Something for Everyone

Fizzle sat on the storyteller's rock and looked down at Spike. "Once upon a time", he began, "there was a Dragon. Her name was Tiamat, and she was the first and the mightiest of all chromatic dragons. You owe your scales to her, as I owe mine and every dragon here is the same. The king of the Dragons at that time was named Bahamut, and he had ruled for 4,000 years. Though he had been a good king, it was widely thought that he had grown too set in his ways, too mindful of strict rules and strange moral codes. In her ambition Tiamat decided that she would usurp King Bahamut's throne and steal his crown, and rule the Dragons in the way they had been ruled since time immemorial."

Spike stared up at him, rapt. Fizzle had been one of the quieter dragons in Garble's gang, but one mention of wanting to know more about history had brought out the apprentice storyteller in the white dragon. Even as he spoke, his voice was changing. He left behind the slang of his daily life and his story took on the cadence of myth learned off by heart.

"Now, Tiamat was wise and cunning, as any storyteller will tell you, and she knew that she couldn't challenge Bahamut to open combat without preparing for it first. She thought and she thought and she planned and she planned, and eventually she realised just how she could defeat Bahamut."

"How?" Asked Spike. Fizzle smirked, filled with the glee of the storyteller whose audience has just asked precisely the right question.

"It was simple, and beautiful in its simplicity, as all of Tiamat's plans were once she looked at the problem the right way. Why fight Bahamut alone? One on One, he would surely best her, but if she brought back-up, she would prove the victor. And so Tiamat decided that she would take to herself a husband."

"Who was her husband?"

"His name was Dagon. He lived miles underneath the Sea, in a palace made of coral. Tiamat and Dagon took to each other, and did all that husband and wife do, and in time Tiamat was with eggs. King Bahamut saw this and he was pleased, because he had been concerned about Tiamat's ambition and thought that motherhood might make her settle down and take life more calmly. And for a while it seemed to. Tiamat gave birth, and again and again and in the fullness of time the three generations of her children were all full grown."

"So that's what, 500 years?"

The mysticism dropped from Fizzle's voice, and he was once again an adolescent who could only do maths if it promised not to get too complicated. "Uh, yeah, assuming Tiamat and Dagon left a little time in between clutches. Maybe more like 600? Anyway, in the fullness of time the three generations of her children were all full grown. One day Tiamat and Dagon invited King Bahamut to their home for dinner, and when he had eaten his fill Tiamat, Dagon and their three generations of children took their chance and struck. Taken by surprise, Bahamut was defeated utterly. He fled this land for parts unknown, never to be seen again. When Tiamat openly declared her victory and coronation, and made Dagon her king, the other metallic dragons followed their leader. And as Queen of all Dragons, Tiamat did away with Bahamut's many laws and ruled the Dragons in the way they were always intended to be ruled. And since that day, all of the dragons in the world have been descendants of Tiamat and Dagon."

"Every last one? Even me?"

"Including you, kid. Dragons like you and me, who live on the land, we take more after our sacred mother, and the Sea Serpents have more of the blood of Dagon in them, but we all come from the same parents. And we can all learn a lesson from this, as we can from every tale of Tiamat: Though your enemy may be too powerful for you to destroy head on, if you are cunning and patient in time you will win. With careful thought, you can defeat anyone."

Some small part of Spike, a part he was barely conscious of, reflected that Twilight's morals generally didn't involve destruction and betrayal. But another part, louder in its insistency, was concerned only with learning more about Tiamat, and about what he was meant to be.