dear...” I lifted a claw and looked at it, imagining the heads of all my would-be enemies on my palm, before balling my claw into a tight fist. 

“Their honor,” I hissed with finality before walking over my company who, ironically enough, is the life of the party. But fate made sure the carrion’s fame was ephemeral, because a tiny pebble crashed into my vision, floating in the air.

I would like to state here, in my defense, that rocks cannot float by themselves. So, if we apply this fact, I can safely discern this rock to be suspended with magic. And, if the red and black aura around it was any indication, I’d venture it to be the work of an Alicorn.

Now I was torn between two things: my curiosity, and my hunger. Hauling a premature drake’s body three-hundred feet up a mountain is tiring, and my stomach demanded sustenance for overexerting myself so quickly. But, the floating rock, barely the size of pebble, beckoned to me softly. 

“Almost as if... it’s pleading...”

I shook my head and gave a short frown. “Who would beckon the Pariah of Dragonkind? I am exile given form, and therefore, need not know what machinations this stone holds for me; especially if the rock is suspended by foul Alicorn magic,” I thought with a snarl. “The Alicorns... blasphemous equine creatures! They pollute the purity of magic without the proper incantation of the Elder Tongue!” 

I hissed in pain before bringing up my left claw and inspecting its palm. Apparently, my ire was so vast that I had succeeded in puncturing my scales with my talons. Self-mutilation is quite unbecoming, but the train of thought I had entertained myself with was proof that Alicorns deserve nothing short of extinction. 

And that’s exactly why I’m all the way out here; on this rock in the middle of nowhere, being challenged by “heroic” dragons every other night and day. “All I did was bring up the sheer blasphemy of Alicorns using magic without incantation via Elder Tongue, and I get exiled for being a potential genocidal powerhouse. I cannot help the fact that I am so strong, and so steadfast when it comes to my personal opinions. It is they, the Seven Lords and King, who have overlooked what will eventually be their downfall.” 

My eyes found purchase on the floating stone once more, and I gave a dismissive snort towards it. It hummed back, almost as if it was annoyed by my hesitance in drawing closer.

“Foul pebble! You reek of unholy magics; no doubt created by your demented and possibly revenge-obsessed equine master, who probably seeks retribution for being ignored or written off somehow, and is trying to enlist the help of one of the strongest dragons in existence to do his dirty work.” I smiled treacherously, leaning down and taking a massive bite out of Salazar’s broken neck. 

The scales and bones were crunchy, and only added to the lemon flavoring of all dragon blood. Cartilage, however, reminded me of cow fat and so, was very chewy. Muscle and tendons were lean, almost like a finely cooked steer.

“Delicious as always, my fellow drakes. I could never tire of your bodies, my kin,” I thought with no small amount of delight, savoring the lemon zest and feeding my affinity for the acidic. I used Salazar’s bronze-scaled tail as a napkin, wiping my mouth daintily before eyeing the floating rock again. 

It had saw fit to move and levitate over Salazar’s body, coming up to my slim belly. I frowned and lowered my head to inspect it further, inhaling some of the black and red wisps of magic mightily. 

“You are definitely from an Alicornial spell, sediment. I do not trust you, nor your cud-sucking creators. If your master requests an audience with Ragnarok, Pariah of Dragonkind, then an audience shall be given. But know this, small stone of unholy magics; I shall not be underestimated. The Elder Tongue is a welcoming arm, but in times of strife...” My claw encircled the stone, feeling the heat radiating off its aura warm my palm. “... Becomes a smoldering fist!” I crushed the stone in a deathgrip.

My eyes widened as that same warmth spread throughout the entirety of my being. Images of space filled my mind as the rest of my body went numb, and I fell backwards with my head barely outside my cave’s mouth.

Here’s the thing with blasphemous Alicorn magic: it’s instant and needs no provocation, no incantation to work. There is nary a need for the Elder Tongue, and the Elder Tongue is the language of Gratitude and War. By using it, you are giving thanks unto the creators of our very selves, and using their strength to aid you in battle. 

In reverence to Elder Sjach do I hold onto this belief with all my heart. Ever since I used to be an Arch-Dragon; a title given unto a dragon by the Seven Lords and King of T’Rell-Vadriz for his, or her, prowess in magical knowledge and aptitude. The title of Arch-Dragon was mine to hold, before I expressed my distaste of Alicorns to the Lords themselves; which, at the time, during their meeting with some nobles from that race, was a horrid idea. 

“Lords be damned; Alicorns are nothing more than disgusting abominations, perverting the beauty of Magic one horn glow at a time. Even then, they continue wallowing in their sin, never once giving thanks unto the creators with the Elder Tongue.”  I opened my eyes, which I didn’t know I had closed, and stared into the vastness of the outer-world.

“There were tales told around Jennu Gribkoan, the Great Feast, of hearty drakes that grew overconfident with their ability to fly. One drake in particular; one of green scales named Drivum, boasted that he could soar through the heavens themselves. And when his bluff was called by the creators, he sought to prove them wrong. He never returned from his flight, and it is said that the creators snatched his Spark from him the moment he flew above the clouds.” It was a tale used to teach hatchlings, whelps, and adolescents to humble their rambunctious prides early, lest the creators smite them. 

With a sigh, I used my legs and arms to heft myself up onto all fours, standing up in the outer-world. Looking down, the blue and green planet of Equis made itself apparent to me, as well as multiple swells of white clouds. Nodding towards my home, I was promptly brought out of my pondering by a clearing throat. 

Casting my gaze to the left, my eyes fell on a heathenish Alicorn male. He looked nothing like the females, for his face was more bold and challenging; seemingly alight with the notion of conquest for all things. Two-toned eyes, fading from left to right the colors of silver and gold, made contact with mine. His coat was a shining topaz, and his mane reminded me of thunderclouds and yellow lightning. 

“Hail, Pariah of Dragonkind. I am Lord Eliahcus, he who controls the Eclipse and Destruction, and only bloodkin to Lauren Faust.” His voice was like running water, and played upon both my purple aural fins.

“Pleasantries are well and good,” I returned in annoyance, “But what is it that you truly desire, Alicorn? In truth, you should have been mashed into a yellow paste by now; seeing as how I have a strong distaste for your blasphemous ways with the Gift of Magic.” 

Eliahcus did something which did not suit his facial features: he hoisted an eyebrow, anchoring it to the top of his brow in askance, or mild annoyance. “Blasphemous? Should this not be a topic conversed upon with someone who cares enough to entertain your ‘holier-than-thou’ opinions, Ex-Arch Dragon of T’Rell-Vadriz?” 

I growled at his quip, knowing he was insulting me with my loneliness. “Enough! What is it you want, horse!? I’ll not suffer your presence much longer!” 

At my fiery rebuttal, Eliahcus narrowed his eyes and seethed with rage for a while, before inhaling and exhaling to calm himself. “I am a pony, Ragnarok, not a horse. Furthermore, I believe we started out quite the opposite of well. In fact, I propose we sh-” 

“I am going to leave. I am going to leave and carve my way into Alicorn territory, kill as many as I can, and use the bodies as fertilizer for my mountain’s trees if you do not tell me what. You. Want,” I boomed, seeing Eliahcus grind his teeth in frustration before nodding. 

“Very well, Dread Dragon Ragnarok; I shall acquiesce your demand. As you may recall,” Eliahcus spoke while walking over towards me, his fetlocks blowing in an unseen wind, much like his styled mane and tail. He stopped right beside me and sat down, staring at the huge blue orb of Equis. He even reached a hoof out towards it with a look of supreme dissatisfaction. “I am the only brother of Lauren Faust, Lady of Creation and Light. I had wanted Equis to fall under the control of Alicorns only, and still hold onto that belief to this very moment. My sister, however, did not share in my dream.” 

I scoffed. “It’s like looking in a mirror: a sick, twisted, ironic mirror of mockery. You and I are the same in that regard; only that instead of Alicorns, I wished for dragons to rule. Not with the proverbial iron fist, mind you, but in wisdom of the Elder Tongue.” I turned my head to inspect my company, unpleasant as it may be. 

Eliahcus scoffed this time, a faint smile working at his lips. “Irony indeed, Ragnarok. Tell me,” He said, craning his neck to face me, “How long have you been fighting like this? I’ve noticed how often you come under attack by uprising warriors of your race, and I see you kill them as they come quite effortlessly.” 

I blinked, caught unawares by the sudden personal questions. “I... I am sure this was always the case. When I had expressed my dream of uniting Equis under dragon rule, and was promptly exiled by the Seven Lords of T’Rell-Vadriz, I had to fight my way out of the “Land of the Glittering Scales” a thousand miles north of my mountain. I had achieved the title of Arch-Dragon when I was... seven-hundred, I believe. An adolescence to be sure, but with plenty experience in the Elder Tongue to put me above many drakes.” 

Eliahcus nodded in understanding. “And the fights? Truly they did not start the moment of your exile.”

“Two weeks after reaching the mountain I reside on, if I’m not mistaken. My first challenger was the hardest one. A dragon known only as Xilla,” I smiled lecherously, remembering how the inexperienced queen thought she was enough to beat me. “It was not hard in regards to difficulty, mind thee; but with the fact that I had to take the life of a female. This would have tarnished what little honor I had left. So, after I won, I gave her two options.” 

Eliahcus remained silent, prompting me to continue.

“Xilla had the choice of bearing my children, or becoming my dinner. Torn between the two options, she submitted and decided to help me sire offspring. And so, she returned to T’Rell Vadriz, and every two weeks she would come back, ready for the act of copulation until she did what she’d sworn to do.” I turned and walked off towards a floating asteroid, watching its lethargic speed take it nowhere fast. 

“During the twelve months of carrying my offspring, I offered Xilla shelter within my cave. Time went by, and I found myself eyeing her not as a defeated challenger but... as a mate. Every night, she would close the distance between us when we laid down to slumber. And somedays... I would be awaken by a bath from her tongue. Massages around her swollen belly would be given by me, and I brought back trees and mashed them into a nest for her comfort.” As the memory of my light-green mate with light-purple spikes played in my head, a sigh of depression left from my mouth and into the air of the outer-world. 

“The bonds formed from nurturing an impregnated mate are stronger than those of love,” Eliahcus added impassively, his voice reminding me of this lethargic asteroid. 

“I was in love before she completed half her labor. It was near impossible for me to leave, and when I did, I made sure to make my business quick in order to return. Hunting for game proved quite bothersome, considering our location. Ten miles west were grounds for buffalo, and the east held plenty stag; but, they diverged due to the numerous amounts of challenges I received from those dragon heroes,” I snapped, baring my teeth at the asteroid in front of me before punching it. 

My punch cracked the entirety of its face and sent it hurtling off into the black abyss.

Shaking the notion of strangling Eliahcus where he stood, I continued my tale. “As my mate grew larger with her clutch-filled belly, I made it my duty to protect my cave from any would-be predator. So, I lit the leftmost face with my fire, creating a wall of flames where I had happened upon a den of Rockwolves.”

“Rockwolves,” Eliahcus asked, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew there was a raised eyebrow there.

“Think of timberwolves, but they’re held together by magic and sediments. I made sure the fire stayed lit, going back to the same spot every day to add more flame. After that, I would go out and hunt, bringing back food. Every other week, I changed her bedding. And, in that time span, I learned about my mate.” 

“She was the only daughter of Yil’Plagnam; the youngest of the Seven Lords and leader of all Green Scales. Her life was like that of any dragon belonging to one of the Lords; it was spent in self-indulgence. ‘To be a Noble is to set your offspring on a pedestal for all to follow.’ Those were the words Yil’Plagnam told me when I was still an Arch-Dragon.” I turned around and strutted towards Equis, stretching my wings with a couple flaps. 

“Moreover, he never told me, his best friend, that his mate was fertilized. When news reached me, however, we promptly celebrated with the upcoming Jennu Gribkoan. His mate, a Blue Scale with white spikes named Saphira, found my company to be quite...” I trailed off, snickering as that displeased face popped into my head. “Intolerable. She called me every curse under the sun by the time the festivities ended, and also stated that she didn’t want me hanging around her lush of a husband.” 

Eliahcus snorted, making me think he didn’t have the function of laughter. “Hilarious.” 

“But, as fate would have it,” I stopped walking and sat down with a frown. “Our happy life was not meant to last. Skipping forward, on a cold day in May, I just got done killing another would-be vindicator from T’Rell Vadriz. Returning back to my cave, I noticed Xilla’s heavy breathing and perspiration-ridden face. I ran over and took her claw in mine, her other one held firmly against her stomach.” I mimicked Xilla’s motion for Eliahcus to have a better picture, placing it somewhere near my lithe abdominals. 

“‘It hurts so bad, Ragna! The clutch is coming!’ She told me. I wasted no time in asking her what I should do, while thinking about the hell Saphira was going to put me through because I hid Xilla’s pregnancy from them. But, it was my mate’s safety and comfort that took precedence over my worry, and I helped her with labor for nine hours. Colorful was our clutch, and healthy-looking too.” I sighed and remembered each egg that came out.

“Xilla fell asleep after birthing them, so I moved them into her warm thigh pockets, where they would be safe should she decide to move about. We took care of the twelve eggs well, watching them hatch into beautiful whelps. The Firstborn: Antilla; she was a beautiful chromatic black with topaz spikes. I’m not kidding; her spikes were really topazes. The Secondborn: Relius; clearly the strongest of his siblings. His looks mimicked mine to a tee.” I gave a weak chuckle as I remembered my son tackling me when he was an adolescent, and the days when I secretly taught him more magic than his siblings. 

“He was clingy to me, however. The Third was another dragoness named Priscilla, who loved nothing more than fighting physically. Her wings grew larger than her body, but she was not too bright when it came to learning the Elder Tongue; which might’ve been caused by her green scales and crimson spikes.” I chuckled harder, and I place this on my Father’s Tear that Eliahcus laughed as well. 

“Which brings me to the Fourth: Lizøran. Sky-blue scales and spinach-green spines slicked back like a hedgehogs, he would often compose stratagems for hunting and gathering food. He learned the Elder Tongue almost as quick as I did when his age was my own. But, his athletic capabilities were horrid, and even the lightest of exercise caused him to tire. I chalk that up to most of his endurance manifesting itself within his powers of comprehension and magic.” My frowned returned like a bad itch, and I felt an abandoned feeling inside me. 

Regret. 

“The rest of the eggs,” I paused and tightened my claws into fists, clenching my eyes and snarling. “If only her pride weren’t so bountiful! If only she didn’t see a need in being more than the average dragon! Xilla killed herself when the other eight eggs did not hatch. She, in her rage against herself after finding the eggs to be duds, took a lavender egg with purple spots and heaved it out of the cave. And then, she jumped to her death in the midnight hour, clutching the remaining eggs in her arms. The impact woke me, and when I went to inspect the disturbance...” 

“... I may be more critical than my sister, but a heart does reside within this chest of mine. My condolences for your loss, Ragnarok. I do not understand the pain, but my regards are sincere, I assure you.”

I blinked in confusion when I felt something on my bent knee. Looking down, I could see Eliahcus’ hoof on it, and he was looking up at me with a face of stern resolution. “It is not often a dragon is caught grieving, or regretting for that matter. As rare as this is,  it seems rather unnatural and disturbing.” With a nod of his sagely head, Eliahcus flapped the yellow wings at his side in order to fly. Now he was eye-level with me, which means he climbed a difference of seventy feet seamlessly quick. I counted three down strokes. 

“I don’t even know why I told you any of that, to be honest. I never share how I feel with anyone... so why you? You’re an Alicorn; the very epitome of blasphemy in my eyes, and I still told you more about myself than anyone will know.” I narrowed my eyes and snarled.

Eliahcus raised his eyebrow in response, studying my snarling features with an analytical eye. “I guess that twisted mirror shows differentiating reflections of ourselves, no? When I gaze into its surface, I see you, and vice versa.” 

I huffed, not really satisfied with that answer. “Feh. Why did you bring me here in the first place, Eliahcus. I’m starting to get hungry.” 

“Ah, yes.” He closed his eyes and sighed. His horn began to radiate a two-toned aura of gold and silver, pulling the stars above me into some sort of swirling mass. These same stars hummed and took shape, forming an... island. 

“Atlantis? Why are you showing me the Floating Island of Oceans?” I raised my brow as Eliahcus opened his eyes with a mischievous grin. 

“I am participating in a game, and wish to have you as my Piece. You are strong, capable of giving even me pause.” 

I lowered my eyelids into a death-glare. “Have I not expressed my distaste of your kind, Eliahcus? Asking me to represent you is like cutting me open, squeezing every acidic substance there is in the world into the wound, and then giving me a splint with no form of bandage! Now, you are treading on crashing waves! Do your best not to go under, Alicorn.” 

Eliahcus narrowed his eyes before sighing and shaking his head. “I’ll give you something no other dragon has. A power with no knowledge of it, not even by the Elders of your kind. It is a power I have spent my years in exile harnessing, shaping... molding, into something so catastrophically powerful; islands would be moved, and mountains shattered!” 

I shifted my snarl into a low growl, not buying this at all. “He’s obviously trying to butter me up with a new power of sort, hoping I’ll accept his proposal and do his dirty work! I oughta rip the wings off this annoying-” 

“The Seven Lords will be nothing compared to you; Ragnarok, who was exiled for keeping the interest of his people close to his heart,” Eliahcus enthused with a smile, making me blink blankly.

“Oh... stronger than the Seven Lords, you say? I do not wish to rule T’Rell-Vadriz, Eliahcus; I merely want it to succeed. The only way this will come to pass, is to exclude Alicorns from our matters. The Council of Equis needs to be disbanded, for everyday, more and more of my kin give up the Elder Tongue! It is inexcusable and blasphemy against the creators themselves!” Breathing in out from my rant, Eliahcus tittered with his eyes closed before staring at me impassively once more. 

“Kinetomancy: the magic of energy and movement. A kinetomancer is able to move, repulse, compact, and crush, an object at will, with nothing but magic and your own will. It is undetectable by the senses, excluding touch.” With the sound of jingling bells at the end of his explanation, Eliahcus summoned a total of ten large red arm rings. “These rings are to be placed on both of your arms, and can be charged with kinetic energy by doing even the most remedial of activities.” 

“Activities of a more strenuous disposition will charge the rings twice as fast. Once at full power, you can access abilities of which Equis will never see again. You’ll be able to take the kinetic energy from moving objects: take the electrical and heat energies of friction and release it in a blast of burning energy, harness energy into your muscles to keep the from tiring, increase your reaction time and thought process, and ‘Sprint’,” Eliahcus explained, looking at me with eyes full of hope. 

I was hanging at the end of every word, wondering just how strong I was going to end up should I say yes. But the last word of his explanation gave me pause; so, I raised my eyebrow before asking, “Sprinting? Can’t I already do that?” 

Eliahcus looked at me like I had suddenly grown a second head. “Are you daft? Your version of sprinting and mine are two completely different things! While you may run at a speed of sixty miles an hour; the sprinting I’m referring to can reach up to speeds of three-hundred-forty-five miles an hour! But, this speed will be inaccessible to you, if your greenhorn in this subject is anything to go by.” 

“I’m no fool. Just becoming your representative in this game isn’t enough to warrant these new powers, Eliahcus,” I rebutted in a warning tone, watching as Eliahcus whipped his mane at the congregation of stars above us, swirling them about until they formed another Alicorn.

She was slimmer than Eliahcus, allowing me to confirm her femininity.

“This is my sister, Lauren Faust. She shot down my notion of having all of Equis under our control; just the two of us. And, when I made this notion known to her, she simply told me to approach her when such silly ideals are vacant from my mind. Yet, I remain steadfast in my desires, so I allowed her space from me. Now I wander the vast outreaches of space forever more, until my desire to rule Equis dies out. But, that is beside the point.” 

“Lauren and I have enlisted ourselves into a game ran by one of the Dark Lords, Tirek; King of Midnight Castle. The winner gets any desire fulfilled, no matter what it may be. I, personally, don’t care who wins.” Eliahcus grinned enough to showcase only the left half of his teeth. “But a loss, however, is in store for someone I loathe. My sister, to be exact.” With a glow of his blasphemous horn, Eliahcus floated the arm rings over to me. “She has already found her Piece, and the female happens to be from another world.” 

I quirked my left brow. “So? I fail to see what that has to do with you, Eliahcus.” 

“It has everything to do with me,” Eliahcus returned with a dip of his head. “But, to keep the power of a Kinetomancer, your task is rather simple. I want Lauren’s horror, her fear of losing to Tirek and throwing Equis into the hands of darkness and disarray to become reality! To be less poetic, I want her Piece to die.”

I was amused by how exuberant Eliahcus was during the first half of his rant, but was shocked when his face whipped back to impassiveness way too quick for normalcy. “Do this, and the power is yours. Don’t, and I’ll merely find someone else. The choice is yours, Pariah of Dragonkind.” 

My head was a roaring battlefield, one side belonging to the notion of accepting Eliahcus’s proposal, while the other warred against the aforementioned side. Neither faction gave quarter, and I’m sure my face was reflecting this inner battle to the Alicorn with little difficulty.

After what felt like an eternity of fighting inwardly, I gave in to the first notion. “I accept. I’ll be your Piece, if it means rescuing my people from their ignorance in consorting with Alicorns; ignoring the irony here, that is.” I grabbed five of the ten red arm rings with my left claw, sliding them onto my right arm with ease. Once they were on, I repeated the process with my left. 

I didn’t feel any different in comparison to when these rings weren’t on me, so I readied myself to roast Eliahcus where he flapped. But, he raised his yellow hoof in a manner of telling me to hold on. “I will send you back to Equis. The rings are not charged, and need kinetic energy to acquire power. Remember the two ways to charge them, for a ring depletes after every spell you use. With remedial tasks, it takes ten hours to fully charge them all. Strenuous tasks half that time, making it five hours. Be warned though; the Kinetic Rings will be extremely draining at first, due to the new magic I’ve developed seeking refuge through your body. You will be hard pressed to stay vitalized.” 

I nodded in silent agreement, cancelling the flame I had surged up from my fire glands. Eliahcus eyed the grey smoke lifting from my nostrils with a frown on his face, making me snicker. “I am not apologizing.” 

He sighed. “I see. Well then, all that’s left is marking you as my Piece.” 

My eyes narrowed instantly as I roared. “You will not mark me as anything, Alicorn! The rings should be enough!” 

“They are not! If you take them off, I cannot claim you as my Piece, and therefore you’ll lose your powers! I am only drawing on you with my magic anyway! There’s no shame in wearing an Eclipse upon your back, dragon,” Eliahcus roared back, making me growl in warning. 

“It’s just an Eclipse, right!? If it’s anything else, I will use your pelt as a towel for when I bathe!” 

Eliahcus opened his mouth for another rebuttal, but closed it and dipped his head. I huffed out more smoke and turned around, exposing my back to the Alicorn. “Do what you wish, Alicorn. But, I demand to see what you did when you’re finished. If I do not like it, you will change the picture.” 

“I have already marked you, Ragnarok. This is what it looks like.” Eliahcus- after flying around to face me -changed the color of the yellow stars and molded them once more into a black circle highlighted by a soft lavender light that was radiating behind it. 

I made the connection quickly. “A solar eclipse? It’s not bad, Eliahcus. That’s between my wings, right? I feel the magic right there,” I asked, getting a nod from the Alicorn. “Works for me. Now send me back to Equis.” 

With a smile, Eliahcus glided down until he was standing in front of me. “Then we have an accord! You will find the one called Megan on Atlantis. Get rid of her, and keep your powers. Fail, and perish. I have great faith in your abilities, Ragnarok.” 

“Send. Me. Back,” I spat, getting a quick glare from the silver-tongued Alicorn. With a sneer and upturned nose, a feeling of magic washed over my being, and I awoke back in my cave....

... And in the blood of Salazar. 

“This is why I hate Alicorns. Nevertheless, I have a job to do. And I’ll do it, gladly.” 

My stomach scared me with its growl, causing me to spread my claws and whip around to face the mouth of my cave. But, there was no foe who was ready for taking my life. I sighed and turned around, grabbing the carrion by its bitten neck and dragging it further back into my cave. 

“I’ll head for Atlantis tomorrow, at the noon hour.” 
> Journey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whispering current of wind caressed my ears, tickling them annoyingly. This was enough to wake me up, so, quite lethargically if I may add; I began stretching and popping my limbs, arching my back up. There was a pleasurable pop from the spine, and I exhaled in comfortability. 

Smacking my lips, I opened my eyes and saw something that ruined my day. 

I frowned at the Alicorn. “What is it now? I just woke up.” 

Eliahcus dipped his head in greeting. “Good morn’ to thee, Ragnarok. I have a mission for you to do.” 

I yawned in his face, making sure to blow his mane back and get as much saliva on him as possible. Eliahcus reminded me of a soggy weeping willow when the waterworks stopped. “Nope. Too tired.” 

Grunting in annoyance, the Alicorn raised a hoof to wipe off the excess drool on his face; throwing the mucous to the ground with a wet splat. “But you just woke up! You even said so,” he protested crossly, making me get up, turn my back on him, and then lay down again. 

I could hear his teeth grinding, but I didn’t really care. 

“Ragnarok! This is a matter of great importance! There is no time for your lazing!” Eliahcus shouted, displaying his lack of patience. 

Craning my neck so that I could stare at him over my shoulder, I gave a snort of bemusement. “You wanted me to go to Atlantis, right? I’m going, but I never said when.” 

“Listen to me, you oversized gecko! This doesn’t concern that petty island in the sky! I have a mission for you that lies in the opposite direction of Atlantis; a mission that needs completion by sundown, and it’ll take you half a day to get there! You’re wasting time!” Eliahcus stomped his hoof, and I could have sworn the entire mountain jumped into the air a little. 

I looked at him. 

He glared at me. 

“.... Nah. Too tired.” I turned around and- suddenly was being pulled by my tail!? 

Snapping my head back around, I saw Eliahcus trotting out of my cave with his nose in the air, my tail trailing behind him with a silver and gold aura jingling around it. Growling venomously, I placed a claw on the appendage and yanked it from the Alicorn’s magical hold. He seemed put off by this, and looked at me as if I had grown a second head. 

“What in the name of the Elder Tongue are you doing, Alicorn scum!? Don’t you EVER use your heathen magic on me! I’ll pound you into the dirt, you walking flea factory!” I glared at him for emphasis, watching angrily as he sighed and shook his head. 

“Why are you being so stubborn today, you beast of burden? I just wanted a love letter delivered,” Eliahcus, as weird as this may sound, sulked. 

Scrounging my face up into horrid confusion, I began wondering what kind of mare actually found this guy attractive. His mane practically defecates lightning and uses storm clouds as follicle flatulence. It’s even worse for the tail, and that Creators-damned sparkling yellow coat was too damn bright!

“A love letter? And you believe a dragon to be the best courier,” I asked incredulously, not really comprehending the broken logic he was tossing my way. “Are you sure there’s familial blood between you and Lauren? I don’t see it, or maybe it hasn’t reached your brain yet?” I scratched at my neck scales in thought, actually wondering if someone can be dumb because prodigious blood hadn’t circulated the way it should have.

A sigh broke me out of my thought process, however, and I faced the... “What gesture is that?” I pointed at the hoof on his face. “That looks horribly unsanitary, but I get the feeling he’s becoming sore with my antics from that pose.” 

“I’m becoming sore from your antics, Ragnarok. Yes, my logic may be flawed, but I can’t really trust a missive of love to anyone else; because everyone else thinks I’m dead. This, unfortunately, includes the mare who’s supposed to be receiving it. Please be my only,” Eliahcus paused, seeming to be slapped with disgust itself before shaking his head, “acquaintance, and deliver this to the Eldest Queen of the Flutterponies.” 

Before I could respond, a white envelope with a red heart wax seal appeared in front of me as he teleported out. My talon went up to interject, but I let it droop with mild annoyance before lowering my claw altogether. 

“You scum. No, seriously; don’t let me catch you at night, Eliahcus,” I quirked my eyebrow as I realized the strange notion of talking to myself. The awkwardness was made more apparent as the threat rung out through my head, and I quickly shook it out. 

Looking directly at the hovering envelope, which was suspended in a gold and silver aura, I frowned before taking it in claw. Closing the hand tightly, I made my way to the mouth of my cave and peeked outside.

I grinned in shallow amusement at the sunrise-stroked lands ahead of me. Bountiful prairie fields with high grass ran on forever, seeming to dip into the sun itself. To the right and in the distance was a lake which I used to bathe.

“Speaking of...” I thought with some amusement, entertaining the thought of actually stinking. I lifted my arm and took a half-whiff. 

“BY THE ELDERS,” I swore loudly, jerking my head away from the offending sweat-gland hole. I coughed once or twice, shaking my head with distaste before flying out of the cave, headed for a pit stop that needed to happen. 




Feeling invigorated after my dip into the warm water, I climbed out of the lake and shook myself dry. Water sprayed everything in the immediate area, practically gliding off my lithe but muscular form effortlessly. Using a claw to sweep back the crimson mane in the way of my eyes, I used the water to slick it back out of my way. 

“Sometimes I hate being born with a mane. Spikes are so much easier to manage than actual hair... but I make it work!”  Turning around to ogle myself in the water’s surface, I struck different poses before snickering to myself. “I still got it! Fifteen-hundred years and I could still kill with a single wink!” 

Redirecting myself so that I could assemble the rest of my things, I was suddenly struck by one of my many explosions of genius. Quickly sliding the rings Eliahcus gave me onto my arms, I looked around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. “The Elder Tongue is too sacred for non-scales to hear. I will be no better than those sniveling Alicorns if I am listened upon without knowing.” 

Satisfied that no one was going to hear me, I lifted the petite missive of affection to my mane. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it, I focused on the magic inside my person and channeled it into my mane and the letter. “Obretio.” 

I felt chunks of my mane ensnare the letter and bind it up within its confines. With a sigh of relief as the magic went back down into my body, I took a deep breath of the summer air. Wildflowers and wet grass stuck out the most, but I could smell small game meandering about the grasslands without a care. The most prominent of this game were hares, which were my second main source of food. 

Of course, I would have to capture around twenty of those little scamps in order to nudge my hunger. A wild stag was a nice change of pace, and my unwanted starvation helped me slim down a lot. “It was rather annoying, walking around with a bulbous belly.”

With the letter secured within my mane, I opened my wings and took off. There was only one place with mares in the opposite direction of Atlantis, which was to the West. And I dreaded going there for two reasons. 

One: The Flutterponies were known to be horribly prudish, even in the face of more important figures. I remember when I went to the Royal Council Meetings with the Seven Lords, the Cynogriffins, the Alicorns, and the Flutterponies, who swore up and down they were different. The only reason I was allowed to come was because of my status as Arch-Dragon, which placed me pretty high up in the ranks of my kin. 

But the fact still remained that the Flutterponies- not the Queens, but rather their envoys -took the saying “showing your whole ass” to another level. They practically suckled the hooves Queen Pandora and Chrysalis used for walking, which made me gag, and the fact that they held Love in such high places made me vomit.

Like, literally vomit. 

Unfortunately, that was the last meeting I was allowed to attend. Many laughs were had afterwards with the Seven Lords and I, but the punishment was not revoked. 

And two: I hate Alicorns. Not really much else to say on that, I’m afraid.

“At least flying’s nice this time of the year. Creators-forbid another surprise squall happens like the day before last. Twas a bad time to rid my bowels of the rotten stag I had so foolishly consumed because I was feeling lazy.” I placed a claw on my poor stomach and rubbed it affectionately, cooing to the abdominals that, ‘I was sorry for putting them through the wringer like I did’.

“What the actual hell is wrong with me? My actions have become rather idiotic ever since meeting Eliahcus, and there’s no valid explanation I can give for that. At least I look better than that horse, heh,” I thought with a sputter of my lips, not understanding why I was so giddy all of a sudden.

“I am a dragon! Dragons do not believe in giddy; they believe in results, and actuality! Get your head in the Game, Ragna!” I pepped myself up mentally, slapping my face to focus better and eject wayward thoughts. “Better. Now, by the time I reach Azalea, it should be evening. I’ll stay amongst their ilk for no longer than I have to, and I’ll be gone by first light... if everything goes to plan.” 

I settled down into my pace of gliding, then two flaps every-so-often, enjoying the warm air caressing my slick, lithe and muscular body. The air felt good enough to lull me into a pseudo-slumber, closing my eyes as the whistling in my ear-fins made me smile. “I could get used to this...”




So I had been flying for five-six hours now, if the sun was anything to go by. Zenith was here, and the heat of a summer’s day was beginning to take its toll on my body. So, with a roll of my eyes, I banked off towards a small pond to drink from. 

As I descended, I scanned the immediate area for any trouble... not that there would be any. I mean, I’m a dragon... and a handsome one at that!

Regardless, I strutted up to the pond and lowered my head, readying myself for the cool onslaught of liquid. And, with much gusto, I began lapping the water up. Under more favorable circumstances, I would be drinking it from a mug at someone’s house. But I didn’t have that luxury now, given my pariah disposition. 

Still, the water was invigorating, and did wonders for my burning chest. My lungs screamed for a break, and I was all too happy to give one up. I didn’t want to risk asphyxiation.

“If you paid attention to general studies as a whelp instead of brown-nosing the Elder Tongue, you might’ve actually learned something useful about dragon anatomy,” my brain rebuked, making me snarl minutely to myself. I then proceeded to chuckle.

Wiping my mouth of any excess water with a content sigh, I opened my wings and took off again, headed westwards to Azalea. 

As I climbed higher and higher, stopping just below the cloudline, I angled my body to the left with a smile and let my right scrape the cool, white clouds above me. The mist did wonders for my burning wing muscles, and I cursed myself for not thinking about taking a dip in the pond from before. 

I flew like this for a while before switching wings, sighing in relief as the burning was temporarily remedied. But my body was becoming sluggish from the flying, and no amount of cooling mist was going to alleviate the burning sensation that accumulated from six hours of nonstop flying. 

“I’m probably gonna crash land unless I take a break and rest. The little sip-n’-fly I did earlier wasn’t helpful in the slightest now that I’m actually flying again! It’s decided then: the next body of water I come across will be the one I take a nap at.” Looking down, I scanned the lime-green countryside with mild interest. There were little specks of purple, yellow, and red. I, with my dragon sight, knew perfectly well that these specks of colors were actually wildflowers. 

“Wait. I don’t have to take a break! These rings Eliahcus gave me are gonna get me there!” I smiled and lifted an arm in front of my face, inspecting two of the five closely. They felt like metal, that’s for sure, and there were no slits in their surface to suggest linking. Apparently, Eliahcus saw fit to bend the metal itself into a perfect circle somehow. “I know the magical capabilities of Alicorns well, but this is something else. I haven’t met an Alicorn capable of bending metal into perfect circles. If Eliahcus could do this, I shudder at the thought of Lauren Faust’s prowess.”

Frowning at how much of a coward that made me sound, I added a little more force into my flaps, accelerating minutely. The burning sensation within my wing muscles pained me slightly, but I trudged on, used to the inflammation already. 

“No, you’re not used to the pain. You’re just ignoring it. You don’t want it to hinder you, so onwards do you trudge. If a feeling is all it takes to shaken you, then Eliahcus has placed these rings on the wrong drake.” My brain really didn’t like me today for some reason.

“Don’t talk like we’re not one-in-the-same, Ragnarok. Every dragon knows the mind has to have two levels. It has to be this way, so we who barely age do not become mad as time drags on wearily.”  Frowning even harder, I added more force to my wings with a guttural growl.

“Stop it. I don’t like you,” I retorted childishly, but not disagreeing with what my mind was telling me. It was right, after all. Living a long life will drive any sentient being insane, which is why the ones cursed with long life are allowed a surrogate conscious. It keeps us on our toes and never without company.

“Lauren Faust is a genius. The magic is still casted by heathens, but I blessed my surrogate mind with the Elder Tongue. Even so, the beast runs rampant at times, and sometimes I can deal with it... sometimes.” Half of me was grateful for Lauren’s ingenuity, while the other half cursed her for making my point of Alicorns being heathens that much harder to drive home. 

Something hit me in the face with a loud smack, and I promptly stopped in the air and put up my claws. 

Nothing was there. 

“What? Oh...” I looked at my right arm and frowned at it. “Stupid appendage. I had forgotten all about you. But you are quite fetching, if I may say so myself.” Smugly, I focused on the magic within my blood, feeling it bubble out of its liquid encasement and into my arms. “If I’m right, the magic will transfer into the Kinetic Rings and launch me at an insane speed towards my destination. If I am wrong, I lose two arms due to magical feedback.”  Pursing my lips, I began flying again. 

“I need to figure out how to work these things. The information will be quite useful for when I get into another tussle with a challenger; or for getting between Point A and Point B quicker.” This thought was meant to comfort me into using the rings, but the image of my arms spontaneously imploding somehow wormed itself behind my eyes. The imaginary stumps gushed my blood like a fountain or waterfall, and I found myself chuckling, in the midst of that gory image, at the confused look on my imaginary self’s face. 

“There really is a silver lining for everything! Hey! I’m starting to feel comfortable with using the rings!” With a smile, I pulled an Elder Command from within the bowels of my mind. “Accelero.” 

My face was pushed back, and a thunderous boom was heard. Struggling to turn my neck under the new force, I took notice of a plum and red-colored circle expanding outwards. I could no longer hear anything, which had me feeling a little disoriented at how quick everything happened in this small window of time. 

“Heh, I broke the sound barrier... again,” I thought in excitement, bringing my head back to face the direction of which I was traveling. The countryside was blowing past me now, and I’m pretty sure, if this was anything like the last time I broke the sound barrier, that a eggplant-colored streak was flowing behind me erratically. “Now I have to refocus my magic back into my belly!” 

I scrounged my face up in confusion, however, when I still felt the magic in my arms. “That’s... that’s impossible! How is my magic still in my arms!? Not a single drop of it left the confines of them,” I thought with some fear, recalling the energy into my belly before my arms exploded.

“Dodged that arrow, huh,” I asked myself with a snicker, making my way towards Azalea at great speeds. “This should cut travel time exponentially! These Kinetic Rings are great! I wonder if they have to recharge from this?” 




I pulled up sharply, recognizing my surroundings instantly. There was a forest that shrouded the grove in which Azalea could be found, this much I knew. And I was in front of said forest. 

The problem with this, however, is that I arrived way sooner than what Eliahcus had predicted. I don’t know about him, but if he told the Flutterponies that I was going to arrive close to sundown, then they’re going to be in for a shock. 

“That’s what happens when you show in the afternoon, fool. Plus, you missed out on all the gorgeous countryside! There could’ve been a weak and helpless dragoness being attacked by Cynogriffins, and you would’ve kept going without a care in the world!” I raised a single finger on my right claw and poked myself with it, stopping my surrogate conscious from talking. 

“Not another peep, you. Now, I’m wondering how I should go about doing this. If I fly over, they’ll panic and possibly attack me, resulting in the death of the Flutterponies and all they’ve built. Or, I could walk through the forest and approach them mildly, indicating a non-violent disposition.” I thought about the last one for three seconds, before blowing air through my nose in amusement.

“Yeah, right; as if they’ll ever believe me! After all, dragons are meant to be the monsters in the flights of fancy they tell their children!” With a hearty laugh and broad smile, I dropped onto the warm earth and proceeded into the forest. 

“If I’m not mistaken,” I said to myself while practically destroying the beautiful green scenery with wide swipes of my hips, causing trees to tumble with creaks of despair and hate. “I’ve been flying two degrees to the northeast of a straight-shot from my mountain to Azalea. So by turning slightly to the northwest, I should be walking right towards it.” 

This forest was awake with the sound of lazing cicadas, leaves in a cool breeze, and bird calls. There was also the humdrum of my forceful walking, but I decided to ignore the ear-splitting thumps of the falling, ancient trees. I did, however, focus on the wondrous pine scent that milled about forests. 

“I should be no more than a mile away. Should take five minutes, give or take.” 




“I’m stomping down the trees, yeah! I’m just a big, plum dragon looking for a mare infested with fleas,” I sang to myself, imagining a congregation of dragons next to me as I launched into the chorus. “I really want to find A-za-le-a! Really need to find A-za-le-a! Look no further than the evergreens; who stay up all night and watch you while you dream!” 

“Halt!” The voice was small and feminine, making me look down to inspect something relative to my interest. As I had expected, it was an Alicorn guard. But this Alicorn was different than Eliahcus, whose wings resembled those of an avians. The Flutterpony Alicorn’s wings were insectoid, reminding me of butterflies. 

Her mane, which was a deep shade of green, matched the beauty of her glistening, lighter emerald wings. A white horn, coming to a very pointy apex, was aimed at my pectoral muscles, her head lowered for better accuracy. I could see her eyes just fine, and they too matcher her wings. 

“State your business in Azalea, dragon!” The guard did her best to sound intimidating, but that squeaky voice was better suited for a timid, doormat-type of pony and not her.

“I have orders from an Alicorn to deliver a letter,” Grinning, I outstretched my pinky, placed it on her side, and moved her with an expert show of dexterity. Her hooves scuffed up the dirt, and I began walking towards Azalea. 

The fluttering of wings behind me let on to that fact of her tailing, and I gave a grunt of annoyance as she dropped directly into my vision. “I thought I told you to halt! I never gave you permission to enter the village,” she hollered, poking me in the nose with her horn. 

I gave her an annoyed look and pursed my lips. “Really? Count yourself lucky for being beautiful; I would’ve burned you to a crisp by now if you weren’t. Now please get the hell out of my way so I can deliver this creators-damned missive from a cowardly Alicorn.” 

“Make me, chump!” 

I...I just stared at her. “Does... does she not know I’m a dragon? I mean, it sure does look pretty obvious.” 

“That’s what I thought!” She placed a white hoof on her chest and turned her nose up with a smug grin, closing her eyes as if bathing in her accomplishment of denying me again.

I stared at her for a little longer, before smiling evilly.




“GET ME OUT OF THIS TREE! HEY! I’M TALKING TO YOU,” The flutterpony yelled as I walked past her ‘half-in-half-out’ form in the evergreen.Everything from her belly and back was shoved into that tree, and she looked absolutely hilarious. “HEY! HELP! HEEEELP!” 

“Why don’t you make like a tree and leave,” I hollered back with no small amount of amusement, ripping two large oaks from the ground and tossing them back at the Flutterpony guard, hearing her scream before falling silent as they thudded next to her tree loudly. 

This was when I decided to look back, watching her still-screaming form pass out, before laughing and walking on. 

I had to immediately stop myself when the forest opened up, allowing me to peer off the edge of the raised plateau I was on. 

“This place is... beautiful...” My mouth slowly curved up into a smile at all the wildflowers blooming in the valley below. It was a sea of bright specks of color, and white pollen danced in the air like millions of fireflies. Some of the pollen was even crystalline, reflecting rainbows along the brown walls of the valley.

I could see Flutterponies, young and old, playing or milling through the wildflowers with looks of pure joy. 

Still in shock, I slammed my backside onto the ground and stood up with my four legs, my eyes devouring the town that laid just beyond the outer reaches of the field of flowers. A chuckle escaped my lips as a soothing feeling of calm washed over me, and I felt the burning from my flight here disappear altogether. 

“This place... it’s beautiful... I don’t even...” I stepped forward and slid down the curving, brown wall of the valley. It didn’t take long to hit the bottom, and I felt the soothing texture of soft petals under my feet and claws. I felt bad for crushing such beauty, but then remembered my unparalleled good looks and kept it moving.

“First order of business: find out where the Queens lay their heads down to sleep. And I think this little filly up here will do wonders to help me find out!” 

> You've Got Mail
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Right. I didn’t think this through all the way. Now there’s a scared filly with misty eyes sniffling and whimpering underneath me.” I lowered myself to appear smaller before the black and yellow filly, whose misty eyes only seemed to moistened further upon looking at my face in so close a proximity. 

The petals of wildflowers tickled my snout, but I made sure to physically withhold all sneezes so I didn’t immolate the child by accident. “I’m not going to hurt you, young one. Twas never my intention, I assure you,” I cooed, planting a reminder in my head to punch something later for my feminine action as recompense.

“D-d-d-d-d-d.” She continued to shake and struggle with that one consonant, and I knew she was trying to say ‘dragon’. 

“Yes, I am a dragon. No, I do not enjoy the taste of fillies and colts. You’re too chewy for my tastes, I’m afraid.” When the words left my mouth, I mentally slapped myself. Panicking, I tried chuckling my way through the horrified stare she was now tossing my way. “Well, that is to say, I’m only making an, um, inference. Alicorns are more or less lean in the chest, but the foals haven’t had enough time to develop muscle and- I’m not helping this.” 

She covered her mouth with both her black hooves, and peered at me like a mouse would do to a tom cat when caught between its paws. I smiled at her sheepishly, and her horrified gaze turned into a girly wail of terror before running towards the town in the distance. 

You may call this bullshit, but I heard the neck of every flutterpony in this creators-forsaken valley snap to look at me! And as I peered back at them with that same sheepish smile, they too took off and ran towards the village. 

“Great. As if meeting the Queens wasn’t going to be hard enough...” Sighing in exasperation, I stood up and sat back on my ass, scratching my chin slowly with a single finger. “Now how can I clear this up with the guard. No doubt they’ll try to gut the ‘terrifying’ dragon.” I rolled my eyes and grunted. 

Scanning the village in the distance for an appropriate mob, I nearly choked on my next inhale as a giant black figure winged its way into the air and made a beeline straight for me! I knew from the sounds of massive, flapping wings that it was another dragon. 

“What!? Why the hell is there another dragon here!? And for that matter; why did that filly make such a big deal about me being here if there was another dragon in the area!” Feeling quite miffed about being treated as a monster when clearly, there was another of my kin here; I crossed my arms and tapped my foot irritably against the brown earth below.

And as the dragon neared, I could make out some key features. Number one, it was a dragoness; which has been made apparent by the wavy, black eyelashes that looked to be flapping like her wings. The second feature I noticed was her lithe body, which was almost similar to mine; but given my masculinity, I was frighteningly more muscular and taller.

The last feature, however, gave me a lot of pause. It was her scales. True enough; if Sjach, my old mentor, was right about Pink Scales and their borderline lusting disposition, I was going to have quite the chat with her. 

While I waited for her to touch down, which she was doing right now, I thought of many proper greetings to give. “‘Sup.’ No, too casual. ‘Greetings, milady!’ That one’s too formal.” I found myself growling at the blank I was drawing for a proper hello, which means I wasn’t paying attention to the person I was going to actually address. 

“So, you’re the drake that’s been terrorising my friend, Vespa?” Her voice was oddly alluring, and brought me from my thoughts quickly. I gazed into her yellow, glaring eyes with mild interest. Stranger still, this dragoness had a blonde mane that curled towards the bangs, and stretched lavishly down to the middle of her back. 

A harsh poke to my pectoral muscles brought me out of my ogling, and I affixed the dragoness with a steely gaze of exasperation. “No. I was the drake asking your friend, Vespa, for the whereabouts of the Queens. I have a missive from an annoying Alicorn that needs to be delivered, and not to be rude; but I rather not squander any more time here with you, knowing that my goal is probably twenty steps towards the village yonder.” 

She glared. “The first step you take out of those twenty will be your last. Until I get some answers out of you, Mr. Drake, you’re not going anywhere.” The dragoness saw fit to poke me once more, getting an annoyed grunt from my throat as recompense. 

I grabbed her claw in my own, nearly crushing the appendage and causing her to wince. “Don’t touch me. We may use words, my dear, but make no mistake; I will not hesitate to defend what’s left of my pride and good-looks, even if the challenger is of the opposite sex. It would also be a shame, miss, if you died a nameless death.” I tossed her claw to the side, and nearly felt bad as she followed the appendage with a shocked visage. 

The dragoness stumbled like a drunkard during happy hour, kicking up a mini gust of dirt and wildflowers, before falling quite unceremoniously onto her face. During her descent, she gave many ‘woahs’ and other sorts of words one would use before falling. And then, she topped it off by squeaking, falling face first into the dirt. 

I snickered as she rubbed her snout. “Smooth moves you got there, dear heart! Now if you’re done shooting the breeze, I would like to get this quest over with before making tracks to Atlantis.” 

Quite comically did her head pop up from the dirt, sending medium-sized chunks of it everywhere as she snapped her head to face me. “Atlantis? You’re going to Atlantis?” 

Even though it shames me to admit it, this dragoness had me miffed and curious. Raising my eyebrow, I responded with, “What’s it to you?” 

Her eyes seemed to sparkle like their precious stone counterpart, and she quickly hoisted herself up while shaking any excess dirt from her mane. “Hey! I was just thinking about going there, too! Do you have room for one mo-” 

“No,” I interrupted sharply, getting a quick glare from her. 

“And why not, Mr. Drake? I’m cutting you some slack after attacking my home, and you think I wouldn’t look for some sort of payback? You must really think highly of me.” She crossed her arms and tapped her own foot, mimicking me to a tee. 

Tilting my head and frowning to show my displeasure, I continued to tap my foot against the ground. “You’re not coming with me. I have no need for a flip-flop Pink Scale as company. You’re better off here, amidst the flutterponies who only concern themselves with Loooooveee~.” I bunched my claws together and drawled out the word while swinging my body from side to side, mocking the dragoness into giving a growl of fury. 

“Take that back! Love is a very integral part to the survival of any species! I will not stand for you mocking it!” She slashed a claw diagonally through the air, the after-wind hitting me in the face and causing me to shut my eyes a little bit. 

I took a claw and waved back the locks that had fallen onto my face with a smile. “I’m sorry if I offended you, miss; it’s just that the notion of love is lost on me. I’ll never understand its many intricacies without knowing of its many pains. And therefore, I find the subject of love to be foolhardy and time-consuming.” Her face got even angrier at my explanation, making me raise my eyebrow again. 

“You just didn’t give it a shot,” She declared angrily, poking me in the chest again. “I bet if you actually settled down with a nice queen, you’d be able to testify that love is a wonderful thing! And have a little tact, will you!? The flutterponies believe love to be the answer to every problem in this world, as do I! That emotion is our way of life, and I’ll not stand for anymore of your horrid words towards it!” 

“Did... did she just say I should settle down!?” The more I looked at her, the more I felt my rage boiling. I lowered my head and continued to growl before pouncing on her in a heartbeat. Her fearful face snapped something within me, and I promptly roared in her face. Her mane went everywhere, and the group of flutterponies that were slowly creeping up to watch were now scattering in a fearful frenzy, shouting for their guards as I pinned the dragoness completely down. 

“I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE!? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID!? LISTEN HERE, BITCH; I KNOW WAY MORE ABOUT LOVE THAN YOU EVER WILL!” She shrunk down as I yelled in her face, her eyes wincing as my spit sprayed out. “LOOK AT YOUR BELLY! I BET YOU HAVEN’T BIRTHED A SINGLE CLUTCH! DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE YOUR ONLY MATE TO AN ACT OF SUICIDE, WHEN OVER HALF HER FUCKING EGGS DIDN’T HATCH!? NO!? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT LOVE! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT!” 

Breathing heavily while still glaring down at her, I awaited some form of answer from the dragoness that now had her eyes completely closed. And as I waited, I felt my heart plummet into the bowels of my belly. 

She... she was crying...

My eyes widened as I released her from my pinning maneuver, walking backwards as I observed her body balling up into a fetal position of sorrow and fright. “I fucked up... ah hell! This isn’t good!” 

“HEY!” That voice was familiar enough to make me look to my side, my shock alleviating enough to be replaced with a little curiosity. It was that little black coat and yellow mane flutterpony filly, and she looked absolutely disappointed and livid. “No one picks on Apphy like that! She’s the sweetest dragon this side of Equis, and my friend! You better apologize, mister!” 

“Was... was that a command,” I thought with absolute distaste. The feeling was only heightened when the realization of an Alicorn speaking to me like that made itself apparent. I growled and turned my back on the filly. “Buzz off, bugface. I don’t have time for this. Plus, she started it. I’m not at fault here, your friend is.” 

“NO! You made a female cry! Have you no sense of chivalry, pride, or honor!? Since you’re a dragon, I would think these things to be of high importance to you!” She buzzed around my head until we were eye-to-eye, making me huff in annoyance. 

“VESPA! GET AWAY FROM HIM! DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT HE DID TO APHRODITE!?”

Many other claims and orders like that one filled the air, the voices of gathering flutterponies causing me to turn around again. I had to rub my eyes in order to keep them from popping out, seeing as how the whole fucking city was in front of me!

“By the Creators,” I swore wearily, pinching the bridge of my snout in agitation. “Please tell me the Queens are amongst you lot! I need to get to Atlantis, and I don’t have time to fly over those shacks in the distance to a castle and await a meeting!” 

‘Fear not, Mr. Drake; we are here.” A motherly voice announced before a beautiful white flutterpony with crystalline, blue wings and lovely, shining, blue-green locks, parted the sea of villagers with her gait. As she strode forward, the wildflowers seemed to stretch out towards her, almost begging for her touch. 

The same could be said for the other flutterpony that followed her. This one had the same body shape as her counterpart; slender but curved in the right places. Her face, although the difference is miniscule, had an aged appearance to it. Her mane was a bright tint of pink, and matched her crystalline wings perfectly. The eyes, however, were a darker shade of pink than both mane and wings. 

Another thing that confused me about these types of Alicorns were their eyes. If someone didn’t know the history of the flutterponies, one would assume it was a tribe of blind Alicorns, based on the fact that their eye appear to be clouded. 

Even so, the duo stood side by side as they peered up at me, their gold tiaras and slippers with color-coordinated butterfly outlines shining brightly in the afternoon sun. 

“Ah, you must be the Queens of the Flutterponies, no? I am Ragnarok.” I heard a chorus of grunts come from the crowd, making me wonder if any nobility was assembled in there that remembered my actions during the Royal Council Meeting of old. “You two might remember me from a Royal Council Meeting some time ago. I do not blame you if you don’t, but I am rather hurt that my rude action would be forgotten so soon.” I smiled as the Queen on the left, one whom I remembered was named Chrysalis, rolled her eyes. 

“I remember that, serrah. I am Queen Chrysalis, the one who you saw fit to relieve your stomach near. This,” She lifted a hoof snootily to the other diarch, “is my eldest sister, Queen Pandora. Now that introductions are done; you should begin explaining why it was necessary for you to act uncouth and destroy the peace of the village.” Her tone was one of disappointment, not anger. 

But, that motherly tone of hers was doing little for making me feel like a drake. “I am not your child, Queen Chrysalis. The tone you’re using, in my opinion, sounds like you’re talking down to me. Please change it. Also, I’m here to deliver a missive of love from my...” I trailed off and scratched the underside of my chin, debating what to call Eliahcus in terms of address. I snapped my fingers and smiled, “...employer. It’s for one of you two.” 

I lifted the same claw I was using to scratch my neck, holding it right beside my head. And then, I froze in place with a shocked expression upon my face. “Shit! I used the Elder Tongue to bind the missive into my mane with magic! I can’t use the Elder Tongue around non-scales! I’ll become a traitor to T’Rell-Vadriz; and then what little honor and pride I have left will be next to worthless!” 

“Well,” Pandora asked with a voice much like her sister’s. “Where is this missive of yours, Ragnarok? I’d like to see this confession of love with my own eyes.” 

I coughed into the claw I raised up nervously, feeling some sweat roll down my face. With a tentative chuckle, I promptly turned around. This action brought me face to face with the flutterpony named Vespa, and she had her hooves on her hips and a raised eyebrow as if saying ‘And what do you think you’re doing?’ to me.

I sighed, turning back around to face the Queens. “I cannot bring it forth from my mane. I have bound it to my locks with the Elder Tongue of my people, and it is considered taboo for me to speak it in front of non-scales.” I dipped my head in apology, closing my eyes briefly before opening them again when my head came to rest normally.

The Queens exchanged looks of impassiveness with each other. Pandora turned her head back first, looking at me with caution evident in her eyes. “What if we left you alone with Aphrodite? Chrysalis and I will cast a barrier around our people, muting them to the sounds of the outside. Since dragons are magic resistant, it would strain the two of us too much to include Aphrodite in our spell.” 

After her explanation, I looked over to the Pink Scale dragoness. She had her arms crossed and was glaring the intensity of nine suns at me. I dipped my head towards her, and she responded by flipping me off. Snarling, I looked back down at the Queens. 

“Do what you want. But tell your friend to keep her talks of love to herself. Old wounds were dug up today that had no business in resurfacing, and I’ve yet to receive an apology for it. Even so, this solution of yours isn’t too bad. But be warned,” I leaned down close so that my mouth was between their heads. I whispered, “If I ever find out you two were eavesdropping on the Elder Tongue; your home will become the birthplace of a new crematorium,” I hissed, sliding my head back slowly as I watched them nod in confirmation. 

They walked back to their people, and both of them jerked their heads back at me while looking at Aphrodite. She glared, but when Queen Pandora shook her head sharply, the dragoness seemed to lose all her rebellious thoughts and adopted a face full of fear. She hastily made her way over to me, but kept a good distance away for- and this is just a guess -fear of being pinned once more.

Once everyone was situated on the flutterponies’ half, the Queens touched their horns together and shut their eyes. In an instant, all the flutterponies were surrounded by a swirling bright-pink and blue-green shield of magic.

I sighed and looked over to my company. “Do you know the Elder Tongue, Ms. Aphrodite? You look very well-learned, and beauti-” I widened my eyes, staring at the dragoness in fear. She looked puzzled, as if someone was asking her to sniff between her toes for a mural. “... Nevermind. Anyways, do you know the Elder Tongue? I’m sure you’ve had some experience with it.” 

Aphrodite shook her head, still staring at me with caution. I mentally slapped myself for almost calling her beautiful back then; not that it would have mattered any, seeing as how she really is beautiful. The weird part of the whole ordeal was my previous outburst against her, which she did not take in spades. 

“I see,” I nodded at her, raising a claw to my mane. “This will be your first word to hear, then. There’s always a good place to begin, Ms. Aphrodite.” I closed my eyes and channeled my magic into the mane atop of my head. I could feel the magic make it wave about, making me feel warm around the scalp.

With a smile, I spoke the word that would unravel the missive from within my mane. “Retexo.” I gave a chuckle from the ticking my hair gave me, feeling the strands part and lower the white letter into my waiting claw. My mane dropped back down to its slicked-back style, and the Queens took this as a sign to release the barrier.

Walking back up to me, the Queens awaited the missive addressed to one of them. I nodded in understanding at their silent stares, and lowered my claw down to their faces. The letter was plucked and opened with the blue-green magic of Queen Chrysalis, who also began reading its contents as I waited. Her mouth dropped somewhere near the middle, and then her face practically exploded with red blush. 

“It’s for you!” She shoved the letter halfway up her sister’s nostril before dropping the aura and shaking her head back an forth. “There are just some things a mare was never meant to read! Honestly, the stallions of this day and age are becoming quite vulgar,” Chrysalis remarked with a stomp of her hoof. 

I snickered at the face Queen Pandora was now sporting. Just like her sister, Queen Pandora’s face immolated itself in embarrassment, and she was using a hoof as a makeshift fan. “Oh my. This is very bold. Who’s it from?” Her question was not laced with disgust, but genuine curiosity. 

“Looks like you’ve still got it, Eliahcus.”  I cleared my throat and waited as the Queens watched me. I knew they were growing irritated by my stalling, and it wasn’t until I was poked in the chest by Aphrodite again that I spilled the beans. “An Alicorn by the name of Eliahcus.” 

Both of the Queens dropped their jaws. It was Chrysalis who shouted first. “Eliahcus!? As in LORD Eliahcus; the blood brother of Lady Lauren!? That’s the stallion of whom you’re referring to!?” 

I nodded sharply, and this was all it took for both Queens to scream like bar wenches to a strapping lad walking in for a mug. The Queens started dancing and prancing around in a circle; a proper display of overwhelming joy if I’ve ever seen one! 

“Ahhhh,” Chrysalis shrieked in joy, “I can’t believe my older sister is being courted by Lord Eliahcus! He’s so handsome! Ahhhhh!” 

“I know,” Pandora yelled just as shrill and loud, “It’s been forever since a stallion showed interest in me! This is just too much! And that letter! Oh, by the stars, it was so passionate! I’m getting hot and bothered thinking about it! Ahhhhh!” 

“Uhhh, ew? Glad to see what fans your flame, Pandora, but please; keep that lust under control! There’s a difference between lust and love!”  Seeing as how there was nothing else for me to do here, I turned around and opened my wings, preparing to make a quick flight back to Atlantis! 

And again, here’s Vespa. 

I glared at the flutterpony filly. “Move, please. I need to leave.” 

She glared back at me, returning the gesture in spades. “Not gonna happen! Not until you apologize to Aphrodite!”

I blew some air through my nose, sending the buzzing flutterpony spiraling away. “That’ll learn you, brat! Don’t take that type of tone with me!” 

I flapped my wings once or twice, getting a feel for the warm air of the approaching evening. It felt good, but I knew better than to assume my flight as quick and effortless. After all, I’m pretty sure it’s only been an hour and a half after the use of the Kinetic Rings. I had eight-and-a-half hours left before I could fly that fast again. 

“Wait!” 

I growled but didn’t turn around. 

“We have to give you something as recompense for delivering such great news,” Pandora yelled, her sister and herself flying around to talk evenly. “This type of news can’t go unrewarded; especially for someone who didn’t seem like he wanted to come here in the first place! Please, ask us anything, and you shall receive it to the best of our capabilities!” 

I looked over to Queen Chrysalis who was smiling so wide, I could make out her snaggletooth. Apparently, it was hiding inside the white coat she had. Go figure. 

With a sigh, I pinched the bridge of my muzzle. “I can’t just leave without getting anything?” 

“No.”
“Absolutely not.” 

Another sigh left my mouth as I casted my head down, grimacing at the wildflowers below. “I can’t think of anything useful you two could provide. If it’s all the same to you delightful ladies, I’d rather be making this lonesome trip right now.” 

One of the Queens cleared her throat, and I looked up just to see Pandora and Chrysalis beaming at me creepily. “Lonesome, you say~,” They both asked mischievously, making my eyes widen as I peered at them after raising my head.

“This will not be fun...”
> Tribulations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As I flew away from Azalea, the sound of a second pair of wings soured my mood greatly. Never before has the sound of flapping wings caused me such annoyance, and it unnerved me to think those wings unnerved me. Well, to be fair, it wasn’t the wings themselves that had me in such a tizzy; it was the dragoness that used them. 

“I honestly don’t see why the Queens told me to travel with you, Ragnarok. You’re clearly capable of this on your lonesome.” The womanly voice of Aphrodite caused me to snort some smoke, her larger form coming up beside me. Her eyes radiated a deep displeasure. 

“For someone who barely flies, you certainly like winding yourself with these unnecessary expositions of how you feel about the situation.” I flew ahead a bit more, wanting to distance myself from the pink-scaled paperweight behind me. She gave a huff at my rebuttal, her panting picking up as we flew at a rather slow pace. “Just listen to yourself, Aphrodite; you’re starting to run out of steam, and we’ve only been flying for an hour.” 

Aphrodite growled a bit, flying closer to me. “I’m fine, you tactless cod! Have some respect for the dragoness willing to put up with your unchivalrous character.” Her words were spoken sharply, but did not pierce my hide of indifference. The ferocity in which she spat them would have a caused some other dragon to bristle, however; maybe even force their claw under the right conditions.

“Again, it wasn’t on your own terms, you pink puppet.” I avoided a nasty storm cloud, frowning as I caught more approaching on the horizon. I had forgotten that only the alicorns manage their weather, and so, the lands outside their influence are under natural weather formations. “I should have seen this storm coming... my mane is going to be messed up.” “I also advise that you ready yourself for evasive maneuvers; there’s a storm coming.” 

Aphrodite’s growl escalated. “You’re not going to escort a lady around, or help her wait out a storm?! What kind of drake are you, Ragnarok!?” 

I chuckled and avoided a larger storm cloud by ducking underneath it. “A punctual one, Aphrodite.” My sight picked up on her eyes rolling, making me grin at her annoyance. “It’s about time you’re starting to feel some displeasure, woman. Maybe you’ll see how much of a burden you are after we enter this storm.”

My frown grew as Aphrodite saw fit to fly next to me again, her eyes a little wide as blue lightning cracked ahead. Our faces were soon being whipped by turbulence and rain as the grey vortex roared its challenged to us. Blue teeth lashed at grey lips, which spat drizzles of water onto anything it could, including us. 

“... Mr. Ragnarok? I really don’t want to fly through this...” 

I rolled my eyes. “Now you’re going to tell me that you have a fear of lightning.” My sarcasm could have chopped a mountain clean in half, and when I saw how Aphrodite bit her bottom lip and averted her eyes, I sighed heavily. “You honestly have a fear of lightning, don’t you?” 

She went to open her mouth, but we had already entered the storm. A vicious whip from an angry, grey, puffy slaver cracked out above her, and this caused the large dragoness to give a roar of severe fear and grope me harshly. Aphrodite, despite her size, was actually a huge coward. 

Still, because of her larger proportions, I was sent careening right into a lightning bolt that socked me in the kisser. I felt the charge of lightning fry my mane, and lock my muscles up as they were zapped. I gave a short grunt of pain, falling a little while my wings locked up.  As we fell, Aphrodite didn’t use her head and start flapping her wings. 

I gave a sigh at that, and had to endure her gear-grinding yodels of fear incarnate as lightning crashed around us. “OPEN YOUR DAMN WINGS AND FLY, APHRODITE!” She screamed all the louder, but snapped her large appendages open and took off. Sighing in relief, my moment of serenity was halted when I noticed that Aphrodite was flying with her eyes closed. 

My blood surged, boiling that one emotion she seemed keen on drawing from me at every twist and turn. Seeing as how my body was through the initial shock of being hit by lightning, I kicked myself away from her and spun, slapping her in the face with my tail. “Get yourself together,” I roared, watching as her eyes snapped open in realization. Apparently, her chest was heaving as she hyperventilated; right up until I smacked her with my tail, that is.

We just hovered there, her brain trying to process what’s going on. I could see the smoke coming from her ears as the gears grinded within, but then again, it was probably from my mane based on the fact that I was zapped earlier. Even so, Aphrodite shook her head sharply and rubbed her cheek with a pout; she’s been calmed, apparently. 

“... Thank you for that, Mr. Ragnarok. Please don’t ever hit me again if you can help it.” I crossed my arms while hovering, raising an eyebrow to her request. 

“The key word in that is if, Aphrodite. Complicate this flight through the storm any further, and a smack from the tail will be the least of your worries.” She frowned at that, making me give a powerful sigh of bemusement. Using two strong flaps while aiming myself towards her, I saddled up to her side. This, of course, made her a little apprehensive. 

“... What are you doing?” 

“Helping a big hatchling,” I responded quickly, flying ahead on time with her. She groused and grumbled at that, but was cooperating with me nevertheless. It took some time, maybe an hour or so, for us to clear the storm. There were still some complications, such as when she saw fit to hug me tightly as lightning crashed ahead after some time, and when she accidentally flew into my side again, getting me shocked. Other than these two things, we braved the storm fairly well. 

My irritation, however, was not dwindled down in the slightest. To my eternal displeasure, Aphrodite still clung to me awkwardly, many minutes after leaving the storm. As you’ve probably surmised by now, I hate being touched without permission. So, it should have come as no surprise when I shoved her away with a push of a wing. 

“Distance yourself, woman. The storm has long since passed.” I flew ahead some more, hearing Aphrodite give a squeak of sudden fear as I shoved her off my person. Her flaps distanced themselves, which made me think she was hovering behind me as she processed what happened again. 

Oh how bad did I long for those wing flaps to fade! But alas, they returned, strong as ever. 

“I thought you said flying wasn’t your strong suit?” I couldn’t help but growl somewhere in that inquiry; a gesture Aphrodite picked up on as she shook the water from her form, giving me an unneeded spritz-down once more. 

“It’s honestly not, Mr. Ragnarok; I’m starting to reach my limit. Won’t you please allow us a moment to rest?” Rolling my eyes with a heavy sigh, I angled myself down, starting a short drop to the prairie below. I heard a praise to the creators come from Aphrodite’s lips as I did this, and as we landed next to a stream, saw her desperation for water as she practically pounced it. 

I ran a claw through my mane, feeling it stick up in odd places with a frown. “This is problematic. How am I supposed to be the most handsome dragon if I can’t even keep my mane in order? Granted, it wasn’t my fault, but I digress.” I dunked my head into the stream and came back up quickly, snapping my neck right and then left quick as a whip. This action caused all the water to leave my mane, and I felt it return to its former glory. 

Aphrodite, at this point in time, decided to grace me with her charm again by pulling her head out of the water, splashing me with the excess on her head. My mane drooped over my eyes, and I gave a short blow of irritation, which caused it to flop back against my face. 

“Oh! Mr. Ragnarok! I’m so sorry! Here, let me- Woah-” My chest was hit by her form, a short scuffing sound coming from in front of me. I knew then that she tripped on something, but it mattered little when I found myself smashed onto the ground by her bulk. Temporarily winded from the impact, I hastily brushed my mane out of my eyes and sent a glare her way. 

“... Seriously?” 

Aphrodite grinned sheepishly, blushing a little. “Uh.... sorry?” Even after apologizing, her face stayed transfixed on mine. Apparently, she wanted some form of acknowledgement to her apology. I stared at her for just a bit more. 

“You’re straddling me.” 

Her blush increased tenfold as she leaped from me, growling a bit. “I was not, you scaled pervert! My bottom was in the air the entire time!” She stomped her front claws on the ground, shaking it briefly as I stood up and dusted myself off. This process took some time, but I was able to get through it easily enough. 

“Hurry up and rest, please. I would like to reach Atlantis some time soon.” I went over to the stream and lowered my head for a drink. The relief came in cold splashes against the back of my throat, which was burning from the first flight I had taken. Because of this cooling sensation, my body became lax and settled as I inhaled the relief thorough copious amounts of water.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it...” she said gloomily, “... I’m just dead weight. You don’t have to rub it in, Ragnarok...” Her footsteps echoed off into the distance, making me turn my head to see where it was that she was going. As I watched her lumber away sluggishly with her head hanging, the crest of a small hill made itself known to my eyes. Aphrodite climbed its slope, and then plopped down in an unladylike manner; if it were any more lax, she would be flashing me. 

Sitting back on my rump, I actually started to feel a little... bad. Turning my head to grab another drink, I jerked back a little as my own reflection glared at me as I looked at it in surprise. “Your curt tongue has hurt the dragoness, Ragnarok. Go apologize and restore the bridge you’re surely burning.” 

Fixing my face of blank staring, I glared right back at myself. “No. I refuse to make myself an ass for the betterment of her feelings. She is slowing down my progress.” My talons dug small furrows into the ground as I stared myself down. 

“Don’t be a fool, Ragnarok. It is obvious that although she considers herself no more than a nuisance to you, she still sticks around because she’s loyal to her Queens. Such a redeeming quality cannot be overshadowed by your petty decisions to be... blunt.” I snarled at my reflection.

“Shut your mouth, cur,” I whispered harshly, getting a snarl from him as well. “You do not decide what I do and who I deem worthy of my time!” 

“But I do! I am your mind, you ignorant pariah. View me as whatever you want, but in the end, all your decisions come through me. It is my sworn duty to protect you from outer harm... and inner destruction.” 

My growls became lower in frequency, and increased exponentially in killer intent as his face contorted into a smug grin. “There is a reason you’re alone now, Ragnarok; it’s not because of your past, nor is it from your beliefs. It is because you don’t want to do anything anymore; it is because you gave up on life itself after Xilla died-” 

I roared savagely, shaking the prairie as I swatted the water with my claw. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I panted heavily, watching as my reflection distorted forever more, the smug grin lost. 

“Ragnarok? Ragnarok, are you alright?” I kept my back facing the concerned voice of Aphrodite. Her footsteps ceased right behind me, and I could feel her heat on my back, even though I knew she was a good distance away. “Is something bothering you?”

“.....” I snapped my wings open. “.... We’re leaving.” Taking about three flaps, I took off into the sky, heading for my destination.... Atlantis. Aphrodite was right behind me, and through her softening wing flaps, I knew she was becoming apprehensive in asking me what my malfunction and meltdown was about back there. 

“.... Ra-” 

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted curtly as we leveled off from our ascent. “... The way I’ve been acting has been nothing less than shameful. I pray to the creators above, the whole Pantheon, that you’ll find it in your Spark to forgive me for my transgression.”

Aphrodite sighed, and through her sigh, I finally felt a jab of regret and pain. In a way, the sigh came out in a way that reminded me of my old mate’s... that made the pain even more unbearable, so I opted to keep quiet as we soared through the skies. 

Atlantis was coming up on the horizon, letting me know that I was actually flying in silence for a long time. It was at this point that I became aware of the burning in my wings, and certainly knew that by now, Aphrodite was doing worse. Slowing my pace just a bit, I let her catch up, and watched with a wince as she heaved with each breath. 

Somehow, she was able to stay with me during my trance-induced flight. This fact made me blink as she finally struggled up to my side. “.... You... couldn’t..... hear me....” 

I nodded and floated around to be behind her. She looked over her shoulder with a weary face, wondering what I was doing. But, I didn’t keep her in suspense long as I hooked my arms around her frame and added more strength to my flapping to carry us closer to the island. 

This time of relief was welcomed wholeheartedly by my pink companion as she slumped in my grasp, taking a well-deserved break at long last. I fumbled a bit from the added weight, but straightened back out with a grunt, approaching what appeared to be a section of the floating island I could only describe as rolling plains.

Giving a final grunt and push of power, I dropped Aphrodite on the soft earth and promptly flopped onto my stomach afterwards. My position wasn’t too far in front of her, which she took notice of. A shaky pink claw came up, and slowly opened to give me a thumbs-up. 

.... I blinked at that. “.... You’re... welcome... I guess.”