Make-Believe at it's Finest
"Charges are set! Clear out!" Big Boom shouted, waiting as the ponies ahead of him rushed for the mine's exit. The foreman at the front counted each head as they passed by, finally stopping with Big Boom and nodding. "That's everypony."
Big Boom uncoiled the last of the wire attached to charges placed deep within the mine and took cover with the rest of the ponies. "Set one! Here we go!" Grinning for the love of his job, he shoved the plunger down and winced as a muffled blast erupted deep within the mountain. A large waft of dust and earth rocketed out of the mine entrance, followed by cheers from the mining crew.
"Listen up! That last blast will take us to the heart of the mountain, everything inside that rich ground will keep us-" The foreman pony had to reassure his footing as the ground shook.
"Shaft's collapsing!" somepony quickly shouted.
But that's impossible! The charges were only enough to blast non-essential rock out of the way, nothing could've happened with the integrity of the tunnel as it was-unless they hit a fissure that is. "Clear out! Get away from the mine!" He shouted, ponies scattered as a second wave of dust and smoke pushed out of the tunnel.
The explosions before now were hardly more than tremors to the sleeping dragon, higher up inside the mountain. The last one however, cracked the ground beneath his piles of gold and gems, causing them to fall through cracks in the rock like water down a drain. The few seconds of horror that was the dragon watching decades worth of tributes, plundered riches, fights, and raids disappearing were terrifying to him. He immediately raked one arm across the ground, trying to scoop it all up in the other. Overhead, rock started to drop down, filling the air with dust and making it hard to see. Before he could save any more of his treasure, a chunk of a boulder slammed into his back, then another, and another. Every second he tried to save another bit, the more he was forced to realize that the cave was collapsing. Channeling his greed into survival, the dragon rushed to the edge of his cave, forcing the stones he laid there years ago to hide his cave from being discovered away. The dragon watched as the last of his cave gave away to falling rubble, filling in the hole as if it were never there to begin with.
An arm full of gold and a ring caught on his tooth was all the dragon had left as the final rock tumbled into place at what was the entrance to his old den. Anger turned to rage, rage turned to fury, boiling his blood and forcing smoke to come pouring from his nostrils, he roared. The miner ponies farther down the mountain looked up and saw the dragon in full view, red and brown scales, with a patch of yellow running from his chin down his stomach. The dragon looked down and saw the ponies on his mountain. "That was my gold! That was my cave! These are my rocks! These are my trees! This is my mountain! IT IS MINE!" Ponies were already sprinting away the moment it was clear they woke a dragon from its nest.
"Hiiii-ya! Rah! Grrrrah!" Fireside Chat grunted, swishing his wooden sword through the air. "And...I slay thee!" he said, thrusting out with the point. With his ears sticking out through his makeshift helmet, they caught a trace of an explosion far off in the distance, echoing down over the forest and sparking enough interest for Fireside to turn his head to catch the billowing smoke from the mine, along with the jets of fire that engulfed the upper half of the mountain. "Cool."
Any cover from the flames was hardly cover at all, the heat alone was enough to tempt ponies to run. It was only when the shadow of the dragon itself passed over head, pulling enough wind in his wings to quell the flames long enough for the miners to make a desperate sprint towards more suitable cover.
Of the twenty five miners, four were unicorns, two were able to teleport, but only one could make the jump with somepony else. Horn radiating heat, on the verge of burnout, Iron Chain winced after looking back up the mountain, fully aware of the ten ponies around him urging to give it one more go. Panting, Iron Chain yelled in an attempt to shout through the pain as he disappeared again, exploding out of the ether twenty feet away as trees around him were knocked down in the blast.
The noise was enough to draw the attention of the dragon, eyes bearing down on the ground below him and the pony lying unconscious on the ground. The miners scrambled to reach Iron Chain, heaving him over their backs like a sandbag and sprinting farther down hill. The flap of the dragons wings made the miners scream as the noise came closer and closer, growing louder with each second. When they could hear the dragon inhale, the noise was more frightening to the older miners who feared gas leaks more than anything else. "He's diving!"
The jet of dragon fire singed the ground black as ponies took cover, hastily glancing to the skies as the dragon climbed upwards again. Safety from this terrible nightmare was half a mile away, back in Mountview where most structures could be either a blessing if they were left alone, or a curse if the dragon decided to set fire to them. The more popular option that the miners took to was fleeing into the darkness of the forest, where tight groupings of trees would make it difficult for the dragon to see the ponies below. It would be even harder for the dragon to dive thanks to all the branches blocking his view- hypothetically speaking of course.
The last of the miners sprinted for the treeline, adrenalin giving them no reason to fatigue as the sound of the dragon's wings flapping through the air started to grow louder again. Those who were running for their lives never heard the two loud smacks that nearly paralyzed the dragon's wings as two Wonderbolts slammed into the base of his wings simultaneously. The dragon roared as a third and fourth Wonderbolt grabbed his tail, bending it up towards his back, when finally a fifth came down from above and hit the top of his snout. Unable to fly, unable to steer, and nose hurting, the dragon was on a collision course with the ground. His rage only grew as the Wonderbolts leapt free of him at the last moment, causing him to crash while the team of pegasus started pounding their wings up towards the clouds.
Miners cheered, but the dragon' mind was split in all directions, wanting to yell and scream for what they did to his treasure horde, roast them whole and shred them apart to make pulled-pony sandwiches-the winged ones he would batter-dip and fry in lava for the little stunt they just pulled by attacking him.
"Fifty years!" he shouted, pushing off the ground his his claws and charging after the Pegasus.
All the clouds in the area were pushed into one large blob, growing thicker and darker with every bit added to it.
"He's coming!" Whistler yelled, diving into a cloud bank.
"Get ready! Move those clouds now!" Wind Chill ordered, watching the dragon drive straight for them as the last of the clouds were moved into place. Three Wonderbolts shoved the final cloud down, completely obscuring them from view.
The dragon darted straight into the cloud, a lung full of air ready to scorch the cowardly Pegasus when metal strands wrapped around his throat, next his wings were snapped to his side, a net hidden inside the cloud wrapped around his entire body before he could even struggle- when he did, the chords dug into his scales and tightened its grip.
"Enough!" Wind Chill ordered, stepping right up to the dragon. "Are the spikes tight? What happened back there? What caused you to be enraged?"
Two Wonderbolts carefully freed his snout, pausing at Wind Chill's command. "Ah- Are you willing to speak to us without resorting to violence?" Jets of black smoke freely flowed from the dragon's nostrils, snorting once, flames brushed past Wind Chill but didn't do anything to make him jump.
"The ponies down there are scared, they will say you tried to kill them. From what I saw, it looked like you almost did. I don't have an injured count yet, but I know that this kind of rage couldn't of been for no reason. You said 'Fifty years,' fifty years of what? What's your name?" Wind Chill gave the nod to free the rest of his mouth so he could speak.
"Ashen Remains, you foul pony with wings! The ponies caused my nest, my gold to be lost to the depths of the mountain because of their incessant blasting! Fifty years of gathering! Fifty years of tribute all lost. It was mine!" Ashen shot, although his jaw could barely move enough to form the words, the depth of his voice was still intimidating to hear. As Ashen spoke, his hide grew an extra foot in length. The change didn't go unnoticed by Wind Chill as he tried to calm the Ashen down.
"Alright, alright. Don't worry, we're going to fix this. You'll get your gold back so long as you remain calm. So, the ponies, the miners, they set charges and the explosion set of a chain reaction which destroyed your cave? You... were probably sleeping, am I right? Listen, I need to know how long you've been asleep. What was the last event you can remember before you went to sleep?"
Ashen struggled against the net, but only to be more comfortable. "The moon blocked the morning sun, the ring of fire surrounding the moon remained for the entire day and made the stars shine brighter at night."
"Morning sun, eclipse lasting all day, alright, so the Centennial. How long after that did you go to your cave?"
"I took the courage of the moon as a sign to finally leave this land as it was born- in fire. After the fires stopped burning, I watched the lands I owned disappear, when all that remained was ash." Ashen growled.
Wind Chill turned away, an unsure frown made it difficult for him to continue. Sighing, "The Dragon Nation since then-" Ashen raised an eye to the words 'Dragon Nation', "Since then, certain treaties and laws have been made- a mage from the mining operation was suppose to conduct an examination for sentient hibernating life forms like yourself. Now it comes down to nit-picking. Did the mage find you? Was the mine physically far enough away from your lair so as to not cause any interference? Was the mountain itself physically unstable? I don't know. There is going to be a big investigation into this matter, the last thing the Sisters and the Dragon Nation want is to find out that one overlooked protocol caused a dragon to lose his hoard. However, that last comment, it sounds like you decided to leave your lands with a little gift before hibernating-that will reflect in the recovery of your gold."
"How so?" Ashen bared his fangs, tacking on an extra meter without hesitation. "The Dragon Nation doesn't want to deal with renegades who decide to burn villages to the ground as a parting gift. Ponies don't want to deal with those types either."
Wind Chill stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a 'ping' of metal. Wind Chill and the Wonderbolts all tensed when they saw one of the enchanted spikes sail through the air, free from it's mooring in the cloud and wrap around Ashen once where it finally drove straight through the left wing and into his side. Ashen screamed, fire erupting from his mouth just before Wind Chill jumped clear. Then the next spike flailed about, and suddenly there were pinging noises echoing through the air as Ashen Remains dropped out of sight, still tightly wrapped up in the net.
"Emergency Protocol CV*! Dive, Dive, dive, dive, dive!" All the Wonderbolts dove after Ashen, not wanting the death of a dragon to be on their heads.
Ashen felt the loss of his freedom the moment he first ran into the net. He felt like a slave, trapped and unable to move. As he fell through the air, the blame of what was soon to be his death resided on the blasted flying ponies. Unable to move anything besides his jaw, he forced the furnaces within his chest to burn, heating his core from the outside in. His very fire flowed like lava from his mouth, letting it roll down his neck to burn away the enchanted coils. Wind rushed by him as he picked up speed. Twisting his neck towards his wings, he felt the molten liquid melt the net and bind into his scales. When the Wonderbolts reached Ashen, he recoiled and roared again, louder, angrier, sending balls of fire through the air and towards the pegasus. Ashen struggled fiercely, forcing one wing free as he tried to thrash the other loose, despite the pain of the bolt pinning the wing to his side. Locking the freed wing out, Ashen fell into a quick spiral when finally wrenched his tail out of the net, putting him at an awkward glide that still didn't put him any closer to landing safely.
The Wonderbolts expected Ashen to resist, even shoot off dozens of flames, but when they tried to fly in close to grab the flailing coils and bolts, they did not realize how hot the metal had become. The intense heat instantly burned their hooves, forcing them to drop the net with Ashen rapidly falling towards the ground when they all saw how quickly gravity had worked in bringing the dragon back down.
Fireside Chat saw the whole thing from his front lawn, the toy sword hanging limply from his weak grip as all his attention was on the red and black dragon coming right at him. At first he was unsure if the dragon would actually pull up, even when it was clear that Ashen couldn't. Instinct and fear suddenly kicking in, Fireside dropped his sword and ran screaming into his house, slamming the door shut and locking it.
Ashen's impact didn't leave much for damage control to fix, practically colliding with the ground at a 70 degree angle in Fireside's front lawn. Plowing the dirt and pathway up to his front door where Ashen's snout knocked against the wood. The dragon didn't feel the tiny sword left on the ground drive into his weakened scales after impact, most of his senses were still screaming in pain. He didn't even notice that it slipped between his ribs and pierce his heart. Breathing felt stunted, his throat partially blocked by the excess fire dripping through his teeth and onto the ground.
Fireside pulled the grate to his helmet down, flinging the door open, screaming at the sight, and slamming it shut. Ashen felt his body roll to the side when he finally looked down and saw the tiny hilt buried right where it shouldn't of been. There was a dull tone deafening his ears, but there were pounding of hooves running up and down stairs. The door was flung open again and a bucket of water was splashed onto his face.
"Mr. Dragon! You...you...are you dead?"
Ashen exhaled a long winded sigh, coughing, "I will be."
"What happened?"
"Ponies lost my gold, I was angry." wisps of steam were billowing off Ashen's body, reeking of sulfur.
Fireside clenched his nose shut, "That would make me angry too! Frizz lost my favorite sword! I said 'Frizz, don't lose my favorite sword! It's my favorite. But then the next time I see him I ask him, 'Frizz, where's my favorite sword?' and he said 'I dunno, I lost it.' and I was like 'but I told you not to lose it!'"
"Silence, pony, let me die quietly."
"How did they lose it?"
"I said, SI-" Unable to yell, his chest lurched forward as his breath was cut off by rising fluid that pushed upwards from his lungs and to his mouth. Ashen coughed deeply, feeling the bitter taste of blood on the back of his tongue. The great furnaces in his chest that created fire, once able to burn with enough intensity to melt through rock suddenly felt ice cold as each breath felt harder and harder to pull in.
"They tunneled beneath me, an explosion destroyed my cave." Ashen said quietly, swallowing, he let his dwindling focus rest on the small pony.
"They blew up your home!? That's not nice! What did you ever do to them? Were you sleeping? Dragons sleep alot right? I get really cranky when I woken up, but whoa, dynamite for an alarm clock? No thanks! Well, you were just about to destroy my house, but you were 'this' close." Fireside Chat said, looking from the tip of Ashen's nose to his front door- Ashen's left wing was bent forward, scraping the front bay window of Fireside's house.
"If only..." Ashen said, wanting his last moments to be quiet so he could contemplate the entirety of his life in just a few, short seconds. Dropping his head to the ground, a few seconds to a dragon would be all Ashen needed.
"If only, what? You know, I had another sword that was right here on the ground when you kinda crashed into my mom and dad's lawn...but...I think they might be okay when they see a dragon landed on it. Oh, hey, my sword." Fireside said, crawling over Ashen's snout and around the shredded remains of the net. "Hey! It's in the heart! Oh...did I...slay you?"
"Yes."
"Oh, okay."
Fireside Chat positioned himself above the hilt, wrapping both hooves around the grip and pulling. Ashen roared, sending a jet of flame through the front door and out the back.
"Hey, kid! Get away from him!" Wind Chill shouted, watching the colt stand on Ashen's chest.
"Maybe I gotta wiggle it, it's kind of tight. Is your chest made of stone? Is that how they got the sword in the stone in the first place? By dropping a rock on it? Maybe I gotta push it in, and then pull it out really fast, Mr. Dragon."
'Mr. Dragon' wasn't moving anymore, all of his muscles started to relax- Fireside felt the tension holding his sword in lessen, prompting him to push the hilt down, wiggle and pull one more time as the sword popped free.
Wind Chill was in a dive bomb until he saw Ashen give one more shot, and Fireside Chat pull his sword free and tumble backwards off the dragon's chest.
"EWwwww! I got blood all over my hooves and sword." Fireside said, shaking his hooves and giving his sword a flick.
"Kid, what did you just do?" Wind Chill asked, dropping to the ground, Fireside looked up, surprised to see somepony watching him.
"I...uh...slayed the...dragon?"
Wind Chill glanced down at Fireside's flank, his breath was sucked out of him like a vortex when he saw what it was.
"Kid...how long ago did you get your cutie mark?" Wind Chill listed off all the possible deities he could pray to in his head, whether they were pony or not, and hoped that this colt didn't just get his cutie mark.
Fireside tilted his head at Wind Chill, his response of "huh?" was enough to make Wind Chill tremble as the rest of the Wonderbolts landed next to him.
Fireside looked back at his flank, pure joy flooding his mind as he saw the dragon head cutie mark with it's tongue sticking out.
"I got my cutie mark!" Fireside shouted.
Wind Chill was a snow white pegasus, but the sight of a dragon-slayer cutie mark pony made him pale. Shuddering, he tried to form the words to explain how many cans of worms Fireside opened up, but couldn't bring anything tangible to mind. All he could do was slowly drop to the ground and breathe deeply as Fireside danced around, showing his cutie mark to the rest of his team that quickly appeared to their captain's side.
Author's Note
Shoot, I tried to make this a bit more light and happy, but it kept turning out like this. Somewhere along the way I went from 'intro story about how a colt got his dragon slaying cutie mark' to 'a dark intro story how a colt got his dragon slaying cutie mark'.
*In the french language, 'v' is pronounced "Veyy". 'w' is "doubla-veyy", just like in the english language 'w' is pronounced "Double you"
CV is meant to stand for "Clipped Ving~ Clipped Wing. Two v's (vv) looks like a w, get it?
'V' is one consonant, 'W' is three. It is much faster to say 'V' than it is to say 'W'.
For this context, you save half a second saying "CV" rather than "CW". Also, when half a second makes the difference between a pegasus who is suddenly unable to fly; injured, cramped, or constricted wing, hence-clipped wing, Emergency protocol CV was meant to alert other pegasus that a team member or individual needed to be saved from crashing into the ground.
If there are any of you who might ask "But, Mr. Bromad, wouldn't it be shorter to say 'EPCV', potentially saving even more time?" My response "Are you questioning my motives?"
President Roosevelt conducted a series of broadcasts between 1933-1944 where he would address the nation over the radio, during a time which most families would tune in and listen, with a fire burning in the mantle. The term used was "Fireside Chat"
Ch. 2 The premise for the story and the end
[A/N: After Fireside Chat discover's his cutie mark, his parents adamantly deny that his career is in slaying dragons, but through a passage of time, or by slipping away while he's still a young colt, he makes his way to Ponyville to take on Spike. Despite his parents, the Wonderbolts, and a few other authority figures in his life telling him that the dragon's death was an accident and purely coincidental to landing next to Fireside while he was playing, Fireside is still internally convinced that his role in life (and the more awesome path) is to slay dragons.
Since this story was started long before the dragon lands, Ember was never considered, but now it gives more leeway for a more plausible true ending that would fit with what was already planned.
After Fireside Chat (Please tell me someone was forced to read a history book in school and understands the reference), makes his way to Ponyville, he states his intentions that he's a dragonslayer with a cutie mark to prove it, and challenges Spike to a duel.
The main six react nonchalantly to Fireside, but since he's a colt, they try to stall him by asking broad questions, allowing Spike to slip away. This leads Fireside to chase Spike around Ponyville, swinging around a sword.
After landing running into Spike, Twilight and the others all try to ascertain more information about Fireside and the origin of his cutie mark. Held aloft in a magical telekinetic grip, by Twilight, then later Rarity, the ponies piece together Fireside's story and try to figure out if his cutie mark was actually in slaying dragons, or something else.
Fireside goes charging off again after Spike, with Rainbow Dash flying overhead, trying to convince Fireside that maybe there's another aspect of his cutie mark he doesn't realize, while the others figure out a best-case scenario. Rainbow Dash tells Fireside she'll reveal where Spike is hiding, so long as he talks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders first.
After the CMC speak with Fireside, he tells them the whole story, adding in what he says to the first dragon. The CMC instill a little doubt into Fireside, but Spike who was hiding with CMC in their clubhouse is convinced enough was said to get Fireside to stop chasing him, and reveals himself to Fireside to talk with him.
Fireside immediately picks up his sword and chases after him, with the CMC in pursuit. Rainbow Dash tells the CMC to keep an eye on Fireside and distract him from getting too close to Spike, while she flies ahead to see if Twilight and her friends figured out a solution yet.
Spike runs back to Twilight, and he laments that Fireside would never stand a chance against a real dragon, which convinces Twilight that what Spike said is true, Fireside would never stand a chance against a real dragon, in a real fight.
This is the first ending, which all-in-all wouldn't do as well without the inclusion of Ember, in my opinion.
Calling out Fireside, Spike agrees to the duel.
Protected through his friends magic, armor, making it so that no matter how hard Fireside tries to hit Spike, his blows glance or bounce off.
Eventually tiring Fireside out, Spike tells Fireside that there's some challenges and fights in this life that are like hitting your head against against a brick wall. That no matter how much effort we put into a single idea, maybe it's not worth it in the end when you yourself end up getting hurt, and the end result doesn't get you any farther, it just gives you a tougher forehead.
I didn't know how to write the dialogue and conversations in a way that would lead FIreside to understand his true purpose, of becoming a mediary between ponies and dragons, an ambassador to the Dragon Lands.
The second ending, they call Ember to fight Fireside to show him (the same scenario) that there are some fights that aren't winnable for reasons a person doesn't understand yet, because they don't know all the facts about life and the world around them. She tells Fireside she is the Dragon Lord. Ember tells Fireside that she is friends with the Princesses of Ponies, and asks if he still wants to fight.
Shaken but not deterred, Fireside still challenges Ember to fight, but he no matter how hard he tries, Ember is holding back the entire fight. She tells the kid he needs to understand in the real world, things don't always go the way he wants it to be.
Rattling off the ways she could eviscerate, burn, maim, or drop from ten-thousand feet to make Fireside go splat, Twilight cuts in and thanks Ember for all the graphic details for the way she could defeat him, it's after learning this that Fireside drops his sword and apologizes.
Ember admires his courage for dueling the Dragon Lord, commenting that maybe he just didn't know enough about dragons at all to begin with, and his ignorance of the fact that makes Twilight and Ember come up with Fireside becoming an emissary to the Dragon Lands, as part of a fact-finding mission to prevent the same mistakes of another colt or filly believing they should grow up to be a dragon slayer.
With the expanded knowledge being made available to Equestria, the two cultures are able to understand each other more easily.
The end.
Epilogue
Meet Boulder Break! He was being bullied at the base of the mountain the miner ponies were in, and is shoved into a cliff face the moment the explosion goes off, splitting the mountain in two!
He goes on to say he can split a mountain in half with nothing but his forehead!
Author's Note
While writing this, all the bits of the story were there in my head, the beginning, middle, and the end, but all the pieces inbetween were eluding me.
If anyone is interested in finishing the story, or writing the actual bits to it, I'd love to hear from you.
I decided that enough time passed that I actually get around to finish writing it, rather than leave it open and unfinished.
I know it's not the ending people were hoping for, but people deserve to know the ending.
I'm working on other projects, on the site and in real life, but I wanted to say that this is one story I can let go of and put behind me.
Thanks for reading, now go check out my current story 'Vault Dweller'
(M for Mature)
