Dragon Riders

Chapters

Aftermath
A Myth and a Possibility
Hiking and House Sitting
The Perils of Mountain Climbing
Of Adventurers and Dragons
Verdicts
First Lessons
The Beginning of Something...

Aftermath

Twilight let out an exhausted sigh as she buried her head in her hooves. She massaged her tired eyes before returning her gaze to the rubble and ruin that Ponyville had become in the last hour.

The majority of the homes were without roofs, and a good portion of the town's citizens' possessions still lay in the mountainous cave. Among them were a good portion of Pinkie Pie's cakes, Fluttershy's chicken coup and nearly half of the town's apple crop, as well as countless carts, stands, desks, the water tower's top, and anything the dragon had seemed to like in the midst of his greed spurned rampage.

The sirens were just now starting to die down, but a frantic commotion still sounded out throughout the town. Some citizens had begun to try and begin repairs and reclamations, whether by scaling the mountainside to retrieve stolen belongings or by simply mending the damage with what was available. But, the majority of the inhabitants were still panicked, and righteously so; they'd just been attacked and raided by a monstrous purple lizard.

The unicorn had been among the ones to try and start rebuilding, but she felt overwhelmingly guilty for what happened, causing the wave of anxiety that had placed her here on the pedestal of a recently toppled statue, her eyes hidden by lavender hooves and her body sitting slumped over what was left of the square's fountain.

She tried to tell herself that there was nopony to blame, that there was no way any of them could have predicted Spike's sudden growth, accompanied by a campaign for material wealth spreading from town to the adjacent mountainside.

Not even Spike could be blamed for his own actions; had any of the town's ponies been better educated, they would have known not to shower him in birthday presents, and hence, his primal instincts would not have kicked in, and the entire catastrophe could have been avoided altogether.

There was only one thing that the blame could be pinned on; the lack of Equestrian knowledge on dragons. Even Twilight, upon reflection, realized she herself, possibly the best educated and most well-read pony in town, let alone the entirety of Equestria, knew next to nothing about the beasts, and she lived with one. Their diet, their sleeping habits, their ability for certain types of magic, and the texture of their scales, at least Spike's, was all she knew.

She sighed again, and thought that, perhaps, she was guilty for the destruction; she'd been the one that raised Spike, and she'd raised him as a pony, not as a dragon. Maybe, if she'd done better, the whole ordeal could have been bypassed. His instincts and tendencies as a dragon could have been snuffed out instead of ignored, and this whole thing would have been less of a surprise as well as less of a tragedy.

Twilight realized that her thoughts had too many 'what ifs'. Yes, a bit of it may have been her fault; the citizens sure seemed to think so by some of the glares she'd been receiving as of late, but that hardly changed anything. What was done could not be undone, no matter how much she thought about it, but it could be prevented from happening again. After all, Celestia had always said, 'Learn from your mistakes.'

A sudden crash caused Twilight to jump, and she looked up once again. She saw the hollowed out remains of a building coming down, timber and stone intermingling into a dense pile in the street. Yet another pile of what was previously a home littering the street.

Again, she sighed. What could she do? The entire town was a mess. It had been so easy to destroy for the dragon. What had taken countless years to build was laid to waste over the course of a few hours, and it made her feel utterly powerless.

"Hey Twilight," sounded a familiar voice behind her, and the unicorn turned around to see a friendly face.

Applejack was doing her best to smile up at her from the bottom of the fountain's base. Her face was uplifting, but not as much as the small army behind her, her massive brother at the front of the Apple family's ranks. Each of the numerous equines behind her had shovels and wheelbarrows at the ready, and Twilight knew the reason she had hastily summoned her family from the neighboring towns before the orange mare even told her.

"We're all here to help," she drawled, "Lucky the famous family reunion's comin' up; near half these folks were already on their way here a bit early for the big day."

Twilight smiled back at the congregation of earth ponies, all looking to her expectantly.

"Alright," the unicorn said, hopping down from the defiled pedestal, "Let's get started on cleaning up this mess."

****************

Twenty six hours later, the streets were cleared of debris, the buildings that were salvageable had been saved, and the structures that weren't, torn down and cleared away as well. It was a start, but there was still plenty of work to be done; but, that work had to be done by rested ponies, which were in short supply. All the species, Pegasus, unicorn and earth ponies had pitched in, but even with the aide of magic and wings, the process for rebuilding was tedious.

At least partially satisfied with what had been done, Twilight had told the working party she'd taken command of to rest, waiting on the coming of the next day's dawn to continue reparations.

Now, making good on her plan to rest in preparation for more work tomorrow, Twilight pushed through the doors of her own home. The oak swayed around her, gently and in tune with the dusk's breeze, and creaking a bit, talking in the way trees sometimes do. She walked past her bookcases, hollow as their books had been taken by a dragon's greed earlier, and had yet to be returned.

The oak just wasn't home without them, and it seemed more like a shell than a house. That's all it was now anyway; no longer a library as it had no books. It was only a home, and an incomplete one at that.

She heard, among the creaks and whispers of the swaying tree, a sigh upstairs. She decided to investigate; she was going there anyway, as it was where her bed, and inevitably, sleep was.

The lavender unicorn trudged up the stairs, thoroughly spent from the events of late. She pushed through the door to her bedroom, and saw the source of the town's destruction sitting on her floor. A small, dragon youth; purple scales, green spines, miniscule talons and an arrowhead tipped tail. His back was to her, and he didn't even seem to notice when she came in.

He was staring at the wall, or rather, what was in the wall. A large hole, eerily dragon shaped and fairly large, had been punched through the heartwood of the tree, and outwards through its bark. Seven feet in height, three or four in width, long, thick arms and legs, and ominous in stance. It was hard to believe that it had been made by the tiny drake in front of her.

She felt utterly sorry for him; she could only imagine the guilt he must have felt. She decided to leave him alone; he hadn't come out of the room since the event, and she thought it better to leave him alone with his thoughts, letting him come back to the world when he was ready.

She turned silently to leave, much quieter than when she'd entered, but she didn't get far before a small voice behind her spoke.

"Please stay," Spike pleaded in a whisper.

Twilight gave up on leaving the dragon; he needed company, not solitude in which to reflect as she did. He had his own way of coping, and apparently, it required her presence.

She didn't say a word as she came into the room, lying down next to her scaly friend on the hardwood floor. He didn't say anything at first either.

Twilight ignored that she was tired; yes, her body shouted at her to close her eyes, but her mind stayed awake. She needed to be there for Spike. And that's what she did, simply being present for the dragon as seconds turned into minutes, adding up in the motionless silence of the room.

Finally, Spike cocked his head and pointed slightly at the hole in the wall. He waved his finger as he hesitated on speaking. Finally, he withdrew his outstretched hand, clenched a fist, and rested his head on it.

"I did that," he whispered aloud, as if he didn't believe it, tears welling up in his eyes.

Twilight looked at the jagged edges of the space torn through the wall, outlining Spike's previous form, menacing and large and intimidating, nothing like the dragon that sat next to her.

"That was me," he whispered again as a tear fell to the floor.

Twilight put a forelimb around Spike, and pulled him closer to her. The dragon leaned into the embrace, savoring it. His face was wet as he let his cheek feel Twilight's consoling fur.

"It wasn't your fault," Twilight said, trying to persuade him, but he was convinced he was wholly responsible for the damage that had been done.

"I overheard some ponies talking," he said quietly, "They said that I'm not fit to live with ponies. That I'm too dangerous to be kept around. That I'm a monster."

Twilight lowered her head onto his drooping spines.

"They're just words Spike."

"But they're right, aren't they?"

"No," Twilight responded in a way that was firm, but still kind, "They were just scared Spike, that's all. They didn't mean it. Everypony in this town loves you."

Spike was silent for another time, waiting until he found something worth saying to speak.

Eventually, he broke the quiet again, but barely, as his voice was the same volume as the breeze outside.

"Did I hurt anypony?"

"No," Twilight whispered back.

"Is Rarity ok?"

Twilight waited a bit to respond; she was shaken up by the ordeal of being kidnapped by an immense reptile, but was unharmed. She decided to reveal the second of the two truths; that one would help to ease his mind.

"She's fine."

Twilight waited a while to make sure the dragon had come to reconcile with himself, as was suggested by his silence, before she asked, "Did you send the letter to Celestia?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, a few hours ago."

Spike spoke no more after that, and didn't move until night had set in. He cried a bit more, but stopped when the night lost its youth. Then, he fell asleep, and Twilight did the same, not bothering to move to her bed; she found rest on the hardwood at the dragon's side, as did he.

A Myth and a Possibility

Twilight woke suddenly as the sound of a driving wind penetrated her bedroom. She looked up and around; it was still dark outside, but regardless, she heard the wind grow unnaturally stronger.

She rose, and stumbled to the window, peering out into the darkness, but saw nothing.

Spike rustled in his sleep behind her, and once his movement died down, she heard a soft knock on the door.

She cautiously tip-toed down the stairs, even quieter than the knock in the otherwise silent house, careful not to wake Spike from his slumber. Lighting a trio of lanterns to provide yellow light in the otherwise blue, moonlit room of the hollowed out home, she began to grow a bit nervous.

Who could be visiting at this hour, she asked herself, looking out of the windows to try and catch a glimpse of her visitor. She saw no clues alluding to the identity of the unknown something beyond the wood of her door. What she did see was a small army of stallions outside, wearing copper hued armor and finishing up the repairs left by the town's citizens in the dark, light being provided by unicorns and work being done in teams.

She determined the one who'd knocked was one of them.

"I'm sorry," she called to the door, "The library is closed!"

"I'm not here to check out a book," came the response, smooth and maternal, and Twilight's heart fluttered as she heard its serenading note.

She darted to the door, throwing it open to gaze upon the splendor of Princess Celestia.

"Oh, princess? What are you doing here?" she asked, stupefied as she ushered the alicorn into her home.

"I received your letter," the regal mare explained, "from the sound of it, this town needs my presence more than the royal palace."

The princess, at the request of her student, took a seat on a red felt couch, and, likewise at the request of her student, accepted an offer for tea.

Twilight called in from the kitchen, fully awake and bustling about as she tried to brew the best cup of tea she had in months, "So, what's with the stallions outside?"

"The Corps of Engineers," Celestia explained, looking concernedly up at the empty vaulting ceiling, recently devoid of its books, "I ordered them along with me to repair the damage, which was far more extensive than I'd expected."

Twilight came back into the room with a pot of tea and a few china cups in tow, suspended in a lavender aura. She sat down opposite her mentor, bringing a chair up behind her telekinetically, and plopping down into its soft embrace.

Twilight poured the tea, and Celestia took it in the metaphysical grip of her horn, sipping contentedly. Twilight mimicked her every move.

"So," Celestia said, setting her cup down, prompting Twilight to do the same, "What are the details of his transformation?"

Twilight shrugged a bit as she tried to recollect.

"Well, it started when he started getting presents for his birthday; he just started growing, in size and in greed, and before long, he was hundreds of feet tall and had half the town in his arms."

Celestia nodded a bit, obviously reading into Twilight's reaction of her asking a question for once.

"It's a shame it couldn't have been prevented," continued Twilight earnestly.

"Yes," agreed Celestia, "you expressed such thoughts in your letter. How, perhaps if we knew more about dragons, things like this would never happen again."

Celestia paused for a moment.

"Tell me Twilight, if the opportunity arose, would you go to great lengths to see to it that things like this did never happen again?"

"Yes, definitely," the unicorn responded without hesitation.

Twilight nodded affirmation a second time as she continued, the regal mare rising out of the sofa to gaze at her sister's moon through the window. Her body silhouetted against the face of the full moon, its light coming into the room from all around her outline, and her shadow was cast long and stretching by the low-hanging body of the moon.

"They are amazing creatures, the dragons; majestic, powerful and rare, but dangerous and unpredictable, at least, to most."

Twilight's curiosity suddenly peaked, and she stepped out of the chair to proceed a pair of steps closer to the princess.

"Twilight, in your readings, have you ever come across any of the tribes native to Equestria?"

Twilight thought for a moment before answering, "Y-Yes."

"Which ones?"

"Well," the unicorn started as she dug through her file cabinet of a brain, "There were The Water Clans of the eastern coast."

"Right," nodded Celestia, giving her student a feeling of pride, "The Wave Riders, fishers and sea-farers, the first to ever master such arts as sailing the depths, as well as the shallows."

Twilight saw the bite of recollection in the princess's eyes, and felt the keen insight that her mentor was familiar with the subject personally, not from the pages of an aged textbook.

"What else?" asked the alicorn.

"The buffalo tribes of the east."

"The Thunder Herd," nodded Celestia again, the look of memory in her starlit eyes.

"And the Cervine Tribes of Everfree."

"Yes," the princess said, a hint of sorrow in her voice, "an anomaly in the natural world. Their tribe is unlike wild deer; they developed language and culture unparalleled by the developments of equines."

She turned in the moonlight, her face darkened by a shadow, but not in an ominous way.

"But, skittish as they were, our industrialization scared them off, and the last of their kind left Equestria for the secluded north generations ago. I wish you could have seen them Twilight, as I wish you could have seen the monuments built by the Ponies of the Red Woods, carved in the heartwood of the largest trees on earth. I wish you could have seen the relationship the Lupines of the North had with their land, the way they blended with it, the way they became the landscape, moving without sound, like ghosts. I wish you could have seen the ways of the Shetland clans of the south, their persistence and dedication to each other as well as their land, and the way they fought in its defense. I wish you could have seen them all Twilight, but alas, their days have come and gone, taken from them by plague or war, or by the domination of the kingdom we established."

Twilight still heard the sting of regret in the princess's voice, and wondered if she somehow felt guilty for the past.

"But, a few remain untouched, or at least, unmoved by time."

The unicorn became even more intrigued, and drew closer to the alabaster alicorn.

"Are there any others you know of that we have not mentioned yet Twilight, specifically, the tribes of the mountains?"

"I've never heard of any other natives."

Celestia turned around, and with a spell, lit the entirety of the library's lanterns simultaneously. Light came in a blinding wave, but once Twilight's eyes readjusted, she saw Celestia opening some sort of portal in the middle of the room.

Out of the spinning void dropped a leather-bound book, and Twilight felt relieved that at least the library was more like a library now with at least one collection of paper and knowledge within its walls.

"Then I take it you've never heard of the Windriders of the North?"

Twilight shook her head 'no' as the book fluttered open, flipping past pages on the tribes of Equestria's young history, until settling on one, surprisingly blank in words, and filled mostly with an ancient-looking illustration.

"I'm not surprised," Celestia said as Twilight began reading, "This singular page contains the entirety of Equestrian knowledge on them."

Twilight read aloud as her eyes, in wonder, took in the parchment's contents.

"A clan of ancient ponies of legend and lore, The Windriders of the Northern Mountains were a society unrivaled in their talent and bravery. Honorable warriors, but also nomads, these ponies were a solitary group that clung to the granite slopes of the highest mountains between Equestria and The Crystal Empire. However impressive in the arts of blacksmithing, music, and war, these ponies had mastered something that no other has ever attempted; the art of dragon riding."

"What?!" Twilight asked aloud, and without Celestia's urging, kept reading more diligently than before.

"The only ponies ever to do so, The Windriders of the North live with the creatures. However, their methods in doing so are unknown. Fiercely territorial and secretive, The Windriders have only made their presence known in times of great turbulence."

Twilight looked to her mentor, and she confirmed that the book was valid with a nod.

"Under the command of their only documented chieftain, Surefire The Great, The Windriders came to the aid of the armies of Equestria twice in the past unknowingly, as the enemies of Equestria conveniently intruded on their tribal lands. Once during the griffon wars, in which the might of their warriors, dragon and pony alike, pushed the griffons' borders back, allowing Equestria to reclaim its lost territory, and a second time in the reclamation of the Crystal Empire when their king's conquests trespassed into their sacred territory. However, with the threats gone, they had no interest in Equestria or the lands below their home. The Windriders retreated back into their mountainous home, never to be heard from or seen again."

Twilight turned her eyes from the words to the drawing, a picture of ponies riding dragons and wielding reigns, bows and lances as they soared above a massive landscape below. They wore not armor, but animal skins, and their bodies were colored with what she could only think of as war-paint, dragons as well. Above the drawing was inscribed a message in swirling, poetic letters; ''Where the earth meets the sky, and the realms of beasts and ponies meet in harmony, dragons and ponies alike ride the wind."

They did acrobatics in the high air to the right of the page, a sketch of two wyverns, riders on their backs, circling each other in mid-air. Others hunted; a sketch of a green winged drake took the left side of the page, its rider aiming a bow at a stag in the trees below. But, the centerpiece of the picture was a massive, black dragon with golden paint spiraling down its belly and over its back in stripes.

This dragon was not amongst the mountains as the others were; this one was in the valley, spewing red flames onto what looked like an army below while its rider, a mere speck on its back, shot arrows into the same dark horde.

Celestia saw her student's fascination with the centerpiece.

"That is Surefire The Great," she said, touching the speck on the immense black dragon's back, "defeating the armies of King Sombra."

"It looks more like the dragon is defeating them," she said, laughing nervously as she gripped the fact that this was no fantasy, but a recount of actual events.

"That is Mortisserax, 'death shadow' in the Windrider's language," Celestia said, touching the illustration, "He was the greatest dragon that has ever lived, but he disappeared with the Windriders."

Twilight began to ask, "So this thing is real? Is it really that big? And how did they get onto its back, let alone train it?"

"Nopony knows. But, then again, nopony has ever tried to find out," Twilight looked questioningly at her mentor as she continued, "But if somepony were to try..."

"What are you asking of me?"

"I am not requesting anything from you, Twilight," the princess answered, "I am merely saying that if you were to try, perhaps becoming the only Equestrian expert on dragons in the process..."

"How would I? The mountains are so far away!"

"I could get you to the foothills without issue."

"But how would I find them?"

"The journey would be long and treacherous, but the reward, I am sure, would be worth the pain, and recall the words of the page; 'where the earth meets the sky, and the realms of beasts and ponies meet in harmony, dragons and ponies alike ride the wind."

"The book said they were warriors and very territorial; how do I know they won't kill me?"

"The book said they were honor-bound as well; there is no honor in killing an unarmed mare."

"How do I even know they exist anymore? They haven't been seen in over a thousand years."

"We don't know of them existing, but we are also just as unsure that they are extinct. All legends have a hint of fact in their stories, and this clan is the home of the only ponies in the world with any knowledge on dragons; there are none better to learn from than them."

Twilight looked horrified, sickened.

"Twilight," Celestia said, coming over to her and extending an ivory wing around a lavender pair of shoulders, "You don't have to, and I don't expect you to go. It was only a possibility I thought to make you aware of. But, at the end of it all, perhaps I am mistaken. I should not impose ideas into your head, as you would be the one to undertake the journey; I could not do so. If I could leave Equestria in control of somepony else, I would, but, things are as they are."

"I'll go," Twilight said suddenly, darting out from under Celestia's expansive wing to immediately begin packing a saddlebag with everything from a compass to rations of food.

"Are you sure?" Celestia said, almost shocked.

"I'm sure. Somepony has to make sure that something like what happened to Spike can't happen again, and I will do what I can to help that cause."

"Do you require anything?" Celestia asked, raising her voice at the end of her question.

"Watch Spike while I'm out, and take charge of fixing up the town."

Celestia was almost awestruck by her determination, as well as her diligence in packing her saddlebags to their brim.

"Oh, and I'll also need you to get me to the northern foothills."

"Anything," Celestia responded.

"And the page," Twilight said, placing a hoof on the corner of the paper, and before ripping, asked, "May I?" to receive a nod.

She packed the page into her saddlebag after folding it, and looked outside to see that the first rays of light were rising in the east.

"Alright," she said, starting to go over her checklist, "Warm clothes, three days' worth of food, compass, maps, paper and some quills, water, a sleeping bag, a rough translation dictionary...it might be useful, and, of course," she said, slapping her head with a hoof as she remembered something, "gifts, in favor of diplomacy."

She levitated a small mirror, the fanciest she had, as well as a gold plated candle bra, a solitary amethyst (she'd apologize for raiding Spike's stash later), and the most elegant crochet in her home, into her saddlebags, and sealed the clasp.

Twilight looked to Celestia, standing prepared and ready with her saddlebags over her back like a foal on its first day of school.

"Are you ready?" asked the princess as she opened a portal in the center of the room.

She received a nod, and Twilight began to walk towards it, slowly, but confidently. She leaned back, and prepared to jump through the threshold, but stopped herself short.

She turned to the princess.

"You'll tell the others why I had to go, right?"

Celestia nodded.

"Oh, and how will I get back?"

"You'll have to find a way, whether it's walking or with the help of new friends."

"Well, maybe I should get some more food then."

Twilight pranced around the kitchen, gathering cheese, bread and carrots until her pack could truly fit no more within its confines.

Then, the process repeated. Celestia opened a portal, and Twilight stopped just short of crossing into its dark swirling abyss.

She looked to her mentor for assurance.

"Remember," she coached gently, "where the earth meets the sky, and the realms of beasts and ponies meet in harmony..."

"Dragons and ponies alike ride the wind," said Twilight, finishing the princess's sentence for her.

"I have no doubt that you can do this, Twilight," complimented Celestia, and Twilight finally stepped into the portal.

Author's Note

Hey guys, I hope you've liked this so far. More updates are coming.
Please like this story if you did, and tell me why in the comments. Thanks.

Hiking and House Sitting

Twilight felt her stomach dropping in her abdomen, and suddenly traded the void of the portal around her for a cold, stinging atmosphere. She fell a miniscule distance to the earth, looking up after landing to see the abyss of the portal closing into a singularity above her, then disappearing altogether.

She shivered; the sudden switch from the warm shelter of the library to this harsh cold was a bit drastic, and quickly, she produced the scarf and the parka she'd packed minutes earlier. She dressed quickly, and the bite of the temperature shifted from nipping at the entirety of her body to only her exposed flanks and rear legs, essentially going from unbearable cold to something much more manageable.

Dressed appropriately now, the lavender unicorn stood to get her bearings, but was surprised when her hoof falls squished into the ground. She looked down, and saw she was standing on a soft, moist bed of moss.

She was in a marsh of some sort, damp and heavy with fog, and wet from the water that collected in between the patches of lichen and moss; there was no grass, nor any trees, only rocks and spongy plants and fungus. The mist prevented her from seeing very far, maybe thirty feet or so, technically zero-visibility. All that she could see was the marsh, not exactly lively but far from dead, and she imagined it went off in all directions without end.

Twilight sighed; she'd expected to be dropped in the mountains, or at least hills of some sort. Instead, she'd been teleported to a basin, a wet, cold, miserable one at that.

"Oh well," she said to herself at last, shrugging as she removed her saddlebags again.

Twilight reached into the rucksacks of her luggage and produced a map, the only one she'd had of the general area she now occupied. Had it been a topographical map, she could have pinpointed, at least generally, her location with relative ease, but, the piece of paper she had now was more of an illustration than an actual map.

The top of the paper was barren except for the drawings of high rising mountains, spanning the space between the areas marked 'Equestria' and 'The Crystal Empire'. The bottom of the map held familiar names alongside exaggerated illustrations, 'Neighagra Falls', 'Hollow Shades', and 'Cloudsdale', taking up the very bottom of the paper. The middle was filled with drawings of winding blue rivers and lakes; an unnamed drainage basin. She figured that was where she was now, between civilization and the uninhabited mountainous border, somewhere in the midst of the marshlands.

The lack of detail irritated her, but she at least had something to work with. She needed to get to the mountains; the Windriders would somewhere amidst the peaks, which the marsh was completely lacking. North was her only destination.

"Those mountains will be pretty hard to miss," she thought to herself, and prepared for an extensive hike.

She retrieved her compass, and turned her body until its needle pointed to the north. Then, one eye on her compass and the other on where she stepped, she began slowly crossing the marsh, making her way towards the concealed mountains of the north.

****************

Spike, lying on the floor of his bedroom, lazily awoke. His eyes followed his nostrils open as he smelled the sweet essence of breakfast. Pancakes and syrup, and...were those cinnamon roles?

He rolled over onto his belly, ignoring the dragon-shaped hole left in his wall, and trotted downstairs.

"Twilight must be trying to cheer me up," he thought to himself, "She knows how much I like breakfast food other than cereal."

Spike walked past the main cavern of the oak, and went straight for the kitchen. He opened the door eagerly, and went to thank the unicorn before he was fully through its threshold.

"Thanks Twilight, this is so nice. I needed thi... Princess Celestia?"

****************

Twilight felt the damp of the fog leave her before she saw its unveiling, and suddenly was able to see the mountain range before her.

Without much of a change in the landscape, the mountains just suddenly started, seeming to shoot up straight up through the marsh. Their face was dark green up to the tree line, at which point the overwhelming grey of the rocks took dominance in the color scheme. The tops of the mountains were white, not with snow but with clouds.

Twilight suddenly felt as an insignificant speck in the face of the sheer immensity of the mountains. Looking up at their majesty, they were all titanic in size, but there was one that dwarfed them all. Miles away, and it still appeared bigger than the ones she looked straight up at now. It was bigger than the size of the next three closest mountains in height, and the next four in width.

Twilight shook her eyes from the clouds the mountain ascended into, and reiterated the instructions to her destination; 'where the earth meets the sky, and the realms of beasts and ponies meet in harmony, dragons and ponies alike ride the wind.'

From now on, navigation was simple. She stowed her compass, as she only had one place to go; up.

She shrugged her saddlebags into place, and began the trek towards the colossal mountain.

*****************

The dragon stood mouth gaping as he saw the regal alicorn standing in front of a griddle, a towering stack of flapjacks on the counter at her side and more in the pan she gripped in her magic.

"Oh, good morning Spike," she said as she jerked the pan upwards, the trio of flapjacks within flying up, turning in the air to be caught on their uncooked sides in the cast iron pan once again.

She began to set the table, Spike still standing in disbelief at the bizarre spectacle of the princess cooking.

The alicorn herself placed the pancakes on the table, and plopped a generous heap of them onto her own plate, eating hungrily once a coating of maple syrup had been applied.

"Is something wrong?" she asked the drake, still standing in the doorway with a loose maw.

He was unable to speak; rather, he pointed at the monumental tribute to the god of flapjacks on the table, then to the oven, then at the princess, who was still eating hungrily.

"What?" she asked, moving the food in her mouth to her cheek, "I got hungry."

Spike, shut his mouth, seeming to accept the explanation by his cocked brow.

"Aren't you going to eat?" the princess asked, pointing with her fork to the pile of pancakes and the empty plate on the table

Spike shrugged and sat down, helping himself to a few griddle cakes, and began munching away, forgetting about manners as the princess seemed to be doing the same.

"Do you ever cook?" he asked to receive a questioning look.

"Do you not like my cooking?" she asked, as if she were offended.

"No, it's very good," he said, swallowing hard, "It's just, ya know, I always kind of figured that princesses would have somepony cook for them," the princess smiled to herself, "I thought princesses just kind of sat in the dining room elegantly waiting to be served, like a fancy restaurant all the time."

"To be honest, most of the time it is like that," the princess confessed, "But when I can indulge, I do. Being on your best behavior all the time is a bit tiring, so when the chance to be informal comes around, I seize it," the princess acted as if she were grabbing onto some invisible foe, her voice oddly determined and serious, "In the palace we call it a lazy day; everypony in the palace knows to throw formality to the wind when they come around."

Spike seemed to understand, and shoveled more food into his mouth. Then, he heard the door open in the library, accompanied by a masculine voice and the metallic jingling of armor.

"You're sure the princess is here?...I smell pancakes."

"Lazy Day!" called out the princess with a bit of pancake in her cheek.

"Aww yeah!" came a another voice, excited by the sound of his tone.

A trio of armored earth pony stallions came plodding through the door, two of them wearing copper helmets that were a size too big, and the third carrying it on his shoulders. They were all smiling widely.

"What up Tia!" yelled one of them excitedly, obviously the youngest and smallest of the group while the other two began eating from the recently prepared breakfast without waiting to be invited.

"What up Sparks."

Spike was shocked by how naturally the response came from the princess. The colt she addressed was beige and skinny, the color of his mane revealed to be blonde when he threw off his bronze helmet.

"So, you sent for us?" rumbled the largest of the group, the one carrying his helmet.

He spoke in serenading bass notes, and had glossy black fur alongside a rich brown mane. He was eating hungrily like the one at his side, a red stallion of medium build with a rust colored mane, the only one still wearing his copper colored head casing.

"Yes, did you all get the electricity lines repaired?"

"Yeah Sparks worked his magic," answered the third, while the colt still standing slapped his chest twice and pointed to the ceiling in success.

"Good, once you're finished eating I have another assignment for you, an easy one this time."

"Yes!" celebrated all three in unison, while Spike felt himself coming to already like them.

They were at ease and seemed professional, as well as fun.

"So, what're we doin'?" asked the youngest, just now sitting down to begin eating.

"Dragon sitting."

"Wait, what? Why?" asked Spike suddenly, nearly choking on a chunk of pancake.

"Spike, these two stallions and one colt," she said, looking at Sparks as she emphasized 'colt' to prompt a simultaneous, "Burn" from both of his comrades, "will be looking out for you for a while."

All three of the guards looked at the dragon in synchronization, who was utterly confused.

"This is Sparks," she said pointing to the young colt, still blushing from the not-so vicious verbal assault he'd received from Celestia earlier, "Barns," she said as the red stallion nodded, "and Sarge."

"Wait, your name's Sarge?" asked the dragon.

"Yes," said the black stallion immediately.

"No really. What's your real name?"

The black stallion stared at him menacingly, putting his fork down on the table with a *clink*. From behind Sarge's plane of view, Barns flashed his hoof across his throat, a worried look on his face as he signaled for the dragon to drop the subject.

"Ok, so why do Sparks, Barns and Sarge," Spike looked at the black stallion as he spoke to make sure he knew he'd accepted his title without any further question, "have to look after me? I mean, where's Twilight?"

Celestia swallowed before she looked at the drake.

"Probably half way up a mountain a few hundred miles from here."

"What!?"

Author's Note

Hey guys, I hope you've liked it so far. I've decided to do two separate story lines here; one from Twilight's perspective, and the other from Spike's.
More coming soon. Thanks for reading.

The Perils of Mountain Climbing

Twilight braced her flanks against the rock wall at her back, and continued shimmying along the narrow trail spanning the cliff face.

The land a few inches to her front was hundreds if not thousands of feet directly below her, and she clung to the granite at her back for dear life. Her mane whipped back and forth in the howling wind, and inch by inch, not daring to take her hooves from the constricted trail leading across the open, sheer, smooth rock face that descended straight down mercilessly to the valley below, she dragged her hooves across the rocks, closer and closer to the relative safety of the opposite side.

It took every ounce of courage in her body just to keep moving, utterly exposed, along the worn path; if she froze, there would be nopony around to rescue her. She was on her own, and she couldn't lose heart.

At a pace slower than an inchworm's, she progressed, until she closed the distance to the trail's widening to within ten feet. She kept going until only five feet separated her from safety, or at least, from something safer than what she was on now. Then, only three feet from being off the cliff's cold, desolate, treacherous grip, the trail ended.

It simply vanished, growing so narrow that it seemed to morph into the dull grey cliff face. It continued after a gap of about a meter of exposed air; there was nothing below her to walk along anymore, and turning back was not an option. She'd come so far, and giving up would be foolish. She would have to jump.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake!"

There was no other way around bridging the gap. She would have to cross it airborne, and without a running start. She took in a deep breath, breathing determinedly as she prepared to summon her courage. She looked at her goal, then, she made the mistake of looking down, and suddenly, the space in the trail seemed much larger than before.

She grew dizzy, and nearly lost her balance, regaining it before she toppled forwards and straight down.

"Too close," she whispered to herself, determining she would not leave falling due to vertigo as an option.

She bent her knees, eyed the far part of the trail, took air in, and leaped.

Twilight outstretched her forelimbs, and they landed safely on the other side safely; the rest of her body, however, didn't. Her stomach landed short, hitting against the lip of the ledge, and she began sliding over the edge as her weight pulled her back and down.

She gritted her teeth in determination, and her brow lowered as a surge of adrenaline caused her eyes to dilate in focus. She dragged her hooves along the rock as gravity pulled her backwards, praying that she'd catch a hold of anything solid enough to delay certain death a few seconds longer. Her prayers were answered by a crack in the rock of the trail.

The tips of the hooves dug into a miniscule split in the rocks, and her rearward advance jerked to a stop. She tried to pull herself up, but she simply couldn't; now, she was really wishing she'd tried harder in gym class as a foal, as the only time in her life when she needed to do a full pull-up was nigh, and she couldn't.

She dangled there, half-way in between living and dying, and turned her head fearfully to look down. A single pebble fell from above her on the trail, which her chin was level with, and along with her compass and a loaf of bread tumbling out of her pack, fell silently down until they disappeared from view, becoming specks against the green that seemed half a mile earth-wards.

Twilight again gritted her teeth in determination, and she called the rest of her strength forwards amidst another influx of adrenaline into her bloodstream. She pulled up with all her might, no matter how little it might have been, and as she began to get her momentum going upwards, she kicked against the rock face to propel herself the rest of the way. She brought her elbow up onto the rock, and from there, traded off between pulling and pushing with each of her limbs until she managed to wriggle her way up onto the ledge. She frantically scrambled farther up the path until it widened out, and she plopped down, exhausted. She rolled onto her back, prostrate to the sky, and her breath came in heavy, sluggish gasps.

Then the panic came.

Hyperventilating and heaving, she recollected how close she'd just come to death, and after the sweats and nausea, felt amazing, as if she'd just conquered the world. She laughed and nearly kissed the ground, waited to calm down, and then rolled over onto her stomach. She regained her feet, now standing on a generous portion of solid ground along the side of the mountain she'd been slowly conquering, and looked up.

Immediately, her heart sank. She had three more mountains to cross just to get to the base of the grandest of them, the one she was headed for, and each had more open cliff faces.

The smile ran from her face, and she sighed, disheartened. She stood there a while, and just as she was preparing to begin hiking again, she saw a slight movement off to her left. It was in the rocks, a slight twitch that, in the otherwise still mountains, was blatantly obvious. She stared at where she'd seen it, but spotted nothing lively, only granite mountainside and a few alpine lichens.

Then, a white billy goat came plodding along, from somewhere above her. It walked by without a care for her, and only acknowledged her existence by stopping for a second, bleating loudly in her direction, and then going down the path she'd just come up, hopping the gap and trotting along the constricted trail without losing a step.

Twilight shook her head; frightened by a harmless mountain goat. She continued pushing upwards and onwards, but still, she thought she'd seen movement in the rocks above where the goat had emerged.

Something didn't feel right.

****************

The path, luckily, eased up, and Twilight came to realize that what she was following was a game trail. It began to lead over the tops of the mountains instead of around them, and to her delight, the walking became much easier. Regardless though, her hooves hurt, and her legs had grown sore from a day of walking.

The sky was overcast and concealed, and likewise, her only method of telling time as well as direction; her compass had become a victim of gravity during her cliff hanger. She guessed she'd been walking for a little over five hours, but still, she had only covered a little over half the distance to her goal, the largest mountain in the range which she'd taken to calling 'Mt. Massive,' for lack of a better name; at least it was fitting.

The first ascent had been the worst, and what had seemed like individual peaks from below had turned out to be solitary highpoints on a series of high rising ridges, which the trail she was traversing conveniently followed. The rest of the walk to Mt. Massive looked to be a straight away, with the exception of a few rugged spots here and there.

The space between two hard points, the initial climb and the climb up Mt. Massive, passed by quickly and easily; it was about three o'clock, or at least felt like it, when she reached the gargantuan mountain. Three o'clock was when the trail ended, tapering off into nothingness at the base of at the peak's base; three o'clock was when the weather eased up, the clouds above growing thinner to allow the sun's rays to penetrate down to the terrestrial world below, revealing that indeed, it was about three o'clock; three o'clock was when she heard the first howl.

****************

Twilight was now scrambling up the mountain; she was above the rest of the peaks already, but she was only half-way to the clouds that concealed the peak of Mt. Massive, and she was spent. Her body was tired and fatigued, and the slate and loosely packed rocks of the slope made the steep ascent nearly impossible; every step she took forward, she slid two back.

And, to top it all off, the howls of the wolves were coming closer.

She was being trailed; she could see them, canine specks in the distance, walking in her very footprints as they tracked her. The pack was large in number, and she was completely in the open. She kept trying to go higher, trying to get away, or at least, out of the chute she was in now.

The path she'd chosen seemed like a more shallow route at first, but it had evolved to become a depression, a scar in the face of the mountain. But this chute was not just a vertically travelling ditch; it was filled with boulders and slate, and the signs of a potential rock slide were everywhere.

Another howl sounded from below, and Twilight began to urgently push higher and higher, only to slide farther back down and closer to the rapidly approaching hunters. She was trying to go for a massive cave about two hundred yards above her; if she could make it there, she could more easily defend herself, because running from the agility of the pack was not an option.

She looked down; they had reached the base of the mountain, grey and black silhouettes against the ground, swiftly ascending as they stalked upwards, the wolf at point with its nose to the ground and the others following in its lead.

Twilight realized she was getting nowhere, and gave up on proceeding upwards. Flight was no longer an option, so fight became the new strategy.

Twilight galloped horizontally along the loose shale, sending rocks rolling downhill with each step. She backed herself against the earthen wall that bordered the chute, too tall to jump over and too steep to ascend. her breathing was heavy in adrenaline now, and it only grew stronger when she saw the wolves noticing the tumbling rocks she'd sent down to them, effectively telling them exactly where she was.

The wolf at point followed the trails of the stones as they descended. Patchy black fur, yellow eyes, a thin body, emaciated ribs, and the rotting teeth exposed as the creature snarled up at her gave Twilight all the clues she needed to figure out the reason for the wolves' desperation; they were famished, and she was a potential meal.

Twilight began to panic as the wolves, at least a dozen of them, came barreling up the hill at her with elegant grace and surprisingly little effort. They fanned out when they reached her, surrounding her in a semicircle, cutting off any hopes of escape.

Out of options, she sparked a glow from her horn, and prepared to defend herself.

The wolves howled and yipped excitedly as they darted in at her, then backed away, but coming closer all the time. Their shoulders were hunched and tense as they prowled forward, dashed in, and then circled back and around like a well oiled machine, each pack member taking its turn as they pressed her into a smaller and smaller space.

She fired a searing bolt of magic at one that drew a bit too close, its lavender beam striking the wolf in its shoulder. It jumped and yelped, and ran a short distance off with smoke emitting from its charred flesh, but the rest of the pack was un-phased as closer and closer they came.

They snapped at her ankles or growled at her from a few feet's distance, shepherding her into a tighter and tighter area until she simply couldn't move without running straight into the waiting jaws of one of the pack members.

Then, from mere feet away, one of them lounged for her. Twilight shot a bolt of magic at the obsidian wolf, but missed, and she turned away with closed eyes to try and avoid her inevitable demise.

But, instead of feeling pain, she felt the sun's warmth leave her as she felt herself suddenly being cast into a shadow, and she heard a grotesque, spilling sound accompanied by a violent impact and a driving wind.

Confused, Twilight looked up; the pack was scattering. They ran away from her, half the pack going one way, the other half going the other; only one stood its ground.

It stayed loyal to the hunt, and leapt for her. The wolf seemed to freeze in midair, moving in slow motion through the dry, cold atmosphere with fangs bared into a fierce snarl.

Twilight felt herself come into a shadow suddenly once more, and she heard the wet, gut-wrenching impact alongside the driving wind. Only this time, she saw the sounds' cause.

A massive trio of talons simply swooped in, being borne by something she was too surprised to see. They plunged themselves into the wolf's ribcage, stealing it from the air only feet from Twilight's nose. The creature yelped and cried as its blood spilled and colored the shale maroon, the talons plunging into both sides of its chest cavity, and pushing their way out the opposite sides.

Twilight blinked in shock; one second, she was about to die, and the next, her to be killer was dead.

She felt another shadow pass over her, as well as a driving wind, and above her, she heard a sound. Partially, it was a roar, but its deafening bass note was soon joined by a higher pitched *woof* of air. The sound continued on above her, and she saw one half of the pack suddenly engulfed by a downwards flowing column of fire and smoke. Even the rocks were ignited by the heat; the five wolves had no chance, and became an inferno of fur and flesh within seconds, barely even yelping before death claimed them.

Twilight looked up to see a massive beast, scaly and red with four legs tucked under its belly in flight, snap its mouth shut and cut off the stream of crimson fire. It pumped its expansive wings as it burrowed through the rising pillar of smoke it had birthed, and the black air spiraled in its wake.

She was awestruck by the sight of the dragon as it rose into the sky, and as she followed it, it caught up to two others in the grey, misty clouds. In a fashion akin to the Wonderbolts, the three circled back around, one banking to the left, another to the right, and the third looping around vertically.

They came in a second time, and the surviving wolves scattered again, still reluctant to abandon potential prey but not stupid enough to bunch up. The dragons dove down to within feet of the ground, and dust kicked up from the air being pushed down by their wing beats. Two more wolves were picked off by the smaller of the three again, and they rose into the sky with the lupines writhing as they were impaled on their razor like talons, while the third, the biggest, sent down another stream of fire into the remaining cluster of canines. Their second pass complete, the dragons darted directly over Twilight's head, blowing her around with the wind currents they caused.

Two of the stragglers finally gave up when the rest of their pack mates died smoldering or bleeding in the grips of the beasts and took off downhill, but one remained. It looked dazed, and it stumbled around for a bit before finally locking its eyes onto Twilight once again. It focused on her as it began to move into position to cut her off from escape again, and it tried to press her towards the steep wall of the berm behind her.

Made confident by her recently improved odds, Twilight again sparked a hum of energy from her horn, and prepared to fend off the wolf. But, as the creature was drawing nearer, its focus suddenly diverted to the sky above the unicorn, and she felt another telltale downwards rush of wind.

She heard something heavy land above and behind her, punishing the earth with a vicious impact, and something whistled over her head. The wolf suddenly fell with the nock of an arrow protruding from its throat, kicking against death as it overcame it.

Before the wolf stopped moving, another gust of wind buffeted her to the ground, literally blowing her down, and she looked up to see one of the dragons no more than ten feet above her. It dropped suddenly from the air, crushing the loose shale beneath its bulk, the size of a train engine, as it landed practically on top of her.

The dragon screamed a shrill note as it extended its snake-like neck and opened its gaping maw, hot, stinky breath invading Twilight's nostrils and parting her mane. Its obsidian scales weren't matched by the red interior of its mouth, and its wings folded backwards as it stood, its front appendages being wings and legs simultaneously. She leaned back and away from the rows of railroad spikes that the creature had for teeth, when suddenly, its head jerked backwards and its mouth snapped shut.

Twilight lowered her hoof, which she'd raised in a vain effort to protect herself, as the dragon turned perpendicular to her, and for the first time, she got a good look at one of the beasts...as well as its rider.

She'd found the Windriders, or more, they'd found her.

Her amazement for the dragon was seized by a form on its back, straddling the space between two skyward pointing spines in an exotic looking saddle, made from a leather seat and straps and metal links and stirrups. It had reigns wrapped around its hooves, reigns that connected to the wyvern's gazelle like horns through a hole bored through their bases. On its back was a quiver, filled with dozens of arrows and a bow, as well as a sheathed scimitar.

It jumped down from the space between the dragon's folded wings, and upon landing, she realized it was equine, though it didn't look the part. In the saddle, it had sat upright, almost bipedal, but now, it walked on all fours. It resembled a pony in form, but its surface was all wrong; its body and head were brown while its lower legs were a dark blue, and it had ram's horns on its head. It seemed to be neither male nor female, as there was nothing to allude to its gender that was visible.

The rider came closer to her, and when standing before her, she realized it was wearing a sheep's skin, its tanned hide making for a coat, hood and facemask. The rider was tall and built, and it carried itself with extreme pride. It circled around Twilight, moving in a way that seemed to blend the gate of a pony and a predator. It inspected her carefully, stopping when it had circumnavigated her, and looking into her eyes; the rider had fierce amber eyes, eyes with fire in them, and a small bit of navy blue fur around those eyes where the tanned ram's skin wasn't present.

Suddenly, the dragon gave an excited squawk, and in synchronization, the other two dragons landed a bit farther into the chute. Another wyvern, a sage green one and the smallest of the three, the size of a caboose instead of an engine, set down lightly and with grace, but the third, the one that had used its fire as well as being the largest, being able to rival a house in size, crashed into the earth with a braced set of limbs. The two dragons folded their wings, involuntarily exposing their riders as well.

They wore skins too; the one on the wyvern sported the hide of a stag, light tan on the body and dark brown on the hood, which was adorned with a pair of four point antlers; the other one on the big beast wore a bear's skin, eyes looking through the creature's open, hollowed out mouth. Their weapons were similar; they carried bows and arrows, and javelins instead of scimitars.

The dragons, as the first had, began to fret over Twilight, growling and squabbling when she looked at them, but again, the riders shut them up with a tug on the reigns, fixed to their heads with straps or metal ring piercings.

They were not on the ground for long when the dismounted rider yelled at the two of them, and pointed downhill.

"Thresh un kitruben!"

The two riders nodded and pulled on the reigns, and kicking their dragons in their sides, took off, and darted downhill after the fleeing members of the pack.

The first rider turned back to Twilight, staring into her eyes for a long time, sternly, but not threatening. The amber irises and unbroken stare, even though she was in not in danger, intimidated her, and she found herself shying away ever so slightly.

Then, with no indication whatsoever, the rider turned suddenly, and cantered back to the dragon. He ascended the six feet to the saddle with amazing dexterity, kicking off of the wyvern's knee, bracing against a lateral spike, and pulling up into the saddle. He straddled the dragon's spine, and taking the reigns in one hoof, he looked back to Twilight. He stared down at her for a while, before finally extending a hoof to her, gently reaching out and nodding while waving towards the dragon with a wrist.

Twilight hesitated, slowly drawing nearer; she didn't know what would come about if she accepted, but she didn't have much choice. Her entire purpose for being in the mountains in the first place was in front of her; she couldn't get cold hooves now.

She began to slowly, cautiously come closer to the dragon, and when she reached its side, she heard a slight rumble.

She withdrew, thinking that the obsidian wyvern was growling, but when rocks began falling down from above her, she knew it was something else; an earthquake.

Another rumble came, stronger this time, resounding from deep within the mountain. More rocks came tumbling down as the ground began to shake, and the dragon spooked.

It began shaking its head back and forth, and it bucked, tearing the reigns from the rider's hooves. The rider grabbed on as the dragon reared up, and was flung about on its back as it began to take to the sky, leaving Twilight behind on the ground. The rider wrestled for control with the dragon, and Twilight looked up to see boulders now beginning to come down from the mountain, larger than the shards of shale that had preceded it.

Then, with the rider still struggling to reign in his dragon, she heard the sound. It started as a rumble, but it grew larger and angrier, and she looked up to the cave she'd been making her way towards as the source of the noise became clear. It grew louder and louder until it was deafening, and the roar shook the ground as well as the heads of those who heard it.

What had started as a small rockslide had now become an avalanche of stones, and Twilight began dodging the tumbling chunks of granite and sandstone as the rider wrestled the wyvern slowly back towards the ground.

"Reta!" yelled the rider, reaching down towards Twilight as he lowered the dragon to within a few feet of the moving earth.

"Come closer!" she yelled, "I can't reach!"

"Reta! Mortisserax! Fenta!"

"I can't reach! Come closer! Help me!"

The dragon finally cooperated, but not without complaining loudly in primal fear, and descended to the ground as rocks bounced off of its thick scaly skin. Twilight jumped as high as she could, and felt her hooves touch the rider's, as well as a hard impact against her temple, and darkness took over her vision.

Of Adventurers and Dragons

Two stallions sat in the middle of Golden Oaks Library, the larger of the two having claimed the couch, and the smaller, demoted to the floor. Sparks was the unlucky one with his flanks on the hardwood, and Barns was trying to get as comfortable as he could in the brown tinted armor he was recently reprimanded for taking off, and ordered to put back on; Sarge sometimes took his job a bit too seriously, especially when their most recent orders were to house-sit a library and safeguard a baby dragon. Barns had his mahogany eyes on the most interesting blank patch of wall in the house, while Sparks' ice blue gaze was glued to his hooves.

"You know what I just noticed," began the blonde colt slowly, looking at his copper wrist gauntlets intently.

"What?" responded Barns in his telltale southern accent, flicking his long, rust colored mane out of his eyes.

"We're the tech guys, right?"

"Yeah," agreed the red stallion.

"So, we're always working with electricity and stuff."

"Right," agreed Barns again.

"So, why are we wearing one of the most conductive metals in the world as armor?"

Both stallions were silent as Sparks waited to be answered, and Barns tried to think of one. The thought had never crossed their minds before, and now it had slapped them directly in the face.

There was a long silence as the two stallions tried to think of a reason, and their eyes became dazed as they were hit by a merciless, oncoming freight train loaded down with realization, as well as a few shipments of snafu and fubar. They felt a little sad; only a little.

But then, Barns lightened the mood.

"At least we're not in the Labor Platoon."

Sparks shuddered at the thought.

The following silence ended soon, and a deep, strong voice called in from outside through an open window.

"Any movement in there?"

"Negatory Sarge!" yelled back Barns automatically, "Operation 'Don't Let The Dragon Leave The House' is progressin' smoothly. How's Operation 'Patch The Hole In The Wall' goin'?"

"I could use some help!" came the low pitched reply.

"Sorry sir," yelled Barns, getting a bit more comfortable on the couch, "but we need at least two sets of eyes to watch all the potential escape routes in here! I'd love to help, but I have to comply with my standin' operational duties! Maybe we could call for some reinforcements from the Corps of Engineers; ya know, the mare's Division?!"

Sparks gave a silent hoof bump to his comrade for coming up with the idea, which was nothing less than pure genius.

"Not necessary!" replied Sarge to prompt a depressed sigh from the two inside, "I need a detailed situation update in there ASAP!"

"Roger Dodger!"

The sounds of a hammer pounding nails into wood outside continued, and Sparks yelled into the deep interior of the library.

"Spike, how ya doin' back there?!"

No response.

"Oh Mr. Draaa-gon," Barns sang out as he made his way towards the first floor room the dragon had claimed was his bedroom, "We got some more pancakes out here! And caaaa-ndyyy.

"Dude, could you possibly sound any more rapey?" whispered Sparks from behind him.

"Shut-up, you'll scare him away."

"I guess you can."

"Shut up Sparks!"

The colt went quiet, stifling a few quiet giggles as Barns kept going towards the door.

"Spike, what's up? Come on now, I'm just checkin' on ya."

Again, no response.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell him what the unicorn did. When he heard, he locked himself up in there good. Hay, we haven't even heard from him since."

Barns reached the door, opening it to find it leading down into an unfinished, dusty, cob-web ridden basement.

"Ugh," Sparks said suddenly at his side, "He sleeps down there?"

"Not much of a bedroom is it?" added Barns.

It took the red stallion more than a few moments to realize the complete accuracy of his sarcasm, and his eyes widened as he trotted down the stairs with an oblivious colt in tow.

"Oh, buck me," mumbled Barns as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Spike!" yelled Sparks as he began checking under anything and everything and inside every sealed cabinet door, "Here boy!"

"He's not a dog."

"Hey, I barely even know the guy. I don't know what he likes to be called," said Sparks as he turned over an ancient looking pile of cleaning supplies to find no dragon concealed by their mass, "Hay, he might as well be some kind of a pet if this is his room. There isn't even a bed."

"Dammit Sparks," said Barns as he looked around desperately, "that's because this ain't his room."

"So, where is he?"

"Ya know for how smart you are, you're one of the biggest idiots I know."

"Ok, but still, where is he?"

Barns didn't answer; his attention had been captivated by the window, and he made his way over to it. It swung loosely open, being a generous height above the floor of the basement, and several old, tattered sheets and blankets were knotted together to form a rope that ascended through it.

Barns noticed a small paper tied into the rope's knots, and grabbed it, peering in closer to read its dull writing.

"Dear Soldiers,

I'm going after Twilight. She shouldn't be out there alone for something I did. Don't come after me.

-Spike"

"Crap," mumbled Sparks over Barn's shoulder, "That's not good."

"Sarge is gonna be pissed."

****************

Twilight felt herself come awake, but refused to open her eyes at first. Her head hurt, and she squeezed her eyelids together, trying to shut out the immense pain in her temple.

Though her head hurt, the rest of her body was extremely comfortable; a bit sore maybe, but she was lying on her back, and was surrounded by a soft, warm embrace. She nearly involuntarily snuggled down when a thought crossed her mind; she had no idea where she was.

Sounds began to register in her ears, and she felt them twitching before she opened her eyes to look; the soft crackling of a fire, a distant hum of wind, and voices, low and indiscernible in the quiet.

She opened her eyes, slowly, and she felt something pressed against the side of her head move with her flexing cheek muscles. She reached up to her temple; there was a bandage wrapped around her skull, and when she withdrew her hoof, a small dot of crimson blood had tainted her hide, apparently having leaked through the linen.

She was in some sort of home; a single, large room with a fire pit in its center and walls adorned with things of all sorts, from weapons hanging off of mounts on the walls to trinkets and charms hanging from the ceiling. It was strangely homely, despite the lack of civilized things; no sink, no other rooms, only a single room filled with simple wooden, hide covered furniture.

Her fascination for her new setting was quickly seized by the beginnings of a conversation, and she looked over to the center of the room to see three ponies around a fire.

They had gathered around the flame; one, a tall, lean, navy blue stallion, tended to a pair of cauldrons over the fire; another, a gold-hued mare of a thin, but defined stature, sat on a small bed of sorts a small distance from the blaze; a third, a brown stallion with an immensely thick chest and equally built legs, sat at a small table, going through her saddlebags. They were all earth ponies, and all had the same long, dark, mane woven into a single tight braid.

Their faces and upper chests were exposed, but they wore tanned animal skin coats, their hoods thrown back onto their shoulders and their face covers pulled down around the fronts of their necks. None of them spoke now, but they all seemed healthily content.

The largest of them was very intrigued with her luggage's contents, as the others were with cooking over the fire, and one by one, he inspected each thing she'd brought with her. He brought out a quill, looking over it carefully as he held it up to catch the fire's light, and seemed to be trying to discern its purpose. Apparently he thought it pointless, as he let it go with a dissatisfied grunt, and let it flutter back down to the ground.

Next, he retrieved a block of cheese from the saddlebag, and turned it in his hooves curiously. He looked at it confused, and then passed it under his nose as he inhaled through his nostrils. An eyebrow raised, and next, slowly and gingerly, he placed his tongue against the white flesh of the cheese. He pulled his tongue back in, smacked his lips together twice as he processed the taste, smiled, and then took a generous portion of the food into his mouth with an enormous bite.

He sighed contentedly, chewing with the entirety of his mouth full, and in the process, intrigued the mare on the other side of the fire. She looked up, interested by the recent discovery, and his mouth still full, the stallion tossed the remnant of the block of cheese to the mare. She caught it, and likewise, cautiously inspected it before she herself tasted it, and seemed to like it as well.

"Das gud, ye?" rumbled the large stallion after swallowing, raising his voice to finish his statement to indicate a question, and the mare nodded enthusiastically.

She offered a bit of the cheese to the third, the one stirring the pot, but he ignored the offer. The big stallion found her maps and the rest of her food, and likewise, shared it with the mare, who tried to do the same to the other stallion, but again, he denied, occupied with stirring the cauldrons.

Twilight was uncomfortable with them around at first, but she soon gripped the improbability of her being in danger.

If they'd meant to harm her, they'd had plenty of chances already, and the fact that she was not only alive but being given shelter was definite proof that she was safe.

The brown stallion kept going through her things, eventually finding the sterling mirror she'd brought with as a gift; he seemed not to care that it may be for him, and anything but gently, he placed the delicate trinket on the table with a thud, and Twilight barely rustled the sheets as she flinched.

The sound Twilight's movement produced, though barely even audible to her, was apparently discernible to her company, and the blonde hued mare's ears perked up as her head snapped to her resting place.

The others noticed her interest peak, and likewise, looked towards the bed. Twilight feigned to be asleep; she fooled none of them.

The navy stallion dipped a ladle into one of the cauldrons, and filled a small wooden saucer with its contents. He plodded towards the bed, and even though Twilight hid underneath the blankets draped over her, he prodded her with an outstretched hoof. He had no luck in convincing her to move, so he gently pulled the blankets back, exposing her head and shoulders, reminiscent of a foal trying to urge a parent out of bed. She rolled over, and he knelt down at the bed's side.

She sat up, trying to avoid eye contact. Apparently he didn't like that, as the stallion turned her face towards his, not roughly, but firmly. She looked into his eyes; amber and intense, with fire dancing in their irises. She remembered the look in his eyes, as well as the ram's horns anchored into the hood on his back; he was the stallion from the mountain, the one that rode the obsidian wyvern.

He stared into her eyes, not blinking, and neither smiling nor frowning, until he clapped her on the shoulder, pulled her close to him, and mumbled a collection of sounds.

"Torra serra."

His voice wasn't too low, and had a soothing quality even though what he was saying was a mystery. Once finished with his apparent greeting, he held the wooden saucer to her lips. She drew away; the smell was enough to compel her to withdraw, but the brown, lumpy surface repulsed her completely.

But, the stallion was insistent.

"Drink," he petitioned softly.

Twilight's shocked expression took her focus off of the unknown liquid under her nose, and she stared bewildered into the stallion's amber eyes.

"You speak Equestrian?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"That is not important. This is important," he said, and again, tilted the bowl towards her lips.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Medicine," came the response, "You are hurt. Please drink."

Twilight reluctantly accepted, and managed a small sip before she nearly gagged. She choked down the liquid, but the taste lingered. She tried scraping her tongue against the roof of her mouth, but it did nothing.

"What's in that?" she asked, disgusted.

The stallion responded casually, "Sage, pig's blood and dragon bile."

His voice was devoid of an accent, and he annunciated each syllable properly and carefully.

"Where am I?" she asked, only to have the rest of the 'medicine' pushed into her mouth.

"A safe place," came the response.

He set the wooden vessel on the ground next to the bed, its contents having been downed by the unwilling patient, and he reached out to touch her forehead as she winced. He rubbed his hooves together, ridding them of the dots of blood that leaked through the linen, and began unwrapping the cloth from around her forehead.

"So, how can you speak Equestrian?" she asked.

"Merchants from Trottingham going over the mountains to the Crystal Empire many years ago that lost their way. I found the survivors. I gave them shelter, and in exchange, they taught me to speak their language. Since then, I've passed a bit on to the others, but most still prefer our tongue."

He finished unwinding the bandage, and replaced it, tying a fresh strip of linen around her head.

"A rock hit your head. You were knocked out," he explained, "We took you back with us. What were you doing on the scarred mountain?"

"Mt. Massive?" she replied.

"If that's what you call it."

"I was, umm, looking for you. You are the Windriders?"

"Windriders?" he replied, tying off the bandage, "If that's what they call us in the valley, then yes, we are the them. Unless...are there any others that have done what we have?"

"Well, no," Twilight said, realizing it was a stupid question.

A small silence interrupted them, and the stallion used the time to retrieve a bowl of broth from the larger of the cauldrons, returning once his vessel was full. He flicked his braid over his shoulder, and began to blow on the steaming broth.

"What are you called?" he asked before taking a drink from the bowl.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," she replied, "what about you?"

"My name is Brand in your tongue, 'son of fire'.

"Brand," she reiterated, "well, it's good to meet you."

He took another drink, and held it towards her in a wordless offer, but she shook her head no. Rather, as he swallowed, she looked to the other side of the tent to the others, still intently watching her.

"Are they friends of yours?" she asked, tilting her head in the direction of the fire.

"Kin," answered the mare, joining in the conversation and revealing she too knew Equestrian, "Cousins."

Suddenly, the brown stallion at the table spoke, loudly and in a guttural rumble.

"Un kitruben. Vi morta la."

His face was stern and scrunched into a glare, and his massive forelimbs were propped up menacingly on the table. The mare began to speak to him, seeming to try and calm him down, and the two began into a muffled debate.

"Thresh, we have a guest. Speak so she can understand," scolded Brand, but the others ignored him, and continued arguing in an incomprehensible language.

"What are they saying?" asked the unicorn nervously.

"Thresh thinks we should have left you; he doesn't trust you. Merda and I decided to take you back here. He doesn't like outsiders."

"Well why not?" she asked.

The big stallion got up violently from the table, and stalked towards the door after pulling his bear skin up and over his head. Before leaving, he glared once at the bed-ridden unicorn, and then stomped outside.

"Ever since the last travelers came, the ones from Trottingham, many of us have been resentful. Some think outsiders cannot be trusted, others simply want to stay secluded."

"Why is everypony so worried about outsiders."

"They tried to steal eggs," came the reply, but not from the stallion; the mare said it from the other side of the room, "I trust you won't do the same."

Twilight was silent for a while as she came to realize the fates of the last 'outsiders', and suddenly, the scimitars and daggers all over the walls seemed much sharper.

"What do you think Brand?" she asked, "About outsiders?"

"I think you're fine," he replied, "but it doesn't matter what I think; it matters what Uncle thinks. "

"Who's Uncle?"

"The chief."

He pushed her down a bit into her bed, coaxing her to sleep.

"You'd better rest. Your council is tomorrow. Then we'll find out what we'll do with you."

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long to release. Life has hit me with a wave of shiz as of late. More should come soon.

Verdicts

"Wake up please."

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she rolled over under the blankets of the bed, refusing to open her eyes.

"Wake up please," the same voice petitioned a second time.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled, craving nothing more than a few more moments of restful comfort under the soft sheets.

"Wake up now please, Twilight," came the voice again as her blankets began to be removed, "We must go to your council."

"My council?" she groaned, morning grogginess plaguing her thoughts.

Then, rapidly, she sat up, causing a bit of a recoil from the navy blue stallion at her bedside as she finally remembered where she was. Brand reached out to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder, calming her a bit as he slowed her awakening, and, like before, leaned in close to her, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Torra serra," he said, and then, casually, he withdrew, and stood upright beside the bed.

"Dream well?" asked Brand, smiling a bit, "You slept nearly an hour past dawn."

"I guess so," she said rubbing her eyes, "Is that sort of thing unusual for you?"

"Yes. We rise and set with the sun each day. But, I understand you came from the valley, and you need rest to heal," Brand said as he pointed to the bandage still around her head.

Twilight turned, hanging her back hooves off of the side of the bed as the covers slid off of her tired body, and Brand reached out to her. He touched her forehead gingerly, and began unwrapping the bandage around her head, folding it around his hooves as he did.

"It looks good," he said reassuringly, "No more blood."

He set the bandages aside, and, as he had the night before, held out a wooden bowl filled with a dark brown sludge.

"Last bowl," he said, smiling "I promise."

Twilight took the medicine, grimacing a bit at the smell alone, and reluctantly, gulped the entire vessel's worth of liquid down to just be done with it.

"I know, it tastes bad, but it is good for wounds."

Brand stood up and walked back to the center of the room, the only room of the entire home, and stood above a cauldron over the still burning fire. He filled two more bowls with broth from the large pot, and brought them over to the bedside.

"But this tastes much better. Breakfast for you?"

He held out one of the bowls as he finished, and Twilight, at the request of a growl from her stomach, took the bowl in her magic. She drank deeply, and found it to be a sort of hearty stew. She finished the bowl hungrily, licking her lips clean of broth as she finished, an Brand gave her a smile.

"So, this council?" Twilight began.

"Ahh yes," Brand said as he downed the last of his breakfast.

He took her bowl from her, and rose to take them back to the cauldron, explaining the plan for the day as he did.

"We must go to see my uncle, the chief. He will ask you questions, and you must answer them with truth. Then, he will decide what to do with you."

"Well, what sort of things would he do with me?" Twilight asked as she stepped onto the floor, standing on her own after what felt like days in bed.

"Oh, it is hard to say. He is a wise chief, but he, like most of us, may be a bit weary of travelers ever since the merchants from Trottingham. But, if everything you have said is true, and you remain honest, nothing bad will come to you."

Twilight nodded to herself a bit as Brand came back to her.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"I think so," she said, sighing a bit.

"Well then..." Brand began as he pushed through the flaps of the home, which acted as a door.

Twilight followed, squinting at the bright sun as she stepped into the crisp morning air. Once her eyes adjusted, she took in the sight of her surroundings...it was beautiful.

She was in a small village erected on a mountain terrace, the homes all built from simple wood and tanned animal skins. The mountains above and below were extremely steep, dropping off from the perimeter of the village in a sheer cliff. The sierras above were obscured by a lingering cloud, and she could not see more than a hundred feet up, but she could see the world in its entirety below her. Rivers, distant forests...she thought she could see the reflective ivory of Canterlot's towers, glinting in the sunlight.

Each home in the village had a small garden, and some even had livestock, mostly pigs and chickens, and an occasional dog. But, for all the dwellings around her, not one of their inhabitants were visible.

"Hey, Brand," she said quietly as she followed him through the dirt paths, weaving around the homes.

"Yes?"

"Where is everypony?"

"Waiting for us, at the Gathering."

Twilight nodded a bit, realizing that this civilization was, well, different. That they would all be present at her council would imply that either it was something important enough to demand everypony's attention, or, that all were somehow involved in the decision-making. Her mind flashed back to Thresh the night before in the home, namely, how he, and apparently others, were mistrusting of outsiders.

She swallowed hard, hoping that the chief, whoever he was, would be understanding.

"How much farther to the gathering place?"

"The Gathering is just a bit farther," he said, gesturing ahead to the rising white smoke of a definite bonfire, "Oh and a piece of advice."

The stallion turned around to look her in the eye, and Twilight knew what he was about to say was serious.

"Make sure you look everypony in the eye, and do not look away before they do, especially the chief. Do not speak until you are spoken to, and try not to move around too much. Everything depends on your first impression. The entire village will be there, so you need to represent yourself well."

"Ok," said Twilight, growing nervous, and Brand continued.

"You must address the chief as Thappa, Father. You must call him this, even though the rest of us will not."

"Can I ask why?"

"Of course," Brand responded, turning back around to lead the way towards their destination, "You are not one of us. Those who are a part of the tribe, the 'Windriders', as you call us, are all equal, and the chief exists to give order and guidance, because he is the oldest and the wisest. We call everypony, even the chief, Sorra, sister, or Therra, brother, because we are all the same. But, you are not one of us, so you are not recognized as equal to the chief, or, for that matter, any of us."

Brand looked down as he finished, as if he resented the truth in his words, but Twilight understood what he was trying to say, and that he was just trying to inform her.

"So, wait, then why..."

"Shh, shh," Brand interrupted, "We are here. Remember what I told you."

He reached out to her, pushing her up as he emphasized that she needed to stand up straight, and hold her head high.

"The Gathering is around the corner," he explained, nodding towards a wooden home just before them, "Do not forget what I told you, and you'll be fine. You'll probably be fine anyway, but just to make this easier for both of us."

"Both of us?"

"Yes, both of us. I am here to protect you, so don't anger the others, or I will be in trouble too."

Twilight nodded, noting how serious he was, amber fire prancing about in his eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked to receive another nod, "Follow me."

Brand led the way around the corner of the home, revealing a large congregation of ponies gathered around a large bonfire. They were all seated on the ground, and deathly silent, nearly one hundred pairs of eyes, young and old, turning to meet Twilight as she became visible. Unlike before, all the ponies weren't wearing any sorts of animal skins, and were bare skinned, exposing their true hides.

Twilight saw no dragons; a bit disappointing, as she'd expected them to proliferate the very village itself, yet, they remained hidden. They were very stoic, neither happy nor sad, and watched her with silent eyes as she made her way after Brand, making sure to look those around her in the eye, and trying to appear confident; she didn't think it was working.

Brand came up very close to the fire, and stood at its side, looking through the flames and smoke to an old, haggard pony on the far side of the flames. Twilight stood at his side, and mirrored his gaze at who she assumed was the chief. He was beige with a dark mane, a sprinkle of gray hair thrown in, twisted into a long braid, the longest present. He was a bit wrinkled, distinct frown lines on his face and one eye blinded by cataracts. He was wrinkled, but his bones were straight, and he stood upright, unlike the others on the ground. It was strange; he wore nothing that signified him from the rest of the ponies present, and nothing other than the way he carried himself alluded to his authority. At his side sat the two from the night before, the stallion and the mare, Thresh and Merda, Brand's cousins.

Twilight stopped for a moment at Brand's side, staring through the fire into the stern eyes of the chief, making sure not to divert her gaze. It was deathly quiet; the only sound was that of the crackling fire, and a distant, howling wind in the clouds far above.

It seemed like ages before the chief finally spoke.

"Wudar terra, pa qua reta a ve?" said the chief, raising his voice at the end of his sentence.

Twilight knew the question was addressed to her, but she had no idea what had been asked. For the first time since she arrived, she looked away from the chief, turning her confused and worried eyes to Brand at her side, imploring him for help in silence. He met her gaze with equal concern, before he himself addressed the patriarch.

"Therra, la ne konos lenos ton."

The chief looked at Brand, confused for a bit, but then, he nodded, apparently having understood something. He leaned over to Thresh at his side, and whispered something, meanwhile Brand turned to Twilight on the other side of the fire.

"He asked you why you've come, but I told him you didn't speak our tongue," he whispered, confirming Twilight's thoughts.

Before another moment passed, the chief, in the same quiet, but firm raspy voice, spoke again.

"Wanderer, what brings you to us?"

Twilight cleared her throat while all present seemed to lean in closer awaiting her answer.

"Sir," she began, only to have Brand elbow her in the ribs.

"Thappa," she corrected, making sure to pronounce the term correctly, "I am not a wanderer. I have come from my home in Equestria to find you."

Some quiet whispers came from those gathered, but none arose to speak in full.

"And why have you found us?" the chief pushed, his voice, like Brand's, devoid of an accent, and careful and methodical in pronunciation.

"To learn," she said, keeping eye contact.

"And what do you wish to learn about?"

Twilight sighed a bit, debating over whether to explain, or simply state facts. She thought it better to explain.

"Where I come from, we have a problem. That problem was a dragon. Your legends have spread from here to the lands below, and I was one who heard them. I have come in hopes that you would teach me about dragons."

More whispers came from those around the fire, more loudly this time, and even the chief seemed taken back. Eventually, he raised a hoof in the air, and the rabble immediately died down.

"Others have come before you to learn," the chief said slowly, "It is hard to teach a thief about what they try to steal. Greed is blinding, and also deadly."

The chief's tone had changed; it was more menacing now, but his expression remained the same, and his blank stare beckoned Twilight for an answer.

"I am not a thief," she said sincerely, "I come honestly by my own accord, and I surrender my future to your wisdom."

Twilight stole a glance at Brand at her side as she lowered herself into a bow; his expression said, "Not bad.''

She picked herself up again as the chief suddenly walked from his side of the fire to Twilight's. He walked right up to her, and she didn't know whether to be afraid or concerned by his interest. He came to within feet of her, the chief, Brand and Twilight being the only ones standing in the entire congregation.

He began circling her, just now devoting his eyes to her body instead of her face. He encircled her, inspecting each aspect of her body, even poking her in the flank or back a few times, not deterred in the least by a concept of personal space. On his third pass, the chief, without looking away from Twilight's features, addressed Brand.

"Where did you find her?"

"The scarred mountain."

The chief's eyes widened a bit, but he quickly diverted them to their normal size. His gaze found her forehead, only a trace of a wound where the rock had struck her left.

"How was she hurt?"

"A rockslide. She was fending off the pack of wolves that had been raiding the nests. We killed them off, but before we could take to the sky, another quake hit, and rocks began falling. She took a harsh blow."

The chief completed another circle around her, flicking her mane with his hoof, and likewise to her tail. He stepped before her once again, now no more than a few feet from her with no flames to separate their eyes.

"You came from the valley alone?"

"Yes," Twilight responded, not looking away with great effort.

"You stood against the wolves?"

"Yes."

"You braved the scarred mountain?"

Twilight nodded.

"All of this, under your own accord?"

"Yes."

The chief shook his head up and down, stepping away from her, his inspection apparently complete. He walked back around the fire pit, and retook his place amidst his children. Then, he turned to the others, and raised his voice.

"What would we do with her?"

Hundreds of answers were shouted at once, some in Equestrian, some in a tongue unrecognizable to Twilight's ears. Among them were, "Send her back,", "She can't be trusted,", and, "She is not one of us,", but also several saying things like, "Her heart is worthy."

The chief let the open session lag on for a while, listening to all answers, until, after a short while, he held out his hooves, and there was silence.

"She has the foundations of courage in her heart, and her devotion is strong; few have dared the scarred mountain and returned, and fewer still have faced down a wolf pack unarmed, and lived on."

The chief stopped for a moment.

"She has come to learn, not to take, and under her own will. Her heart is strong, as is her mind, and her body is enduring for a pony from the valley."

Twilight was beginning to feel more confident as the chief went on.

"So, we will teach her. She will know how to be one of us, and then, when she returns to her home, her tales of our greatness will remind the valley of our strength, and our legends will live on!"

Twilight tried hard to suppress her growing happiness, until she finally gave up, and a smile spread on her face.

"She is not an outsider any longer, but she is not yet one of us," continued the chief, "Respect her as if she were a sister of the sky, until perhaps, she becomes one."

Twilight could tell that the others were experiencing mixed emotions about her verdict.

"Brand, you brought her here. You will be her teacher. Make our ways into hers, nephew, and maybe, we can both learn from each other," said the chief as he finally sat down, giving Twilight the first smile she'd received since arriving at the Gathering.

Brand nodded to the patriarch, shooting a grin at Twilight at his side. The congregation began moving about, some getting up to leave, others going about their business as usual, but the chief and his kin stayed where they were.

Brand leaned over to Twilight, and whispered, "Good job."

The unicorn smiled a bit, and followed as Brand turned to leave back the way they came.

"So, what is it you would like to know first?"

First Lessons

Twilight walked by Brand's side as they progressed back through the village, the same way they'd come, only now, the inhabitants of the village were out and about. Ponies of all sizes, exclusively earth ponies, all of them sporting dark, tightly woven braids. All were busy with something, mostly chores of sorts, but also conversing amongst themselves in their native tongues. Twilight walked on in silence as she traced Brand's footsteps, walking slightly behind him and just off to his side, and simply took everything in as she thought about which questions to ask, and which to hold on to for later.

Her eyes, perhaps a bit shamefully, wandered onto the flank of her companion as his toned muscles flexed with each step, and she promptly looked away, blushing despite not being caught. Involuntarily, alongside the definition in his legs, she also saw the image on his rear quarter's hide. This was the first time she'd really realized what his cutie mark depicted, as it was one of the first times she'd actually seen his flank uncovered. It was a sort of tribal weave, red and orange in color, depicting the head, tail, and outstretched wings of a dragon, as if it were flying upwards across his skin. She thought it remarkably fitting...and beautiful.

Brand was very patient so far; after all, he'd asked her a question, and he wasn't urging her to respond any time soon. A school teacher back home would not have done so, and Twilight kept telling herself that it was because she was practically in a new world now, and that things would be very different.

The sky was still grey, and the mountain tops were shrouded in misty veils, their granite slopes above the tree line reaching up to the monochrome sky, but the air she occupied was clear, and it was so all the way down to the valleys far below. She breathed in deeply; the air felt good in her lungs. It was pristinely clean, crisp and fresh with the smell of frost in the air, and the chill of a gentle breeze.

The view, the air, the reality of her newest acceptance, as well as her newest teacher...everything seemed to be going her way, and Twilight couldn't help but feel lucky, and very thankful. But, for all the good, there was one thing that was making her a bit nervous.

"Brand..."

"Yes," he responded, looking over his shoulder as he continued walking forward.

"Why are they all staring at me?"

The stallion smiled a bit, his dark blue hide, previously concealed by his ram skin cloak, shimmering in the sun.

"You are something new, in a place where almost everything stays the same."

Twilight was confused at first, but then found herself suppressing a laugh.

"What is it?" asked Brand, stopping to look Twilight in the eye.

"Nothing," she began, "It's just that I'm here, in this strange place with nothing in common with my own home, and yet, everypony here thinks I'm weird."

"You are weird," he said matter-of-factly, "You do not even wear a braid."

"No," Twilight said defensively, "You're all weird, because you all wear braids; even the stallions."

"It is a symbol for us; something to be proud of, not something to be ashamed of," Brand countered, his tone striking a new quality, one with a bit of hostility and a hint of hurt.

Twilight sighed.

"Next question," he said a bit demandingly.

"Before you begin again," Brand continued, turning back around to continue sauntering through the dirt paths of the village, "Just make me a promise please."

Twilight was a bit taken aback.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Don't ever make fun of me or my family ever again. If you ask questions, I promise to answer them with truth, but you must not laugh or scoff at what you learn while you are here."

"I promise," Twilight agreed sincerely, and Brand nodded appeasement.

There was a short silence as the two continued their stroll, but the tension was immediately broken by a pack of foals darting past them in what seemed to be a very physical game of tag.

"So, there must be plenty that you want to know," Brand said, his smile returning, though, not as full as before.

Twilight thought for a moment, but then, slowly, began to speak, bringing her focus back to the main reason she'd wound up here in the first place.

"So...where are all the dragons?"

Brand smiled a bit to himself, avoiding looking Twilight in the eye as he led her in between homes, and through small crowds of foals, looking up at her curiously.

"Here and there," he said after a short while.

"Oh, come on. Why haven't I seen any of them?"

Brand smiled to himself again as he took his time with his words, saying them carefully and properly.

"If a stranger came to your home, and you weren't sure you could trust him, would you leave your most precious treasure where he could see it?"

Twilight's mind drifted back to the library in Ponyville, specifically, the elemental crown within a safeguarded chest, hidden behind a bookcase.

"No," she answered.

"That is why you do not see the dragons. Up here, we do not live lives of luxury, but we are happy. Our treasures are not gold and silver; those are prizes for the dragons to keep. Our treasure is our knowledge, because nopony else has it. We are the only ones of all the clans that know what we know about dragons, and that treasure is one that is protected, much like your treasures back home. So, you being a stranger, our treasure is locked away, or, in our case, set free."

Twilight thought for a moment, tasting the stallion's reasoning, and finding it satisfying.

"But, what if I wasn't a stranger?"

Brand smiled again, and looked over his shoulder again to answer.

"Have you ever shown your treasures to your family, or even your dearest friends?"

"Yes," she responded, and Brand, still looking over his shoulder, allowed a glint to come to his eye, and Twilight knew what he meant.

"The day you become our friend, you will begin to see dragons, but the day you join our family... perhaps you will have one to call your own."

Twilight sighed a bit.

"I already have a dragon."

Brand whirled around, and gave her a look she had never seen before, something between confusion and anger.

"Then why do you come to us?"

"Beca..."

"You said you came to learn! What do you need to know if you already have a dragon?"

"I did come to learn," she retorted, looking around uncomfortably at the intense stares she was now receiving from everypony in sight.

"He is a dragon, but, he doesn't act like one."

Brand looked at her as if she was insane.

"What?"

"He's...civilized. He talks and helps with chores, and he's very well behaved...most of the time. As long as he acquires things in moderation, he's fine."

"What else does he do?" asked Brand curiously, his attitude changing drastically.

Twilight responded with one of the only things that came to mind.

"Almost everything he does is to try and impress one of my friends. We all know he likes her."

"He desires her as a mate?" asked Brand in disbelief.

"Well...yes, but he's nowhere near mature yet. I don't think that sort of desire has come yet. It's just an innocent crush."

"I see," Brand said, nodding a bit, "He acts like a pony."

Twilight was about to refute the answer, but then she realized he was completely correct. Brand turned back around to continue his stroll, and Twilight trotted after him.

"So, he is not a real dragon. Our dragons are. And that is why you have come? To learn about real dragons?"

Twilight nodded when Brand looked back at her.

"You will," he said encouragingly, "eventually. When you prove yourself worthy, you will join us in the sky."

As he finished, a distant sound came drifting downwards from mountaintops, concealed by clouded sky. At first, Twilight thought it was the wind, but she soon realized it was something else. It was strong and guttural, starting as a low pitched roar and growing into a high pitched shriek, like an eagle's cry. It echoed across the mountains, and was followed by another similar sound, though not quite as loud, and though Twilight's head snapped to the air above, all the others in sight simply went on with their business.

Brand looked up as well, and smiled, and pointing upwards, said, "Because that's where the real dragons are."

Twilight could tell her spreading grin was a bit excessive, and all of her fascination for whatever had made the noise was blatantly obvious.

"I know you do not want to wait any longer than you have to. You are like me; you want to be up there, not down here. So, let's get started."

"Alright," Twilight agreed, "What's first?"

****************

"Gardening?"

"No," Brand corrected, "farming."

The stallion handed her a bag of seeds, as well as a small spade made of some sort of black metal attached to a wooden handle, and gestured towards the small dirt field filled with working foals. Twilight looked around bewilderedly, from the primitive tool in her hoof to the dirty colts and fillies already in the field, busying themselves digging small holes, and planting the seeds three at a time.

"I thought you were getting me ready to work with dragons."

"This is one of the first steps," Brand explained, pointing to the foals once again, "They are getting ready to handle dragons as well."

Again, the unicorn looked down at the bag of seeds, made from cheap cloth, and back up to Brand.

"I don't know how I feel about this."

Brand took a step closer to her, and lowered his fiery amber eyes to look into hers, and gently answered.

"If you want to earn your place among us, you need to do as I say without question. I will not mislead you; you only need to trust me."

Brand turned her around with firm hooves, and began pushing her towards the field, her hooves dragging through the dirt as she involuntarily moved closer to the patch of tilled earth.

"A dragon is something to be earned. This is how all of the...'Windriders', as you call us, started. You must do the same. This is a very important job, and will help the village very much. We will need food stores for the winter, so, get to work. And once you prove you are above farming, we will move onto something more fun."

Twilight reached the place where the grass ended, and the dirt began, a gigantic rut marking where her hooves had cut through the dirt with Brand's encouragement, and the stallion stopped pushing. He walked up to her side, and whistled to one of the colts in the field.

The colt, a small, beige foal with a dark mane, woven into a short braid, turned with pricked up ears towards the two of them, and Brand yelled out to him.

"Kroll!" he yelled, waving for him to come, "Reta!"

The colt came trotting over, and looked up at the two of them with sparkling blue eyes. Brand knelt down to the level of the foal, and whispered a few things to him; Twilight couldn't tell what was being said, but the colt nodded as Brand stood back up.

"This is Merda's son, Kroll," he said, introducing Twilight to the youth, "I've taught him to speak some Equestrian; most of the foals do not. He will show you what to do."

With that Brand turned, and began to walk back in the direction of home.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Brand turned around, and walking backwards, gave his response.

"It's time to feed Perilax."

Then, he turned back around, and left Twilight in utter confusion.

"Perilax?"

"His dragon," explained the colt from her side, his glacier blue eyes looking up at her, "He likes pig."

"Wait. You mean the dragons eat meat?!" she said, shocked, as she looked down at Kroll, who eyed her suspiciously.

"Yes," he said, talking to her as if she were an idiot, "They are dragons. What do you think they eat?"

"I thought they all ate gemstones."

"Those are treats. Meals are meat."

Twilight spent a good portion of time stomaching the thought of Spike being carnivorous, before Kroll grabbed her by the hoof, and led her into the field among the other foals. The colt went back to work quickly, readying his spade and opening his bag of seeds.

"Like this," he said, and demonstrated by digging a small hole in the dirt with one strike of the spade, and filling it with a trio of seeds, covering them with soil when he was done.

Twilight prepared to do the same, and in a lavender aura, she lifted the spade, and was about to get working when Kroll grew excited.

"No magic!" he said suddenly, grabbing her spade from the air, and as if reciting a life-long lesson, he iterated, "Vlad, sut, und trun. Blood, sweat, and patience. You must do everything the right way, or else you will not be ready."

Twilight was shocked; the colt, for his youth, was not shy to tell her what to do in the least, and as he demanded that she do the chore manually, she found herself a bit too eager to comply. With her hoof now, she dug out a small scoop of dirt from the field, in line with the other mounds of displaced dirt so as to make rows and columns in a very efficiently organized pattern. Twilight admired the foals for doing such; the foals back in Ponyville wouldn't be able to keep focus for more than a few minutes on something such as simple farming chores, and yet these foals, unsupervised, had done a job to rival the work of Applejack.

As Kroll continued working, focused wholly on the task at hoof, Twilight felt herself smiling. There was just something about him, about everypony in this village, that put her in awe. It could have been just the way they carried themselves, or some sort of communal pride, but they seemed, though technologically inferior to the ponies of the valley, superior in spirit, and Twilight was wonderstruck almost every time she had looked into the eyes of a mare, stallion or foal; she hoped it would continue to be so.

Several minutes passed, the only sounds being the distant, occasional vocalizations of the dragons in the clouded mountaintops above, and the scraping of dirt. Eventually, Twilight decided to break the quiet.

"So Kroll, what are we planting?"

"Kreb," he responded without looking up from his work.

Twilight sighed.

"Do you know what kreb is in Equestrian?"

The colt shrugged, and planted another hoof-full of seeds. Twilight sighed again, and waited the duration of nine seeds' planting to continue the meager attempt at a conversation.

"How old are you?"

"I am nine moons from my first hunt."

"First hunt?"

"Yes. Then I won't have to plant any more. I'll help feed the dragons instead, and help with the skins too."

Twilight nodded to herself a bit; at least this explained why hunting was so prevalent in a culture occupied by equines. The ponies may be vegetarian, but the dragons weren't...the animal skins were definitely a side effect, probably so as not to waste the prey, as well as to provide insulation, whether in the form of architecture or clothing.

"Tell me more about your 'first hunt'."

The two continued planting seeds as they likewise continued talking.

"One of my Therran will take me down the mountain to the trees. We will stay in the forest for days, until I make my first kill. Then, with my first kill, I will make my rider's cloak to wear on the rest of my hunts."

Twilight smiled as the colt grew more excited, hope filling his eyes, as well as his voice.

"I want my uncle Thresh to take me."

"Why him?" Twilight asked, her mind recalling the large son of the chief, but mostly, his icy glare, spawned simply by her not being born on the mountain.

"Thresh is the best hunter. Even his dragon is the strongest in the village. If I go with Thresh, my first kill might be a bear, like his was. That way, I will have respect."

"Well that explains his ego."

While Twilight went over the explanation for the stallion's hostile demeanor in her mind, Kroll looked up at her with confusion in his expression.

"What is ego?" he asked.

Twilight thought for a moment before saying, "It's what you think of yourself."

The colt seemed to accept the explanation, and hastily went back to work, digging small holes and filling them with seeds. Twilight did the same. As she continued working, she lifted her head to look around, and tried to enjoy a sight other than the dirt at her hooves.

The field was in between the homes of the terrace, and the rising slope of the mountain, and though the ground around the area she was working was tough and hard and overgrown with hardy grass and lichen, the dirt beneath her had been tilled, and soft, moist soil had been brought to the surface. But, the rest of the field was uninteresting, as was the monotonous mountainside behind her, Brand undoubtedly scaling its face in concealment towards the fog, and the dragons, above.

In the town, however, a small crowd had gathered. All of them were young adults, around Twilight's age if not a bit older. All had braids, and all had hides glistening with a trace of sweat, probably from another chore, one that left them less dirty than the foals in the field. They leaned against the wooden fence separating the field from the village structures, and watched her curiously as she worked. They were talking, almost definitely about her, in their native language, and laughing. Twilight tried to ignore them.

Several minutes passed before either of the two spoke again.

"What other things do the foals do?" asked Twilight.

"Sometimes we find plants in the forest instead of growing them, but mostly we take care of the fields. We plow, we plant, and then we feed the seeds. Sometimes Sappa helps us, but only when she is not hunting or taking care of her dragon."

"Who's Sappa?"

"Mother."

"Which do you like better?"

"I like to be in the forest. It is calm and still, and less dirty. Most like the forest better, because it is less boring. It is good."

Twilight smiled to herself. The colt, for how limited his Equestrian was, was doing well holding a conversation, but despite the dialogue, he was gripped in his work, much more so than talking. She could tell he felt the need to finish the job right the first time, and his focus was unshaken. Twilight nearly giggled at the thought of one of the foals in Ponyville trying to do the same job; most of them would have dropped the spade by now, and ran off to play when their supervisors turned their heads.

Kroll, even at his young age, was so different than the foals in the rest of Equestria. He dreamed of his 'first hunt' and of growing up instead of becoming a famous musician or athlete.

The culture of the tribe continued to mystify her, and she'd only been in the village for half a day.

****************

The day progressed slowly; and fairly soon, Twilight ran out of things to discuss with Kroll, and small talk became harder due to his limited Equestrian. However, as the sun was beginning to descend from the sky above, luckily, Brand came back.

His timing was impeccable; he arrived at the field just as Twilight and the foals were finishing up planting, and once she laid the last trio of seeds into an earthy cradle, she eagerly trudged towards him with Kroll by her side. She gave him a smile from the other side of the wooden fence, and he grinned back. Eventually, the stallion lowered his sparkling amber eyes, and smiled to the colt at Twilight's side.

"How did she do Kroll?"

"She did well, but she was not as fast as I am."

The older equines chuckled a bit, and at Brand's beckoning, Kroll, followed by Twilight, hopped the fence. She landed in the dusty path adjacent the field, and, as was becoming a habit, followed Brand into town.

"So," Brand said as he dropped back to walk beside the unicorn, "what did you think?"

"It was simple enough, but, kind of dirty, and maybe a bit boring."

Brand chuckled again and looked back to his front.

"We all felt that way. Planting is not a fun job, but it is very important to feed the village. Tomorrow, we will do something different. Hopefully you will like it better."

Twilight smiled as she anticipated what dawn would bring; she hoped it would have something to do with dragons, and not with farming or some other kind of chore.

Just then, Twilight looked up, and realized she wasn't familiar with the buildings surrounding them.

"Are we going home a different way?" she asked.

"No," Brand responded, "We need to take Kroll home to Merda's house. Then we will go back home, eat, and then, if you have no more questions, we will sleep."

Twilight nodded, and continued at the stallion's side. It wasn't long before the beige hide of Merda became visible, standing out against the grey wood of the home she stood before. She smiled when they drew near, and she beckoned for Kroll to come to her. The colt trotted forward, and the two embraced, speaking a bit excitedly in their native tongues; Twilight actually understood a few words this time. Sappa, which she'd learned meant mother and Therra, which, to her best understanding, meant brother, or something of the such.

She was smiling at the sight of the mother and son, reminiscent of her relationship with her own mother, when she heard heavy footsteps coming from within the home. Almost immediately, the giddy talk between Merda and Kroll halted, and all present looked towards the door to the large home. It was like the whole atmosphere changed.

Suddenly, Brand leaned into Twilight's ear, and whispered, "Look him in the eye."

Twilight was about to ask why, when Thresh came lumbering out of the home, ducking his immense bulk underneath the doorway. His gaze was seized by Kroll running up to him; the foal eagerly hugged his uncle, who in turn, mussed his mane, and, kneeling and with words unrecognizable to Twilight, sent the foal indoors.

Then, the mahogany stallion stood to his impressive height, and turned his piercing blue eyes to Twilight in an expression in between disappointment and a scowl. Merda, with eyes the same shade of glacier blue, stood to the side, looking nervously back and forth between her brother and her cousin; Thresh and Brand kept their eyes locked on each other, and Twilight, with great effort, was avoiding looking away from the eyes of the imposing stallion.

Finally, Thresh's eyes met Twilight's in a silent stare. He said nothing, nor did his gaze falter. He simply looked into her eyes, as if he were trying to see her soul. The tension could have been cut with a sharp knife.

Finally, the stallion spoke.

"Vi morta la."

"We are not killing her, Thresh. She has done nothing," responded Brand, stepping a bit in front of the unicorn, shielding her.

" Vi mo..."

"Speak so she can understand, Thresh," interrupted Brand hostilely, again, putting himself in between the stallion and Twilight.

Twilight could hear the discontented growl from within the stallion's chest, low and rumbling like a manticore.

"I do not trust her," he said, "She has come to steal eggs. Why else would she arrive a week before the hens begin laying?"

"She has come to learn. Nothing more, nothing less."

"How do you know? It is an act, just like un kitruben, like the ones that came before her," said Thresh, taking a step forward to stand before Brand in all his massive bulk.

Twilight never broke her gaze with the stallion, but regardless, she found herself beginning to step back and away from him.

"We should kill her before she has the chance," Thresh pushed, his glare descending even further as his rumbling voice reached Twilight's ears.

"Until she takes anything, I will protect her as if she were one of us, from you, or anything else that tries to harm her."

Thresh laughed, throwing his head back and cackling a low rumble into the sky.

"You would take her over us...a worthless pony from the valley, over your own Therran?"

"It does not matter who she is," Brand challenged, "I took her in, and I am bound to keep her safe until she gives me a reason not to."

Thresh grew visibly angry, putting his previously aggravated state to shame.

"I have spent years protecting you. Ever since father took you in, I have treated you as a brother. And now, you choose this," he threw a hoof towards Twilight condescendingly, "over me?"

Thresh took an aggressive step towards the stallion, but Merda caught him around his shoulders, and held him back.

"Stop it Thresh," she said sternly, "You need to go back home now."

Thresh stopped; Brand was holding his ground, but Twilight had given up nearly five feet of ground involuntarily as she'd backed away from the imposing equine.

The brown pony glared at Brand.

"You should sleep lightly," he growled as he began to turn back around.

"Are you going to kill me in my sleep?" asked Brand sarcastically.

"No," shouted Brand, whipping around, his braid lashing out behind him, "but she might."

The stallion lifted his snout to Twilight, and then, with a snort, he stomped away. Brand watched him go, and when he was sure he had rounded the corner for good, he looked to Merda.

"I am sorry about him," the mare said, her blue eyes sympathetic and strong as she looked to Twilight.

"It's okay," the unicorn responded, her voice a bit shaky.

"You should probably get back home as well. Night is coming."

Brand turned without speaking, and as was becoming a sort of custom, led Twilight away through the village in the direction of home.

As the unicorn walked after him, she noticed her knees were weaker than normal, and, with a deep breath, attempted to calm herself, to no avail. It was a long walk back to Brand's home.

The Beginning of Something...

Spike lifted his head from his palms, slowly looking up at the landscape before him. From the hilltop tree stump he sat on, he could see what seemed like all of Equestria. From the green forests before him, to the misty marshes beyond, and beyond those, mountains, rising up to touch the painted sky, the majesty of his exposed homeland stole his breath.

The sun was setting off to his left as he faced the white-capped northern mountains, turning the clouds pink and red, and every shade of gilded beauty in between. He turned around to look back behind him, to see much the same; the green and orange of the forest's canopy looking back at him, extending into the distance to the familiar ivory towers of Canterlot, glinting in the distance.

He could hear a creek softly gurgling as it ran its course nearby, and from his woody seat among the alders and the blackberry bushes, the smell of the forest was tranquilizing. The birds were singing; probably jays, a sparrow or two, maybe a red-winged blackbird. He didn't know for sure; Fluttershy would, but he didn't.

A slight breeze rustled the leaves; it was cooling and pleasant, and Spike closed his eyes as he simply listened to the quiet. When he opened his eyes again, as it had continued to do so, the beauty of the meadow danced in his eyes like a work of art; but not any simple painting...a masterpiece.

Yet, for all the breathtaking beauty before him, for all the serenity and peace, for how good he should have felt, he still felt miserable.

He'd come so far already; he still had another horizon to go.

It wasn't right for Twilight to have to go away for something he'd done. He was the one that had destroyed Ponyville...sorta. Well, it was him, but, it wasn't like he'd done it on purpose. It was an accident, but he was responsible, and he'd nearly hurt those he cared most about, and destroyed every essence of home he'd ever known.

Reconstruction was under way back in Ponyville; all the damage would be forgotten soon, but, would its cause? Probably not, he thought. And, even if the ponies back home ever came to forgive him, he wasn't sure he'd be able to forgive himself. He wasn't even sure going back at all was a good idea.

The words of the ponies after his involuntary rampage still lingered in his ears. Were they right? Was he a monster? Was he as dangerous as they said? Was he fit to live in the company of ponies?

If they were right, then where would he go once this was all over and done? He was a dragon, and never denied it, but, he'd lived with ponies all his life. Would he even belong with others of his own kind? Did he belong anywhere?

Spike sighed as, once again, he buried his emerald eyes in the palms of his hands, and tried not to cry.

With nopony around to comfort him, he tried to find solace in the song of the forest, but found it lacking in what he truly needed. He missed having consolation in friends and family. He missed Twilight. But, still, he wondered if he deserved them, if he was being selfish for wanting them, when he knew full well he was capable bringing them great pain.

He forced himself up; he needed to keep moving. There was only perhaps an hour or so of daylight left, and he had yet to find someplace to spend the night. Since he had no idea how to build a shelter, and even less about survival overall, a cave or hollowed out log would have to do.

His stomach growled...it'd been a long time since his last gemstone, but still, he was reluctant to go into the stash he'd packed in a small red bandana, tied around a stick to serve as his sole item of luggage on this journey. He shouldered his baggage, resting the stick on his shoulder, and kept walking. But, as he trudged onward, he couldn't help feeling like he was being followed.

It took nearly half an hour of wandering, each hundred yards harder than the last, until he found a felled tree, its trunk's interior withered away by time and beetles. He eagerly crawled inside, and rested his head on his hands as he curled up for the night. But, he still couldn't shake that feeling.

****************

Brand was still upset when they finally arrived at the home.

Twilight tried to make as little noise as possible when he stormed in through the doorway, and immediately went to the corner, planning on waiting for him to cool down before she herself even acknowledge her own presence. She'd never even seen him angry in the least, but now, he was furious.

He kicked the bed and a few chairs as he snorted, sending them skidding across the wooden floors. That seemed to purge at least some of his aggression. He stomped around the room for a bit, breathing heavily, but, after a few minutes passed, he had at least calmed down enough to talk; granted, he still spoke angrily.

"Why does he have to be so proud!?"

Twilight hoped the question was rhetorical as Brand began pacing, talking to the ground as he simply vented.

"He has always been like this! Always! He is like a brother to me, but he always thinks of himself before others!"

He reared back as if to strike the wall, but withheld his hoof.

"If he was not the chief's son...He does not deserve to gain his father's title. He is too selfish! Why?!"

He turned to Twilight, despite her attempts to be as small as possible in the corner of the room. She couldn't help but notice the fire in his eyes seeming to come forth at her. She just hoped he would restrict his aggression to the furniture. She trusted he would.

"You have done nothing! Why does he think you are a threat?! You are too weak and too civilized to be anything more than prey to him!"

"Thanks," Twilight muttered a bit sarcastically.

"He has always been like this! Anything new, he hates! Anything that he does not know, he tries to destroy! And he is to lead us! He was like this with the merchants, the dogs...and now you!"

The stallion stormed around the room for a bit longer, but eventually, calmed himself enough to slow his breathing. He ran a hoof over his mane, and recomposed himself again, finally becoming the peaceful, mellow stallion Twilight had known since her arrival.

"I am sorry," he said.

"What for?" began Twilight, "I'm the one that's been causing the problems."

"No. None of this is your fault..."

"Look. I don't want to come in between you and your family."

"You are not. Thresh and I...this did not begin recently."

"Maybe it would be better if I just left in the morning."

"No," said Brand firmly, "That is not a good idea. If you leave, it will raise suspicion. My brothers and sisters will think you had a reason to flee. They will suspect you, maybe even hunt you. It would not be safe."

"Well if I'm in danger just being here, then sticking around doesn't seem like a much better alternative!"

Now it was Twilight's turn to be angry.

"Who are you to tell me what to do anyway! I came up here on my own; I can get myself back just as easy! I don't need any of this! I chose to try and better my homeland by learning from you, but if it kills me, then I might as well have stayed back in Ponyville!"

"You have to trust me," encouraged Brand, "Leaving will be more dangerous than staying."

"Why should I trust you! I don't even know you!"

Brand stepped forward, fire from the center of the home dancing fiercely in his amber eyes.

"I saved you, remember! You did not find us on your own! You were prey on that mountain when we found you, and if it was not for us, you would be a pile of bones in a cave somewhere! If I wanted you dead, you would be dead! Yet, you live. Is that not reason enough to at least trust me?"

He lowered his voice as he took a step back from the unicorn's wide lavender eyes.

"You must stay, because I can keep you safe. Uncle told the clan to treat you with respect, and they will. The only one bold enough to disobey what he says is Thresh, and I can at least keep you safe from him. But, if you leave, the entire tribe will think you have done something, something you must run from. They will go after you, and I will not be able to stop them."

Brand, again, retreated a small distance away, going to the cauldron in the center of the room over the fire pit, and began filling a pair of wooden vessels with broth.

"You came to learn, and I promised to teach you. I will if you let me, but you must believe in me."

He came back over to Twilight, and gave her her dinner; it was the exact same meal they'd had for breakfast, apparently kept warm over the home's perpetual fire all day.

"You must believe that I will keep you safe, that I know the things I say to be true, and that I will take care of you."

Twilight refrained from eating as she continued the conversation; Brand did not.

"But what about Thresh? He seems to be pretty influential, if everypony sees him like Kroll does. If he wants me gone, it won't be long before the others feel the same."

"Let me worry about Thresh," Brand encouraged, taking a sip of steaming soup, "You worry about learning. Now, what questions do you have after your first day?"

Twilight fought the remnants of the argument, swallowing them down to a place where they would soon be forgotten. Se closed her eyes and refocused, and then, lifted her head when she was ready to begin again.

"The hierarchy..." she began.

"Hm?" answered the stallion.

"Well, would I be right in assuming it's based on age?"

"Yes," Brand responded, "Respect is measured by your rider's cloak, and the length of your braid."

"I see," she agreed, taking a small sip of broth, swirling it around the inside of her mouth before swallowing, "The foals have the shortest braids and no cloak, so...they have to farm?"

"Each pony has a job to do, based on how old they are," explained the navy stallion, "All foals farm every day, and gather from the trees when their parents go down the mountain. This is the lowest ranking job, but one of the most important. They do this until they have their first hunt; after their first kill, they choose a job that they will have forever, and if the chief thinks they are worthy, then they inherit their role in the clan. There are many jobs to choose from. Some want to be smiths and make weapons and saddles and tools. Others choose to watch over the farming. Others may want to become builders, and make and repair our homes. But, most want to become hunters."

"Hunting is a job?"

"Yes. We all hunt, but the threshen, the hunters, do so every day. Their job is to make kills and provide enough meat for the dragons, and enough skins for clothes and blankets for the village. When the others hunt, they do so to train, but they make use of the kills of course."

"So, how long will I be farming?"

"Not long. Foals farm because they are not yet wise enough or strong enough for the other jobs. Farming is hard; it makes muscles strong fast, and bodies that will be able to survive the harder tasks like hunting or forging metal. But, you are already grown. You don't have long to wait before your body is ready. Once you prove you are not weak, and you have learned about farming, we will see about your first hunt."

"And, when do the dragons come into it all?"

Brand smiled to himself a bit, taking a long drink from the wooden saucer in his hooves before speaking again.

"You wish, more than anything, to see these dragons, don't you? But, we all did."

"What do you mean?"

"Dragons must be earned. Not everypony gets to interact with them everyday. It is another symbol of prowess among us. A braid's length tells of age, a job tells of skill, but a dragon tells of strength. All these are treasures to us, because they signify who we are. Respect is everything, and these things bring with them respect."

Twilight nodded as she began to understand.

"So, not everypony has a dragon?"

"No. But most of us do. Those that do not are the young ones, and they usually receive their first eggs when they come of age."

"So you raise the dragons from birth?"

"If we can, yes," he said, placing his bowl on the floor, "I raised Perilax from a hatchling, but Thresh caught his dragon."

"How?"

"That is a lesson for another time. That sort of knowledge must be earned."

Twilight sighed.

"Well, what else can you tell me...about dragons?"

Brand chuckled a bit.

"You are asking me to give you my greatest treasure, you do realize that?"

A short pause separated his speech as he raised an eyebrow at the unicorn.

"You will come to know all things in time. When I take you to meet Perilax, you can learn on your own. But, as you raise your own dragon, you will learn even more."

Twilight groaned.

"So, you're not going to tell me anymore about dragons tonight?"

Brand shook his head.

"Well, then...that's all I really wanted to learn about," she said a bit dejectedly.

"Good. Then you can go to bed early. Tomorrow, we rise early, and we finish the work in the fields."

****************

Dawn came earlier than normal the next morning. Twilight was woken by a rustling within the home; Brand was already up and about getting ready for the day, first washing in a small basin, then dressing in his rider's cloak. Twilight rolled over as he was taking his quiver, filled with dozens of arrows and his bow, off its place on the wall.

His ear twitched.

"Good morning," he said without turning around, adjusting the single leather strap of the quiver around his torso, pulling it tight.

"Morning," Twilight agreed, yawning.

"Sleep well?" Brand asked.

"Good, I guess."

"You were snoring," he said, turning his head to look over his shoulder at her as he continued adjusting his apparel.

He gave a sly smile, then turned back around, and grabbed a belt with a knife sheath and a small satchel, and began fastening it around his waist.

"What time is it?" asked Twilight.

"The sun is halfway above the horizon," he responded quickly.

"How come the birds aren't singing?"

"Birds?" he asked, turning around as he finished securing the belt, "There are no birds this high up. Too cold, and no food for them."

Brand made his way over towards the front of the home, pulling his hood, adorned with the ram's horns, forming a full curl at his temples, up over his head.

"I'll be back," he said as he pushed through the threshold to the outside world, letting the cold air in, "be ready when I return."

He pulled his facemask up over his muzzle, and like that, he was gone.

The cold air woke Twilight up in a hurry, even quicker than a cup of coffee, or even the strongest tea. She quickly rolled over, and kicked off the blankets of the bed that had been made hers since her arrival. She rolled over and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and after that, went over to where her saddlebags still laid on the home's table.

She first found her parka, folded neatly underneath her luggage, and put it on. Then, she pulled her saddlebags on, after checking that their contents, or at least, the ones that hadn't been lost or eaten already, were all present. She was adjusting the pack when Brand came back.

"Are you ready?" he asked as he re-entered through the front door.

"Yeah," she responded, "where are we going?"

"Down the mountain, to the valley."

"Why?"

"Just come. We need to go fishing."

Brand turned to leave the home, and Twilight hurried to catch up.

"Fishing?"

"Yes. For the crops."

"What?!"

Twilight stopped as she iterated the question, but Brand kept walking.

"Are you coming?"

Twilight quickly stopped asking questions, only for a moment, and hurried after Brand, who was already getting away. She caught up to him as he walked briskly down the dirt road, heading east towards the edge of the terrace.

Out of breath, and struggling to keep up with the quick pace of the stallion, she refused to stop asking questions.

"Why do we need to go fishing?"

"I told you," he responded, looking at her as he continued walking forward, "to feed the kreb."

Twilight groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"What is... kreb!"

"Hey," Brand said calmly, "quiet down. You can't make this much noise when we get to the trees."

As he finished talking, he stopped, and looked straight down. They'd reached the edge of the terrace, and were now looking down the slope of a very steep decline profuse with shale, leading straight to a patch of evergreens, about two hundred feet below them.

Brand adjusted his cloak, and pulled up his facemask...Twilight could still see his breath. As he adjusted his apparel, Twilight dreaded what she thought he was about to do. Not because he was going to, but because she would have to follow.

He placed one hoof on the edge of the terrace, and turned his head to look at Twilight.

"I'll see you down there."

He turned and bent his knees, but before jumping, he relaxed, and turned back around.

"Oh, and kreb. It is just cabbage."

With that, he stepped off the edge of the terrace, and slid down the shale ridden slope to the trees below. Twilight could still see him, but he looked much smaller, and as he came to a stop, he turned and looked back up the mountain to her.

"Are you coming?" he yelled.

Twilight growled to herself.

"If I survive this, I swear..."

She took a deep breath in, and jumped.