Friendship is Metal: It's Nice to be Nice

by Metal Pony Fan

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Adventure
Length: 14086

My Little Dragon side story! This is my story. It's not a happy one, but that doesn't matter. The story is still mine, and I'm going to tell it. My name is...

It's nice to be nice. All my life, I have never heard a piece of advice as stupid as this one. The word "nice," used to mean foolish,and I think it still does. In a world of dragons, being nice is a good way to end up dead. And now, I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with the "nicest" dragon in existence. I don't know if I'll survive the trip back to civilization, but right now, I'm not sure I really care.

This is my story. It's not a happy one, but that doesn't matter. The story is still mine, and I'm going to tell it. My name is…

——————————————

This is a side story to My Little Dragon.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-04-12 17:00:40 UTC

Gerudo's Valley

              Sand, it’s one of the world’s cruel jokes.  It finds its way everywhere, even the little spaces between scales,and when that happens, the slightest movement is all it takes for it to rub and grind.  And a small, red dragon was walking through an endless expanse of it.  With every step, he cursed the sand, and the sun above, and wished he was somewhere else.  A futile wish, he knew.  He cursed again as a gust of wind blasted his face with sand, stinging his eyes.  His wings weren’t big enough for him to fly away, and trying to walk across the desert would probably be his last mistake, a mistake that was looking more and more tempting every day.  The only thing that kept him going was that he knew he would be able to leave someday.  All he had to do was survive until then.

           That was why he was out here.  He knew nodragon would follow him into the desert during the day, so his secret would stay safe.  After a few more minutes of walking through the sand and sun, he could make out his destination in the distance.  He just kept walking.  He learned about the mirage the first time he came out this way.  His destination was actually much farther away than it appeared.  But it was ok, he had time.  That was all he had.

           After a few more minutes, he heard a sound behind him.  Had he been followed?  He slowed down, but didn’t look back.  He didn’t want to give away the fact that he knew, but he couldn’t keep going in the same direction.  He strained to listen for any sign of whoever was following him, but at this time of day, the wind made that hard to do.  He had to lead whoever was following him away from-

           He heard another sound behind him, it was faint, but close.  It almost sounded like coughing.  He turned around.  It was a bad idea to follow somedragon out into the desert if you aren’t up to the trip, and it seemed like whoever was following him made that mistake.  He started walking in the direction of the sound.  Maybe, if he was lucky, that dragon would have food on them.

           Odd.  He looked around, but couldn’t see any sign of another dragon.  They either ran away, or they were really good at hiding.  He got ready to defend himself should it be the latter.  Whoever it was would find out that he was stronger than he looked.

           As he stood there, waiting for an attack, he heard the coughing again.  It was right below him.  He looked down at the sand.  There was movement in the sand, and a strange clump of red grass.  He grabbed it and pulled it up.  It wasn’t grass at all, it was a dragon’s crest.  It belonged to a bright, multi-colored hatchling, about a year or two younger than him, and seriously scrawny for her age.  “Why are you following me?”  The little blue hatchling’s only response was to cough up some sand.  He dropped her and started walking in his original direction.  The hatchling wouldn’t last long, so he didn’t have to worry about her finding out his secret.

           After a few more minutes, he heard more coughing from behind him.  He glanced back.  The hatchling was following him, limping on one of her front claws.  He groaned.  “Why are you following me?!”  She snarled at him, and he snarled back immediately.  Then he blinked, shook his head, and started walking away.  “This is stupid,” he groaned, “do you really want to fight me?  All I have to do is walk around in circles and the sun’ll kill you for me.”  He glanced back and noticed that the hatchling stopped walking.  He smiled to himself.  “Good, now, if you run along home, you may actually live to see tomo-“

           “Shut up!”   The hatchling ran past him and stopped in his path.  He stopped and dropped his head to his claw.  This hatchling was getting to be a serious pain in the tail.  “I heard you know where water is.”

           “Yeah?  You heard that?”  He rolled his eyes.  “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, what of it?”

           She pointed a claw at his chest.  “Tell me where it is!”

           She was seriously trying to order him around?  He was at least twice her size.  He scoffed at her.  “And, if I don’t?

           The hatchling bared her teeth at him.  “I’m gonna make you tell me!”

           That was enough of this.  He slashed at her, and she jumped back.  She collapsed the moment she landed, clutching at her side as blood dripped from under one of her wings.  He looked down at his claw in confusion.  It didn’t feel like he hit her, and his claw was clean.  Was she already injured?  He didn’t have time to think too hard about it as the blue hatchling launched herself at his neck.  He threw himself to the side, tumbling through the sand as her outstretched claws sliced through the space that was previously occupied by his head.  He scrambled to his claws, but by the time he was up, she was after him again.  She slashed at him repeatedly, forcing him back and advancing with every missed strike.  She was too fast!  He didn’t have a chance to counter-attack.  His rear claw suddenly sunk in the sand.  He couldn’t move!  She slashed at him again, and he ducked.  She tried to adjust her swing, but her over extended claw bounced off his horn with a loud clacking noise, and she lost her balance.

           Now!  With the back of his claw, he swatted the little blue pest away, sending her sprawling in the sand.  He freed his leg from the sand as she struggled to her claws.  Why did he sink?  He saw the hatchling grin at him before he realized why.  It was the hole she was buried in, and she had been steering him towards it for the whole fight.  She leapt at him again, but he had had enough.  Instead of dodging, he charged into the attack, ducking his head and taking a hit to the shoulder for the chance to strike back.  Ignoring the tearing pain as her claws cut into his shoulder, he slashed up at her, hoping to gut the little nuisance.  She altered her course with a flap of her wings, and all he managed to do was grab some fur.  He continued his slash, turning it into a spin and whipping his tail around, batting the hatchling out of the air.  She went tumbling across the sand, and he ran after her as she rolled onto her claws.  She tried to leap out of the way, but he pounced at her, grabbing her mid-leap and slamming her to the ground below him.  She squirmed in his grip, and he lifted her in his claw and brought her slamming into the ground over and over.  After several hits, she stopped moving, and he dropped her.

           Finally, the little brat was out of his scales, and he could get back to what he was doing.  He turned and started to leave, but glanced back one last time.  “Tough luck ki-“

           She was breathing.  He could hardly believe his eyes, but the hatchling’s chest was still rising and falling in an even rhythm.  What was this urchin made of?  “Still alive?”  He walked over to her.  “I’ll fix that.”  He flipped her over and put his claw to her throat.  Her face was a bloody mess, most likely from a rock in the sand, and aside from the rise and fall of her chest, she didn’t move.  Her face was far more damaged than he would have expected, even if she had hit a rock.  Fur is softer than scales, he supposed.  “How are you still alive?”  He put his claw around her throat and started to squeeze.  She twitched as he tightened his grip, but didn’t wake up, didn’t offer any resistance.  Blood dripped from the wound on his shoulder, mixing with the blood on her face.  As he stared at the blood, something inside him snapped.  “Why aren’t you dead yet?!”  He screamed at the helpless hatchling.  “Why are you still alive?!”  He shook her, as if to wake her and demand answers.  “GAAAAAH!”  He tossed her away from him.

           Why?  Why was she still alive?  Why was he so angry about it?  He had fought with countless other dragons.  He had killed some of them, and others had come close to killing him, but none of them had ever made him this angry.  You fight to survive, that was a fact of life.  It was all he had ever known.  He won this fight, he survived, so why was he so upset at the outcome?  The hatchling had the same goal he did, to survive in this wasteland and the blight on creation known as Casull.  How many times had he been in the same position the hatchling was in now?  How many times had his survival hung on the whims of another, only to be saved by their disinterest?  He looked over at the hatchling.

           He walked up to her, and sat down beside her.  If things had only been slightly different, he could have been laying there.  He looked down at his claws.  She was still unconscious.  It would be so easy to just slash her throat right here and now.  He thought of all the times he had been knocked out during a fight, all the times he had woken up and slipped away in defeat.  With each fight, he grew stronger, and each loss grew further from the last.  But, he had to wonder, at some point, did somedragon stand over him like this and made the decision to let him live?  He flexed his claw.  That dragon was an idiot.

           The hatchling woke to a stinging pain in her face.  She was too weak to move, or even open her eyes.  All she could do was sit there and endure the pain.  It was a weird pain though; it was moving.  One side of her face would hurt, then the other, then her forehead, then her chin.  Suddenly, she felt something pull her by the crest.  Then, she felt herself get pulled forward.  Something surrounded her.  She didn’t know what it was, but it was hot, and it stung her face even more.  She forced her eyes open, but everything was blurry, and her eyes started to sting, so she shut them.  She became aware of something filling her ears and nose.  It wasn’t pleasant.  She opened her mouth to cry out, but her mouth filled with the same thing that filled her nose and ears.  She gasped in surprise, pulling whatever it was into her lungs.  Panic filled her as she tried to expel  the substance, chest spasming as she desperately tried to exhale, but her lungs just kept filling.  She didn’t notice when she was pulled back, out of the substance that surrounded her, but she did notice that her choking and coughing was actually starting to clear her lungs.  Her throat burned as she was racked by a fit after fit of coughing.  Her chest convulsed, spewing forth the vile substance that coated her lungs.  After a while, the choking started to subside, and she could feel cool air enter her lungs.

           Cool air?  She was in the desert; cool air was a thing that didn’t exist in Casull.  She opened her eyes and stared at the ground.  It was dark, but she could make out the rock beneath her claws.  It was smooth and hard, but most of all, cool.  She looked up, but something hit her in the face, stinging her eyes.  She put up a claw to pull it away from her face, only to find it attached to her.  It was her crest.  But it felt weird, it felt… wet?  That wasn’t possible.  Water was scarce, nodragon would waste it by doing anything other than drinking it.  Most of the time, you couldn’t even find water, and had to survive off the blood of wild beasts, or, if they didn’t kill you first, the juices of nomadic plants.

           This didn’t add up.  Cool air and water?  Last she remembered, she was in the desert, in the middle of a fight.  Did she lose?  Was she dead?  Before the nomadic plants killed them, she heard some of the old monks talking about Alysium, the place of Typhon’s legacy, where the sacrosanct and the meek found refuge from fate.  Was this it?  Was she dead?

           She pulled her crest back, out of her face.  She couldn’t be dead, she could still feel pain.  Her face still hurt, and her throat was still burning from almost drowning.  It felt weird to her.  She knew the word, but the idea of drowning seemed so unnatural.  In a place like Casull, with so little water, having so much of it that it could kill you seemed like mere fantasy.

           Ok, if she was still alive, where was she?  She looked up.  Instead of sky, there was more rock.  Was she in a building?  It was dark, so there were no windows.  Not a building then.  That was another weird thing about Casull, every building had windows, and sometimes, they were huge, overlooking the vast desert.  Of course, the buildings were thousands of years old, so maybe there was actually something to look at back then?  This had to be a… what was the word, cave?  The monks didn’t get to teach her very much before the plants got them.  The wall in front of her was solid, so she turned around, looking for the exit.  What she found was a red drake, drinking from a pool of water, the same drake she had been fighting.

           A new possibility presented itself to the hatchling.  They were both dead and ended up in Abbadon to fight for eternity, like the Architect and the Ravager.  At least, she thought it was the Architect and Ravager, but she was only sure about the Architect part.  Why did those monks have to go and get eaten by those plants?  There was a problem with that theory though, and it wasn’t just that she didn’t pay enough attention to the monks; she was pretty sure that she was the one that lost the fight.

           That brought one last possibility to mind: he let her live.  She backed away from the drake.  This had happened once or twice before; some dragin lost a fight, but survived and came to the monks for help.  She didn’t understand why, but those dragins were always unhappy.  Even after they laid eggs, they stayed unhappy, and they usually left before the eggs hatched.  She didn’t know why they would be unhappy about surviving a fight, but she didn’t want to find out.  “Why did you let me live?”

           He glanced up at her.  “Because I’m an idiot, I guess.”  He went back to drinking, and the hatchling just watched him, tense and ready for anything.  After drinking his fill, he sat back and picked up a bloody cloth from the ground next to him.  “What’s your name?”

           This had to be the water she heard about.  He nearly killed her to keep this place a secret, so why would he bring her here.  “Why do you want to know?”

           He washed the cloth out in the pool of water and started to clean out a scratch on his shoulder, the scratch she gave him.  “So I know who to kill if anydragon finds out about this place.”  That scratch was his only injury, where did all that other blood come from?  She realized that her face still stung, and she lifted a claw to her cheek, touching it softly.  Pain flared where she touched, and she pulled her claw away.  “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.  Your face is still pretty messed up.”  The hatchling walked over to the water, keeping an eye on the drake.  He watched her , and noticed that she didn’t look away from him.  “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done it while you were out.”  He leaned down and started drinking from the pool of water, keeping an eye on her the entire time.

           She thought it over for a moment before looking away.  She looked into the pool, at her reflection.  Her face was covered in scratches, and her cheek was swollen and discolored.  “It looks like you did.”

           His face contorted as he swallowed wrong and started choking.  “What?!”  He smacked himself in the chest as he coughed in an effort to clear his throat.  “You got hurt while we were fighting!  You attacked me, remember?”

           “Yeah, yeah,” she dismissed his words with a wave of her claw, “whatever.”  She leaned down and sipped at the water.  It reeked of sulphur, but it was still water.  She drank greedily, filling her stomach with as much water as she could.  By the time she lifted her head from the pool, she had finished drinking more water than she ever had in her life.  She looked over at the drake.  “Rainbow Dash.”

           He shook his head and looked at the hatchling beside him.  “You say a lot of weird stuff, kid.”

           The hatchling stomped her claw.  “I’m not a kid, I’m 6 years old already!”

           “Yeah, yeah,” the drake waved his claw, mocking her actions earlier, “whatever, pipsqueak.”

           She glared at him.  “What do you mean pipsqueak?!”

          “I mean pipsqueak.”  He yawned.  “I’m only 7, and I’m about twice your size.”

           “Luck of draw.”  She looked into the water, staring at her reflection.  She was pretty small, but it wasn’t like she could do anything about it, half the time, it was a struggle just to keep from starving.  “Rainbow Dash is my name.”

           He snorted.  “That’s a weird name.”

           “Yeah,” the hatchling ran a claw through her multi-hued crest, ”but you gotta admit it fits.”  She sat down, dangling one claw into the pool.  “And it’s all I really have.”

           The drake glanced over. ”Yeah, I guess it fits.”  He laid down and rolled onto his back, wincing at a sharp pain in his wing.  “But, whoever named you must have been dull.”  Odd, he didn’t recall hurting his wing.

           “You don’t know the half of it!”  Rainbow flicked her claw at the surface of the water, smiling at the splash it created.  “He was always like,’vaka so, Regnbogi, vaka so.  Sefvren efr.’”

           He looked over at her, slowly rubbing at a pain in his leg.  “I must have hit you harder than I thought.”

           “Hmmph!  It’s called Kykren.”  Rainbow paced along the edge of the pool, wondering what it would be like to get in the water.  She had read about it once, in one of the books at the monastery, about a thing called swimming.  But there was something you had to do during swimming.  What was it called again, holding breath?

           “Is that what they call it now?  It’s getting to be impossible to keep up with hatchlings these days.”  The pain was getting worse.  He could feel more and more injuries all over his body, injuries he couldn’t remember.  He tried to ignore them, tried to close his eyes, but the pain was still there.

           “You mean, you don’t know about it?”  Rainbow laid down near the drake.  “It’s the language of Typhon, the monks taught it to me.”

           “Not all of us were raised by monks.”  Why was there so much pain?  And why could he smell smoke?

           The brightly-colored hatchling rested her head on her claws.  “Yeah, I guess not.  So, are you gonna tell me your name?”

           He let out a low sigh.  “Yeah, it’s-“

              “WAKE UP!!”  Sharp pain exploded across the drake’s face, and his eyes flew open.  He found himself looking up at a pair of amber-gold eyes.  “Y-you actually woke up?”  One of which looked back at him while the other looked in a different direction.  “You’re not dead!”  He was rapidly lifted, and promptly squeezed.

           He tried to fight against the force that threatened to crush him, but found himself far too weak.  “Ack!  Kckh!  Ch-choking!

           “Oh!  Sorry!”  He was immediately shoved backwards, and tripped over something cold and hard.  “I didn’t mean to!  But you scared me, I thought you were dead.”

           “Give me time.”  The drake forced himself to his feet.  He found himself in a forest clearing.  Trees several times his height surrounded it.  Smaller plants thrived in the open area, filling the clearing with various shades of green, brown, and even blue.  The smell of smoke hung in the air even though there was no fire in sight.  Beside the drake was the wreckage of some sort of steel contraption.  Parts of it were dented and bent out of shape, while others were shredded, claw marks clearly visible on the surface.  Inside, scorch marks marred the steel, and bits and pieces of chain lay scattered around.  There was no machinery inside, no mechanisms or moving parts.  It wasn’t a contraption at all, it was a box.

           “How much time do you need?”  He looked behind him.  He could now clearly see the owner of the off-kilter golden eyes.  She was a reasonably sized grey dragin, a little bigger than him, and with an impressively shiny coat of grey scales and gold spines.  Then she smiled, a huge, happy grin, one that just screamed cheerful, even if her teeth could put a shark’s to shame.  “Oh, I get it!”  She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side with a little giggle.  “That was a joke.”

           “Yeah, it was.”  The drake sighed.  What was going on?  Where was this place?  And what was that earlier?  A dream?  No, it was real. Those things happened, but it was a long time ago.  Some sort of memory  then.  But why?  And why now?  He looked back at the grey dragin as she smiled.  “Who are you?”

           “Oh”  Her eyes popped open.  “I forgot to introduce myself!”  She snapped to attention and saluted with practiced precision.  “Derpy Scales!  Mail-dragon, first-class, weight class two, cargo class three, speed class seven!  It is my duty to deliver you safely to the council of Soefren in Dragartha.”

           “A Dusk Tribunal, huh?”  He shook his head and started laughing.  “I should have known that’s how I was gonna end up.”

           “Um,” the grey dragin slowly lowered her claw from the saluting position, ”I’m not sure what that is, but if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?”  The drake's sudden laughter was a bit off-putting, and the grey dragoness shrunk back a little.  "And what's a, um, Tribunal?"

           The drake looked over at the wreckage.  It was so amazing how, sometimes, all it took was a tiny bit of information to make everything fall into place.  The chains, the burnt and twisted steel, everything he failed to understand was now clear.  It wasn’t a box at all.  It was a cage, his cage.  “My name is Fire Flash, and the Dusk Tribunal is a death sentence.”

Intro Theme

Fire Flash let out a loud sigh.  He was currently held in the iron grip of the mail-dragon, Derpy Scales, and she refused to let go.  To make matters worse, she was crying.  The way he was being held now, her tears fell straight down on his head, matting the short fur of his crest.  The drake squirmed against the dragin’s grasp, but only managed to shift enough to look up at her.  “Can you please stop crying?”

She looked down at Fire Flash, eyes puffy and red.  “B-b-but, y-you’re going to die!”  She broke into a loud wail and squeezed the drake even harder.  “I shouldn’t have woken you up, I should have just let you go peacefully when you were laying in the wreckage.”  She pulled him even tighter to herself.  “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Hrk!”  The drake struggled to pull the grey dragin’s limbs away from him, or at least loosen the grip on his neck so he could breathe.  “It’s ok,” he choked out, “I forgive you!”  He wriggled against Derpy’s claws to no avail.  “Now, let go!”

Derpy loosened her hold on him, but didn’t let go.  “But- but-”  She lowered her head, rubbing her cheek against his.  “But-“

“What are you-  Stop!“  He pried at the dragin’s claws.  He could barely breathe.  Was she trying to kill him now?  Strangulation at the claws of an overly emotional dragin was not how the drake had envisioned his life ending.  He never really considered that his life would end in anything other than a bloodbath or fireball.  “I lied!  I’m not going to die!”  The dragin stopped moving.  The vice-grip she held on the drake’s neck loosened slightly, and he breathed deeply, savoring the cool oxygen that entered his lungs.  “Now, can you please let me go?”

Derpy dropped Fire Flash to the ground.  The drake stood up and cleared his throat.  He then looked up at the dragin, just as she launched an overclaw punch at his head.  He didn’t have time to react before the blow collided with his skull, dropping him to the dirt.  “It’s not nice to lie!  I was worried about you!”

Fire Flash shook the stars from his eyes.  “You’ve sure got a funny way of showing it.”  He stood up and dusted himself off.  This dragin was a confusing creature, jumping between extremes of emotion with the slightest provocation.  “Why do you even care?  If I was condemned to death, wouldn’t there have to be a good reason?  For all you know, I could be waiting for a chance to kill you.”

Derpy tilted her head to the side.  “But, you’re not.”

Fire Flash sighed.  “No, I’m not, but you don’t know if-“  He shook his head quickly.  “Wait a minute!   What do you mean I’m not?  What is-  How did you even come to that conclusion?!”  He stepped forward and poked the dragin in the chest.  “Look, right now, you’re all that stands between me and freedom.  If you think I’m not going to take that opportunity, then you obviously don’t know who I am.”

Derpy brought a claw to her chin.  One eye focused on the ground, and the dragin went still, lost in thought.  After a few moments, she looked up at the drake.  “You’re the dragon who attacked the library, aren’t you?”

Fire Flash pulled his claw back.  “You just figured that out?”

The grey dragin nodded vigorously.  “Pinkie told me the story before I left, but I didn’t realize that she was talking about you.”

Fire Flash started walking away.  How did this dragin miss the link between that story and being asked to transport a prisoner?  “Now that you know, you should realize how dangerous I am.”

“Yep!”  Derpy trotted off after him.  She pulled up alongside him and smiled.  “You’re not dangerous at all.”

The drake stopped walking.  He hung his head with a low groan.  “How in the name of the seven paths did you decide that?”  Try as he might, he could not figure this dragin out.  What, if anything, was going through her head?  “I set a building on fire, I threatened two dragons that had no chance at fighting back, and if help hadn’t shown up when it did, they would have been incinerated.  Tell me again, how am I ‘not dangerous?’  ‘Cause, I’d really like to know.”

“That’s easy!”  The dragin closed her eyes and smiled at the drake with the most annoyingly happy expression he had ever seen.  She opened her eyes again and lifted a claw, extending a single digit.  “First of all, you attacked the library first, avoiding the two dragons.”  She extended another digit.  “Second of all, a little bit of fire isn’t really gonna hurt anydragon.”  She extended the last two digits.  “And, um…”  She looked down at her claw and sat down.  Using her other claw, she took hold of the smallest digit on her raised claw.  She raised and lowered it a few times while humming to herself.  “We were on number three, right?”

“Oh, for cryin’ out loud!“  The drake stomped away in a small circle, turning back to face the dragin.  “Yes, it was three, how could you forget that?!”

“Practice?”  Derpy cleared her throat dramatically, and struck a pose, holding the claw with three raised digits in front of Fire Flash’s face.  “Third of all, all in all, overall, et cetera,” she cleared her throat one more time, “you lied again.”

The drake stood there grinding his teeth together.  “So?”  He asked through clenched teeth.  He raised his eyebrows.  “Do you want to hit me again?  Or do you plan to explain what you’re getting at?”

“Hah!”  Derpy crossed her claws in front of her chest.  “Pretending to be angry won’t get you anywhere.”

Fire Flash’s eyes  went wide.  “Who’s pretending?!”  He clasped a claw to his head.  He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to put up with this… eccentric dragin.  He took a deep breath, calming himself as much as possible.  “Alright, what did I lie about?”

Derpy pointed at him.  “Popcorn.”

Fire flash blinked.  He blinked again.  He chuckled lightly.  Then, he blinked a third time.  He then broke into wild laughter, clutching his head as he bellowed, “That’s it!  I’ve figured it out!”  He spun in place, looking up at the sky.  “It makes so much sense!”  He galloped over to Derpy and threw one claw around her shoulder.  He tapped her one the nose with the other.  “I died.”  He shook his head slowly, holding his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching.  “That crash killed me, and this is punishment.”

Derpy stared at him for a moment.  “Um, Mr. Flash, I’m sorry about this, but…”  She took a deep breath and shoved him away.  She then launched a haymaker at his chin.  It launched the slightly smaller drake through the air, and he hit the dirt a good distance away from where he started.  Derpy walked over to him, inspecting the downed drake carefully.  “Are you back to normal?”

Fire Flash laid on his back, staring up at the sky.  His eyes matched those of the dragin looking down at him.  “Punishment is supposed to hurt.”

Derpy blinked.  She sat down and brought a claw to her chin.  “Good point.”

The drake shook his head, returning his eyes to their proper orientation.  He then rolled over and stood up.  He sighed as he brushed off the debris that clung to him.  “Don’t just agree with me.”  He sat down heavily and started inspecting the forest around them.  Trees several times taller than either of them surrounded the two dragons.  Sounds of life filled the air, birds, frogs, and the occasional cicada.  It was still daylight, but the light was starting to take on the golden properties of a waning day, catching the leaves in the tallest limbs in a glittering display of plant life.  He sighed and looked down at his claws.  Rich, earthy leaf litter crunched beneath them.  It teemed with life as well, as he sat and watched a small salamander, the namesake of his type, crawled over his claw and hid beneath the leaves on the other side.  “Fine, this place is too nice to be punishment.”

Derpy sat down next to the drake.  “So… I guess you’re alive again?”

Fire Flash looked over at her.  Somehow, he felt like he had aged over the last few minutes.  At the very least, he felt worn out, like he was being ground down in a slow deliberate manner.  “Yeah, I guess.”  If he tried to argue with her, or resist the random machinations of her whims, he would just end up going insane.  He had no choice but to go along with it.  “So, are you going to explain what popcorn means?”

“Popcorn, that purple thing?”  Derpy scratched her head.  “Or was it ponicorn?  That thing that lives at the library now, it’s small, furry, and all purple and green.”

The drake groaned.  “Of course, that thing.”  It seemed to the drake like he couldn’t escape that thing’s shadow.  It was always there, always a step above him.  How?  It wasn’t even a dragon.  He sighed again.  There was no point in worrying about that now.  He looked over at the grey dragin with a small smirk on his face.  “Popcorn’s the right word for it.  So, what about it?”

“Well,” she scratched the side of her nose, “you said the two dragons would have been incinerated if he didn’t show up, and he took a direct hit with the fireball you launched, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”  The drake glanced behind him, wondering how comfortable the forest floor would be to lay on.  He didn’t really get a chance to appraise it after getting knocked over by the brute of a dragin he was talking to.  Not that it really mattered, he had put up with much worse through his life.  “And?”

Derpy smiled at him.  “And, he was standing a good distance in front of Twilight and Rarity, wasn’t he?  If he hadn’t shown up, the only thing that would have been incinerated was grass and dirt.”  The drake sighed, but the dragin kept going.  “I don’t think you wanted to hurt anydragon.”

The drake let out a tired sigh.  He lifted a claw and flexed it, traces of dirt and leaf litter falling from his scales.  “Wanna see how wrong you are, bubble brain?”

The mail-carrier held up a claw, waving it in front of the drake’s face.  “Close, but the word you’re looking for is breath.”

Fire Flash rolled his eyes and flopped onto his back.  Leaves and small twigs crunched under the dragons weight.  The forest floor was actually pretty comfortable, and much softer than it seemed.  Despite the cushioned surface, a jolt of pain coursed through his injured wings.  He wouldn’t be flying anytime soon.  “I give up.  Everything I say seems to be wrong, so I’m just gonna lay here and let you talk.”  He flexed the muscles in his limbs.  The injuries in his arm and leg still hurt, but he could live with it, even if he had to move around.  He looked over at the dragin.  “You can start by explaining why I was supposed to say breath.”

The dragin didn’t respond with words.  Instead, she took a deep breath and drew her lips together.  With a soft, “foo,” she released the breath she held in the same way one would to cool off over-heated food, and a single, shimmering bubble popped out of her mouth.  A rainbow of colors swirled over its surface, exactly like a normal soap bubble, and exactly like a normal soap bubble, it burst when Fire Flash tried to touch it.  “See?  Bubble-breath.”  The grey dragin pointed at her mouth.  “I have different oils in my saliva that let me blow different types of bubbles.  It’s a lot of fun.”

Fire Flash rolled his eyes.  “Interesting ability, too bad it’s completely useless.”

“Oh, yeah?  Watch this!”  Derpy stepped away from the surly drake.  She took a deep breath and spun around, releasing a steady stream of bubbles as she twirled.  The bubbles filled the clearing, creating a field of tiny stars as they caught the golden light filtering through the trees.  The mail-carrier fell to the ground, dizzy from her frantic spinning, but bubbles she released drifted around with abandon, colliding with each other and anything else that crossed their path, breaking into a shower of golden sparks as they popped.  The bubbles that managed to avoid any obstacles continued to drift away from the dragin that created them, floating through the forest in lazy paths of light.  Once her dizziness started to subside, Derpy raised a claw towards the remaining bubbles.  “See?  Isn’t it pretty?  I love the way the bubbles catch the light.”

The red drake lifted his head a little off the ground.  After a second, he relaxed the the muscles in his neck, his head fell to the dirt with a soft thud.  He repeated this movement a few times, beating horned impression into forest floor.  “I am definitely going crazy.”

Derpy rolled onto her side and lifted her head to look at him.  “Good crazy, or bad crazy?”

Fire Flash turned his head towards the dragin.  “Only you would think there could possibly be a good kind.  Sure, it’s pretty, but how does that make bubbles any more useful?”

The mail-dragin blushed and brought her claws to her cheeks.  “You really think I’m pretty?”

“Gah!”  Fire Flash slapped a claw to his face and slowly scraped it down his snout.  “The bubbles, you air headed dolt, the bubbles were-“

Without warning, Derpy launched herself at the drake.  She landed atop him twisted, straddling him and clamping a claw over his mouth.  “Shh.”  Her head bobbed from side to side as her eyes scanned the surrounding forest in a dizzying frenzy.  She raised her head high and took a deep breath.  She held it for a moment, then inhaled again, still holding her previous breath.  She breathed in one last time, taking in as much air as her puffed out chest could hold.  She let her head droop like wilted flower, and blew a bubble straight at Fire Flash’s chest.  Unlike earlier, she only blew one bubble.  It expanded outward, oily surface gliding effortlessly over scales as it grew between the two dragons and eventually engulfed them.  When it stopped expanding, the bubble made a sphere large enough for the two dragons to move around in.  Anything beyond the bubble was tinted pink, far deeper than could be explained by the day’s waning light.  In addition to the change in color, everything took on a weird, flowing distortion, almost like looking through a lens that was melting.

The drake twisted out of the mail dragon’s grip, an effort greatly aided by the greasy sheen now coating his scales.  “What did you just do?!”  He tried to wipe at the glossy coating on his body, but his claw just slipped right over it.  Ugh!  I’m covered!”

“Quiet,” the grey dragin hissed, gesturing frantically for the drake to stop making noise.

“Why?”  The drake brought his arm up and gave it a tentative sniff.  He immediately started gagging, eye bugging out as tried to hold back his bile.  He stumbled towards the bubble’s boundary. “That’s nasty!  I’ve got to-“

Derpy tackled him, pinning him to the ground.  “I’m sorry!  But please, be quiet.”  She clamped her claw over his mouth as best she could, and leaned in close to the drake.  Please,” she whispered,” I know it smells, but please, just put up with it for a few moments.”  Something rustled on the far end of the clearing, and the dragin’s head snapped up to face it.  “I’ll do anything you ask, but please, don’t make any noise.”

Fire Flash craned his neck to look as the rustling became more pronounced.  The dragin’s claw slipped from his mouth, but he remained silent.  Whatever was coming, it had her scared.  Given that she was undoubtedly more familiar with the area than he was, he had no choice but to heed her judgement.

“You sure it was over here?”

Fire Flash’s eyes narrowed to slits as two dragons entered the clearing.

“Yeah, didn’t you hear it?”  One of the dragons walked into the middle of clearing and looked around.  He was a dull maroon color, stout, bipedal, and had a thick steel plate, patched with rust, strapped to his chest like armor.  He was nearly as tall as Fire Flash, and had scars all over his body.  His face was flat and ugly, more befitting an ogre than a dragon.   “Sounded like voices.”  His eyes came to rest on Fire Flash for a moment.  No, the bright red drake realized, this other dragon was looking past him like he didn’t exist.  The armored drake walked back to his companion, revealing several manners of sword, mace, and other weapons strapped to his back, a personal armory.  “I hate this forest, it’s making me hear things.”

The other dragon, a tall, dark green creature with cat-like features sniffed at the air.  “It smells like rotted fish.  A Hydra probably passed through here.”  He was slightly larger than derpy, and his weight was much lower to the ground than was normal for a dragon that size. As he moved, his scales rippled over the muscles beneath.  There was no mistaking it, he was a hunter.  He turned away from the clearing.  “There’s nothing here.  We’ll meet back up with the others, then resume our journey.”

“You sure?”  The brutish dragon gave the clearing a quick once over.  “I know I heard something.  What if it’s somedragon from town?  We’ll be in trouble if-”

“I’ve indulged you more than enough.”  The green dragon turned to face the other dragon. “You have good instincts, but you need to learn something about our group.”

“Heh, yeah?”  The armored drake turned to face his cat-like companion. “What’s that?”

“Listen, and whenever I say something,” the green dragon lifted his claw and tapped on the metal plate strapped to the ugly drake’s chest.  “Don’t.  Talk.  Back.”  He sliced a single claw through the steel plate, tearing out a jagged line of steel, scale, and flesh.  With a shriek of pain and shock, the armored drake fell to his knees.  He clutched at his chest with trembling claws as blood started to pour from the wound.  The green dragon brought his bloody claw to the other dragon’s chin and lifted his head to look him in the eyes.  “Think you can remember that?”

The maroon drake’s nostrils flared and contracted as he shivered in agony.  “Y-yes, I’ll remember.”

“Good.”  The green dragon let go of the other drake’s head, letting collapse to his pain.  He turned around and walked back into the forest, glancing back at his fallen companion.   “We’re heading back, now.”

The injured drake crawled over to a tree, and used it to support himself as he lifted himself up.  He then shambled off after the green dragon, leaving Fire Flash and Derpy alone in the clearing.  They stayed where they were for several minutes, not daring to move, in case those other two dragons were still close.  The red drake looked at the mail dragin on top of him.  He wasn’t exactly sure what just happened.

Derpy edged her way off of Fire Flash.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “there wasn’t time to explain.”

The red drake stood up slowly.  ”How did you know they weren’t just travelers?”  He was careful to keep his voice down.  “And why didn’t they see us?  Was it because of the bubble?”

The grey dragin gestured towards the edge of the oily dome surrounding them.  “Go take a look, it won’t break if you step through.”

Fire Flash hesitated for a moment, and Derpy shoved him forward.  He tumbled through the slick film that made up the bubble, receiving a fresh coat of oil on his scales.  “Ugh!”  He scrambled to turn around, and was met by the sight of an empty clearing.  He sighed as he swatted at his oily scales.  “Ok, so it is a useful ability.  You never mentioned that the oil could bend light like that.”

The bubble burst silently, revealing the mail dragin within.  “I told you I could make different kinds of bubbles.”  Her voice was grim, lacking its previous energy, as she stared into the forest, eyes glued on the blood-stained patch of the forest floor where the armored dragon once stood.  “We have to go back to Dragonspyre.  We have to warn them.”

“Warn them about what?”  Fire Flash glanced at the blood, slightly unsettled by the memory of the encounter.  “So, there’s some hunters who don’t get along.  They’re free to do what they want.”

“They’re not hunters.” Derpy forced her gaze away from the stain, and looked at Fire Flash.  “This section of the Everfree is a wildlife preserve, and off limits to everydragon, except for the Forest Guardians.  We’re not even supposed to be here.”

Fire Flash smirked.  “So, you’re afraid of a pair of poachers?  Sure, we may not want to mess with them ourselves, but just send your Forest Guardian in to clean up.  That’s their job, right?”

The grey dragin shook her head slowly.  “They weren’t poachers.”

“Huh?”  The drake looked back at the forest.  The dragin that was once an annoying glob of migraine inducing energy was now sitting there, solemnly staring at the forest in near-total silence.  What changed?  For her demeanor to change this much, what were those two dragons?   “Derpy?”

The dragin looked down at her claws, body shaking as she dug her claws into the forest floor.  “I know that green dragon.  Hi-his name is Koro.”  She brought a claw to her face, holding it over her wayward eye.  “Fifteen years ago, he attacked Dragonspyre.”

“A bandit, huh?”  Fire Flash took one last glance at the forest where the two other dragons had disappeared into the trees.  He started walking in the opposite direction, tapping Derpy on the shoulder as he passed her.  “Come on, we need to find a defensible location.  Sitting in the middle of a clearing is just gonna get us killed.”

The grey dragin followed him into the woods, ducking a moss-laden branch as the drake led her through the trees.  “You’re really going to help me?”

“I’m not doing this for you, or your precious town.”  The drake stalked through the trees, steps as silent as shadow as he watched the terrain.  It was almost night, and they needed to find shelter.  That dragon mentioned that there were hydras in the area, and he didn’t feel like going up against one in his current condition.  “We’re a little bit safer if we stick together, but the moment the opportunity comes up, I’m gone.”  He watched the forest floor for signs of stones or boulders, searching for any sign of caves or animal dens.  “Do you know how far we are from that town of yours?”

Derpy followed him.  She didn’t know what he was doing, but she didn’t have much of a choice but to trust him.  “If we have to walk, we should be able to make it back in about a day.”

“What do you mean if we have to walk?”  A large stone caught the drake’s eye, and he walked over to it.  The top of the stone was covered in feathery, green moss, and its side was covered in deep scratches.  “Manticores, there should be a den around here somewhere.”  He started searching the area for a hidden entrance.  “Unless I missed something, I’m injured, and you don’t have wings.”  Beyond a nearby fallen tree, Fire Flash found himself looking down a small dirt cliff, overgrown with sickly, brown vines.  “Over here.”  He climbed down carefully and searched the crust of plant matter until he found an opening cut into the cliff face.  It would be a squeeze, but they would both be able to fit through it.  The cavern was sure to be roomier farther in, but there was something the drake had to check first.

He started gurgling deep in his throat, working up a chunk of phlegm.  He spat into the cave, bodily fluids igniting on contact with the air.  The chunk of flaming spit splattered against the floor of the cave, spreading liquid fire across the dirt floor, and lighting up the inside of the cave.  It was empty, save for a half-mummified manticore corpse in a far corner.  This cave had been abandoned for a long time.  That was good.  Even a large group of manticores would have been little more than a meal for him and the dragin he was traveling with, but the fight would have left evidence of their presence in the forest.

Fire Flash looked over calmly as Derpy joined him in front of the cave by unceremoniously tumbling over the fallen tree at the top of the cliff.  She hit the ground next to him with a soft thump and a puff of leaves.  “I take it back.”  Fire Flash walked into the still flaming cave.  “I’d probably be safer on my own.”

Derpy picked herself up and followed him in, dusting herself off before squeezing through the aged cave entrance, and covering herself in a fresh coat of dust.  The inside of the cave was larger than the entrance, but it was barely enough room for the two dragons to move around in.  Derpy shuffled around the cave a bit, extinguishing patches of flame with her claws and tail before laying down.

Fire Flash set about putting out the rest of the flames.  It was almost completely dark outside, and he didn’t want the light giving them away.  Every so often, he would steal a glance at the grey dragin sharing the cave.  As the cave grew darker and darker, the dragin barely even moved, staring at a patch of flame in front of her on the cave floor.  Once he finished extinguishing the rest of the small fires, he walked over to the one in front of Derpy.  “I’m not complaining, but you’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.”  He put out that last flickering light, and laid down as far from the other dragon as was possible in the cramped cave.  “Who is that Koro guy?  To you, I mean.  I get the feeling he’s not just some random bandit.”

Derpy looked away from the drake.  “What do you think of my face?  Of my eyes?”

Fire flash rolled his own eyes.  He had all but given up on getting a straight answer out of her, but it would be nice to not have to play these games every time he asked a question.  “Who cares about your eyes?  It’s your teeth I’m scared of.”

The mail-carrier smiled and looked over at him.  “Thank you, but be honest, they’re unsettling, aren’t they?”

The drake sighed.  “Dizzying is more like it.”

“They weren’t always like this.”  Fire Flash rolled onto his back, ignoring the momentary pain in his wing as Derpy continued talking.  “When I was younger, they were normal, like everydragon else’s.”

The drake yawned.   “So?  What happened?”

Derpy lifted her head and crossed her claws on the ground in front of her.  “I never knew my parents.  When I hatched, my egg was abandoned on the shore of the Sediero Sea.”

Fire Flash nodded as he listened.  He should have known he was going to get a life-story.  “I can relate, but I would have given anything to have been born near water.”

The mail dragin laid her head on her claws.  “Well, I had to support myself for my entire life.  For the first few years, I didn’t even know there were other dragons.  I just lived wild, off the land.  After I learned about civilization, and learned to speak, I found out that I was pretty strong for my size.  I used that to get jobs.  At first, I would do grunt work, mostly; construction, deliveries, anything that required brute force.  Then, as my wings developed, I started focusing more on making deliveries.”

“Wait a minute.”  Fire Flash shook his head.  “You don’t have wings.”

“Yeah, I do.  It’s just…”  The mail carrier scooted over to the drake and turned so he could see her back.  Just above her shoulders, two bat-like wings stuck out.  In addition to looking like bat wings, they were about the same size as a bat’s wings.  They were also covered in little blue polka-dots.  “When we crashed, I think I landed in some poison joke.”

Fire Flash stared at the two mini wings.  “So, when you say we crashed, you mean that-“

“I crashed, and I was carrying that box you were in?”  Derpy scratched at the back of her neck.  “Yeah, pretty much.”

The drake rubbed a claw against his face.  “Just how big are your wings, usually, for you to make it as far as you did.”

Derpy craned her neck to look at her wings.  “A lot bigger than this.  And I would have made it all the way to Dragartha by now, but I was attacked by a flock of Pteroqs.”

Fire Flash narrowed his eyes.  “Aren’t those extremely rare?  Like, to the point of being nearly extinct?  And you were attacked by a flock of them?”

Derpy nodded.  “We’re in a wildlife preserve, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”  Fire Flash noticed that the dragin wasn’t making any move to go back to her original position in the cave.  “Well, this brings back memories.”

Derpy looked at the drake, tilting her head in confusion.  “What does?”

Fire Flash chewed his lip for a moment.   He didn’t really want to talk about his past, but at this point, what did it matter?  “I’ll tell you, if you finish telling me about Koro.”

The mail dragin looked down.  “Promise?”

The drake sighed.  It seemed she didn’t want to talk about the past either.  “Yeah, I promise.”

“Thank you,” the mail-carrier exclaimed happily, “where should I start?”  Derpy rolled over, placing her side against the drake’s and snuggling up against him.  “So, I already mentioned that I did a lot of deliveries, so, right now, I should probably tell you about-“

“No.”  Fire Flash gave the dragin a solid push, but wasn’t able to move her.  “Right now, you should probably give me some personal space.”

Derpy looked up.  “What’s, ‘personal space?’  I hear that a lot, but nodragon ever wants to explain it.”

The drake rolled his eyes.  “Of course they don’t.  Personal space is the space around a dragon that is personal.  It belongs to that dragon, and others are supposed to stay out of it.”

“Oh.”  The dragin put a claw to her chin.  “That makes sense.”

Fire Flash sighed.  “Good, so-“

“Oh, right!  I need to finish my story.  I don’t mind sharing personal space.”  Derpy cleared her throat.  “Anyway, you already know that did a lot of delivery work when I was younger.  I worked in several large cities, and got to see all sorts of amazing things.  There was this one time, in Dragartha, I bumped my head on the ceiling and dropped a box of-“

Fire Flashed waved his claw for the dragin to stop talking.  “Look, just cut to the chase.  I just want to know about this Koro that we’re hiding from, and you seem to be talking about everything else.  Who is Koro?”

Derpy swallowed hard and rolled away from the drake. “Are you, uh, sure you don’t want the background?  Some parts of the story might not make sense if I skip around.”

“No!”  The drake sat up as tall as he could in the cramped cave.  “Nothing you say makes sense, so I really doubt it can get any worse.  Our lives are at stake.  Tell me what I want to know.”

Derpy shrunk back.  “I- I should really just, uh-“  Her tail hit the wall of the cave and immediately rolled up beneath her.

After seeing her reaction, the drake regretted his words.  He needed to know what he was up against, but he didn’t have to terrify her to find out.  He leaned down a little, making himself a little smaller.  “Derpy?”  He moved towards her slowly.  “Are you ok?”

She looked away from him.  “I, uh-“

Even in the dim cave, Fire Flash could see her shivering.  Why was she acting like this?  He reached out a claw to put on her shoulder, a small gesture of reassurance.  “What did he do to you?”

“Don’t touch me!” Derpy shrieked as she smacked the claw away.  She backed into the cave wall, trying to get away from the drake.  “Don’t touch me.”  Unable to back up any more, the dragin pressed herself to the wall and slid to the floor.  “Don’t…”

Fire Flash backed away from the dragin, staring in shock as she broke into tears.  He sat down as far away from her as he could, not wanting to upset her anymore.  He sat in silence for a moment, then surprised both of them by breaking it.  “You reminded me of somedragon, somedragon very important to me."  Why was he telling her this?  "You reminded me of someone I lost.  She was loudmouthed, pushy, and convinced she was always right, but then again, she usually was.  No matter how much we fought, I couldn't stay mad at her."

Derpy didn't look up from the floor, but calmed herself down enough to ask, "What happened to her?"

Fire Flash shrugged.  "Who knows?  I left her, and by the time I realized it was a mistake, I couldn't find her again.  I don't even know how long I've been searching anymore."

The mail carrier pulled herself away from the wall, watching the red dragon closely.  He didn't look like he was lying.  That meant this was some dragon that knew what it was like to care for another.  "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?  I was the one that yelled at you."

She shook her head.  "I just didn't want to talk about Koro.  I hate him.  I hate his memory.  I just want it all to go away."

Fire Flash nodded slowly.  There were certainly memories he would rather forget, but things didn't work that way.  he pointed to the mouth of the cave.  "He's out there right now.  That's not going to change just because you want it to."

Her once smiling face twisted into a snarl.  "It would if I killed him."  She dug her claws into the ground.  "He deserves it for all he's done."  The grey dragon's face wasn't designed for anger, and after a few seconds, her snarl broke, along with her composure.  She buried her face in her claws.  "Who am I kidding," she cried, "he almost killed me last time.  And he killed the farmers I was working for.  Their children grew up alone because of me."  Fire Flash remained silent, and let her continue, "I have a daughter.  I don't want her to be alone."

"The father?" Flash probed, as gently as possible.

"I tell her she doesn't have one.  Saying he died before she hatched is easier than telling the truth."  She took one last shaky breath to steady herself.  "Koro's the father."

Stage Select

"Stahl!"

"Stahl?"

Fire Flash crouched low in the shadows of the cave entrance.  Two dragons were tromping around outside, calling for one named Stahl.  The shorter of the two was pale, cream-white, and had smooth, snake-like scales.  He was devoid of distinguishing features like horns, ears, or crest, and his large slitted eyes seemed out of place in daylight.  Small cuts and scrapes explained the leather armor he wore over his weak hide.  The other wore no armor, he didn't need it.  The glint of his blue-grey scales in the mottled light gave his natural armor the appearance of faceted steel.

"I told you we were lost," the snakish one complained.  "He's not here."

"Someone is," the metallic one countered, "I can smell them."

Fire Flash cursed under his breath.  Derpy crawled up beside him and whispered, "What should we do?"

The red dragon looked over.  His grey companion didn't get much sleep last night.  What little she got was fitful and nightmare ridden, and it showed.  She looked ragged, and the tracks of dried tears stained her face.  She didn't look ready for a fight, and that might be the one thing that saves them.  "When I call for you, walk out, but don't do anything.  Just look at the ground the whole time."

He started to crawl forward, but the grey dragin grabbed his shoulder to stop him.  "You can't."

Fire Flash grabbed the claw, and looked her in the eyes.  "Trust me."  He looked down at the claw intertwined with his.  How long has it been since he was responsible for another's safety?  And, why did she have to be so like her?  "I'll get you home, to your daughter, but you have to trust me."

Her answer was silent, with a slight nod, she pulled her claw back.

Fire Flash squirmed out of the hole behind the two prowling dragons and let out a loud, exaggerated snort.  "Boy, you guys are late."

Their shock showed when they spun to face him.  White even stumbled and fell, and had to scramble back up.  "Who are you?"

"I should ask the same thing."  Fire Flash took a single step forward.  He still had to find out if they were friend or foe.  "Koro didn't mention anyone else."

"Really?  He didn't even talk to us," Steel said in a low scraping voice, "had his lackey Stahl give us instructions.  We were supposed to meet him and the other two somewhere around here."

Two more?  "I dealt with Koro directly, is Stahl the weaponed weasel that follows him around?"

"Nah," Steel shook his head, "that's Bilk.  He has a bad habit of talking back to Stahl and Koro, and they don't trust him.  So, they they keep him close."

Easier to get rid of him that way.  Fire Flash shrugged.  Looks like this group wasn't exactly well-knit.  "Did any of them tell you why we're attacking a little nothing town like Dragonspire?"

"N-no," White shook his head nervously, "You two may be attacking, but I'm a thief, I'm going after the hatchling and getting out."

Fire Flash blinked, then cursed silently hoping his momentary surprise didn't blow his cover.  "This is the first I've heard of that.  My job was to create chaos, cover for whatever else is going on."

"Me too," said steel.  "I take it you're a firebreather?"

"Locals live in wooden buildings," Fire Flash said with a smirk, "this will be my easiest job in a long while."

"Slow down, hotshot, there's a few dragons that might make this hard on us, including their forest guardian.  She's an Ice Mage that forced Koro into retreat during a fight a few years ago.  Killing her is my job, preferably before she kills any of you, but no promises."  The confident drake pointed to his skittish companion.  "The other fighters are all supposed to take on specific dragons around the target, letting him slip in and take the hatchling Koro wants."

Fire flash winced as Derpy gasped.  Both of the other dragons snapped their attention in that direction.  Steel stepped sideways, keeping his attention on Flash.  White took a step back, staring in the direction of the noise.  "I thought you were alone."

Fire Flash tried to smile confidently.  "Do I look like the type of guy who spends a cold night alone?"  He looked over his shoulder.  "Get out here!"  He waited a few seconds.  "Remember what I said!  I keep my promises, girl."

White and Steel didn't understand the significance behind the red dragon's words, but Derpy did.  She crawled out of the manticore den, and limped out into the open.  She followed instruction, and kept her gaze firmly on the ground, but it was a death stare, as if she wanted to kill the ground, stuff it, and kill it a few more times.

Steel was the first to speak.  "She doesn't look like a fighter, but with those eyes, I can't tell.  Why is she here?"

"Entertainment."  Fire Flash shrugged.  "I'm done with her, so feel free to do whatever."

"Really?"  Steel raised his eyebrows.  "This job just gets better and better."

He started walking towards Derpy.  White watched carefully, but took an absentminded step forward, then another.  Fire Flash flexed his knuckles quietly.  One... more..

White took that last step into striking range, and Fire Flash lashed out.  His claws sliced through the pale dragon's throat like scissors through cloth, leaving three deep gashes all the way to the spine.  If he wasn't dead now, it would only be a matter of seconds.  Fire flash struck him hard on the side of the neck for good measure, and rewarded by a solid pop as vertebrae snapped.

As the body crashed to the ground, Fire Flash wondered if he even felt it happen.  He didn't have time to dwell, though.  Flash turned to face Steel just as the other dragon heard the drop of White's carcass.

The sound that rang out was a war cry, halfway between an anguished scream and a predatory growl.  Neither drake had a chance to react, let alone move before it's source pounced.  Derpy tackled the steel-colored dragon that had been approaching her.  Her respectable mass caught him off balance, and her hard-earned strength let her over power him long enough to shove what looked like a black rubber ball down his throat.

Steel gagged, and tried to bite the limb Derpy was holding in place.  Fire Flash ran to help her, but Derpy didn't need it.  She closed her eyes, braced against the pain, and crushed the bubble she held in her claws.

A massive wind swept Fire Flash off balance.  His ears rang from an unnaturally high-pitched hiss, and blasts of dry air and dirt stung his eyes.  It was only a second before silence took hold again.  Debris leaned against him, leaves, twigs, and broken branches, all piled up, but only from one side.  He thrashed about, dislodging anything that might impede his mobility, and stood up.

The sight before him was one he had seen before.  This fight was over.  Everything loose had been blown away, leaving Derpy in the center of what looked like a crater, sitting atop her defeated opponent.

Steel still drew breath, but it was a labored, gurgling affair.  His jaw was shattered, and he was bleeding from his ears, nose and eyes.  The rest of his body seemed unhurt, but laid limp, unwilling, or unable, to move.

Fire Flash walked over as Derpy pulled herself off of him, nursing her bleeding right claw.  He looked down at the defeated drake.  The fear he saw was a familiar sight, but the helplessness that accompanied it was unnerving.  The drake tried to speak, but nothing came out save a sputtering as blood foamed in his mouth.  If left there, he would probably drown in his own vital fluids in a few moments.

Not a pleasant way to go.

Flash rolled the drake over.  If he was ever in this position, he hoped his opponent would give him as much consideration.  One stomp to the back of the steel drake's neck, and gurgling noises stopped.

Derpy closed her eyes and started to shiver as she headed towards an adrenaline crash.  "He can't have her," she told Fire Flash.  "I won't let Koro take Dinky away from me."

Fire Flash walked over to the snake-like thief he dispatched earlier.  Attached to his armor were a variety of satchels and pouches.  He tore off the one closest to the dead dragon's claws and dug through it.  As expected, it was filled with maps and papers.  One in particular described a high paying criminal job, enough treasure to live a long and comfortable life, even by dragon standards, for the kidnapping of a single hatchling.  "I don't think they were after your daughter."  Fire Flash flipped to the next page.  "According to this, Koro is after a hatchling named Twilight Sparkle."

Green Planet

Acrid smoke stung Derpy's lungs, and her body threw a spasming fit of coughing in a vain attempt to expel the black fumes.  Any hopes of making it back home undetected were shattered now.  If anything, Dragonspire was probably alerted to approaching trouble.

The papers the thief had on him described the attack plans in detail.  There were seven dragons involved, including the two they had already defeated.  Six of them were going to attack the dragons that would otherwise be protecting their target, and the thief would have stolen her away in the confusion.  Each of the fighters was planned out for a specific dragon, with abilities and strengths chosen to give them a distinct advantage.

The dragon they were fighting now was meant as an opponent for Applejack, the daughter of the farmers Koro killed.  He was a crazed magic type who could control plants, and it was starting to look like they would have to burn down the whole forest to get away.

Though, looking at Fire Flash, that seemed to be the plan all along.  He spewed fireball after fireball, splattering everything green with flaming globs of oil until they were surrounded by inferno.  One last vine snaked its way towards the flaming drake, intent on capturing a claw, but was incinerated by one last annoyed spit.

That was it, there wasn't a single living plant within twenty five meters of them, and the plant dragon was staying even beyond that, hidden in the forest.

Fire Flash backed up to Derpy, putting them tail to tail as they scanned their surroundings for movement that wasn't flame.  "Oy, Grey, those bubbles you're so proud of, can they hold up to heat?"

Derpy glanced back.  "Heat?  You mean this fire?  Yes, why?"

A bramble vine shot towards the blind spot looking away created.  Flash grabbed it before it could hit her, wincing as the thorny tendril wrapped around his wrist.  A little snort of flame reduced the vine to ash.  "How long can you hold your breath?"

The plant mage perched on a branch, picking his nose and watching the localized blaze.  "Eenie, meanie, miney, mo.  Catch two dragons by the toe."  He flicked away a nugget of snot and took some seeds from a pouch on his woven belt.  "String them up, don't let them go.  Lop off heads and watch them roll."

Whatever plans he had for those seeds, they were quickly forgotten when his prey bolted from the flames, red one first, fat one second.  "Where are you going?!" The grey one yelled, panicked, sweetly scared.  "We were safe in there!"

Safe?  How funny, she thought she was safe.  He dropped his seeds with a snicker.  The big one was amusing, much more pleasant than the angry one, she should die last.

"Did you think I could keep that up forever?"  The red one yelled back.  "I'm out of flames!"

The hunter took to the chase, laughter ringing through the forest as he hopped from branch to branch.  Finally, the annoyance was gone, no more would his weapons turn to ash before striking.  "Run, run, as fast as you can, take the entrails, make a flan."  He jumped to the ground, so he could run faster.  "Hear them scream, begging no.  Bring the bodies-"

"Now!"  The red one shouted.  Grey turned and charged at the plant mage.  Surprised only for a moment, he jumped before she could reach him.  First up, and then off her head, only to be body slammed by the roaring red dragon behind her.  The two crashed to the ground, one calling forth his plants for aide, and the other calling forth fire.

Hunter and prey grappled and fought as the forest floor burned beneath them.  Roles that seemed decided just seconds ago were called into question as they struggle and squirmed, like serpents locked in combat.  The plant mage tried to slash at his opponent, but mustered no more power than a cat batting at a sock as Flash clung to him, tangling their limbs.

Blazing inferno ate away at the encroaching plants, keeping them away from the battleas the two dragons wrestled.  The plant mage gave up on summoning aid and threw his all into the contest of strength.  He wasn't quite as brawny as his flaming opponent, but his wiry frame proved an even match.

After a minute or two of struggling, the plant mage managed to work a claw free.  The red dragon clung stubbornly to the other one as the mage slashed at him.  The first few slashes slid off hard scales, leaving little more than scratches.  Then, with a roar of frustration, the mage jabbed his claw up into Fire Flash's gut, digging past the scales from the other direction.

The attack didn't penetrate deep enough to cause much damage, but it caused plenty of pain.  His face contorted in pain, but Fire Flash didn't cry out.  If anything, he kept his mouth screwed shut in grim determination.  At least, until the plant mage pulled his claw back for another attack.  He lunged forward, teeth first, and clamped down on the plant mage's shoulder.  He was aiming for neck, but the mage twisted at the last second.

The mage roared in pain.  He slashed blindly at his foe.  At some point, he had balled his claws into fists, and started pummeling the fire dragon.  One lucky strike to an eye loosened the bite, and the mage put everything he had into shoving the other dragon away.

He stared down at the other dragon, and at the claws he just pushed with.  Blood, both his and the other's.  Pain, both from his shoulder and from a broken bone somewhere in his claw.  Anger, at the failure of his plants and his opponent's refusal to lose.  Fear, fear that somehow, he might just lose.

He smiled.  With a screeching, cackling laugh he threw himself at his down opponent.  How exciting!  Never, never before had he been in a fight like this.  Never before had he been so close!  So close to the blood, the death.  Surely, this is what battle was meant to be!

He cried out with glee as he battered the red dragon under his fists.  He snorted with excitement at the sound of his strikes thudding against his opponent's feeble guard.  He threw punch after punch, striking until the red dragon dropped his guard.  Then, he punched some more.

He took it slow now, savoring each blow to his opponent's face.  The red dragon was at his mercy, unable to even right his head after each strike.  All he could do was stare up at his tormenter with a delicious look of defiance.  What a warrior!  Such determination in the midst of defeat!

The plant mage wrapped his claws around Fire Flash's neck.  He would watch that determination disappear, slowly, right along with the red dragon's life breath.  And he would enjoy every second of it.

It was then that he noticed the red dragon wasn't breathing.

He pulled his claws back in surprise, blinking away the spots in his vision.  No!  He couldn't be dead, could he?  He was still looking up at him.  The plant mage shook his head.  It hurt to think.  Wait, no, it just hurt.  Why did his head hurt so much?  He didn't get hit, did he?

He looked down at the two red dragons...  No!  He shook his head again, willing the two images back together.  He tried to focus on his opponent, but the image was fuzzy.  Everywhere he looked, little black dots danced around him, buzzing static, ringing in his ears.  Did they have a magic type with them?  Was this an attack?

He turned to run, to put distance between himself and whatever this was, but he felt heavy.  His body responded slowly, so slowly that the red dragon had time to reach out and grab his tail.  With a sharp pull, he pulled the plant mage off balance enough to send him crashing to the charred ground.  No flames or plant life remained, the fire having exhausted all possible fuel minutes ago, even the very oxygen in the air, leaving nothing but smoke and ash.

As the plant mage struggled to get his claws under him, Fire Flash crawled forward.  He was starting to understand.  Through the haze that only he could see, the plant mage saw the other dragon, the large grey one, on the other side of a clear, oily-pink wall.  She was almost completely obscured by the static in his vision, but she watched the battle with confidence, like she knew the outcome had been decided.

The plant mage took one last unfulfilling breath as he felt a sharp pain behind his ears.  It was a distant pain, no longer part of him, but part of some other world.  He didn't care anymore.  It was odd for him, a moment of calm.  As he watched the grey dragon close her eyes, he realized that, for the first time in his life, he had lost.

His view of the grey dragon twisted sharply sideways, and the static faded to black.

Green Planet part 2

"Well, this brings back memories."  Fire Flash rolled over and shook the sand from his back.

"Yeah, but backwards this time."  Rainbow danced lightly on top of the dune, smiling down at the other dragon.  Years had passed since they met and first fought in this very spot.  The landscape had changed dramatically; flat wastes were buried under rolling dunes, the dusty, withered corpses of wandering plants dotted the horizon, and in the distance, what little remained of the ancient city of Casull burned in never ending flame.  "That makes three," she laughed, "you're getting weaker."

"Fat chance," Fire flash scoffed.  The two dragons had changed almost as much as their surroundings.  Almost mature, but not quite there, they were already stronger than any who dared to challenge them, especially when they were forced to work together.  "You're just getting stronger."

Rainbow cleaned her ear with a claw.  "What was that?  I must have misheard you, that almost sounded like a complement."  With a hearty laugh, she started down the dune, walking carefully, lest she collapse the sand under her.  Still the smaller of the two, but only by a little, she was rapidly approaching Fire Flash's size.  If she didn't stop growing soon, she would probably surpass him.

The red dragon rolled his eyes.  "Whatever, I lost.  If you're happy with three-zero, how about telling me why you dragged me all the way out here?"

Rainbow swept a wing out to the side, kicking up dust as she indicated their surroundings.  "Don't you recognize this place?"

"No," Flash answered, shielding his eyes from the grit.  "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

The other dragon sidled up beside him, playfully nuzzling at his chin.  "Are you sure you don't remember?"

He sighed, tolerating the contact even though he was still sore from losing.  "Yes, I'm sure."  When she finally sat down, he followed suit, extending a wing around her.  The sun was just starting to sink away, and the temperatures would soon join it.  Nights in the desert were harsh, but sharing them made it bearable.  "What is this place?"

Rainbow ruffled her feathers up, trapping as much air between them as she could for insulation.  "It's where we first met.  Sure has changed, huh?"

Fire Flash surveyed the area again.  Memories, old, but etched into his mind, played through his head like they were yesterday's.  "It can't be...  Has it really changed this much?"

She leaned against him.  "I know," she muttered quietly, "I could hardly believe it myself when I found the cave.  The water dried up, but everything else is still there."

"Dried up..."  He clicked his tongue.  "Too bad, now that we can defend it, that would have made a nice den."

"A den?"  She pulled away to look up at him.  "For the two of us?  Like, you know, a real den?"

"Well, yeah?"  He looked away, not wanting to meet the questioning stare directed his way.  "Why are saying it like that?  I mean, sharing beats fighting over it, right?

"I don't know, I might get the better end of that stick."  She leaned her head on his shoulder.  "But, you better be careful.  A den, I might just get spoiled."

"You already are."  He nudged her in the side.  "Besides," he added with a smirk, "I wouldn't have to fight you, I could just smoke you out.  I know how much you hate the smell.

She looked away with a pout.  "Only because it sticks to my feathers..."

Silence fell over them.  Fire Flash knew how much she hated being teased about her aversion to smoke and flames, but given that it was his special ability, he couldn't resist.  He watched her sulk for a moment, and wondered what was going through her mind as she looked this landscape.  All he could think of was the realization of change.  He didn't know if things were worse, or better, only that they had changed, and that they had survived.

He leaned down and ran his snout through the colors of her crest.  The only response was a stifled giggle.  It was the one thing he knew would always get a smile out of her.  "You know, the land isn't the only thing that's changed."

"You're right, it isn't."  She looked back up, but her expression wasn't the wrinkled smile he was expecting.  Instead, she stared quietly up at him, wide eyes sparkling in the fire of the setting sun.  It was far softer, and far more vulnerable, than he had ever seen her before.  "We've changed too."

He lowered his head, touching their snouts together.  "We have, haven't we?"

She pushed past his snout, rubbing their faces together, and he moved closer to her, wanting to touch as much as possible.  "That isn't a bad thing," she whispered in his ear, and by the time their lips met...

Air filled his lungs, jump-starting the cycle of breath that had temporarily ended.  He gasped in air, overfilling his lungs, and coughing as cold air burned his throat.  He was on his back, charred, broken branches jabbing him as he looked up into a blurry pair of golden eyes.

"You're breathing again!  I was so worried."

The eyes moved away, and with them moved the shadow that covered him.  Bright sky stabbed his eyes through the treetops, forcing him to turn away.  And when his blurry vision started to clear, he found himself looking into the eyes of the twisted, broken carcass of the plant mage.  Laying amidst the blackened coal of his plants, his claw stretched forward, lifelessly reaching for help none could provide.

Fire Flash scrambled away from the remains with an anguished shout.  His head screamed for him to stop, pain pulsing in protest at the stimulus assaulting him.  Light, sound, buried memories, and his own feelings of regret clawed at him, dragging him back to his knees.  What was happening?  Why was he here?  He was just in Casull!  He was home, not here.  Wherever here was.  He couldn't think, couldn't focus.  All he wanted was to be back with Rainbow, in that brief, forgotten moment of happiness.

"Help me," he whimpered, clutching at his head.

Something pulled at him.  He didn't have the strength to resist.  Or did he?  He didn't know, couldn't tell.  Either way, he didn't have the will to try.  He felt something wrap around the back of his neck.  It pulled him in tight, and he waited for it to twist, to snap his neck like he had done to so many others.  But that final attack that never came.

"Shh.  Shh, it's alright."

At first, he didn't recognize the voice, but slowly, to the rhythm of soft patting on his back, his senses returned.  "Derpy?"

"Feeling better?"  Derpy released him from the hug, and helped him up.  She saw the tears running down his face, but didn't mention them.  "You ran out of breath before I could release the bubble."  She waited a moment for him to answer.  "Flash?  You ok?"

He stared at her, tears flowing without shame.  He knew he was crying, and he didn't care.  He didn't care that it made him look as weak as he felt.  "When I was young..."  He looked down.  At some point, he had grabbed Derpy's claws in his own.  "When I was young, I had nothing.  I was an orphan in a dead city that barely existed.  Every day was a struggle to survive, just to find enough water or blood to drink to see tomorrow."  He pulled her to him, and held her tight, in a way he had only ever held one other.  "I wish that had never changed.  I wished I could've died in that miserable existence.  If you never have anything, you don't have to know how painful it is to lose everything."

The sound of a breaking twig caught Derpy's attention.  "Flash?"

"I can't do it!"  Whatever she heard, he was oblivious to it.  "I can't lose everything again!  Knowing love and losing it, seeing how great this world can be just to be sent back to that sand covered hell I came from?  I'd rather die."  He let his head fall.  "But, I won't die for nothing.  Next dragon we fight, I want you to run.  I'll fight to my last breath to slow them down enough for you to get home."

Another snap, and Derpy pinpointed the location.  There was a twitch, and her eyes snapped open in horror.  "Flash!  He's moving!"

Derpy grabbed Fire Flash and dove to the ground as what looked like a gnarled root whistled through the air towards them.  It missed and slammed into a tree, splintering it.  The plant mage flopped over, not alive, like Derpy feared, but moved by something else.  The pouch on his belt was torn and writhing, like something was crawling within, and trying to escape.

The pouch burst open as its contents expanded skyward.  A tangled mass of bark and burl rushed high, weaving and swirling towards the sun.  At the same time, massive roots grew below, freely twisting and planting themselves as they pleased.

Flash and Derpy could only brace themselves against the ground as chaos stormed around them.  Displaced air and magic battered at them in wake of impossible growth.  Deafening cracks and booming rumblings shook them as the forest was torn asunder, replaced by a single tree towering several times higher than any tree ever should.

It was all over in minutes, and Derpy looked up, and up, and up.  The top of the tree was partially hidden by clouds, massive golden flowers shining in the midday sun.  The patch of ground they occupied seemed to be the only spot within a hundred meters not consumed by the maze of roots.  It extended as far as she could see, a cage of wood, meant for larger creatures than her.  The two of them would be able to navigate it, even if it would mean climbing in some places.

She looked back down.  Fire Flash was still below her.  He didn't even try to move.  He just stared apathetically at the awe inspiring plant above them.  She didn't quite know why, but seeing him like that made her angry.  How dare he give up?!

"No!"  She yelled,  planting her claws on his chest and knocking the wind out of him.  "You don't get out that easily!  If you want to throw your life away, fine!  I'll take it.  It's mine now."  Fire Flash moved a little, and Derpy pushed back down on him, pressing him to the dirt.  "News flash, you aren't the only one with a tragic past.  You at least knew what you were.  I didn't even know what it meant to be a dragon until I was who knows how old.  The ones who taught me, who showed me the wonder of life and gave me pride in my possibilities, they deserved better than they got.  They were killed for trying to save me.  I can't ever tell my daughter who her father was.  She sees the other families in Dragonspire, and wonders why ours is different.  How could I tell her the truth?  How could I ever explain what he did to me?"  She pulled back a claw and squeezed it into a fist.  She belted fire flash in the jaw, knocking at least on fang free of his mouth and loosening another.  "You want to die so you don't get hurt?  Try getting hurt and struggling to live, like I did.  Because that's what we are! We are dragons, and dragons bow to nothing, least of all pain."

Fire Flash said nothing, and Derpy crawled off of him with a snort of disgust.  He could have stood up, but he didn't.  He stayed on his back, watching as leaves the size of sails swayed overhead.  "You have something to live for, some dragon else that gives you the strength to move on.  I had that once, but she's long gone.  I'll never see her again."

"You don't know that."  Derpy shook her head.  "She's out there somewhere, what would she say if she saw you like this?"

"She'd probably kill me herself," Fire Flash sighed, "then go after Koro for fun."

"She's that strong?"

"Strongest in the northern wastes.  Stronger than I can ever hope to be."  Flash rolled over and picked himself up.  "Phoenix Lignum."

Derpy blinked.  "What?"

"The tree, it's a Phoenix Lignum.  I saw one once before, but it was just a fallen husk.  The tree only grows under two very specific conditions.  The first is that there has to be a forest fire, or the aftermath of one.  The second, is that a dragon must die at its base."  Fire Flash rubbed his jaw again.  "Better him than me."

Derpy looked over with a smile.  "I've never seen one before, but I've heard of it.  It was in one of the stories the farmers would read to teach me to speak."  She walked over to Fire Flash. " I was told that the first promise made beneath it would remain unbroken forever."  Derpy lifted her claw and placed it as a fist over his heart.

He looked down at it, then met her gaze.  In that moment, he understood something.  The strength that Rainbow had, the strength that stayed his claw in their first battle, the strength he envied, the strength that he had grown to envy, it wasn't a physical, or even magical strength.  It was simple strength of will, and this grey dragon had more than did.  But, she did seem willing to share.  He placed his fist on her heart, copying her movement.  Then, they made a promise to each other.

"I will survive."