Zircom is bored with life. After hearing hundreds of bard's tales, all he wants to do now is find an adventure of his own. Where his adventure will occur is a mystery. Zircom doesn't know, nor does he really care.
Zircom is bored with life. After hearing hundreds of bard's tales, all he wants to do now is find an adventure of his own. Where his adventure will occur is a mystery. Zircom doesn't know, nor does he really care.
With some advice from a half-dragon cleric and the aid of a human wizard, Zircom formulates the perfect adventure: discover a new world. However, planar travel is not for the faint of heart, nor should it be done without proper forethought. But Zircom is a dragon, he can handle anything the planes throw at him... right?
Feedback and criticism encouraged More characters to be added as story progresses.
Character modeled after the Silver Dragon from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5
What is an extra-planar being, you might ask? Well, up until recently I would have told you that it was someone who is visiting a plane that he or she is not native to. Traveling between planes is not unheard of. With the use of powerful spells it is quite simple to open doors to these places. It is important to note that almost all physical planes are connected to the four elemental planes of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Why am I going into all of this? Well, my name is Zircom. I am a Silver Dragon from Faerun, and a resident of Waterdeep, and I am an extra-planar being.
It was winter in Waterdeep, quite possibly the only dragon-friendly city as long as you stay shape shifted. Being a huge dragon in a city for smaller races can be quite troublesome. I’m actually a bit small for a dragon of my age. I stand at a stout fourteen feet with a body length of just over fifty three feet long. I’m also a bit thin, not scrawny by any sense, eight feet wide to be precise. I make up for being lean with a magnificent wing span of seventy five glorious feet. Add some brilliant silver scales all over, two smooth swept back horns on my head, and a solid single scale plate on my face. I would dare to say I am quite the handsome beast.
Anyway, I was growing tired of the monotony of my world. Constant reports of wars, plagues, rogue wizards, lost treasures, and the end of the world can become quite tiring. I wanted excitement in my own life; true, genuine excitement. I had heard bard’s tales of great adventurers charging into the Underdark to quell Drow attacks, brave souls who entered Stone Tooth Mountain in hopes of reclaiming the lost treasures of the once great Dwarven stronghold.
In my time I have had chances to meet some of these incredible individuals. One in particular was a green Half Dragon named Jorven. I remember his stories of how he and his group went into the Drow city of Merimidria, killed the White Banshee, and then defeated Kurgoth Bloodscream and the balor Badrazel. I wanted nothing more than to embark on a great adventure of my own. I have been alive for one hundred and seven years and what have I done? Sure I trained in the art of healing magic, and became quite good at it. And yes, I often spend a good deal of time at the local church offering my healing services to any who require it. I was proficient enough to learn spells from the sixth tier, making me a highly sought after individual. While most would be put off by the idea of a ten ton dragon being your healer, you would be surprised how little people care of what you look like when you are saving their life.
It was Jorven who gave me a bit of inspiration. He suggested many things; recover lost artifacts, defeat members of the Nine Hells, become a champion of Bahamut, or even travel the elemental planes. It was the last one that grabbed my interest. Perhaps I could travel the planes to discover a new world. Such things were only the products of great wizards. They usually involve crossing the elemental planes, or sometimes the more dangerous ones. There are, theoretically, limitless other worlds connected to each of the elemental planes. The thought that I could discover a new world made me feel… excited. I thanked Jorven for his advice and set out for another friend of mine who could make this wild fantasy into reality.
The man I had in mind was an Ultimate Magus at the University of Candle Keep, his name was Professor Rubric. If there was a stereotype for old wizards, then he was it. He was an elderly human who wore beautiful elven silk robes and the trademark pointy hat. Dear Bahamut, that hat. It was a truly magnificent hat. It was the hat of a man who could look at you and make your wildest wish possible, or he could teleport your liver to the ethereal plane and then incinerates you with a snap of his fingers. It all depends on whether or not he had his morning tea. Luckily for me, he had.
I landed in the university courtyard with all the grace of a ten ton dragon. The magicians who were intently reading their tomes did not appreciate the wind storm I kicked up with my wings. Deciding to limit their disdain for me, I quickly assumed the shape of a middle aged human and quickly walked inside the great hall. Inside were young magicians focusing on their studies, blissfully ignorant to the magical being that just stepped into their school. Now, if I were a red dragon I would have set this whole damn place on fire in the blink of an eye.
While I was lost in that little train of thought, I barely noticed the young magister walk up and address me.
“Um, excuse me sir. Is there something I can help you with?”
I directed my attention toward the owner of the voice. A particularly scrawny elf was looking at me with a look of ‘Please spare my life’.
“Why yes, you can. Please tell your Professor Rubric that the scaly silver bastard is here to see him.” I said as calmly as possible.
With his instructions given, the little mage ducked away and hurried toward a stairwell. I couldn't help but wonder why he seemed so afraid of me.
“Did he see me land as a dragon? Does he know who or what I am? I wonder if I can get some dinner in the cafeteria tonight…”
“Well, if it isn't the scaly silver bastard himself!”
That was all it took to break my thought train. I knew that voice, it was the voice of a great wizard who commanded respect from all and would tolerate nothing less.
“Nine hells! You look like a balor used your face for a loin cloth!” I shouted with a look of shock.
At that point I could tell all eyes in the room were on me. With a stern look on his face he slowly walked up to me until he was not but a foot away. His eyes meeting mine in an intense stare. I was unsure of what to do. On one hand, I knew I hadn’t offended him, seeing as we have called each other much worse names. On the other, I had just said that in front of most of the college. I saw only one way to find out.
“If you’re going to kiss me I would ask that you not use any tongue.” I said with a matched stone-faced expression.
That was all it took. He broke down and started laughing uncontrollably before pulling me into a hug, which I happily returned.
“Zircom my friend, to what do I owe the honor of having you visit my school?” he said after finally breaking the embrace.
“Well, I was hoping you could help me with something. I seem to be having what you humans could call a midlife crisis.”
Rubric looked at me with a keen eye. Trying to determine what I was going to say before I said it.
“Could we talk about this in your office? I don’t think everyone here needs to hear me complain about my life.” Rubric only nodded and led me toward his office.
Our journey to his office took us up three flights of stairs, across two towers, under the courtyard, and then back up one more tower. It seemed quite unnecessary for it to be that complicated.
“Rubic… there has got to be an easier way to get around the school.” I complained.
“Ah, but there is. We simply teleport around so we can avoid the confusing maze of corridors and stairs.” He said with a grin as he sat down on his office chair.
“I get that, but why not just make the building layout less confusing so you don’t have to teleport everywhere?” I responded, slightly exasperated.
He shrugged, “We’re magicians, not architects. Deal with it.”
“Stupid smart ass wizards.” I swore at him in draconic.
“I understood that.”
“Fuck…”
With that out of the way I took a seat across from him at his desk.
“So,” he began “what brings you to Candle Keep? It’s not every day that a dragon drops in and then asks for me by name to help him with his midlife crisis.”
I had to stifle a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, well… here I am… Look Rubric, I really need your help on this one and I would rather come to you than go to her…” Rubric raised an eyebrow as I visibly shuddered .
“Who are you talking abo…” his eyes suddenly went wide with understanding. “Oh, you mean…HER… don’t you?” I could only nod in silent confirmation.
“Well what is it you need first off?” I instantly perked up from the feeling of dread.
“I was hoping you could lend me a few scrolls.”
“Oh? And just what kind of scrolls were you hoping for?” Rubric said as he reclined in his chair while conjuring a cup of hot tea.
“Oh nothing too special… just four scrolls of Planar Shift…” at that last part he shot straight up and nearly choked on his tea.
“Nine hells man! Why does this midlife crisis involve four Planar Shift scrolls?” he nearly shouted between coughing fits.
I needed a believable explanation quickly. “I was planning on taking a vacation to the elemental plane of air. You know endless sky, perfect thermal gusts, nice flat clouds, the perfect flying conditions!” He wasn’t buying it… at all.
“Uh huh…” I wasn’t getting out of this one.
“Okay, okay… yes I want to go to the plane of air, but I want to discover a new world attached to it. I want something more in my life than just sitting in Waterdeep and listening to bard’s songs. I want one of those songs to be about me and how I managed to find some new and exciting world!” I was sitting on the edge of my chair and gripping the edge of the desk with nervousness. Then a thought crept into my mind.
“I could always ask Rose for help.” I said with a sly grin.
I had never seen such an old man move so quickly as he lunged across the desk and grabbed my shirt collar. “Shhhhhh! Don’t say her name so loud!” He finally released my shirt and sat back down with a slight glare.
“Fine… you win.” He said as he threw his arms in the air. I began cheering mentally, of which I’m certain Rubric picked up on somehow.
“But I am not going to give you the scrolls.”
“Wait what…”
“Wait what?! I thought you said you would help me!” I pleaded with him.
Now it was his turn to laugh. “Indeed I did, but just handing you four scrolls would be too easy. I want you to do something for me. It’s simple really.” He said as he pulled a small box from his desk. “This ring has the Planar Shift spell enchanted into it six times. I want you to test it for me.”
“Okay… what else do you want?” He looked almost hurt by the statement. Almost.
“Why would you think I would want something more from you?”
I glared at him.
“Oh all right… Should you succeed in your endeavor I simply ask that you bring me anything that you find of interest.” He was almost pouting by this point.
“So I need to test your untested magical dimension hopping ring and, if it doesn’t kill me, bring back a souvenir. Anything else?”
He thought on it for a moment. “No, that will do.” He stood up from his seat and handed me the ring box. I stood up as well and accepted the small jewelry box, peeking inside at the gold and ruby ring within. It was shinny and, being a dragon, I really like shinny stuff.
As I began to walk for the door I remembered one last very important question to ask him.
“Hey Rubric,” he looked up at me from his desk “Can I get something from the cafeteria before I go?” He gave me a look of ‘Do I look like I give a damn?’ and that was it.
Five dead ends, three mages asked for directions, nine staircases, and thirty minutes later I managed to find the cafeteria. Getting the meal was much easier than getting to the meal. With a nice dinner of roasted veal, dwarven stout ale, and elven cherry pie I was ready for my midlife crisis adventure to begin.
I went back out to the courtyard and took out the ring box and opened the lid. The ring gave off a lovely golden glow in the magical light that illuminated the courtyard. I slid the ring onto my right hand and put the box away. I took one last glance at my surrounding before focusing on the ring. With a single thought a door to the plane of air opened just in front of me. Deciding I was ready I threw myself into the door, moving off of the physical world of Faerun and into the plane of air. One thing to note about the plane of air; it is made only of air, there is no ground. So if you do not have a way of flying you will die of starvation as you fall for eternity. This also made me remember something equally important; humans don’t have natural flight capabilities. Dropping my disguise, I returned to my true form and spread my wings in a free fall. I was enjoying my dive, it was exhilarating being able to fall and not worry about hitting the ground. It was no wonder that this plane was a favorite of magical flying creatures. Not thinking to pull up first, I decided to open a dimension door to a random plane. As long as it wasn’t some horrible plane of undead or jesters I would begin my adventure. There was a flash as the door formed just in front of my nose.
Now it is important to also note one last thing: while the plane of air is just one big open sky, orientation does matter. In my case, going straight down and opening a portal to another world was a dumb idea; a really dumb one. I came out the other side at terminal velocity only about two hundred feet above the surface of a small lake. Realizing my horrible error, I tried to air brake and loose some of my momentum.
It didn't work.
I slammed into the water hard enough to produce a splash that was more of a tsunami than anything. The impact with the water had seriously dazed me. I found myself resting on the bottom of the lake in a very comfy crater of mud. I could look up and see the surface of the water had dropped a good four feet since my impact. I’m certain someone noticed my stupid ass hitting the lake. Deciding to take a look around I kicked off the lake bed and poked my head and neck above the water’s surface.
Around me were trees. Lots of trees. Apple trees to be exact. The ones closest to the epicenter of my arrival had all their leaves blown off as well as all their fruit. A few were even at odd angles from the massive amount of water that impacted them. The ones further back were more fortunate. Most had kept their foliage and fruit and were instead dripping wet.
It was odd. These trees were organized in such a way that it could have been an orchard. If I was in an orchard, then it meant this world had intelligent life.
“Huh… an apple orchard.” I mused to myself looking around at each tree. “Well, I should be long gone before the orchard owner finds this little mess…” That would have been a best case scenario. Sadly this was not going to be a best case scenario.
“What the hay happened to mah apple trees?!” shouted a strangely feminine voice. Stranger still, how was she speaking perfect common?
I was considering moving my wings and flying away, but the orange hat wearing pony glaring at me from the bank of the lake made an unnoticed escape quite impossible. However, I was able to deadpan a single semi-intelligent statement.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”
I had found a new world. And I had also pissed it off in less than twelve minutes. This adventure is off to a great start.
The orange pony stood on the bank still glaring daggers at me. All the while I was still in the lake. I had so far I had caused a tsunami, uprooted five apple trees, washed away the leaves and fruit of another seven trees, and left a massive muddy mess. This adventure was off to a great start.
The orange finished her death stare. "Well?! What do ya got to say fer yerself?!"
I deftly blinked at her, still not sure what to do. "Uhhh... my bad?" I said with a cheesy sheepish grin.
"That's your answer?! You destroyed mah trees, mah apples, and left this mess and all you got to say is 'Mah bad'!?"
"Well what do you want from me then? Do you want me to put the trees back in the ground?" I was getting a bit frustrated at this point.
She seemed to think for a moment, placing a hoof on her chin. She then turned her glare back to me. "How about this; you pay for the damages and ah won't go to the guards about this incident."
"And how, pray tell, do you expect me to pay for this without any money?"
My question seemed to catch her a bit off guard. "Don't you dragons have piles of gold just sittin around?"
I gave a wing shrug. "Meh, some do. I preferred to invest my gold into local businesses, allowing my gold to grow while still helping the local community."
She just stared at me with her jaw hanging open.
"What? Can't a dragon be smart with his money?"
She shook her head and recomposed herself.
"Alright. Since ya don't have any money how 'bout this. You work on mah farm till your debt is paid off."
I weighed my options. I could take the deal and be under the direction of this pony for how ever long she wanted, or I could resist and probably get killed by the local townsfolk.
"Deal."
She seemed shocked that I accepted so quickly.
"Is something the matter?"
"Well... it's just that... Ah was expectin you to put up more resistance..."
I shrugged. "Meh, I don't really see a point putting up a fight. It's a petty matter at best."
She was annoyed by my last remark but still relaxed considerably. "Okay then. If yer gonna work for me, ah'm gonna need your name."
"Oh, my name is Zircom. And you are...?"
"Applejack. I run and own this here farm." She looked at her uprooted trees with a look of sadness, as if I had run in and hurt her children. "Well, we got ah lot of work to do, so come on out of that lake and lets get to cleaning this here mess."
"Right." I tried climbing out of the lake only to find I was quite stuck. It was very embarrassing. In my efforts to get to the surface I had kicked off the soft bottom of the lake. This had caused my back foot to sink into the mud. Now every time I tried to pull my foot free, the suction force of the mud made it harder to break free.
Wondering why I hadn't gotten out of the water yet, Applejack turned to see what was taking so long.
"Are ya commin or not?"
"Yeah, I am... just give me a sec." I tried pulling free again, still to to avail.
"Yer stuck aren't ya?" she deadpanned.
"...Maybe." I'm a ten ton dragon and here I am, stuck in the grasp of mud. Not one of my finest moments.
She facehoofed before walking back to the lakeside. "Well don't pull up, you'll just get more stuck."
At this point I heeded her advice and stopped my struggle. "Oh, and what do you suggest instead?"
"Just twist your foot and it will come right out."
With no better ideas I decided to give it a shot. To my surprise, it worked perfectly. "Huh, well look at that."
She had a satisfied smirk on her face as she backed away from the lake. I took the opportunity to pull myself out of the water, allowing my full form to glisten in the sunlight. I shook my body to get a majority of the water off. Being mindful of the trees around me I extended my full wingspan and shook the water from my wings as well. Applejack just stood there in awe as I went about drying myself off.
"Alright. Shall we?"
"Uh... yeah... yeah lets go." And with that I began following her to out destination. It was a difficult walk for me, I had to weave around trees to avoid causing more damage. Applejack could only laugh at my frustration. Eventually I got tired of it and just flew overhead. From my aerial vantage point I could see the rest of the farm. A large red barn and a farmhouse were perched on a nearby hill with a dirt road leading toward a quaint looking village. I could just barely make out the details of some buildings. Nothing really stood out as odd. I could even see a large oak tree which I assumed would be the town square.
I was happily gliding along above Applejack when we finally made it to the barn. Just to the side of the barn I could see two other ponies. One was a large red one with a yellow orange mane and the other was a much smaller yellow one with a red mane and a pinkish bow in its hair. Applejack began talking to them while I looked for a place to land. I quickly spotted a nice open area in front of the barn and began my descent.
I once again landed with the grace of a ten ton magical beast, kicking up a large dust cloud with each wing beat. Applejack was quite calm with my appearance. The other two however... not so much. The little one immediately took shelter behind the big one who dropped into a defensive stance. Sensing the tension between us Applejack intervened.
"Woah there, Big Mac, this here is Zircom. He's gonna be helpin out around the farm for a few weeks. Okay?"
Big Mac said nothing, still glaring at me. I was sitting on my haunches, my head was easily as high as the barn roof. At that point the little one shot off and disappeared from sight. Giving it no thought, I turned back to Big Mac who was still expecting me to attack.
Finally he seemed to relax a little bit. Applejack too seemed to breath a sigh of relief. Deciding to break the silence I put on a cheesy smile and looked at the two ponies.
"Alright then, now that that is settled, where do we begin?"
Applejack looked up at me and thought for a moment. "Well, you could start by puttin the trees you uprooted back into the ground, then you can help us by carryin apples back to the barn."
The directions were simple enough. I quickly set off for the lake and the trees I flooded. Once there it was an easy fix. Simply push the tree back upright and make sure the soil around it held it in place. The whole process took only about an hour. With the trees replanted I took to the air once more to find Applejack and the apples.
A few minutes of aerial search later, I found both Applejack and Big Mac literally kicking the apples out of trees. It was the most peculiar way I have ever seen crops harvested. Seeing no place to safely land I opted to hover above the pair.
"Alright AJ, trees are fixed. Now what?"
She looked up at me and wiped some sweat from her brow. She seemed to be enjoying the cool wind from my wings.
"You can go ahead and take those carts of apples back to the barn."
Without a second thought I swooped in and grabbed each cart gently and flew away with them. I was careful not to crush any of the fruit, this however, made flying with them quite awkward. Thankfully my flight was short as the barn was just up the hill. I repeated this carrying method five more times in two hours. Satisfied with the work we accomplished that day, Applejack gave me the rest of the day off.
"Well Zircom, I must say ah'm a mighty impressed with how quickly we finished today."
I chuckled as I laid down on the grass beneath a large apple tree. "It helps being able to carry your own body weight in cargo."
"Well, I'll be headin in to town for a few. I'll see you later."
"Alright, bye." I then closed my eyes and drifted off into a nice nap.
About three hours into my nap I was interrupted by voices. Three rather young voices in fact, all shouting the same thing at once.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DRAGON WRANGLERS!"
Wait... what was that last part...?
In my semiconscious state of mind I was not aware of what their statement truly meant. Eventually I began to feel as though my claws were being bound together. Deciding to investigate this strange feeling I opened an eye. What I saw were three young fillies. The yellow one from earlier, a white one with a pink and purple mane, and an orange one with a magenta mane. All three were busily trying to tie me down with rope. So far they had managed to tie my fingers together and my left forearm to a tree. Normally I would be quite angry at such a situation. However because it was done by a group of three children I was more amused than anything else.
They worked quickly, wrapping my arms in rope, not really knowing how to tie a proper knot. None of them bothered to look up and see if I was awake or not. I just sat there, contently watching them try to bind me in rope. Eventually I decided to interrupt.
"You know, this knot is done very sloppily." I said while holding up my free hand, allowing the rope to simply unravel and fall away from my claws.
The three of them stood there in utter shock, none of them sure of what to do with an awake dragon.
"Here, let me show you. Pick up the rope first off." The yellow one picked up the rope in her mouth and looked up at me. I put my hand back down on the ground so they could reach it.
"Alright, now wrap the rope around all my fingers." She was taken aback by the request but eventually did. It took two of them to get the length of rope all the way around my hand. "Good, now take the two ends and bring them together here on top." With both ends of the rope in hoof I instructed them on how to tie a proper figure eight knot.
It took about ten minutes but eventually they figured it out. I inspected their knot and gave it a few tugs to make sure it was tight.
"Very well done. However, if you are going to try and wrestle a dragon down, you will need something stronger than hemp rope."
I shook my arm that was tied to the tree and watched the rope uncoil and fall away. At this point Applejack come back from town, walking up and seeing the three fillies and me with a hand tied up. She just stood there in bewilderment.
"Applebloom! What are you three doing?"
"Nothin sis, we're just tryin to get our cutie marks!"
Applejack sighed and facehoofed. "And what kind ah cutie mark were you hoping for this time?"
At this point the orange one piped up with a grin on her face. "Dragon wranglers!"
Applejack looked at the three of them and then up to me. I just continued to lay there and gave her a wing shrug.
"It's not like they were actually going to succeed. If anything I taught them how to tie a basic knot properly." I showed her my bound hand so she could see the knot they tied.
AJ still seemed a bit annoyed by the whole thing. "Applebloom, you should know better than to do something like this. Especially to a guest. Now I want the three of you to apologize to Zircom."
The three fillies looked at me with defeated looks. "We're sorry we tried to tie you up."
It has been about a week since I landed in this magical world known as Equestria. Applejack has been quite helpful by teaching me a bit about the country. However, her knowledge on the subjects of political systems, social norms, cultural differences, and taboos was severely lacking. So she elected to get me a few books from her librarian friend. It took me all of three days to go through the books. I will say it once, this world shouldn’t exist. A world where there hasn’t been an armed conflict in a millennia, famine is non-existent, disease is easily countered, and political climates are incredibly mild. Rubric is never going to believe me.
Anyway, so I figured that I didn’t want to stay on the farm forever. The problem with leaving is that a huge dragon roaming the country is a cause for alarm. Seems that is the norm no matter what universe you are in. So the most effective way for me to go on my adventure would be if I looked like one of the locals. I had three choices. I could be a magic wielding unicorn, a flight capable Pegasus, or some boring earth pony… no offence to Applejack. For me the need for flight is much greater than the need to cast spells. So a Pegasus would be my shape shifted form.
After explaining to Applejack that I really could shape shift into any living creature she finally sat down with me and helped weigh the pros and cons to each race.
“Well Zir, you could always be an earth pony like me.” There was definitely a sense of pride in her voice.
“Uh huh… what are the benefits?”
“Well you’ll be stronger and faster than most the other pony races.”
I just stared at her. “Will I be able to fly or use magic?”
“Ah… no…”
I straightened out my back and struck a more regal pose. “Then we shall move onto the next race.”
“Well, you could always be a Pegasus. That way you can keep yer wings.”
“Hmm,” I scratched my chin with a claw. “I do very much enjoy flying…”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Alright then, that was easy. Now to get the form right…” I thought of what a Pegasus looked like and focused on it. Now let me say that I did manage to shift into a Pegasus. The only problem was that it was my idea of a Pegasus, not the Equestrian version of one. Applejack was just staring at me in shock.
“So uh… I take it this isn’t what it should look like?” She just shook her head without changing her expression. I sighed deeply and dropped the form, reverting back to my natural self.
“Ok, I guess I’ll go earth pony until I can figure out what the other two look like.” She almost looked disgusted with what I had changed into.
“Yeah uh, that would probably be fer the best.” It was at that point that I began hearing noises getting closer. It sounded like someone coming up the road toward the farm. I poked my head just over the roof of the barn and saw the newcomers. One was a purple unicorn an equally purple mane and tail. The other was a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, easily the strangest and most absurd thing I have ever seen. I ducked back down behind the barn as they got closer.
“Um Applejack, I think you have company coming.” She shot a quick glance around the barn and sure enough there they were.
“Zir! You gotta hide or shift or something!”
“Wait… I thought you said dragons aren’t hated around here?”
“They ain't, but ah can’t just have one sittin on mah farm. Please Zir!”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Oh fine…” With a single thought I assumed the form of an earth pony roughly the same size as AJ, only with a silver coat and a dark blue mane and tail.
“Better?”
“Much, now come on and be social.”
I followed close behind her and approached the newcomers cautiously. AJ bounded up to them like they were old friends, probably because that’s exactly what they were. They were talking about random things that I had no interest in. I sat quietly about ten feet behind AJ, quietly observing the group. That was until one of them took notice of me.
“Say AJ, who’s your colt friend over there?” The rainbow one began snickering like a schoolchild.
She ignored the jab and rolled her eyes “This here’s Zircom; he’s been helping me on the farm.” At this point the unicorn became very interested in me.
“Zircom? Such an odd name for an earth pony…” she was very skeptical and probably took note in my sudden nervousness. She slowly began walking up to me while the rainbow one hovered just a few feet in front of me. Both were scrutinizing every detail of my form, as if they were expecting me to be some imposter.
“Uh, yeah… I’m uh… not from around here…” Dear Bahamut I hope they buy it.
The Pegasus glared at me. “Yeah, I’m not buyin in.”
"Fuck..."
Thankfully I think the unicorn might have taken my excuse. “So then where are you from?”
“FUUUUUUUUCK.”
“Oh…uh, I’m from a small town up north. Probably isn’t on any map or in any record.” My sheepish grin and horrible lying skills were not saving my ass in any way shape or form. To be fair, AJ was also visibly sweating.
The unicorn then tilted her head toward me slightly, still giving me the death stare. What really scared me was when her horn began to glow. Being magically trained I could usually determine what spell was about to be cast at me. Naturally I would not worry about it, seeing as how dragons are naturally resistant to magic. My issue was that I had no idea how powerful she was.
“Um… what are you doing?”
She kept her horn pointed at me. “Well Zircom, I am detecting an incredibly large amount of magic coming from you; way too much for any earth pony.”
Then I made the connection. She was about to blast away my disguise. I had no clue how powerful this dispel was going to be. So I did the only sensible thing.
“Please… no…” I was begging quite pathetically.
It was now that the rainbow one looked like she was ready to beat my ass as soon as the unicorn dispelled my form. In truth I could have easily killed everyone here and ran away, but I’m not like that. Besides, I highly doubt they could really do serious damage to me.
Ignoring my plea, the unicorn fired off her spell which hit me like a Tarrasque. My spell resistance was completely useless. In the moment I had before her spell destroyed my form I realized something; this unicorn could give Rubric a serious run for his money. So with a blinding light and a pop my earth pony form was obliterated, leaving me in my massive true form. Suffice to say the unicorn was not expecting that. However, her rainbow friend didn’t care and shot up toward my head.
I opened my mouth to say something that would calm the situation and avoid any unnecessary violence. However, I never got the chance to. With a swift kick the Pegasus hit my lower jaw straight up. Now it wouldn’t have been a problem if my mouth was closed, but since it was open it collided with my upper jaw and nearly sent my brain out the top of my head. Everything went black and I toppled over.
Applejack could only watch in stunned amazement at what had just happened. As soon as I was down for the count the unicorn turned to AJ.
“Applejack are you alright?” She sounded panicked.
“Twi! What did ya go and do that for?!”
Twilight reeled her head back in shock. “But he’s a…”
“Woah AJ, are you trying to defend this creep?!” she pointed her hooves at my unconscious body.
“Because he was workin for me, Rainbow!”
“WHAT!?” they both shouted in unison.
She sighed and dropped her head slightly. “Ya might as well get comfy, cause this might take a few minutes to explain.” She proceeded to explain my being there, how I got there, our first meeting, our deal, and other little tid bits only to satisfy Twilight’s curiosity. After AJ explained my existence they all turned back toward me, unsure of what to do with a ten ton unconscious dragon.
“Dear Celestia Rainbow, how hard did ya buck him?”
Rainbow Dash looked hurt and confused, “What?! I thought he was gonna, like, eat us or something!” Both AJ and Rainbow began arguing over the use of excessive force and any potential legal repercussions. Thankfully for them I had no idea how the legal system worked in Equestria. Twilight on the other hand was busy inspecting every inch of me.
After a nice twenty minute involuntary nap, my brain decided to drop back into place, allowing my body to start normal functions. I slowly opened one eye and noticed nothing but dirt and some grass, oh and this very shiny rock. I then opened the other eye and was greeted with three faces. One was AJ, the other was my assailant, and the other was the one who zapped my disguise. It was then that the Pegasus began waving her front hooves over her head in an attempt to garner my attention.
“Helllllooooo, can you hear me?”
“Rainbow Dash! Leave him alone, I’m sure he can hear you just fine… right?” The unicorn was then looking at me with a more worried look; one that a mother would give her child after a bad fall.
“Ya feelin all right there Zir?” AJ pushed her way through Rainbow to get closer to my head.
What I meant to say to her was something along the lines of ‘Yes, I’m fine. I will have a headache for a few hours though.’
What actually came out of my mouth was less than intelligent. As I tried to open my mouth to respond in a civilized manner a searing pain shot through my lower jaw. It was intense enough to make me wince and whimper a bit. Bringing a claw up, I soon felt a massive bulge on the side of my head where my jaw hinged. Even the slightest touch sent unbearable pain through my skull and elicited another pathetic whimper and groan from me.
“Well good going Rainbow, you managed to really hurt him.” Twilight was less than amused and sounded slightly frustrated.
“Well sorry! I thought he was going to eat me!”
“He wasn’t going to eat anypony!” it was nice seeing AJ fight for me, although I think it had to do with the horribly pathetic state I was in.
“Graaah! Fine! What do you want me to do then? Kiss it and make it better!?” She was flailing her arms in the air while hovering a few feet off the ground.
“Dash, since you were the one who broke his jaw you can be the one to go get Fluttershy.” Twilight stated very calmly after taking a deep breath and making a sweeping motion with a hoof. I’ll need to ask her about that when I can talk again.
“Oh all right…” A defeated Dash then sped off toward what I assume was Fluttershy’s house.
About twenty minutes later, Dash and who I can only assume was Fluttershy, appeared down the road. The yellow Pegasus had two red bags across her back, barely visible behind her pink mane. As soon as she saw me she froze. The others groaned and sighed together. Rainbow was having none of it and pushed her the rest of the way toward my head, her look of fear only growing as she got closer.
Now only a foot away from my head she turned her attention toward the large bulge on my face. That was when Twilight chimed in.
“So, uh, we think Rainbow might have broken his jaw.”
“Hey!” she shouted back in indignation.
Twilight snorted at her and turned back to Fluttershy. “If anyone can help him it’s you.”
Fluttershy was visibly shaking at this point. “B-b-but he’s a d-d-d-dragon.” It sounded like someone was shaking her violently as she spoke.
“Yes Fluttershy, he is. Now I remember how brave you were when the Princess sent us to deal with that sleeping dragon on the mountain. If it weren’t for you we probably would have failed. I know you can be brave around dragons. Just remember how brave you were.” Twilight used a hoof to gently lift Fluttershy’s chin.
“Fluttershy, this is Zircom. AJ says he is really quite nice and not mean or scary.” Sweet, now Twilight was taking my side too.
“Well… if AJ says he’s nice…” Fluttershy then turned to me, meeting my gaze for a moment before turning to my bulging jaw. I swear, in that moment of eye contact I felt like my heart was just going to melt. There was just something about these ponies, except for Rainbow whom I am kinda mad at, that makes you just wanna hug them and never let go.
I instinctually held my breath and braced myself for pain as she placed a hoof on the spot. I was surprised when nothing happened. I relaxed a bit and watched her gently prod areas of my face.
“Well his jaw isn’t broken. It’s just dislocated.”
I breathed an audible sigh of relief. I could hear the others do the same. Fluttershy then stood with both front hooves placed lightly on my jaw.
“Ok now, I’m going to put it back into place. This might hurt a little, okay?” Wow… she was sincere and actually seemed to care about how this was going to make me feel. I nodded my confirmation that I was ready and braced myself for the tidal wave of pain that was about to come.
“Alright then… one… two…” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes tight. “Three.” She leaned in hard and pushed my jaw back into place with a disgusting popping sound. Instead of the searing pain I was expecting, something much worse happened. My eyes shot open in agony, my vision began to swirl and soon faded to black. My body seized up, twitched a few times and then relaxed as I lost consciousness for the second time today.
Fluttershy immediately jumped away from me as my convulsions began. The others could only watch in horror as my body seized up with my eyes wide open. It lasted only seconds, none of which I remember. Once my body gave up and relaxed Fluttershy was by my side, making sure I hadn’t caused any further self-injury.
“So…um… AJ, why do you have a dragon on your farm?” Fluttershy asked in her usual timid and meek voice.
Applejack could only sigh. “Ah’m just gonna give ya the short version.” Fluttershy nodded and listened intently. Twilight was busy using numerous spells on me and jotting down information on a levitating clip board, and Rainbow Dash was asleep on a cloud above us all.
My name is Zircom, and I no longer know what the fuck is going on.
So there I was, laying unconscious in the dirt. The last thing I can clearly recall was a yellow pegasus, Fluttershy I think was her name, push my lower jaw back into it's socket. Then there was unimaginable pain, some flashing light, and then nothing. I'm not sure how long I was out, but it felt like it could have been a few hours. In that time, I began to dream. My dream brought me back to the bar in Waterdeep that I so frequently visited after leaving the chapel each night. There was Jorven, enjoying his dinner, Gimble was playing a tale about three witches, Malen was in a drinking contest with his latest challenger, Rye was sitting in the corner as usual, and Tyke was telling a group of people about the wonders of Ogresloshing. I don't even know what the fuck Ogresloshing is...
Anyway, it was all seeming so normal and familiar. It was then that I noticed I was also in my human form, this was a lucid dream. Not wanting to miss out on a lucid dream, I began to check my surroundings. Every detail of the bar and it's occupants was recreated in perfect detail. The only thing that suggested this was a dream was the lack of smell or the feeling of temperature. My eyes began scanning the room for any imperfection in the setting. I stood there slowly spinning like an idiot in the middle of the room, no one paying me any attention. Finally I spotted something that didn't belong; a pony. This one was a bit larger than the others I had already met, not to mention she also had both wings and a horn. She had a dark indigo coat and ethereal mane that looked like the night sky. I found her to be oddly beautiful, if I am to be perfectly honest. Her turquoise eyes regarding me with interest and curiosity. Something compelled me to approach her. I slowly began walking toward the table she was seated at before pulling up a chair and sitting across from her.
"I don't ever remember seeing you in this bar back home." I stated calmly, not wanting to offend this newcomer to my mind.
"Oh this? This setting seemed most familiar to you, almost like a second home." Her voice was calm, yet commanded respect and had a sense of authority.
"Okay then... but why? Who are you, and why are you in my dream?"
"You can call me Luna. As for the why, I wanted to see just who came into our world. You caused quite an interesting magical shock when you tore a gap between our worlds, so I was curious to see who did it." The whole time she was either inspecting me or the surrounding bar and its inhabitants.
"Such detail in a dream, and such odd creatures. Who and what are all these creatures?" Her gaze wandering the room, trying to absorb every detail.
"Well, that one there is Jorven. He's a green half-dragon, half-human." She looked at me with a puzzled look. I sighed. "The form I am in is what a normal human looks like." She seemed to suddenly understand, so I continued around the room. "That's Malen the dwarf. Over there in that corner is Rye, another human." She stopped me at that point.
"Why is she just sitting there all alone?"
"Ah, she isn't the most social of person. The only reason she is here is because of Malen, he's her best friend." Luna nodded at this. "On stage is Gimble, a gnome bard. He's a type of musician really, always telling stories through song. Then we have Tyke, the resident half-ogre." Her eyes went wide once she really saw Tyke.
"He's massive! And... what's Ogresloshing?"
I shrugged. "Even after all this time I still don't know. The best I can come up with is that it is some sort of Ogre drinking festival."
"This is all so incredible! The only other dreams I have seen with such detail were the ones of my sister." She then focused all her attention back to me. "You said that your current form was a human, right? So then what are you normally?"
I sighed, being interrogated in my own mind was never something I imagined I would have to go through. "I'm normally a fairly large silver dragon, this form just makes it easier to live in the city."
Luna sat there beaming with intrigue, her eyes betraying the serious look on her face. "And just where is 'this city'?"
I chuckled. "This is the city of Waterdeep in Faerun. Don't bother looking for it on any of your maps, you won't find it."
She mulls it over for a moment before speaking up. "I see... so why did you come to Equestria?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh how I could use a drink." As if on command, the bartender walked over to our table and set down two mugs of dwarven stout ale. "Riiiiight. My dream, my rules." Luna seemed to look at her drink with interest before taking a few investigatory sniffs. "What is this? Some kind of drink?"
I nodded. "Dwarven stout ale. A personal favorite of mine." Without thinking I picked up the mug and took a swig. To my amazement I could actually taste it. I may have just found a way to drink forever without getting drunk or puking. Anyway, following my example, Luna grasped her mug in magic before levitating it up to her mouth and taking a small sip. He eyes lit up after the first sip, which was followed by a much longer sip. She certainly seemed to be enjoying it. This simple act raised a number of questions for me.
"Now, not to get off topic here... but how is it that you could possibly taste this? I mean, I can because I've had it before and I clearly remember it."
She chuckled softly before setting her drink down. "It's simple really, I can access that part of your memory and re-create the taste for myself. It is the same way I created this setting. I pulled a familiar location, filled it with familiar things, and added some other elements that I thought might make this little meeting go over smoothly."
Wow, she was good. "So you recreated this whole bar and all the people in it from my memories?"
She nodded. "It was surprisingly easy. Your mind is very well organized, more than almost any pony I know."
I couldn't help but feel a bit of an ego boost. "I'll take that as a wonderful compliment. Now, back to the matter at hand... er hoof... whatever..." I took a moment to recompile my thoughts. "You want to know how and why I am here, correct?"
She nodded.
"Alright, well here we go. I got bored one day and decided to go travel the planes and find some random new world. A few magical spells later and BOOM! Equestria." I took a long drink from my mug and looked at Luna. She was not satisfied by my meager explanation. "Alright, alright fine. You really want the long version of the story, fine." I looked at my drink and noticed that it was still full.
"A drink that never gets you drunk, never makes you puke, and never gets empty?! I love my mind!"
I spent the next twenty minutes explaining in extravagant detail about the past few weeks of my life, ending with the past hour and getting K.O'd by a rainbow maned pegasus. Luna just stared at me with a slight grin.
"You wouldn't happen to know my assailant, would you?"
She laughs. "As a matter of fact I do. Rainbow Dash right?"
I nodded.
"Yes, she is a friend of my sister's student, Twilight Sparkle. She is also one of the Elements of Harmony, loyalty if I remember correctly."
"The elements of what now?"
She looked at me before shaking her head. "Never mind. I'll tell you more later."
I shrugged, "Alright, fine by me. Now you said something about having a sister?"
Luna's ears quickly folded against her head and her face sank to a look of sadness. I had stumbled onto something painful. "Her name is Celestia, she's the princess of Equestria. The fearless leader of this nation and responsible for raising the sun each day and lowering it each night." the pain in her voice was unmistakable.
"If she's the princess of Equestria, wouldn't that also put you on the same level? Or is it just a monarchy with your sister in charge?" she shook her head, ears still pinned down.
"No, no. Equestria is a constitutional diarchy... or at least that's what everypony thinks." her head was almost pointing at the ground by now.
"Hey now, I didn't mean to upset you... look, if you don't want to talk about that it's fine." she shook her head again.
"It's okay. Just some... painful memories. That's all." I wasn't buying it, but was unwilling to press further.
"Alright. So if Equestria is a diarchy, wouldn't that make you Prince-" she cut me off with a wave of her hoof.
"Please, you need not refer to me with a title. It's nice to be able to talk to somepony without them worrying about my status as a princess, hence why I neglected to mention it earlier." her tone was somber and pained. Her eyes showing a sadness that I was all to familiar with. They say that the worst wounds are the ones we can't see; the wounds of the mind and soul.
I slowly pushed her mug toward her while trying to hold a comforting smile. She looked up and grabbed the drink in her magical aura. She began chugging her endless mug, eyes shut with small tears being forced out of the corners. After a good few seconds she finally stopped and set her mug down with a loud thunk, followed by a fabulously loud burp. I laughed while she quickly put a hoof over her mouth in embarrassment and blushed quite red.
"Not bad, you could probably impress Malen with a belch like that." I motioned to the red haired dwarf at the bar, all while still laughing. Even she began laughing and giggling.
"You have no idea how relieving it is to be able to do something like that without having the entire room glaring at you with a scowl." she was still giggling slightly.
"I can imagine. Being under constant scrutiny by everyone around you makes it harder to... let loose."
She sighed and relaxed in her chair, her expression returning to a happy smile. "I must say I am quite relieved."
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"
"I thought that you would turn out to be some horrible creature from beyond our world, or some other evil being who was Tartarus bent on our destruction. But instead I find you; not a monster... but a friend."
I was surprised by this. She considered me a friend after maybe an hour. No one back home was this trusting, or this nice. I guess it really stood testament to just how different our worlds really were.
"Well Zircom, it has been very nice meeting you. I would encourage you to come by Canterlot Castle soon. I would very much like to meet the real you."
I laughed slightly. "I'm sure Twilight and her friends can help me with that. Well Luna, it has been a lovely dream, but I really should stop being unconscious in front of Applejack's barn. I don't want her to think I died."
Luna seemed amused by this. "Well, if Twilight and her friends are there I'm sure you'll be just fine." With that said and done, Luna took one last swig of ale before getting up and walking out the door. As soon as she exited, I could feel the dream begin to crumble. Details became clouded and the whole place seemed to be fading to black.
I knew my dream world was coming to an end, so I braced myself for the return to reality. Instead of the blinding light of the sun, I was greeted by the black void of night. My eyes took a moment to register the time of day. The moon was overhead and the stars were all out. It was strangely beautiful, more so than back home. I looked around without moving my head, seeing who might still be near. I could hear muffled voices from somewhere behind me. To my side were two ponies, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy looked genuinely worried. While Rainbow Dash just looked annoyed.
"Gahhh... why can't I just go home? I'm bored to tears out here!"
"Because you need to apologize to Zircom when he wakes up." Fluttershy sounded more... assertive, than the first time I heard her talk.
"Yeah... but this is soooo boring. Can't you just wake him up so I can go already? I have weather patrol tomorrow." Dash was already hovering about two feet off the ground, ready to bolt as soon as possible. Fluttershy, however, was not having any of it,
"Rainbow Dash!" She put her face right up against Dash's, her eyes locking in an intense glare. "You will be patient and you will wait for Zircom to wake up so you can apologize for hurting him in the first place!" Dash gulped loudly. "Am I clear!?" Rainbow nodded her head repeatedly. "Good." Fluttershy sat back down in the grass next to me, Dash following only moments later, sitting in absolute silence.
Deciding it was time to announce my renewed state, I silently brought my face behind Rainbow Dash. A slight smirk spread across my face.
"I'll hear that apology now." That was all it took. Dash shot straight up with a scream and collided with a tree branch before falling back to earth and face planting on the ground. I laughed, Fluttershy covered her mouth with a hoof in surprise.
"What the buck was that for!?"
"Rainbow Dash! Language!"
Fluttershy was glaring at Rainbow, I was wearing a slight grin.
"But he-" Fluttershy intensified her stare and silenced Rainbow before pointing a hoof at me.
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and then to me. "Apologize to him Rainbow."
She sighed in defeat. "Fine... I'm sorry I kicked you and dislocated your jaw... There, happy?"
I nodded. "I get the feeling that's the best I'm gonna get. Apology accepted. Just don't do it again."
She looked at Fluttershy, then back to me. Satisfied with the apology, Fluttershy nodded. With that taken care of, Rainbow Dash shot away toward town.
"I'm so sorry about her behavior. She can get oh so very protective... she really didn't mean to hurt you." Fluttershy's voice was back to the timid and quite state of earlier.
"Eh, at least my jaw isn't broken.Thank you, by the way, for fixing it." She blushed slightly and looked away with a smile.
"Oh, it was no trouble really. I couldn't just leave somepony like that."
"Well, thank you again Fluttershy."
She got up and began to walk home. It was then that I also heard the sound of a door opening. I glanced over my shoulder to see Twilight, Applejack, and Big Mac all walk out of the farm house.
Twilight was the first to notice my change in state. "Ah, Zircom, I'm glad you're awake. Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"She apologized to the best her ego would allow then sped off toward what I can only assume is her home."
"Oh, well as long as she did apologize for hurting you. I also want to apologize, if I hadn't cast that spell on you all of this could have been avoided." Her ears pinned back and she wore a sheepish grin.
"It's quite alright Twilight. You didn't do it out of malice. A simple misunderstanding is all."
She sighed, a weight seemed to be lifted from her chest. "Thank's Zircom. Now, I need to go write a letter to the Princess, I bet she will be interested to hear about today." She began to trot toward the town.
"Uh Twilight...?" She stopped and turned to face me,
"Yes Zircom?"
"Could you...uh... have her say 'Hi' to Luna for me?"
Twilight looked shocked that I knew that name. "How... how do you know her?"
Fearing I may have just done something incredibly stupid I decided to explain just enough to satisfy her. "She came to me in a dream. I know it sound really cliche, but she did. We had a lovely conversation."
Twilight seemed to accept this answer as though it was normal. "Oh, okay then. I'll be sure to add that in the letter. Goodnight Zircom." she turned and trotted off toward town.
Applejack walked up next to my head. "So, Princess Luna visited you in yer dream?" I nodded. "Not sure how Ah feel about anypony messin' with mah dreams. Ah like 'em just the way they are." She let out a deep sigh and looked over at me. "Well, Ah'm goin ta bed. G'night Zir."
"Goodnight AJ." I let out a wide yawn. "I'll see you in the morning."
With that said and done I closed my eyes once more.
I’ve been working on Applejack’s farm for almost a month now. I guess I showed up just as the harvest season was beginning, meaning there was plenty of work to be done. It was easy stuff, mainly hauling the loads of apples back to the barn for sorting and storage. It was nice really; I had a place to sleep, income, individuals who did not want me dead, and my efforts were generally appreciated.
So one day, a Tuesday I believe, AJ and I were working in the east field. She was strapping another load of apples to a carrying harness that we had fashioned out of rope. I could comfortably carry fifteen bags on each side and still fly with some degree of grace. Big Mac was just down the hill from us working on the trees further down. I was in the process of checking the weight distribution with AJ when we both heard a massive cracking sound and then a pained yelp. Applejack immediately ran down the hill toward her brother.
“Big Mac! Are ya okay!?” She made it down only to see a large tree lying across his back pinning him to the ground. He only grunted as he tried to escape from under the fallen tree. Applejack began pushing on it as well, but the tree just wouldn’t move.
“Zir, Ah need you!” Applejack shouted up at me. I kicked off the ground and glided down to the two ponies. I looked at the tree that was keeping Big Mac pinned. It was a very large apple tree that he had managed to break.
“Okay, AJ, I’m going to lift the tree, can you pull him out?” She nodded at me and moved to his front and grabbed his front hooves. “Alright, one… two… THREE!” I began lifting the tree and use my wings for additional upward lift. The tree was surprisingly heavy, easily a four ton tree. However, it was moving ever so slowly. As soon as I had gotten the tree a few inches off Big Mac’s back AJ pulled him out slowly. As soon as he was out from under I dropped the tree with a thud.
“Oh mah stars! C’mon Big Mac, please be okay…” His face was grimaced in pain as Applejack tried to comfort him. She looked over at me with tears in her eyes.
“Zircom! Ah need you to got to town and get Nurse Redheart!” She turned back to her fallen brother. I sighed loudly.
“Here, allow me…” I walked over to Big Mac and slowly ran a claw across his back, feeling for any breaks. Sure enough, his spine had been broken from the falling tree. Normally this would mean paralysis in his lower body. Applejack was watching me with interest, but remained silent.
“Hmm… Single spinal fracture on the Thoracic Vertebrae… Lumbar Vertebrae seems intact… ribs feel fine… paralysis in lower back and hind legs.” Applejack stared at me in astonishment.
“How…do you know…?”
I looked down at her. “I borrowed a few anatomy and medical books from Twilight.” I turned my attention back to the fallen stallion. I then placed my entire hand over his back. This action made Applejack back up slightly, Big Mac was still lying silently, unmoving. He was however, following my every move with his eyes. I made eye contact with him before proceeding. His face held a look of pain, fear, and uncertainty. I closed my eyes and began to focus on the task at hand.
I quickly began to gather the proper healing spell and channeled it into the stallion. My hand and arm was engulfed in a faint golden glow as the spell got to full power. It only took seconds for the massive amount of holy power to course into his body. As the glow around my arm faded I lifted it up slowly, allowing Big Mac to process what had just happened. To my delight he slowly got back on his hooves with the help of Applejack. She kept looking at her brother and back to me.
“H-how did you…?”
I sat down on my haunches. “I uh… I’m highly trained in the field of healing magic and medical practice.” To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement. Am I fairly strong? Yeah. Am I powerful enough to raise the dead? Yup. Do I wield the divine power of Bahamut? Indeed. So why was I so hesitant to use this power? Well… most of my life has been revolved around blending in and not raising suspicions. If I just appeared like another dragon then no one would really ask questions. If said dragon began slinging around powerful magic then someone might take notice. Anyway…
Applejack just stared at me. “So then… why didn’t ya just heal yerself after Rainbow Dash kicked ya?” I sighed.
“It’s because I didn’t want to scare anypony more than I already had. I know it sounds dumb, but that’s my rationalization.”
“Well, Ah aint about to question yer reasoning. Can ya lend a hoof and help me get Big Mac up the hill?” I nodded.
“Alright buddy, I’m gonna fly you back to the house, alright?” He nodded.
I leaned down and used a wing to help him climb onto my back along with Applejack. She sat behind him and grabbed one of the straps that ran across my back from the harness; Big Mac did the same.
“You two ready?”
“Eeyup.” That was all Big Mac said.
With a gentle kick off, I took to the air and gently flew back toward the farm house. It was a quick flight, maybe only five minutes. I landed as gently as possible near the front door. While I had healed his broken back, his muscles would still be stiff and very sore. I sat outside the house as Applejack took her brother into the house and helped him to his room. She came out a few minutes later and sat down beside me.
“Ah appreciate what ya did fer mah brother Zir.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad he’s okay.”
“So… you were afraid to show yer powers in front of us?”
I nodded. “I didn’t want all of you to be afraid of me. I was afraid that if I made some display of power that you would all shrink away from me and I would be cast out from town.”
Applejack began to chuckle. “Ya sound like Twilight when that Trixie character showed up in town.”
“How so…?”
“Well, this mare shows up with a wagon and proclaims herself the Great and Powerful Trixie. Well she starts on puttin on this big show and makin herself seem all mighty. We asked Twilight to intervene but she wouldn’t do it. She said she didn’t want to seem like ah showoff like Trixie.” Applejack continued to chuckle.
“So what happened then?”
“Ah think that would be a story best left fer Twilight to tell ya.”
I nodded. “Alright then… So I take it we are done for the day?”
Applejack nodded. “Yup, ah want ta keep an eye on mah brother. Feel free to take the rest of the day off.”
“Well then, I feel a nap coming on.”
“Now yer startin ta sound like Rainbow.” I rolled my eyes and Applejack began laughing again.
I got up and curled up under my usual tree and drifted off to sleep. I quickly found myself back in the familiar tavern. The usual people were there, the smells were more prominent than last time and there was even a feeling of temperature. Sure enough, Luna was sitting at her normal table. Two mugs of dwarven ale sat on the table. I was back in my usual human form and took my seat across from the alicorn. She looked at me and was able to read me like an open book.
“So… what’s occupying your mind?”
I laughed. “That obvious huh?”
She chuckled as well. “Well?”
“Alright, alright. This is gonna be a good one.” I leaned back in my chair and began to recount the day’s events. She sat there, occasionally sipping her drink while keeping her attention on me. As much as I wanted to downplay my magic use, Luna had seen my mind and knew the truth.
“So it sounds like Applejack was quite grateful for your assistance with her brother. I can hardly imagine what it would have been like if her brother was left paralyzed at the bottom of a hill.”
I nodded. “She was indeed.”
We both sat in silence for a moment, taking a few drinks and just relaxing in the moment. I decided to break the silence with a question.
I asked her about some of Eqestria’s history. She seemed jubilant at first, happily talking at length how she and her sister defeated Discord nearly two thousand years ago. Then she talked about the adventures of a unicorn named Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice Clover; which was about eighteen hundred years ago. Then she went on about the griffin wars, about how their clan battles and border conflicts spilled over onto Eqestrian soil and how it threw the nation into its first major conflict; that war was nearly eleven hundred years ago. Then suddenly it seemed as though Equestria went into a period of peace that lasted over a millennium. No conflicts, no strife, nothing.
She then picked up the timeline with the story of how Discord got free and then was subsequently imprisoned again. Then was the very recent event of the Changling attack on the capitol during a high profile wedding. Something wasn’t right; no one just skips a whole millennium like it’s nothing.
We sat there again as I compared what I read in my borrowed books to what she had just told me. There was one thing missing from the timeline.
“What about Nightmare Moon? The book I have only mentions it briefly. It seems like a serious event in the timeline, but there wasn't a lot on the actual event. Do you remember it?”
Her face instantly sank and her head bowed slightly. There was a pain in her eyes that I hadn't seen before.
“Yeah… I remember it…” Her voice was barely audible.
“What happened?”
“A very powerful pony allowed the all the darkness and hatred in her heart to take ahold of her mind. She used her new power to try and overthrow her sister and claim the throne for herself.” Luna’s breathing was shallow, her eyes never leaving the mug in front of her.
“She had been ignored… neglected by those around her. The very ones she thought were her family and friends. She was cast aside while her sister basked in the spotlight that everypony saw her in. Her sister was perfect; infallible and beautiful…”
I could tell where this was going, I wanted to stop Luna from continuing, from bringing up more pain… but I couldn’t do it. I wanted to hear her side of the story.
“Eventually the young mare had had enough. She was tired of being ignored, tired of being the object of mockery, tired of living in her sister’s shadow… so one day she tried to prove she was better than her sister. She allowed her anger and hatred to guide her in a horrible and violent way against her sister. But… she failed… even with dark magic she was unable to best her sister… her punishment was a thousand year banishment to the moon…” Tears were now dripping from her eyes and rolling off her muzzle.
She cried softly; fighting to hold back a sea of emotions that she had spent years locked away. I got up and moved my chair next to her before pulling her into and embrace. Luna instantly turned in her seat and plunged her face into my chest, the dam holding her emotions had broken as a stream of tears flowed from her eyes; instead of the soft crying from moments before this was full on sobbing. We sat there for a few minutes, I just let her cry into my shoulder while still keeping my arms locked tight around her. Eventually she spoke up.
“T-thank you Zir…” Her voice was choppy and still hinted of sadness and what also sounded like… relief.
“You're welcome Luna. I just have one question though…” She looked up at me.
“Why me? Why are you confiding all this in me? I mean, I only met you two weeks ago and yet here we are.”
She chuckled a bit, sadness still hung on her voice. “Well… I guess it’s because you are new. You’re someone who doesn’t know the horror story of my past… someone who wouldn’t judge me based on my past sins. You were someone who I could see as a friend, a true friend. Not someone who was being nice to me out of pity.” She closed her eyes and rested her head against my shoulder. I placed a hand behind her head and held her tight as a faint smile crossed her face.
“Luna… if you ever need someone to confide in you know how to find me.” She giggled at this.
“Indeed. A mind like yours is quite obvious in the sea of ponies; a lighthouse almost.” She sighed before finally breaking away.
“Well… as much as I would like to stay I do need to get up. Night Court starts soon and I need to get ready.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Wait… so you were asleep during all this?”
She nodded. “Yes, I can reach out to ponies dreams even while I myself am asleep.”
“Huh… that’s handy. Well then, I hope court goes well.”
Luna sighed audibly. “Yes well… it is usually a time for me to catch up on some reading really. Nopony really shows up.”
“Well I might just have to change that one of these nights then.”
“I look forward to it.”
With that said she gave me one last hug before getting up and exiting the tavern. I woke up under the tree a few minutes later. The sun had just set and I could hear the Apple family having dinner. I glanced over toward the mountain city of Canterlot and thought about what had just happened. This was certainly not what I had expected when I set out for my adventure. However, I can’t say I’m disappointed.
It has been two weeks since the incident with Big Mac. Things on Apllejack’s farm quickly returned to normal and the two of us were able to finish harvesting in the south field. Normally we would just tear through the east field in a week and be done with the harvest season, but this week was different. There was a national holiday approaching by the name of The Summer Sun Celebration. From what I had gathered from Twilight, it was a holiday that signified the beginning of summer as well as the anniversary for the return and subsequent defeat of Nightmare Moon. The way the holiday works is Princess Celestia chooses a town to host the celebration, this year it’s Ponyville, and the whole town decorates and gets this huge reception organized. Then the Princess shows up early in the morning and everyone watches her raise the sun in a very dramatic fashion. Then everyone eats and drinks and is all around happy.
So there we were, Applejack and I, gathering many of the apples we had put in storage in preparation for catering this festival. We began first by baking about a hundred apple pies. I thought baking this many pies a week in advance would be pointless, but AJ had a solution to that. She showed me this strange purple box. On the outside it was just a purple metal box, but upon closer inspection I found some amazing pieces of spellcraft. On the inside was an Arcane Rune that was modified to release its energy slowly instead of all at once. The next was a stripped version of the spell Imprison, except only the stasis part was present. Finally the box opened up to its own pocket dimension, allowing it to hold all the baked goods. In all, this box could hold hundreds of pies at a warm temperature without them aging. It was brilliant and I could think of only one pony in town who might be able to pull this off.
The two of us were packing the latest batch of pie into the magical baked goods stasis box when a knock at the door interrupted us.
“Ah’ll get it Zir.”
Applejack set down the pie she was carrying on the counter and trotted over to the door. Twilight was standing at the door with what looked like a baby half dragon sitting on her back holding a clip board.
“Twilight! Spike! What brings ya’ll here? Chekin’ up on the preparations?”
Twilight nodded and the one I assumed was Spike spoke up.
“Yup, and with how delicious it smells in here I bet everything is going great.”
“Ah, why thank you Spike. With some help from Zircom here ah reckon we’ll be done ahead of schedule.”
Spike looked at me with surprise and bewilderment. “Uh Twilight? You said he was a dragon, but this guy is a Pegasus.”
I chuckled a bit. “It’s a natural shape shift spell. It helps me interact with smaller species.”
He didn’t look convinced. “But dragons can’t use magic, aside from our fire breath.”
“Well Spike, that may be true for dragons in Equestria, but the ones from my home can become very powerful magic users.”
“What about you?” Spike asked, “Can you use any magic?”
“Aside from dragon abilities, yes, I am trained in healing magic. I know a few utility spells and a handful of offensive combat spells.”
He still wasn’t buying it completely. “You know healing spells?”
This time Applejack spoke up, “He sure does. Saved mah brother from being paralyzed after a tree crushed his back.”
“Wow, really?”
I nodded. “Pump enough divine magic into someone and you’d be surprised at how quickly injuries go away.”
Before Spike could say anything Twilight interrupted. “As much as I would love to discuss magic all day, and believe me how much I wish I could, we do need to get back to town hall. Which reminds me, AJ, could I borrow Zircom for an hour or two?”
Applejack nooded. “Sure thing.”
“Great, thanks Applejack.”
I just stood there. “Wait… don’t I get a say in this decision?”
“Nope.” They both answered at the same time.
“Eh, okay. Can I at least go in my true form?”
Twilight pondered this for a moment. “Sure, might as well get ponies used to seeing you.”
So with that decided I followed Twilight outside. Once in the open and with ample space, I released the shape shift spell. Spike was taken aback at my new body. I stretched my wings to full length and arched my back, allowing various bones and joints to pop and crack as everything stretched out.
“Alright, shall we be off?”
“Sure, we are going to go see Rarity first. She is supposed to be decorating town hall.”
“And why do you need my help with that? I’m not the most artistic individual.”
Twilight chuckled. “Well a few days ago the local mail mare managed to fly into the building and caused the balcony to collapse. I wanted to bring you along in case anything out of the ordinary happened.”
“Well they did fix the balcony, right?”
“Oh yes. I would just rather not take any chances. Not with the festival so close.”
“Alright then.”
We walked for another ten minutes or so to the outer part of town. All along the way Spike was peppering me with questions about dragons from my world.
“So you can’t breathe fire?” Spike almost sounded shocked at this.
“Nope, if anything fire and I have a very poor relationship. Instead I can breathe a frozen gas.” He seemed amazed by this.
“Do you know what kind of gas it is?” Asked Twilight.
“Nitrogen, I believe.”
Spike's eyes lit up with interest. “That’s so cool! So you can, like, freeze ponies by breathing on them!?”
I nodded. “Indeed. I can also breathe a second gas which can paralyze anyone who inhales it.”
“Why would you want that though?”
“It is useful if I don’t want to hurt anyone. It lets me gain control of a situation without me having to resort to violence.”
“Oh, I get it now. That’s pretty cool too.” I laughed at his unintended pun.
“Alright you two, we’re here.”
And indeed we were. Before us was the town center of Ponyville. Most ponies were going about their daily lives. A few more observant ones were stopping to look at the huge dragon sitting in the road next to a unicorn. Once they saw Twilight, however, they went back to their routines.
“You okay Zircom? You looked like you spaced out.”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Yeah, fine. Just surprised everyone is so calm right now.”
“Oh don’t worry, Ponyville has been through stranger things than a dragon showing up.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
The three of us made our way to the town hall where a white unicorn with a styled purple mane was putting up various colored banners and other decorations.
“That must be Rarity then?”
Twilight nodded in an affirmative before calling out to her friend. “Hey Rarity!”
The unicorn set down what she was doing and trotted over.
“Why hello Twilight. Come to check on the decorations?”
“Yup, and it looks like everything is coming along great.”
“Thank you Twilight, you’re too kind. Oh and how could I forget to say hi to my little Spikey-wikey.”
It took all of my willpower to remain silent. He blushed and tried to keep his composure. I don’t know if he was trying to appear tough in front of me or if he was genuinely embarrassed… or maybe he liked the attention. It was also at this point that Rarity turned her attention up toward me.
“Twilight, aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friend here?”
“Oh right, sorry. Rarity, this is Zircom, he’s been working and staying with Applejack for the past two months.”
“A pleasure to meet you ZIrcom.”
“Likewise. Quite the decorative set up you have here, I’m sure the princess will love it.”
“Well thank you darling. I must say I am relieved. Most other dragons I have met have been quite uncouth and rather rude.”
“I guess it helps being from a different world.”
“Ah yes, Twilight did mention somepony had come from a different world, I didn’t realize you were that somepony, or that that somepony could be so handsome and quite the gentlestallion.” Rarity then turned and faced the town hall. Half of it was already decorated and the other half had banners and streamers lying at the base.
“Now as much as I would love to chat I simply must finish these decorations; so much to do in such a short amount of time.”
“Of course, don’t let me keep you.” Rarity then went back to her work on the town hall.
There were a few more introductions after that. I first met the mayor; she seemed a lot more relaxed after talking to me and establishing that I was not going to bring about the destruction of her town. Then there was a mint green unicorn, Lyra I believe was her name; she was nice enough. For some reason she wanted to know about the humans from Faerun. She was even more ecstatic when I told her about the other humanoid races that occupy my world. Out conversation was cut short as another mare, who I heard was called Bon Bon, came and grabbed her by the tail and dragged her away. Lyra put up quite the protest but it fell on deaf ears.
Then the Cutie Mark Crusaders went screaming by in a small wagon pulled by a scooter. As long as they weren’t trying to capture me again I could care less. I sat in front of the town hall for about ten minutes after meeting the mayor and Lyra. I was content to just take in the scene in front of me. It was normal. These ponies were just going about their lives with hardly a care in the world. If anything the only one who seemed high strung was Twilight. I then noticed a few clouds in the area. While that wasn’t odd on its own, the fact that one cloud had a rainbow tail was a bit more suspicious. I gently tapped Twilight on the shoulder with a claw and pointed out the so-called cloud. Twilight just sighed and brought a hoof to her face.
“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”
The cloud didn’t answer.
“Rainbow I know you’re up there.” Twilight was sounding a bit irritated at this point.
The cloud still didn’t answer.
“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight was gritting her teeth.
“Twilight, allow me.” I calmly stated as I cast a spell on myself, leaving a faint golden aura around my body. Normally I wouldn’t try to antagonize someone, but this was a special case where it was deemed necessary.
“Hey Twilight, you said she is fiercely loyal to her friends right?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, she is the Element of Loyalty after all.”
“Cool, then I need you to go with me on this one.”
I cleared my throat and looked up at the cloud. “If you don’t come down here right now, Twilight dies.” It hurt just saying it. I would never hurt any of these poines.
That was all it took. Rainbow Dash shot out of the cloud in a straight charge for me as she let out a war cry. A foot away from impact she stopped, a look of shock on her face.
“Wha-a-a!? Why can’t I…?”
“Why can’t you hit me? Magic. Now Twilight, I believe there was something you wanted to tell Dash?”
Twilight just shook her head in disbelief. “Oh, right. Rainbow Dash, please remember to keep the skies clear for the next couple of days. I know we talked about it last week, but I need to express just how important it is. Okay?” Rainbow just sat there dumbfound.
“Relax.” I said, “I wasn’t going to hurt Twilight. Besides, she is more than capable of taking me down.”
Twilight looked up at me in surprise.
“Well it’s true. I have no doubt that you could easily kill me if you so choose” I stated very nonchalantly.
Rainbow Dash just looked at us both. “So you aren’t going to try and kill her?”
I laughed. “I couldn’t even if I tried. We simply needed to get you down here so we could talk.”
“Oh,” she said sheepishly.
Twilight then took over the conversation again. “So Dash, can you keep the skies clear?”
Dash immediately perked up. “You can count on it!” She then took to the air and began clearing clouds, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.
“Well that was certainly interesting.”
“Hey Zircom, what was that spell you used?”
“It’s called Sanctuary. It basically makes it so that I can’t be directly harmed by another person. It makes them unwilling to attack me. That’s the simple explanation; I could go into greater detail later.”
“I see. Is it possible to cast it on somepony else?”
“Yup. I could cast it on up to three targets.”
“Interesting… well then, Spike, what is left on the checklist?”
There was no response.
“Spike?”
I turned and spotted the baby dragon asleep on Twilight’s back. “Eh, he’s dead to the world.” I then used a Mage Hand spell and levitated the clipboard to my eye level.
“Looks like you still need to check on Fluttershy and her bird choir, someone named Pinkie Pie and her baking prep, and that looks like it.” I then floated the list back to Twilight who took it in her own magical grip.
“Well, to Fluttershy’s house then?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”
The three of us began walking to Fluttershy’s cottage; well, two of us walked, one slept. We arrived in time to see Fluttershy finishing up with a rehearsal. When I was told there would be a bird choir, I was not holding high expectations. After seeing it, however, that view has changed substantially. We had a quick meeting. Everything was going well, as we had just seen. We talked for a few minutes; Fluttershy was much more relaxed around me than the first time we met. After about twenty minutes we left to go check on Pinkie Pie.
Now the building Pinkie Pie was in can only be described as… odd. For all intents and purposes it was a giant cupcake. As we reached for the door we could hear a mixture of odd sounds coming from inside. It was a mix of pots crashing against each other, forks and knives falling to the ground, a chicken being startled, and a large fire. I looked at Twilight with concern.
“I guess we can come back later.” She said with an embarrassed grin.
I simply nodded and turned to leave.
We began walking toward the library when Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked at the sky.
“Oh no, is it already that late in the day?”
I looked around, it indeed had grown late in the day as the sun was already setting.
“It does seem like it.” Something caught my eye, a small object in the sky was getting bigger.
“Zircom, I need you to change into a pony. Please, I’ll explain later.”
“Okay then.” I assumed my Pegasus form and waited as the object grew in size.
Eventually the object grew into a carriage, except it was pulled by two pegasi in golden armor. Its occupants were also donned in golden armor and were unicorns. One in particular wore purple armor with golden trim. In all there were seven of them. Twilight had a look of worry and excitement on her face. As soon as the carriage landed in front of us, she darted toward it.
“Shining!” she shouted as she wrapped her hooves around the unicorn with purple armor.
“Twiley, I’m so glad to see you!” He removed his helmet and returned the gesture. The others began disembarking and grabbing bags off their transport.
“I’ve missed you, how’s Cadance doing?”
“I’ve missed you too little sis, and Cadance is doing fine. She will be coming later this week.”
I just sat there silently like the awkward third wheel I felt like.
“Shining, this is my friend Zircom. Zircom, this is my brother Shining Armor he’s the captain of the royal guard.”
I brought myself back to reality as Twilight began to speak. “Pleasure to meet you captain.” I was silently hoping that he wasn’t as strong of a mage as Twilight, that way my disguise would stand a chance of surviving.
“That’s an odd name for a pony.” He was eyeing me with suspicion.
“I’m not from around here. I’ve only been in town for a few months.” He seemed to buy this answer.
“Right, well then let me grab my bag and we’ll be off.” He turned and grabbed his saddle bags.
“Hey Twilight, I’m going to head back to AJ’s. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Oh, sure thing Zircom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded and took to the sky. Shining Armor watched me fly away before speaking.
“Do you know why he was radiating a massive magical field? And that name… that’s not a pony name…”
Twilight sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ll tell you about it when we get to the library.”
The next morning at Applejack’s farm was quiet. The apples were gathered and the food was almost done. Twilight was supposed to meet me and finish making sure the event prep was finished. The only one we hadn’t seen the day before was Pinkie Pie. Honestly, I am not very excited to be meeting her. From what Applejack told me, she seems very high energy and quite unpredictable. However, I shall refrain from passing a judgment until I actually meet her in person.
So eventually Twilight showed up at the farm with her brother in tow. They seemed to be talking about something but were too far away for me to understand what they were saying. It didn't take long for Twilight to spot me lying under my usual tree. She picked up her pace and trotted toward me, her brother hesitated before following her.
“Good morning Zircom.” She said in a very cheerful manner.
“Morning Twilight… you seem to be rather chipper today. What’s up?”
“Well, Princess Celestia is coming later today. I’m just really looking forward to getting to spend time with her.” She had a grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. From this statement and her body language, I can conclude that this Celestia is a very dear individual to Twilight. Perhaps she is a mentor or even a surrogate mother figure. I can always ask about that later.
“I see. Do you know if Luna is coming?”
“That’s Princess Luna to you!” her brother almost snapped at me. I reared my head up and back at this sudden hostility.
“Woah woah woah, calm down. She only told me she was a princess last week.” This didn’t calm him down in the least bit. Before he could get off another word though, Twilight interrupted.
“Shinning please, he means no disrespect. Princess Luna has visited him in a few dreams.” I nodded in agreement.
“Yup, we kinda have a weekly schedule. Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we hang out in my mind. It’s quite fun.”
Shinning looked shocked and bewildered. I just looked at him with a smile and retorted.
“True story.”
Twilight once again interrupted.
“Well now, if you two aren’t going to try and kill each other can we get on with our day?”
I spoke up first. “Sure, cause I would totally win that fight.”
Shinning just followed quietly next to Twilight as we walked to town. It was clear that Shining Armor was very nervous walking with a huge dragon, especially with his sister in such close proximity. It was very clear that he didn’t trust me… at all. So it took us about twenty minutes to make it to town. This time when I showed up I got a few looks from the townsfolk but nothing more. The royal guard, however, began to muster and looked like they were going to try and stop me. Twilight rolled her eyes and called out to them.
“He’s with me.”
They seemed confused at first, but looked to Shinning before relaxing and going back to their posts. I shot them a smile as I walked by. It was then that we approached our destination… the giant gingerbread house of a bakery. Twilight was about to open the door when a pink blur shot out of the door at speeds I didn’t think any land mammal could manage. The blur tackled Twilight and just began speaking.
"Twilight! My pinky senses were telling me that somepony new was in town but they weren’t really a pony so I couldn’t throw them a normal ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party but then realized that it would be mean to not include somepony just because they weren't a pony so I decided to throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party anyway!”
It was incredible. She got off her entire statement in about twenty seconds in a single breath without using any punctuation. It was her next action that really caught me off guard. The pink pony pulled a canon… a full size canon out of nowhere and aimed it right at me. Before I could react, there was a massive bang, a bright light, and some strange sensations on my face. I opened my eyes and noticed that I, and the entire area around me, was covered in balloons and streamers.
On the front of the bakery was a giant banner that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville’. I looked at the banner then at all the party decorations that seemed to be conjured out of thin air.
“H-how… how is this possible? Normally I would just chalk it up as ‘Magic, aint gotta explain shit’ but this is absurd.”
“It’s my special talent! I’ve always been good at throwing super amazing parties!” Pinkie was bouncing up to my eye level with a pair of fake glasses, a clown nose, a fake arrow going through the side of her head, and what looked like an alligator biting her head. Then I realized that the alligator was real when it made eye contact with me.
“Um… Pinkie… I don’t mean to cause any alarm… but why is there an alligator on your head?”
“Silly, that’s Gummy. He’s my pet alligator. He doesn’t have any teeth though so it’s okay. Say ‘hi’ to Zircom Gummy.”
As she bounced up to meet my eyes once again the alligator jumped off her head and attached to my nose. I just sat there slack jawed and looked at this alligator now clamped firmly to my snout. I even tried shaking my head to dislodge the small reptile, but to no avail. Eventually Gummy became bored and let go, dropping almost twenty feet before clamping onto Pinkie’s head midflight.
“C’mon Zir, let’s get a photo of your first Ponyville party!”
Before I could protest, Pinkie once again jumped up to my eye level before grabbing my face and pulling it down to ground level. How she managed to make me move like that I will never understand. Out of nowhere Pinkie then slapped a party hat on my head and a kazoo in my mouth before slamming a box like device on a tripod stand. She then pulled in Twilight and her brother before grabbing the side of my face as if she were trying to wrap her arms around my snout. My eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she turned toward the box and smiled just as a blinding light went off for the second time that day.
“Yay! Picture’s done!”
I could only blink in disbelief of what had just happened in the span of nine seconds. Even Shining Armor was having a difficult time believing what had just happened. Twilight didn’t seem fazed by this at all. I spit out the kazoo and removed the party hat.
“I’m done here. I’ll meet you at the town hall.” With that I got up and began to walk away.
Pinkie could only watch as I walked away, her face sinking and her mane losing its fluff. "He...he's not mad at me... is he?" Pinkie asked, her voice cracking as sadness and worry crept in.
"He's not mad at you Pinkie. Don't worry; I'll go talk to him." Twilight tried to comfort her friend.
~~~
I was sitting outside the town hall for about ten minutes before Twilight and her brother walked up. I glanced over at Twilight, “So, is everything alright?”
She sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Pinkie Pie wanted to apologize for frightening you.”
I sighed. “She didn’t scare me… she just made me feel… really uncomfortable. Look, it’s not that I don’t like her, I’m sure she is quite a nice person. But her... attitude... made me very uncomfortable.”
Twilight seemed to accept this and looked around. “I see. Pinkie Pie means well. She just wants everypony to feel included and loved.”
“I can tell, and I’m sure she does a great job at it. I’m just uncomfortable around her. I don’t know why, but I just am… so what’s left for today?”
Twilight pulled out a checklist from space and began looking over the pages before putting it away. “It looks like we got everything. I’m going to go check in with the mayor and give her an update. I’ll be right back.” She turned and walked into the town hall, leaving Shining Armor and me outside.
Sensing that nothing was going to be said between us, I laid down and set my head on my arm. We sat in silence for a few minutes before a certain rainbow Pegasus flew overhead and began hovering just above me.
“Hey Zir, what's up?”
"Meh, not much."
"You got some streamers on your horns."
I reached a hand up and flicked colorful pieces of ribbon from my horns. "Thanks." I returned to my resting position.
"You okay dude?"
I looked up at Rainbow before sighing. “Yeah.”
“You know you’re a bad liar, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So what’s up dude? You seem really down.”
I sighed before going into detail about my encounter with the eccentric party pony. Rainbow looked surprised and unsure of what to say.
“Wow dude… I don’t know what to say. I’m sure Pinkie didn’t mean to make you feel like that, it's just her way of welcoming new ponies.”
“I have no doubt about that." I sighed and looked over at Shining. "I think I’m gonna fly home, can you tell Twilight.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
I kicked off and flew toward the farm.
~~~
It was a few days later. Twilight came and saw me twice since the encounter with Pinkie. I had also apologized to Pinkie for my reaction; she too began to apologize and said she would throw a much calmer party for me if I were okay with it. I told her that it would be fine as long as it was not too crazy. She seemed to be okay with this and bounded off much happier than when she arrived.
The party would wait though. Tomorrow was the Summer Sun Celebration and I would be helping Applejack set up the food tables in the morning. It would be an early morning, but tomorrow promised to be an enjoyable day.
I decided to take a night flight before the day of the celebration. It was calm and quite refreshing. The moon was full and the air was nice and crisp. I really enjoy the colder temperatures. There was also a lack of clouds; it would seem that Rainbow had done a great job at keeping the skies completely clear. One thing I noticed was a building that seemed to be made of clouds with a rainbow waterfall; quite possibly the home of Rainbow Dash.
I flew for a few hours and reflected on the past few days. The incident with Pinkie Pie still left me feeling a bit guilty. Shining Armor didn’t trust me… at all; rightfully so though. He was just trying to protect his sister and his nation. I can’t really fault the guy, all I can do is prove to him that I am not a threat and maybe he will come around to me.
During my flight back to the farm, I noticed what appeared to be a camp of sorts; a small fire with a ring of six small tents situated around it. Whoever was staying there had a cooking fire going, as I could smell what amounted to cooked flesh. Whatever was down there was carnivorous. They seemed to be far enough away from town that it really didn't ring any alarms in my mind. Even so, I would mention it to Shining when I saw him next.
~~~
The next morning came quickly. I helped Applejack carry all the food to the town center and then set up the banquet tables. It took an hour to get everything set up, leaving us with two hours before the event would start. Ponies were slowly beginning to line up outside the town hall in hopes of getting a good seat.
After setting up, I took a front row seat with Twilight and her friends in my Earth Pony form. I wasn’t going to be that asshole that just blocks everyone’s view. So there we were, waiting for Princess Celestia to come out and raise the sun for the first day of summer. There were royal guards along the inside perimeter of the building; they seemed relaxed but alert. Next to catch my attention was Shining Armor standing on the far left of the stage where the princess would raise the sun. His armor was polished and very well kept; about what I would expect from the guard captain.
So there we waited. The sounds of idle conversation filled the air as ponies waited. It wasn’t much longer until Fluttershy’s bird choir began to sing, announcing the arrival of the princess.
In strode a pony, easily twice as big as any of the others, with a mane and tail that I will not soon forget. It swayed in an unseen wind, much like Luna's. She ascended the stairs of the stage and took her place in the center of the stage.
“My dearest ponies, thank you all for coming to this year’s summer sun celebration. Today we mark the beginning of summer, as well as the anniversary of my beloved sister’s return.” The room instantly erupted into cheers and stamping of hooves.
The princess’s horn lit up and she very slowly and very dramatically began to fly up, bringing with her the light of dawn. It was beautiful, watching the sun rise like that. I'm not sure why this was any different, but it was. It was almost indescribable. As the Princess reached the apex of her ascent, so did the morning sun. A warm orange glow filled the room and cast a feeling of... love. It felt as though the Princess was bathing the crowd in not only light, but in love as well. As Celestia neared the ceiling someone in the back of the room let out a blood curling scream. All eyes then shifted back toward the source of the disturbance, the guards were instantly on edge.
There in the door stood four bipedal dog looking figures, all wielding crossbows. Before anyone could react, all four unleashed their deadly weapons. I watched in slow motion as the first bolt pierced the armor of a guard to Celestia’s left and embedded itself in his shoulder. The second one grazed the princess, while the third one found its mark and struck her side. The fourth one, however, caught one guard under the chin and killed him instantly.
It all happened so suddenly and so fast. There was no warning, no suspicion, nothing to indicate that someone would attempt an act of terror on what was supposed to be a day of celebration and rejoicing. But no, I’m sitting here looking at the dead body of captain Shining Armor while the entire room devolves into chaos. I can’t help but feel a tad responsible for this. Could I have saved him if I had reacted faster? I’ll never know. Right now, though, is the time for action. I can contemplate my failure later and maybe even reverse some of the damage.
To say the room was in total chaos would be an understatement. Everywhere ponies were fleeing out of two side doors while every guard in the room was charging at the four attackers. I quickly made an assessment of the situation and decided the most likely outcome. If the guards were to engage the attackers at this moment, then the likelihood of civilian casualties would be high. If the guards did not intervene, then the possibility of further harm to the princess would be much greater. Neither of those outcomes are favorable, but there is one variable missing; me. With one more quick glance around the room I notice the guards are pushing through the sea of panicked ponies, the assassins are drawing their own weapons, Celestia is charging some spell, Applejack and Rainbow look like they are about to charge at the attackers, Fluttershy is cowering under a bench, while Pinkie Pie and Rarity are behind a wall of guards, and Twilight is staring at the body of her brother.
For the best results I would have to intervene. As an earth pony there is little I could do to stop the guards and the assassins, but as a dragon I could easily do both without even touching a single person. I turned to once again face the attackers, bowed my head, closed my eyes, and released the magic that was keeping me shape shifted. When I opened my eyes again, half the room was stopped and staring at me. To get total control of the situation I announced my presence to everyone else with an ear shattering roar. To my surprise there was just enough room for me to extend my wings to their full length without touching the walls, thus adding to my fright inducing appearance. With everyone standing in fear or shock I turned my gaze to the four bipedal figures. No words were spoken; I simply curled my lip up into a snarl, revealing the rows of my teeth. This action seemed to get my point across. All four dropped their weapons one at a time as I slowly began walking toward them. With each step ponies began fleeing out the side doors to avoid being crushed. The guards were unsure of what to do as I made my way toward the four. One of the attackers began shaking as they all had their back to a wall. I stopped only five feet away from them and looked down on them with disgust.
“Tell me, why should I spare any of you? You snuck into a government building on a national holiday, attacked a high ranking government official, killed a military captain, and wounded another guard. So I would like to know what justification you had for these acts.”
One of the assassins spoke up. “W-w-we were just doing what we were paid to do… please don’t eat us!”
I looked at him directly. “What is your name?”
“M-marley. Please don’t eat me!”
I snorted at the last statement. “Well then Marley, who might your employer be?”
Before he could respond, one of the others hit him on the back of the head. “Shut up Marley! Don’t tell him anything. He can’t make us talk.”
“Oh? And just what is your name?” I was slightly irritated by this one’s sudden burst of confidence.
“Piss off you stupid lizard.”
I narrowed my eyes on him, keen on setting an example to the other three. I took a deep breath and exhaled a line of frozen nitrogen gas, freezing and killing the assassin instantly. I then brought a clenched fist down on his frozen body, shattering it into millions of pieces.
“Now let that be a warning to the three of you! I could very quickly and easily kill you evil beings, but am taking a chance by not killing you outright.” I looked around the room again.
All the civilians had long since left, leaving only the remaining guards who were now standing in a semi-circle behind me, the girls, and the Princess. I then turned my attention to the remaining three.
“Now, as much as I would like to conduct an interrogation myself, I will be handing you off to the royal guard. You will divulge any and all information that they ask for.” I then turned to face the circle of guards. “And if any of them are less than cooperative, do not hesitate to come find me.”
With that matter settled I turned and walked back toward the stage where Twilight, her friends, and the Princess were all sitting around Shining Armor’s body. Twilight was crying fiercely, while her friends tried to offer comfort. Even the Princess looked to be on the verge of tears but somehow managed to keep her composure. I turned to see the guards taking the remaining assassins out of the town hall, leaving only the ten of us. There was one loose end to tie up. I focused on Shining Armor and began silently casting my next spell. Celestia eyed me curiously for a moment before turning her attention back to the distraught unicorn.
“Princess please! There has to be something you can do for him!” Twilight sounded as if she were almost begging.
“I’m sorry Twilight. He is beyond my, or anypony’s, help.”
“T-t-that’s not true! You’re Princess Celestia! You can raise the sun and lead a nation! You must be able to do something!”
“Twilight listen to me; if there was anything I could do, anything at all, I would do it.” Celesita’s head dipped in what looked like shame.
“No! I won’t give up on him! I’ll never give up on him!” She then buried her face into her brother’s coat and cried louder. Celestia too shed a tear as she draped her wings over Twilight. The others could only watch.
Twilight then shot her head up and looked at Applejack. “AJ, y-you said Zircom healed your brother when he broke his back?”
“Yeah… why?”
Twilight then glanced at me. “Zircom please… t-there has to be s-s-something you can do!”
Celestia now had tears to match Twilight’s as she pulled Twilight into an embrace. “I’m sorry Twilight… I’m so sorry…”
That was about the time that the others took notice of my spell. I was beginning to gain a golden glow as my spell reached its apex. Soon Twilight and Celestia were looking at me, trying to figure out what was going on. Before either of them could utter a word I gently pushed them aside as I placed my hand over Shining Armor. With one last deep breath I readied to release the spell.
“Alright, this should do it… I think… yeah, I got it mostly right. Shouldn't make that big of a difference.” Damn was I wrong.
I released the spell just fine. Every ounce of power I put behind my cast went into his body. For a moment nothing happened. Then his chest heaved as he took a massive breath, his eyes shooting open as life returned. Then it hit me. I was not very familiar with the Resurrection spell as it is still a bit too advanced for me. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Twilight quickly went from tears of sadness to tears of joy. Even Celestia and the others were crying by this point. Shining Armor just looked confused.
“Wha…what happened to me?”
Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her brother’s neck. “I thought I had lost you! I’m never letting go of you ever ever ever again!”
“I’m happy to see you to Twily, but I still want to know what happened.”
“You… you died… you died right in front of me. But Zircom here brought you back!” She then turned to look at me. She then saw I was no longer sitting but rather collapsed on my side breathing heavily.
Applejack was the first to run up to me with Twilight, Celestia, and Shining close behind.
“Zir! Ya feelin okay?”
“Yeah… I’m fine… just a little winded…” I said between panting breaths. “I might not have… cast that spell… perfectly…”
“Zir, how many times ah gotta tell ya, yer a horrible liar. Ya might even be worse than me.” She said with a chuckle.
I too laughed and winced at the pain that came with it.
“Zircom, you must have known how dangerous it would have been to cast such a powerful spell without the proper training. Why would you have attempted something so brash? You could have killed yourself.” Celestia asked. She sounded genuinely worried about me. It was odd, we had never met and yet she cared about my wellbeing as though I were her child.
“Yeah… well… I figured… I could take the hit…”
Applejack then interjected again with a chuckle, “Again, horrible liar.”
“Guilty as… charged…” Darkness was beginning to form around the borders of my vision. It wouldn't be long before I slipped into unconsciousness.
The princess then placed a hoof against my cheek before speaking softly. “Rest now. You've done admirably today”
I didn't have the strength to muster a reply. I let my eyes close and allowed myself to drift into an unconscious state.
“He’s gonna be alright… right?” Applejack was the first to break the resulting silence.
“Yes Applejack, he will be well cared for. I will see to it that he receives the proper medical attention back in Canterlot.” Celestia then turned back to me before turning to Shining and Twilight. “Shining Armor, I want you to take some time off to make sure you are fully recovered from this ordeal.”
“Of course. I feel like I could really use a nap.” He let out a half-hearted chuckle. “I wonder how I’m going to explain this to Cadance. ‘Hi honey, how was work?’ ‘Terrible. I got shot and died. I got better though.’ Yup, that’s going to be a fun talk.” Twilight and the others couldn't help but laugh.
“Well, at least you’re okay.” Twilight hugged her brother. Shining sighed and looked over at my unconscious body.
“I’m okay, but is he going to be okay… now I feel bad about how I treated him before.” Shining’s ears went flat against his head and his expression dropped to one of regret and guilt.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m sure he didn’t take it personally.”
“Yeah… but he nearly died for me. He didn’t have to do that; especially after how I treated him.”
“Everything is going to be fine. The Princess said she would make sure he got better.” Twilight turned to Celestia who gave an affirmative nod.
“I know… it’s just that… if the roles were reversed, I’m not sure I would have made the same decision…”
“Shining realx. You can’t just sit here and think of all the ‘What if’ situations. You’ll go mad. Trust me, I do it weekly. You can ask Spike.” Twilight and Shining both broke into laughter.
“Well, since everything here seems to be taken care of I will return to Canterlot with Zircom. I will send a letter when his condition improves.” With that said, Celestia lit up her horn and disappeared with me in a flash of light.
“Well then… now what…” Rainbow had started to grow bored.
“Let’s just all go home. Today has been stressful enough.” Twilight added.
“Agreed. I think I shall go work on my latest order. That should get my mind off of today’s horrible events.” Rarity said as she trotted out of the town hall with the others.
~~~
I’m not sure how long I was out. It could have been a few hours, a day, a few days, maybe even a week. I felt decent. Definitely not my best, but well enough considering what I remember doing. What was a pleasant surprise was what I was currently feeling. Even with my eyes closed I could tell I was somewhere new. The smells were different, the floor felt… smoother. Without looking at it I would guess it was some sort of polished stone. Even nicer was that it seemed to be heated. Whoever thought of heating the floor is a mad genius deserving of all the money in the world.
There was a slight aroma in the room. It was a slight hint of perfume coming from a single direction. Soon enough I began to hear footsteps approaching. I guess you could call them hoofsteps is you wanted to use the local lingo. Seeing as how I had gathered as much as possible from three of my five senses I finally opened my eyes to survey my surroundings.
Sure enough, I was lying on a floor of polished black obsidian. The walls were adorned with tapestries and other exquisite paintings. There was even a water feature with a waterfall in the corner of the room. Bookshelves ran along the length of the back wall. Above was a large glass dome providing plenty natural sunlight. All in all my accommodations were extravagant, but not overly so. They were perfect for me.
Eventually the sound of hoofsteps revealed someone. In the doorway stood a pony who I easily recognized. She stood just a little shorter than Celestia, with a name that billowed much like her sister’s. She slowly walked forward, noticing that I had spotted her. A smile crept onto her face as she got closer before sitting a few feet from my face.
“Hello Zircom. I hear you’ve been having quite the adventure”
“Hello Zircom. I hear you’ve been having quite the adventure.”
I managed a grin as I let my head rest on my forearm. “Yeah, quite the adventure indeed.” I took a look around the room again, making sure I remembered every detail. “So Luna, what is this room? It feels like it was tailored for a dragon.”
“That’s because it was. We use this room whenever dragon ambassadors are visiting.”
“That… makes perfect sense. One other thing, how long have I been out?”
“Only three days; my sister teleported you here shortly after the attack. Do you remember anything that happened in Ponyville?”
“Yeah, I remember it all. Everything up to and just after resurrecting Shining Armor. Speaking of which, how is he doing?”
“He’s doing well. Princess Cadance has been coming by here every day to thank you for saving him. Shining too has been checking on your condition daily.”
“Wow, I didn’t think that I would garner so much attention just for casting a resurrection spell.”
“Well Zir, it was much more than that. You took a risk to save somepony you barely knew and had no obligation to. You single… handedly captured the attackers, prevented any civilian injuries, and then revived a fallen guard captain all in about twenty minutes. That is much more than most ponies can claim to have done in their entire lives.” Luna was now sitting on a cushion next to me.
“When you put it like that… yeah, I can see how it might make me some new friends.”
Luna laughed at this. “So I take it you are feeling better?”
“Yeah, quite a bit.”
“Good, then I can go to bed knowing that you are alright.” She then got up and placed the cushion back in the corner pile.
“Well I might just have to steal that idea. I’m still tired as all hell.”
“I can imagine. Sleep well Zircom.”
“You too Luna.”
With that I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
~~~
It was a few days later that I had finally really woken up. With some time and help I had managed to fully recover from the backlash of reviving Shining Armor. I had engrossed myself in an adventure book from the shelves. It was an exciting story about a Pegasus who dove into ancient tombs searching for lost treasure. As I reached the half-way point in the story, the doors to my temporary residence opened to reveal Celestia and Luna. They both casually walked in and closed the doors behind them.
“Ah, good…” I looked up at the skylight to determine the time of day, “evening you two.” I then marked my page and set the book down.
“Enjoying a Daring Do book?” Luna said with a slight laugh.
“What? It’s an entertaining story.”
“I’m sure it is.”
“So what brings the two of you here?” I quickly changed the subject, wanting to steer away from my literary choices.
Celestia then spoke up, “Well, we just wanted to check up on you. You’ve been asleep for three days.”
“Yup, and what a wonderful three days it was.” I let out a massive yawn. “So how are the others? I take it Shining is doing fine?”
“Indeed. Everyone is fine…”
I just looked at the two of them. “Alright, I’ll bite. What did you find out?”
Celestia sighed. “Not much yet, only that the Diamond Dogs were contracted by a pair of Griffins. One of them said he overheard the Griffins talking about their employer, someone named ‘The King’.”
I let out a small growl. “Well that’s useful. I take it all three have been cooperative?”
Luna couldn’t contain her smile. “Oh yes, all three were quite convinced that you would come and eat them if they didn’t talk. We only had to use that threat once.”
“Well I’m glad I could be of service. Anything else?”
Both princesses shook their heads. I sighed and set my head on my forearms.
“Since you seem fine I’m going to bed. It’s late, and I’ve had a long day. Goodnight.” Celestia said with a yawn.
“Goodnight Tia.”
“Night Celestia.”
With that said, the solar princess teleported in a flash of light.
“Flashy.” I said with a chuckle.
“She does have a taste for the dramatic.”
“I would have said it was lazy.”
“That too.”
We both shared a laugh at Celestia’s expense for a moment.
“Ya know, I think I’ll go out tomorrow. I’ve been cooped up for almost a week now.”
“I don’t blame you. There is a large open courtyard just outside that you can use.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Well then, I have work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow Zir.”
“Alright, see ya later Luna.”
She too vanished in a flash of light.
“Spell casters.” I said with a laugh as I picked up my book and continued reading.
~~~
It was a lovely day out. Not too hot with a gentle breeze. I was happily laying on the grass reading the second book in the Daring Do series. I found myself oddly engrossed with the story, even though it was targeted for a much younger audience. Still, it was a very enjoyable story.
“Excuse me, you’re in my way.” A pretentious voice broke my immersion.
I looked around for the owner of the voice. Sure enough, there was a white unicorn standing to my left with a very disgusted look. I just stared at him for a moment, then to my left, then to the right, and finally back at him.
“So then go around me. There’s at least a hundred meters on all sides.”
“Do you know who I am!?”
“Nope, and I am quickly not caring. In fact, I’m not sure if it is possible to care any less than I do right now. Oh wait, now it can’t go any lower… wow, it just keeps dropping… strange.”
“Why I… I am Prince Blueblood, and I don’t have to move for anyone. Now, you are still in my way and I order you to move.”
“Aww, that’s adorable. The extra thirty feet to walk around me will do you good; you look like you could use the exercise.”
He was now fuming with rage. “You dare insult ME!”
“Tell ya what cupcake, you can either walk around me, or you can stand there like a dumbass all day. I really don’t care.”
He was now red with rage as he stammered for words before turning around and walking quickly back into the castle.
“What a fucking looser.” I said before returning to my story.
Eventually my mind began to wander. I wondered what my friends back home were doing. Rubrick was probably just dicking around at the college, Jorven was… well… I don’t know what he does during the day, Gimble was probably still asleep from last night’s performance, Malen was most likely still drunk, and Neltharious could be building some strange new war machine. Yeah, I have good friends.
Eventually this train of thought was interrupted, this time by Luna. The sun had just set and twilight had set in as the princess of the night walked up.
“If you keep showing up like this, people might begin to suspect things.” I said with a chuckle.
“They can suspect all they want, it doesn’t make it true.” Luna seemed worried about something.
“I suppose. You okay? You seem a bit distracted.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Has it been quiet around here?”
“Quiet? Well… yeah. Other than that prick Blueblood coming by, yeah… why?”
“Blueblood came by? Did he say anything?”
“Other than demanding I move, no.”
“Hmmm… strange.” Her gaze suddenly became downcast; something was troubling her.
“Umm… Luna, what the hell is going on?”
“That’s what I am trying to piece together. I haven’t seen any of the guards nor my sister since I woke up today. I was wondering if you might have noticed anything… unusual.”
I pondered her words for a moment. “Unfortunately no. Blueblood was the only other person I saw today… and what do you mean you can’t find Celestia?”
“I mean just that, I can’t find her anywhere. It’s like everypony is just… gone.”
“So then, do we want to go find Blueblood and ask if he’s seen anything today?”
Before Luna could answer, the doors to the courtyard opened and out walked Prince Blueblood and well over a hundred guards, all in formation.
“Ah, there you are Princess Luna. I was wondering where you had gone off to.” Blueblood’s tone was one of confidence and arrogance.
“What is the meaning of this Blueblood?” Luna was now sounding irate as she glared at the prince and his assembled troops.
“This? This is me taking what is rightfully mine. I am taking the throne as Equestria’s ruler, that way nopony can question me nor disagree with me. Everypony will have to respect me.”
“Woah, woah, woah… let me get this straight… you feel that no one respects you because you don’t have power?”
“Exactly! At least one of you gets it.”
“Dude… they don’t respect you because you’re a total ass.”
“What!”
“Everyone hates you because you’re kinda a pretentious dick to everyone.”
“How dare you speak to your king like that!”
“Look… I could literally kill you all right now. So why shouldn’t I?”
“I doubt you would want to hurt your friends. Right?”
With that, a group of guards walked forward with Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow. All were shackled and had various restraints on their wings or horns.
"Now Zircom, why don't you and Luna just come quietly, that way I don't have to hurt the others."
"You're fucking insane, you know that right?
"Well, I had to take a drastic step after the Griffins failed me. It's all your fault that I had to change my plans.
“So you're 'The King'? Dear Bahamut, you vain little fucker.”
“Now then. Is there anything else you would like to say before the two of you are sent to the dungeon?”
“Yeah, one thing. See you later fuck face.” Before any of his guards could react, I put a hand on Luna and activated the ring Rubrick had given me. In a flash and a pop, we were gone.
Blueblood could only stand there dumbfound, looking at the space we once occupied.
“Find them now! They can’t have gone far! Take the others to their cells.”
~~~
It was mid-day at Candle Keep. A few wizards roamed the courtyard during a break in their studies. The calm of the day was broken as a magical energy filled the air. With a flash, fizz, and a pop, Luna and I materialized. Everyone was stunned by the sudden arrival of a huge dragon, but thankfully no one did anything stupid. I quickly glanced over to one of the students.
“You, yes you. Go get Professor Rubrick. Tell him Zircom needs to see him now.”
The frightened mage quickly nodded and ran off. Luna looked up at me in confusion.
“Zir, where are we exactly?”
“Luna, welcome to Faerun. Specifically the College of Candle Keep. This is where my whole adventure began.”
Luna just nodded. "I still can;t believe it... a castle full of guards, and Blueblood just does away with them... how did he manage such a feat..."
"Not sure, but I'm sure we will find out later, for now though, lets just meet with Rubrick and go from there."
Rubrick wasted no time coming to us teleporting in just a few feet away.
“Well Zircom. How’s your trip? Get tired of looking for new planes?”
“Oh I assure you I have had an astounding success. Professor Rubrick, meet Princess Luna.”
Rubrick then turned his attention to the indigo alicorn by my side.
“Dear Bahamut Zircom, you actually did it… I can’t believe you really did it.” He then looked up at me sternly. “You must tell me everything that has happened.”
“Of course, that’s why I am here.” I then shifted into a human form and walked with him and Luna into the college. We quickly found ourselves in his office. I then proceeded to recount my story, telling him of my arrival, integrating into their world, and eventually the coup that had just occurred.
“I see… so this… Blueblood, he took the throne and ousted both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia?”
“Correct.” I responded. Luna just sat silently as I told my tale.
“I’m curious, if this Celestia is as powerful as you describe her to be, why didn’t she just wipe him off the face of the planet?”
“I suppose she would have wanted to avoid a fight. She doesn’t seem to be one for direct physical conflict.”
“I suppose… but still, I can’t help but wonder.”
“My sister has always been one for words, but when it came to actual physical conflict she would often leave that to me.”
“Interesting, your methods sound like night and day.” Rubrick then thought about what he said. “And I just realized what I just said.” He then laughed, “I’m so damn funny… now then, you intend to retake the capital and secure your nation quickly and quietly. Am I correct?”
“Yes you are, that’s why I am here. I need your help… again.”
“Of course you do Zircom, and this time, I will do it for free. Although, do you know who you would want to come with us? I doubt the two of us would be all that effective.”
“I have an idea. I was thinking of getting the guys. Ya know, Jorven, Malen, Gimble, You, maybe even Neltharious.”
“Hmm… so you want a vengeful half green dragon, a drunken dwarf fighter, an obnoxious gnomish bard, a brilliant wizard, and an eccentric engineer?”
“Yup, that sounds about right.”
“Well then, we better get ahold of them all.”
“I can get Jorven, Malen, and Gimble. They all hang out at the same tavern.”
“Alright, then I shall inform Neltharious of his newest assignment… NELTHARIOUS!”
A moment later a tiny copper dragon popped out of a hole near the ceiling.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Neltharious replied.
It would be a good time to explain that while he is indeed a dragon, he is only a hatchling. At five years old, he is not bigger than a house cat. The most distinguishing feature was the tiny pair of goggles over his eyes.
“We are going on a trip to help Zircom. I need you to pack your things.”
“Now, when you say ‘we’ do you actually mean ‘WE’? As in… you AND me?”
“Yes Neltharious, I do mean we.” Rubrick was face palming and shaking his head.
“This is so cool! Are we gonna go slay a demon? Do we get treasure? Do we get to save the world!?” His excitement was visible as he began running around on the ceiling. Being a copper dragon, he has a natural spider climb ability.
As Rubrick was about to chastise him for his over enthusiasm, I cut him off. “Well, kinda. We are going on an adventure to save a kingdom from an oppressive king and rescue the princess who was wrongfully locked away in a dungeon.” That was all he needed to hear. It looked like he was about to explode from sheer excitement and joy.
“I’ll pack my things!” and with that, he shot back into the ceiling. The sounds of metal scrapping and other heavy objects moving about could be heard.
Luna had the most puzzled look on her face. “What… is he… exactly…?”
“He is what’s called an Artificer. He can combine magic and technology into a very potent form. His favorite thing is making these things called Warforged. Basically mechanical beings.”
“Interesting… and you said he is only five?”
“Yup. He acts like a child… because… well… he is one.”
Rubrick then got up from his desk. “Well then. I suppose the two of you are off to Waterdeep to get our remaining party members?”
“Yeah, we should be off. Thank’s again Rubrick.”
“No problem. Oh, and before you go. How did the ring work?”
“Oh the ring, yeah, it worked great. Got me out of quite the bind.”
“Glad to hear it. Make sure to tell Neltharious that, after all, he built it.”
We said our goodbyes and headed back to the courtyard. It was noon now, as the sun was directly overhead with some light clouds dotting the sky. I dropped my shifted form and reverted back to my normal size.
“Well then. The flight there will take us a better part of the day. We should arrive around dusk if we don’t get delayed.”
Luna nodded and spread her wings. “Alright then, I’ll follow you.”
“Great.”
With that, the two of us took off toward Waterdeep in hopes of finding a group that could best a small army. I know Jorven would go with us on principle alone; the other two would likely have to be bribed. However, being a dragon and having a sizeable hoard does help when it comes to offering bribes. Gimble is a musician and loves being at the center of attention. I could probably buy him some new and exotic instrument from Equestria. Malen just loves getting to fight things. If I offered him a bunch of new things for him to smash with his axes, I’m sure he would join us. All that was left was to organize our dysfunctional little group and retake Equestria from the clutches of a madman. Should be easy enough.
It was nighttime when we landed in Waterdeep. I shape shifted just outside of town. Not because I was afraid of the populace, but because it is a courtesy for dragons to tone down their size before entering the streets. Luna and I proceeded to walk through town and toward the tavern. Luna was astounded at the city and its inhabitants.
“Well Luna, welcome to Waterdeep. It’s possibly the only dragon-friendly city on this continent…”
The two of us stood outside the tavern for a moment. There was one thing that I was unsure of; Luna’s appearance. While magical creatures are not strange in Faerun, she would stand out a bit too much. Then I had a brilliant idea.
“Hey Luna, do you think you could shape shift into a humanoid form? It would draw less attention and make the coming interaction much easier.”
She looked at me for a moment. “I can try.”
“Great. Just use me for a reference.”
She closed her eyes for a moment as her horn lit up. In a flash of light she was replaced with a bipedal version of herself. She still had her coat color, horn, wings, tail, and mane. The only difference was that she stood on two legs and sported much more humanoid features. I handed her my cloak which she wrapped herself in quickly.
“Okay Zir, how do you expect this to draw less attention?”
“Easy, I can just say you’re a werehorse.”
“What in Tartarus is a ‘werehorse’?”
“It’s a type of lycanthrope. Kinda like a werewolf, except a horse.”
She just glared at me. “That’s you brilliant plan? Calling me a werehorse?”
“Hey, I know a wereoctopus samurai. This is normal compared to some of the other strange shit around here.”
She just sighed and facepalmed. “Fine… let’s just get this over with.”
Her first few steps were awkward as she got used to the new upright position. With a little help from me we managed to make it into the tavern.
It was loud inside the building, just like I had remembered it. The stench of body odor and alcohol hung heavy in the air. It was a busy night, almost every booth, table, and barstool had someone sitting at it. No one paid us any heed as we entered the tavern. Off to the left in one of the booths sat the people I was looking for. Jorven, GImble, and Malen were all drinking and occasionally cracking jokes. I motioned Luna to follow me as I made my way across the room toward their table. Jorven was the first to notice me walking over, as he dropped his empty mug and just stared at me slack jawed.
“Oh shit! Zircom? We thought you might have died. Where the hell have you been?”
Malen and Gimble then looked over at us.
“Hey guys. Miss me?”
“Miss ya? Lad, I hardly noticed ye were gone.” Malen said with a chuckle.
“I see the pint sized prick hasn’t lost his edge.” Malen’s face grew red under his massive braided beard.
“Who you call’n ‘pint sized’?!” He jumped up and stood on his bench as he glared at me. The other two at the table just laughed.
Gimble just sat there laughing before jumping up to Malen’s shoulder and pulling him back down to the bench. “Just shut up and have another drink.”
“Why!?”
“Because you get angry when you’re sober.” Malen just grumbled as he brought a mug up to his face and began to down the whole thing before letting out an ear shattering belch.
“Better?”
Malen smiled contently. “Better.”
I just shook my head and glanced at Luna. She was doing her best not to laugh at the trio. I then motioned for her to sit next to Jorven as I took a seat next to Malen and Gimble. Jorven motioned to the bartender for more drinks. Before long, five mugs were brought out and set at our table. Malen immediately began chugging his. Gimble then smacked him on the back, causing the dwarf to choke and spit up a good portion of his beverage. Gimble began laughing hysterically before Malen brought his mug down hard on the gnome’s head. Jorven just sighed at the display.
“The two of you are like children sometimes…”
“Only sometime? They must be losing their touch.” I said with a smile and raised eyebrow. Jorven just rolled his eyes.
We all continued to enjoy our drinks before the silence was broken.
“So Zircom,” Jorven said as he set down his mug. “Where have you been these past few months?”
“Well… remember how I said I wanted to find a new plane?”
Jorven nodded.
“Well I did it. I found a new world.”
Now the other two were listening to me.
“I’m sorry, did you just say you found a new world?” Gimble had a look of sheer disbelief.
“Yup. A whole new world.”
“Was it inhabited?” Jorven sounded quite concerned.
“Yup.” I then gestured toward Luna, “that’s why I brought her here.”
The other then shifted their gaze to Luna, who just sat there quietly, unsure of what to say.
“Okay… now you need to start explaining stuff.” Jorven said as he leaned back and crossed his arms.
“Alright, it goes like this…”
I then spent the next hour retelling what had happened from the day I arrived to the events of today. The others had looks of bewilderment and shock. Jorven sat in his seat with a stoic expression then entire time. Being a cleric of Helm meant he had to be objective and judge things fairly. Even though he was a green half-dragon, he maintained his objectivity and applied it accordingly. I could clearly see that the last part of the story had gotten to him. It was obvious he had something to say. As I got to the part of Celestia being taken prisoner he interrupted me.
“Alright, I’m going to stop you there. That’s complete bullshit.”
I just stared at him in shock.
“With everything you just told me about her, about her incredible power and ability, I find it impossible for someone like her to be taken as a prisoner without offering a fight.”
“I gotta agree with him lad. That’s a loada crap.” Malen added.
“Yeah, why would she just quietly lay down and let herself be captured. It’s stupid really.” Gimble then looked to Luna,“ Now, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, she can move a star… but when her nephew comes with a few guards she is suddenly powerless? That’s just fucking dumb.”
“Profanities aside, Gimble and Malen are right. I can’t fathom why a deity like her would yield to a mere mortal.” Jorven was shaking his head as the others just glanced between me and Luna.
Luna then decided to speak up. “I agree.” Everyone at the table just stared at her in shock. “It was a foolish move on her part to not stand up to Blueblood. However, it is now the situation we have, like it or not.”
“Well then… I guess since we all agree on the absurdity of what happened we should decide on what to do.” Jorven was looking looking straight at me. “You have a plan?”
Before I could speak up, Malen interjected. “Woah there lad, I never agreed to do anything. And I’m sure Gimble didn’t agree to anything either yet.”
“Yeah! I’m kinda happy playing here at the tavern. What reason do I have to go with you?”
I turned to look at Malen and Gimble. “How about a deal? Malen, if you come with us and help us retake the capitol, I’ll pay for an open bar tab for you for an entire month. Sound good?”
Malen was practically drooling by this point. Luna then looked to Gimble. “And I can offer you something as well. You enjoy playing for large crowds, correct?”
“Well yeah… why?”
“Well, in three weeks we have a large gathering called the Grand Galloping Galla. It is the largest gathering of the year and is always held at the castle. How would you like to play at it?”
Gimble’s jaw hit the table with a thud, shaking all our mugs. “H-h-how many people are we talking about?”
“Thousands.”
Gimble then lunged across the table with his hand outstretched toward Luna. “Deal!”
Luna laughed and shook his hand before Malen grabbed the bard by his belt and pulled him back across the table. I then looked across at Jorven.
“So then Jorven, are you willing to come on this endeavor?”
“Yeah. You’ll need someone halfway responsible to keep you all out of trouble. Will anyone else be joining us?”
“Yes, Runbick and Neltharious will be joining as well.”
Jorven just shook his head slowly, “So Neltharious is coming… what horrible creation has be made this time?”
“Eh, I don’t know yet. But he seemed quite excited about it.”
“That’s not any reassurance.”
“Yeah, he’s like a bloody child.” Malen added.
“That’s because he is a child; he’s only five.” I replied.
“Still, he’s so immature.”
“Oh you’re one to talk.” Gimble muttered next to Malen.
Malen just looked at the gnome before hitting him on the head.
“Children, please. If you keep this up then I’ll take away your desert privileges for a week” Luna suddenly spoke up.
"Heh, I'd like to see ya try." Malen said with an air of confidence. That very same confidence was soon shattered as Luna's horn lit up and made the mug in front of him disappear.
Jorven looked at Luna before smiling. “I like her.” He then looked back at Malen and Gimble. “She adds an air of intelligence that the two of you seem to lack.” The two just looked at each other before shrugging.
“Well then,” I began, “I would like to leave tomorrow morning for Candle Keep.”
“Candle Keep? Lad, how the nine hells do you expect us to get there in less than a week?”
I just stared at him. “Are you serious? You're serious, aren’t you?”
Malen stumbled for his words before it hit him. “Oh… right… dragon… never mind.”
I just nodded with a grin. “So then. I would recommend everyone get some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.”
“Agreed. Pack your bags tonight and meet here in the morning.” Jorven instructed the others before turning to me,“ Are the two of you going to be staying here tonight?”
I nodded. “I was planning on it.”
“Great.” The five of us then stood up from our table. “Well then, I’ll see you all in the morning.” Jorven then began walking with Malen and Gimble in tow. I walked to the barkeep and bought a two-bed room for the night. Luna and I then headed up the stairs and to our room.
It was a cozy room. Two beds sat against the left and right wall, a single large window sat in the wall across from the door. There was another small door on the left that led to a small bathroom. It was your typical tavern bedroom.
“Well then, goodnight Luna.” I took off my boots and jacket before placing them at the foot of one of the beds.
“Goodnight Zir.”
~~~
We woke up around sunrise the next morning. Neither of us said anything as we prepared to meet the others. We wandered down into the tavern proper and sat at the bar for breakfast. We both ordered oatmeal and two sweetrolls. It wasn’t long before the other three wandered in fully geared and packed. Jorven walked in first. He was wearing a heavily enchanted breastplate with a beautiful greenish grey cloak. He opted to not wear a helmet due to the swept back twin horns on his head. He also had a magical bastard sword and bow slung across his back and on his hip, a bag of holding held the rest of his equipment.
Malen was next to enter behind Jorven. He was wearing a magnificent set of dwarven full plate. His weapon of choice was a pair of magical dwarven war axes. He also wore a steel kite shield on his back. He wore a blue gold cloak across his back; he too wore a bag of holding.
Gimble was bringing up the rear. He was in a simple, yet masterfully made mithril chain shirt. He carried a six-string lute across his back and also wore a green grey cloak. In addition to his lute, Gimble had a small crossbow on his hip with thirty bolts in a belt. The rest of his equipment was in a small bag of holding.
Jorven and the others walked up to our spot at the bar.
“So, we’re all here. Are we ready?” Malen asked impatiently.
“One last thing.” Jorven then handed me a second bag of holding. I peered in and saw a riding harness.
“Is it huge sized?” I asked.
“Yeah, I figured it would be best to bring one since dragonback seems to be our method of transportation.”
“You ready Luna?”
She nodded at me. “Yes, let’s get moving.”
The five of us all began our walk to the city limits where I would be able to shift back into my dragon form and then put on the riding harness. It only took ten minutes to leave town and then another five to get me harnessed up. Luna then dropped her shape shift and looked to me.
“What do you want me to do with the cloak?”
I looked over at her. “Give it to Jorven.”
She then grabbed the cloak in her magical grip and levitated it to Jorven who rolled it up and stuffed it into his bag. With everyone packed and ready to go, they began climbing onto my back. I glanced back to make sure they were ready before turning to Luna who was waiting patiently to take off.
“Alright. Lets go.” With that said I kicked off from the ground and began my ascent with Luna following close behind.
~~~
It took six hours of hard flying to reach Candle Keep. We set down in the courtyard where Rubrick was waiting with another man whom I did not recognize at first. I kneeled down to let my passengers disembark as Luna set down next to me.
“Do any of you have water?” Jorven pulled a water canteen off his belt loop and tossed it to her. She grabbed it in her magical grip and drank almost half the canteen. “Thank you.” She said as she levitated it back to him.
“So Rubrick, where’s Neltharious?” I asked.
“Oh, he’s just grabbing some last things.
“Oh great… any idea what he’s bringing?”
“Not really, but I know he’s been working on something complex these past few weeks.”
“Lovely.” I then looked at the other man with Rubrick. "Oh shit! Laren is that you?"
The mage laughed lightly, "Good to see you Zircom. Rubrick tells me you are going on an adventure of sorts."
"Yeah, I take it he told you about what happened?" Laren nodded. "Well then, you wanna come? We could always use a malconvoker."
He then laughed even harder. "Let me guess, Jorven told you about the time we spent a full day summoning Legion Devils to assault Merimidria?"
"Good times." Jorven laughed, clearly enjoying the memory.
"You never know when we could need a Balor." I said with a grin.
"Hey, as long as you can pay I'll summon them." Luna was horribly lost and slightly disturbed at what was being said. I noticed her discomfort and decided to relieve the tension.
"Luna, this is Laren. He's a special summoner called a malconvoker. Meaning he is very good at summoning evil things, like devils and demons, to do good. A bit chaotic but his heart is in the right place."
She blinked in confusion. "So he summons beings of pure evil and convinces them to do good?"
"Basically."
She just stared at him for a moment, processing what she had just heard. Laren stood there with a cheesy smile on his face.
It was ten minutes later that Neltarious emerged from the college dragging a bag behind him. He was wearing what look like a modified riding harness. This one had two rings on either side of his body.
“Hey Neltharious, what in the nine hells are you wearing?” Rurbrick inquired.
“You mean this? Oh, this is a wand harness. I made it myself. It allows me to carry and use two wands.”
“I see. Don’t you need to know the spell to use the wand though?” Jorven had asked.
“Well normally that is true, but I can use any wand that I can make. Benefits of being an artificer.” He then reached into his bag, revealing it was full of wands as he pulled out two and fitted them in the loops in his harness. “Aw yeah, wands of magic missile.”
“Are you bringing any others?” Rubrick sounded a bit concerned.
“Yeah, a couple fireballs, lightning bolts, cone of cold, disintegrate, ray of enfeeblement, wand of cloud kill, power word kill, and some other fun.”
“Alright then. Are we set?” Everyone nodded. “Alright, everyone get close. I’m going to pop the last charge on the ring.” Everyone in our group circled around me facing outward. “Here we go.”
I focused on my destination and made sure I was in physical contact with everyone else. I then focused on my ring and used its last charge. In a flash of light and a pop we were gone.
~~~
Thankfully our exit location was devoid of life. It was the exact same courtyard that we had fled from just two days prior. Everyone had their weapons drawn, ready for an attack. As soon as we were certain that no one had seen us we moved across the courtyard toward the dragon ambassador’s chambers. I slowly pushed the doors open to allow everyone to move inside. They all sat in a circle as I closed the doors and walked over.
“Alright, we’re here and so far we’re undetected. So, here’s the plan…”
