In Equestria, ponies were main genre that dwelt in all over lands. They built society, homes as many other cultures were born by their own hoof, creating a world with harmony and perfection. However they weren’t the one controlling everything in their power, a lot of places known as cave, underground territory, ancient ruin were domicile of creatures such as dragon, chimera, griffon, windigo or giant worm. They lived in peace and because of their unique behavior, ponies usually didn’t bother or come near them unless they were willing to accept. Despite all above things, staying away from them was an absolute choice.
Dragon was a strong, mature species that most ponies considered them as brutal creatures in the world. Not only they were arrogant and fierce all over time, but they were also guardians of treasure which they could sacrifice themselves to protect it at any cost. Of course, a few dragons never had tendency to cause problems and finding at least one was nearly impossible without clues.
-o-o-o-
Deep in Everfree forest, a place where atmosphere and phenomena were operated by its own power, there had a ruin covered by tall bushes. It was surrounded by thick fog, blocking any view outside apparently. Its size wasn’t really big, even a chimera or young dragon could fit in, and if somepony could judge the exterior of it they would say it was nothing than a huge garbage can. Once looked inside it was completely different, as it was illuminated by an uncanny light and some small trees as decoration. A tomb put in the center was etched by odd words, a garland wrapped round it as memento, a watery pool lay behind the tomb and two dragon statues were at two sides of it.
A dragon, who slowly opened a door from left wall of the ruin, stepping towards his tomb. He had light red skin, blue spikes like ocean, blue eyes and a spike at the top end of his tail. He looked like a baby dragon though, he still cleaned and took care of the ruin respectably. Whenever he came near that tomb, tears always filled in his eyes as he ran a claw across it, recollecting something in his mind.
“Mom, I came. I’m Red, remember?” The dragon said, putting his claw back. “I’m here to tell you that I succeeded in learning everything you had taught me. For many years I have trained alone in this old place, I didn’t know what have become of the world outside, nor did I feel how to adapt myself to new environment. Now it’s my time, my chance to study them.”
Red stood there, looking around. He tried to remember the time he and his dragon mother had enjoyed their life, about beautiful plain where they had ever visited. He didn’t want to think more, he should have continued on his future life.
“I’m going to see how wonderful of the world is. Maybe if I can, or have a little chance, I will find a fellow of mine. I promise you, mom,” Red mumbled, holding back his tears.
A bag containing some useful stuffs was the only thing that left with Red after he had decided to take a tour to new places. He looked at the tomb once more time, cleaning dust which sticked on it and went outside. He was nervous, especially when he was about to experience.
Stepping out of the ruin, he suddenly caught a strange look on whatever surrounding him. Bushes had grown taller, fog was thicker, sound formed by creatures and it was too hard to anticipate without going ahead. He was intimidated at first, but standing would make his state worse. Cold air caused Red to sneeze, no wonder why the world was pretty dangerous.
A sparrow appeared from nowhere, it flew above Red and landed on a branch of a tree nearby, chirping. He didn’t understand why a cute animal like it was here, in such a perilous place. It shouldn’t belong in here by any means. Red approached it, somehow kept his safe distance with it.
“Hey, little fella. What are you doing on up there?” Red asked calmly, trying to have a talk with that sparrow.
Red knew it never got each word of him, it turned its head to him, still chirping. At the moment he realized a very reasonable idea as he raised his claw to it in a friendly manner, prompting it to come closer to him. Red might not be the smartest dragon, but he often found how to resolve situation very well.
“It’s ok, I don’t do anything harm. Please.” Red gestured to it.
The sparrow waited a couple of minutes, probably testing Red’s patience. This was a first time he had ever seen a bird, just because it was small didn’t mean it had no emotion. Seeing that Red was totally innocent, it reluctantly left the branch and landed on his claw, making him smile a bit.
“Okay, you are safe, my little friend. If you get lost in there and need help, I will bring you back to your home.” Red looked at it with truthful eyes.
The Everfree forest was getting more and more complicated, vicious creatures had already felt his appearance and they could track him down in a matter of second. Those things weren’t compared to a group of Timberwolves as they had excellent sense of smell and their favorite food was baby dragons, chasing their victims like no tomorrow. Red knew some creatures, when he encountered one of them his best method was to run or hide, enough time for them to get bored and eventually give up. He also got a notebook, writing every detail about their tactic so he wouldn’t waste time to stand over them again.
“Oh, wait a second, I forget my diary and notebook. I will come back, just don’t fly far from my ruin.” Red quickly dashed into the door, picking them up then returned to the sparrow. “I won’t survive if I journey without them, thank goodness!”
The litte sparrow chippered, turning its head to a stalled road in front of Red. Looked like it was guiding him to go. Red nodded in agreement and started to leave.
“I wonder what is waiting for me. Maybe destiny isn’t as bad as I thought.” Red restocked his bag, looking over the ruin. “Mom, is this what you want me to do?”
The ruin itself was a temporary home. But to Red, it was still a beautiful place.
“Yes, I gotta go now. Mom, you are forever in my heart!” With his last words, Red left with his little fellow and together they went to where fortune called them. Though he must start his own life, the memory of his beloved mother didn’t fade away, telling him what was wrong or right. Of course she was invisible to any other genres except Red, a vivid image that had followed him in eternal.
Little did he know, his quest would change him profoundly.
-o-o-o-
Walking along dirty road, the view of his old home gradually disappeared and soon it was going to fade in mist. Regardless of this, Red couldn’t turn around, he promised to find a better home and he kept it as hard as steel. His company had rested on his head, sometimes it chirped joyfully as a sign for him to tramp, and he replied by giving food to it. Red now understood how friends helped him depended on how he treated them back.
“Well, it seems we made this way so far. I can’t believe my body was exhausted so much.” Red smiled weakly.
The sparrow heard his complaint, it furiously pecked at his forehead. Red felt a pain and he covered his head to prevent more pecks from it.
“Ow, don’t do it! It was hurt!” cried Red.
Red’s partner didn’t please that answer, it repeatedly attacked him. Red finally gave up as he reached out to it, holding it between his palms.
“Ok, I won’t whine. No matter what happens, I won’t let myself deceive my hopes,” Red replied in a soft tone, calming his little friend.
The sparrow left his claws and flew near him, chirping happily. Red signed with relief, he had no idea that getting used of speech of animals was absolutely hard. They continued to go through the dark forest, passing bushes on their road, hiding away from eyes of fierce creature. The air temperature was no longer extremely cold, the fog became thinner and there was a thing they could expect of.
A light at the end of the stalled road opened before them.
More steps were heard clearly, the sound of foot echoed throughout Everfree forest, Red wondered who was behind him as he turned to discern. Not a single one, excluding his sparrow who waited him impatiently. He gave it an apologetic gesture then proceeded back his quest. The light ahead of them shined bright, bringing its warm to them like a miracle, but they hadn’t touched it yet. Red began to grin and so did his little bird.
Only a few steps and they could get out of this creepy forest, Red gasped for air while the sparrow was trying to say something. Red looked up at it, he knew they were going to part away and they’d find their own paths.
“I guess we had our fun time, right?” Red admitted, raising his hand to wave at his bird. “I’m sure we may meet again in somewhere. Without you, I’m forever lost and nerver know how the world looks like. Thank you, little sparrow.”
A smile was good enough to make the sparrow chipper in the last time as it towarded the light and left Red. He felt satisfied after helping an animal, although he needed a little effort to work out. No more waiting, Red breathed in and breathed out, filling his lungs with fresh air and decided to run to that hopeful light. Before he made an act he had heard a cry coming behind him precisely.
“Ow!” A voice of unfamiliar one cried out.
Red couldn’t ignore whoever being hurt or injured, he ran back to where the voice was from. Lots of bag containing medicine was scattered over ground and they were a bit mess. Red tried to gather them then classified each of them according to color on each of bag, putting them together. He quickly took a look at the figure who got up slowly, recovering his sensation.
“Here you go. Are you okay?” Red asked anxiously.
The figure regained after that, looking back at Red. Upon their contact, the figure turned out to be another dragon like Red. He had purple skin, green spikes, emerald-like eyes and also had spike at top end of his tail. Red held his claw, lifting him up effortlessly.
“Thank, those bags are important. If I drop or break one of –” The purple dragon was shocked by all of a sudden. “Y-You are a dragon?”
A shout of him caused Red to flinch, nevertheless he still forced a smile.
“Well, yes. I’m a dragon,” Red assumed softly. “I’m on my quest to find a place and discover new things I haven’t seen in my life. Hey, you’re a dragon too, it’s good to know that.”
The purple dragon gave Red a puzzled expression, he took all bags from Red, dusting himself off.
“So you’re trying to find a suitable home for you?” He queried while circling round Red.
“That’s right.”
“I saw many dragons, they were adult and muscular but I haven’t met a baby dragon like you before. I must say that you look like me a lot.”
“Actually, I’m not young.”
“What do you mean?”
“N-Nothing.” Red turned away, picking up his bag. “Since I didn’t know how to navigate this big forest, can you help me?”
Seeing Red wasn’t a bad dragon plus he was too kind to help stranger in such contingency, the purple dragon stared at him two more minutes, making sure he didn’t cause any suspicion. Red also stared back at him, showing his truth.
“Hm, I reckon that I can trust you. Ok, follow me,” He answered with a gentle smile, restocking medicine bags and held them tightly.
“Thank you, I appreciate your kindness,” Red happily replied, earning a blush from the baby dragon.
When Red tended to walk, he didn’t realize a small rock below his feet. He accidentally tripped over it and his face hit on the dirty road…
THUD!
His body suffered from this fall, a pain he must accept by clumsiness. A laughter formed and it came from a certain dragon who was watching him in excitement. He got close to Red, lending him a hand so he could get back on his feet.
“Are you alright?” The baby dragon laughed, pointing at mud that covered Red’s mouth.
“Yes, a little… hurt, but I’m definitely fine,” Red reassured, brushing off the mud.
“Really? You have hit ground hard, you don’t need to lie to me.”
“I-It’s ok, small wound doesn’t affect me all. Don’t you believe me?”
“Of course not.”
“Well, shall we go?”
Both of them towarded the light. Red felt the sun was warming every part of him, his thought to establish goals wasn’t wrong as a calm, beautiful voice slipped into him, saying that he should continue and never regretted the choice he had made. The world seemed open bit by bit, what was waiting for him in there? He didn’t have much plans about it so he let it happen naturally, following his best ideal and keeping sanity as high as he could.
The Everfree forest was no longer dark and sinister, Red left it behind as he saw a place filling with blue sky, aromatic plain, houses, living trees and some creatures trotting alongside their road. Red looked up at a sign with yellow color, saying ‘Welcome to Ponyville’. Red made no sound during this, but the purple dragon pushed his back, forcing him to walk.
“Here we are. Welcome to Ponyville!”
-o-o-o-
Author's Note
This is my first fic. Hope you can give me your comments so I will try my best to work better on the story and future chapters.
Traveling a long way to see beauty of the world, Red finally found a place called Ponyville where ponies had lived and worked. Red saw many of them walked on ground, holding stuffs in their mouth. Ponies with wings tended to fly around while some used their horn to levitate objects, chatting amongst themselves. They usually carried saddle bag that allowed to store or put out something. A few fillies and colts were galloping across street, playing happily. Red didn’t want to bother them as he glanced at the purple dragon who was ready to leave.
By the time Red was there, the young dragon began a little conversation with him.
“Well, let me introduce myself. I’m Spike, the only noble dragon in this town,” The purple dragon said, stretching his arms. “Who are you?”
“I’m Red, an honor to meet you, Spike.” Red gave his hand for Spike to shake.
“You are very polite, Red,” remarked Spike. “This is Ponyville, a peaceful town and it’s popular by most ponies. As you can see, they work together and build friendship throughout their life.”
“Oh, I think I’m going to like it,” Red stated, earning a grin from Spike.
“The important thing in Ponyville is how to treat citizens with respect. Trust me, if you make a problem that harms ponies, you will be sent to the moon for eternality,” Spike advised solemnly.
Red backed away in fear, he probably didn’t know his life after he had been transported to that lone place. And Spike’s words seemed sincere, not artificial.
“You mean… I can’t go back once I was in the moon, right?” Red frightened.
“Yeah, it’s true. Perhaps you could sing or do something ridiculous,” Spike replied sarcastically.
“Spike, please,” Now Red was serious, he said with a frown.
“He he, I’m sorry.” Spike returned to main subject. “So Red, why do you come to Ponyville?”
“I’m in journey to find a new home and explore the world that I haven’t known for years. Being a young dragon isn’t as easy as I thought, but I do not give up until I find out,” Red claimed.
“Hmm, I get it.” Spike smirked. “I think a pony may have information you are looking for, whoever getting troubles needs her aid… sometimes.”
“Then how can I find her?”
“Her house isn’t far from our standing. I will take you in there as a token of my thanks and also as a friend.”
“Friend? You really mean that?”
“Well, if you were a jerk you would ignore me and laugh while I lay on ground. You’re the first dragon helping me willingly, unlike those arrogant dragons who always think they are strong and underrate others.”
“Thank you, Spike.”
“It’s nothing, everypony in this town is nice once you get used to them. Now you want to go or not?”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
Walking on the road, Red looked over landscape of Ponyville plus houses and ponies Spike had mentioned. Red couldn’t believe they built almost fancy things such as cart, shop, department, store and they operated smoothly. Red didn’t learn how to make contact with them so he stayed near Spike, but kept not touching him. Spike, on the other hand, kept an eye on him in case he ran off by some unexpected reasons.
Of course, ponies didn’t pay attention at Spike because he was an official citizen of the town. Except Red, they looked at him with both curiosity and vigilance. Some wondered where he came, some went towards him to see clearly, a few of them chatted about his appearance and others watched his whole body in amazement. An uneasy feeling formed on Red, he’d not been nervous like that before. Spike put his claw on Red’s shoulder in attempt to calm him a bit.
“Red, no need to hide. They only do this when they see a new pony or any creature whom they have never met,” Spike assured.
“I guess I need a little confidence,” smiled Red.
Passing the crowd, Red and Spike went through a couple of buildings before Spike stopped. Red took a look at a building in front of him as Spike slowly approached it, he gestured Red to continue. This was a giant tree house followed by branches and its outlook was very close to nature, a red door with a candlestick on it, a yellow lantern hanging outside a window at the left side of the tree, a beehive hanging from a branch below a balcony. There also had a balcony on top and a telescope could be seen as well. A sign of an open book was put outside the door and small tree stood near the house’s right side. Everything of it completely made Red gasp in awe.
“I’m home!” Spike opened the door then looked back at Red. He rolled his eyes when he saw Red pulled out a quill and a parchment, drawing something hastily.
“It’s a good place, I can’t miss a chance to memorize it,” Red mumbled.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Spike asked, snapping Red out of thought. “Come inside!”
“Sorry, this house is very elegant, I admit.” Red put his stuffs back into his bag, reaching the door along with Spike.
As they entered, Spike dropped all bags of medicine on a table, Red saw the interior of the tree house. There were many bookshelves, a staircase leading to second room and to basement, which Red didn’t bother to know, not now. Ceiling was painted a huge symbol of the sun, some windows, vase of flowers and a journal book was put on a podium in the middle of the room. Red remained silent until he saw a pony going downstairs, as he tried not to lose his spirit or did anything wrong.
She was a lavender pony, her mane and tail were indigo with purple and bright pink streak. She had a horn on her forehead and a pair of wings near her flank. She was taller than ponies Red had seen around Ponyville, and by looking into her eyes Red could determine that she wasn’t a normal pony but a very talented scholar.
“Thank a lot, Spike. With Zecora’s remedy I can begin a new research on them and –” She quickly glanced at Red. “Who is this?”
“He is Red, he is a dragon I met in the Everfree forest,” Spike said calmly, “he helped me to gather remedies and classify them.”
“H-Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Red saluted her with a smile. The lavender pony squinted at him as if she was trying to find truth from him. By this time Red became more nervous, sweats flowing down his cheeks.
Red thought she wasn’t going to believe him, but it never happened. She gave him a welcome gesture.
“It’s nice to meet you, Red. I’m Twilight Sparkle, I live with Spike, my truthful assistant and Owlowiscious, my pet.” She pointed her hoof at an owl standing on a branch next to Red’s side.
“You know, I’m her number one assistant and my job is to take care our library,” Spike chipped in. “Okay, I’m going to prepare lunch. Feel free to ask Twilight anything you want.”
Spike went into kitchen, leaving only Twilight and Red. Red was surprised that their house was actually a library containing various kinds of book and stuff, no wonder why he had noticed at the sign early. Maybe he could seek out what he wished.
Though Red admired the beauty of the library, he decided not to wander too long between his love of artistry and his own quest.
“Your library is quite comfortable,” Red praised.
“Thank, it’s a home filling with many memories of my friends. Whenever we learn about magic of friendship, experience new things, we record to our journal book so we can read them and in future everypony can read too,” Twilight replied softly.
“Is that the book on podium?” Red asked, earning a nod from Twilight. “How great!”
“Red, I think you should take a bath.” Twilight looked over Red and dust covering entirely his body. Red blushed madly, not knowing he left many footprints on floor.
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” Red admitted his mistake frankly.
“There’s no need to say sorry over time, it’s not your fault.” Twilight returned her earnest. “I will lead you to my bathroom.”
Red flinched, it was rude to get in a kind of place like bathroom. Although Red had a little detail about it, he wasn’t a fool dragon and entering girl’s room greatly reduced his sanity, destroying his pure self forever.
“Twilight, is it ok with you?” Red resisted her help.
“It’s alright, don’t feel nervous,” Twilight reassured.
“No, I mean… don’t you see it’s awkward when you let me bathe in your… own bathroom?” Red tried to hide his red cheeks.
“Of course not.” Now Twilight was getting annoyed.
“Do you have another room for… boys only?”
“What are you saying? We have only one bathroom.”
“One bathroom? And Spike –”
“Yes, Spike bathes in there too.”
Feeling that Red didn’t have more choices plus Twilight was too generous to offer him, and how she treated a stranger like him, he reluctantly accepted her aid.
“Well, I guess I will clean first,” Red agreed to Twilight, making her change back to her usual posture. “But wait, I could do by myself so you don’t need to watch me whole time while I’m bathing. Is it fine?”
“It’s fine. Well, follow me.” Twilight guided him to the second floor. Red temporarily forgot his self and went upstairs with her, a blush still remained on him.
The second room, which Red immediately looked around, was decorated by some rare furnitures. Unlike the ceiling of the ground floor, this one was painted a beautiful symbol of the moon. There also had a candle-like lamp, a closet, two bedrooms, a basket, books, a window and a door. Red supposed that door leading to the bathroom, and he was right.
“Take your time. I will see you when you’re done.” Twilight smiled.
“Thank you,” Red said before closing the door.
The bathroom was a single room, it contained brush, soap and bathtub. Even if Red didn’t know what soap was used for, he tried dipping it in the water. Bubbles were floating on water’s surface and they disappeared thereafter, also soap had its own aroma. Back at his old home, he collected herbs to bathe instead, but now he was staying at Twilight’s home, he gradually liked bathing with this round soap.
Taking the brush, Red rubbed his body slightly because he wasn’t terribly dirty. He added soap on him and rubbed a little harder, creating a lof of bubbles wrapping about him. Jumping into the bathtub was very reasonable, but he never did and picked a bucket nearby. Filling it with water, he poured it over his head as a stream of water cleared both dust and bubbles out.
Four towels were at left side of a glass containing two toothbrushes. He looked around them so he could pick correct one.
“Twilight is so considerate towards her friends,” Red mumbled.
Red decided to get a white towel, it was easy to know the others without messing them up. One with a small logo of six pointed pink star, one had a green flame and one had a shape of owl’s head. Even an owl used his own towel as well, Red chuckled at the last one then he silently dried himself before having a lunch with them.
-o-o-o-
Walking downstairs, Red didn’t find Twilight. Maybe they had already been in the kitchen or he bathed so long and they were tired of waiting him, so he thought an apologetical word could work. As he slowly approached them, Twilight saw a shadow of him on floor and knew Red was done his business.
“Red, please come in,” greeted Twilight.
The kitchen was a fancy room, lots of utensils serving for cooking, kitchen cupboard, knife, spoon, fork, bowl, dish and etc. Red took a chair opposite to Twilight, probably trying to avoid her gaze. By this time she was confused by his odd behavior.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked worriedly.
“I-I’m sorry. Because of me, your lunch was late,” Red replied, lowering his head on the table.
“No, it’s not late. We’re almost done,” Twilight assumed. Spike only cut some tomatoes and he could make the most delicious tomato soup ever, as he sang joyfully while he was cooking. Red greatly admired Spike’s talent, saying he was capable of doing more than that.
“Spike is a special dragon, I’m glad to hear this,” Red claimed.
“I must admit, you look alike to Spike. The different point is color of your spike and skin,” wondered Twilight. “So how did you meet him, Red?”
“Well, I was on my journey to explore the world which I hadn’t heard for years. I lived my solitary life in a ruin, shutting my sense of outside phenomena and avoiding contact with living creatures. Until I met Spike, he told me about Ponyville, about how ponies worked, how they built the friendship, I finally realized that there are many things I haven’t learned.” Red sniffed.
Twilight and Spike were silent. Red tried his best not to cry, he didn’t want to drop a single tear and the memory of his mother came back, causing a pain in his mind. What Red expressed was extremely sad, no young dragon could endure a long, tedious life like him. His honest words motivated Twilight as she stood up, coming close to Red.
A feeling Red nearly renounced, now regained as Twilight gave him a warm embrace.
It was the warmest embrace ever.
“Twilight, what are you –” Red was cut off by her.
“You’re not alone. I know how you feel, Red. Let me share with your heart,” Twilight said in motherly tone.
“I –”
“I’m here to help you. As a friend, I promise I will help you to learn about magic of friendship. Being alone for the rest of life won’t make you better, only friends could understand your happiness and sadness. If you know what I mean, feel a little emotion from me.”
“Twilight… I… I’m never so happy like this.”
“Me too.”
Red returned a hug. Both of them stood there a few minutes, even Spike stopped cooking for awhile and looked at them in joy. Twilight’s embrace essentially filled in him but getting full meaning of friendship was a long way, and perhaps Red might need aid of his friends to accomplish it.
Red didn’t feel lonely anymore.
They eventually broke the hug, going back to their respective chair. A smile appeared on Red as he continued to watch Spike and Twilight relaxed herself after calming Red. They were waiting for Spike to finish making his own treat.
“Well, I guess we should continue our subject,” Red spoke up.
“You’re right.” Twilight levitated a quill and notebook to her, looked like she was researching on Red. “You live in a ruin, is it located deep in Everfree forest?”
“Yes, my home is covered by tall bushes and thick fog so creatures can’t discern me. It’s hidden very well,” said Red.
“Then how did you walk through the forest without any guidance?” Twilight asked.
“I was guided by a sparrow,” recollected Red.
“Really?” Twilight was interested, writing every word so fast. “I haven’t heard that a sparrow could guide a dragon to go where it aimed at.”
“It’s possible, Twilight. I couldn’t stand when he was lost in that forest, then we made up our mind. I had legs while he had beak, and two of us worked together. Though it wasn’t easy to know animal’s speech, but whenever he chippered, I knew we went right way,” Red explained thoughtfully.
“So he was first animal friend of yours?” Twilight asked another question.
“Yes, he was. I also knew if I treated him nicely, he would do something good in return.” Red laughed, remembering his little bird.
“Amazing! Red, you’re very interesting!” Twilight grinned, “I wonder what your –”
“Lunch is ready!” Spike announced, cutting their conversation. Red and Twilight provisionally paused for lunch, adjusting their chair before tasting food.
Every food on the table was absolutely new to Red, soup, salad, donut, pancake and a bowl of sparkle gems, but their taste was different. Twilight picked her spoon by magic, eating her soup easily. Red tried to do exactly like she did. Taking a glance at Spike, he chewed on each gem and never seemed get full of his stomach.
The tomato soup was suit to Red since color of his skin was also light red. He didn’t get used to eat by spoon so when he spooned up his soup, he clumsily dropped the liquid on the table. Even napkin was useless, once tablecloth got dirty by food the best method was to wash it circumspectly. Red expected a scolding from either Spike or Twilight, he covered his face in embarrassment.
“Red, what have you done?” Spike asked in a serious tone.
“I-I’m sorry, I don’t know how to hold a spoon firmly,” Red apologized.
“Spike, he is learning. Let him familiarize himself with these things,” Twilight advised.
“Great! Now I have to wash it again.” Spike gulped down his next gem, glaring at Red. He hated doing a job twice in a day.
Red accidentally created more works for Spike, though he didn’t mean to.
Come on! Why can’t I lift up a simple spoon while I have no trouble with a quill? Red thought, spooning soup from his dish. He nervously put it into his mouth, somehow didn’t drop any liquid this time. The taste of tomato was good, Red intended to eat fast but seeing Twilight ate her meal in decent manner, he quickly changed deed and ate much slower.
“So Spike,” Red said calmly, “how is the taste of gems?”
“They are all best, quality of them depends on size and durability,” explained Spike. “You need to have very strong teeth like me so you can pierce through them with ease.”
“Gems are surely tasty.” Red smiled.
“Have you ever eaten gems?” Spike queried.
“No, I haven’t. My teeth are rather weak and I usually eat leaf, small trunk or herb. In the old ruin they were only food that had kept me survive,” Red replied in a sad tone.
“Oh, those things aren’t healthy,” Twilight assumed, taking a cup of tea.
“Yes, but I suppose destiny didn’t abandon my life.” Red took a donut near Spike. “Wait, what am I talking? Let’s discuss other subjects after we finish the lunch.”
Spike could tell Red had something in mind that he refused to express. He never mentioned at his parent before he was an orphan dragon, and his eyes brimmed with tears while he talked. He seemed to hide well, but Spike saw through this. When Red turned to look at Spike, he shrouded his doubt about Red by chewing at his last gem.
Maybe someday Spike would know.
-o-o-o-
The lunch was over, Spike started his daily routine. However it took more than twenty minutes to wash the tablecloth and because of Red, he was late for sorting out shelves. Red felt guilty, hoping he could lend him a hand, he didn’t want to be called layabout. Learning a job took time and patience as he watched him, memorizing every step respectably.
Red knew Twilight was waiting. When Spike switched to cleaning utensils, he reached the reading room instantly. Fragrant wood plus the look of library reminded him of a forest, a place he used to play, exploring around it. As if those memories didn’t fade, they were so vivid that Red was able to see them as clear as crystal, but he knew they had ceased.
Twilight was flowed by each word in a book so Red tried not to disturb her. There was a symbol on her flank, a six pointed bright pink star with a white one behind and five small ones surrounding it. Upon seeing him, she closed the book and came to sit on a mattress.
“So you have noticed at my cutie mark?” Twilight asked, earning a puzzled look from Red.
“What’s cutie mark?” Red inquired.
“Cutie mark represents special talent of a pony. When they discover their greatest aptitude, it appears on their flank. Also it takes time to find out,” Twilight explained gently.
“I see.” Red decided to sit down.
“My talent is magic, which means my magic is better than most ponies. I also research about science and books.” Twilight levitated some papers in front of Red.
“It’s wonderful! I wish dragon could do some magic spells too.” Red chuckled.
“Dragons can do magic. According to my book, breathing fire is a common spell.” Twilight turned another page in the book she was reading. “Spike’s magic is to send and receive letter, scroll. When we meet certain events we often send to Princess Celestia so she can know everything happened in Ponyville.”
“Who’s Princess Celestia?” Red wondered.
“Princess Celestia is ruler of Equestria, she lives along with Princess Luna at Canterlot castle and together they spread the magic of friendship over lands.” Twilight smiled, pouring tea into her cup.
Just when they were in the middle of their talking, Spike stepped inside the room with a broom on his hand. He then put it into a basket and went to sort out the bookselves, a job required cautiousness. Spike saw both of them discussed like brother and sister though Red was new to her, so he quickly interfered. “Twilight, do you need these books?”
“No, Spike. I have already read them,” said Twilight.
“Why don’t you tell him that you are a princess?” Spike tried to pull out her title.
“Spike, it’s not necessary,” Twilight frowned.
“Yes, it’s necessary!” Spike retorted.
Red’s jaw dropped open, Twilight was actually a princess. If Spike said true, he must change correct form of address for royalty right away. Who knew he could be thrown into jail or sent to the moon if he said a rude word to her? And to show that Red wasn’t a discourteous dragon, he left the mattress, walking towards Twilight and Spike who were in their argument.
Red bowed to them, causing Twilight to turn to look at him. “P-Princess, I apologize for not realizing you as a royalty.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, and Spike immediately jumped out of this scene, continuing to do his work. He chuckled a little but upon a glare she shot him, he gave her a slight shrug and turned away.
“Red, you don’t need to be so formal. And just call me Twilight.” Twilight’s horn glowed, helping Red to stand because she knew what he would do next.
“Is it ok, Twilight?” Red asked anxiously.
“Yes, besides I’m living at library, not at castle,” Twilight claimed tenderly. “Spike here bows all the time whenever I meet my friends and even everypony, he tries to show my title as more as possible.”
“Hey!” Spike grumbled.
“Well, shall we begin your subject, Red?” Twilight picked her half-written parchment papers and quill, preparing more questions so she could ask Red.
This was to be a long day, and Red thought it wasn’t hurt to tell her about him.
“So princess… no, I mean… Twilight, what would you like to know?” Red asked politely.
“I would like to research dragon species. As you see, dragon migration and magic are common topics that I have already known, but books don’t say so much. Finding them or their territory is not recommended as dragons are very brutal when come to defend their possession. They won’t share anything to outsiders, even ponies and small creatures,” Twilight said knowledgeably.
Red was surprised, he couldn’t believe that his genre was selfish and arrogant. He looked at Spike who happily read a comic book.
“What about Spike?” Red queried.
“Spike is different, I hatched him from an egg, raising him with my care and I considered him as my best friend,” recollected Twilight.
“No wonder why he acts like a pony,” Red complimented, making Twilight laugh as well. However Spike didn’t pay attention, he was wallowing in his book.
“So could you tell me about yourself?” Twilight asked again.
Red was unsure of this, he certainly knew how to express but other kinds of dragon weren’t familiar with him. Staying in ruin so long caused him to forget lots of things, and he only remembered his own kind. Maybe it could help Twilight in her research.
“Alright, I will try my best to bring memories back,” Red replied while Twilight began to write down. “It’s about our ancient clan, genre of holy land.”
The words of Red nearly made Twilight jump in excitement. Even Spike suddenly closed the book he was burying his eyes in and ran to sit near her, probably wanting to hear Red. It was right because Spike hadn’t known holy land before.
Red cleared his throat then started speaking slowly, “Our clan used to live at a land where we called dreamland for holy dragons. We had peaceful life as we shared food, drink, treasures and the most notable thing… the bonds of affection. We weren’t harsh towards any creature so some animals came to live along with us, everything was perfect until other dragons overran us.”
“What happened?” Spike chipped in.
Red continued, “Well, I will say about our species. Only white dragon and holy dragon dwelled in that land, they worked in their own group individually. If they sensed hostilies they would cooperate so as to defend their territory. Holy ones wielded more ancient magic spells while white ones had a few supportive magic spells, their power was supposed to melt down a snowy mountain rapidly.
“Healing was our potential magic. Pure blood from a white dragon worked like remedy, also quintessence on every part of them cured most illness, healed burn. Holy ones could do that too and their scales were said to make useful medicines.
“Like other creatures, they weren’t immortal. When they suffered from damage, and because of their unique quintessence, they could heal themselves to full health without leaving any scar, but doing so required high magic level and healthiness. If they weren’t careful of treating others who were in terribly bad injury, well… the healers might sacrifice their life as well.
“Dragons not from our clan moved to live together with us. It wasn’t long before we discovered that they wanted nothing more than treasures and our heal power, they let their greediness get the best of them and started slaughtering, stealing anything, greatly chasing us like prey. We never had a grudge against them, so we migrated from land to land, completely hiding in secret zones. Our beautiful home became wasteland, no more grassy plain, forest, animals.”
“It’s so sad,” Spike whispered.
“Do healing magic of a dragon heal a pony?” Twilight questioned.
Red closed his eyes in a few seconds, thinking deeply. “The healing magic was associated with certain dragon, nature, herb and magic. We could breathe fire but our flame was rather weak, so we were adept in cure. Interestingly, we didn’t let outsiders know our power because they would use for their selfish ambition. To answer your question, yes, we were able to cure ponies and even animals.
“We could transfer our magic plus knowledge to our posterity. By giving up quintessence, blood and flesh, parent let their offsprings absorb those things in exchange for their life. This action was very dangerous as failure usually leaded to death. If they succeeded, offsprings would have magic like their parent.”
“What about your parent?” Twilight inquired.
Red’s mood changed, her query struck him like one thousand needles sticked his heart. “I… don’t want to talk about it. Please.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Twilight realized that she asked a wrong question. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s ok, Twilight. Just ask other things.” Red gave her a weak smile.
“Well, has your clan ever met ponies once?” Twilight proceeded with her work.
Red looked up at the ceiling and refreshed his memory. “Our clan hadn’t seen a pony since the dragon invasion. Most of us found better life to live, staying away from hunters who seeked out us. I don’t know about them, but I learned how to adapt to pony world and thanks to you guys, my loneliness seemed vanish. I wish they knew Ponyville so they could make friend with you.”
Twilight chuckled, writing non-stop while Spike gradually liked Red’s home plus his fellows. His thoughts about bad dragons changed significantly during the story Red was talking, not all of them were cruel and arrogant.
“Besides magic potential, did they have hobbies?” Twilight turned over a next blank page.
“Any creature had their particular hobby, so did we. Fighting, hunting gems were very similar things which dragons liked doing, our genre wasn’t different. Unlike them, we loved magic art, book and drawing,” Red responded, taking a few sips of tea.
“Book? What kind of book are you interested in?”
“To be honest, history of dragon generation is my favorite book. But due to the fact that it and all sort of our books were shattered by mean dragons, I hardly got a single paper nor did I find the remains of them. I guess our legacy was untold until now as you have more details about us, though it would have centuries to unveil all.”
“What’s your special talent?”
“My talent is… Er, don’t make haste, Twilight. Sooner or later, I will tell you what my talent is. It’s not right time to discuss this issue.”
“Alright, I got it.” Twilight was done her writting, she then sticked pages on a notebook and her eyes were brimming with cheeriness. Red stared at her in confusion, not knowing how to describe her current state clearly. Whenever she found something new that hadn’t noted in books she often overjoyed as she could spin a lot of objects, creating a tornado of papers or casting a funny spell which gave Spike the jumps. But Twilight didn’t behave this time, she was calm and sensible.
She acquired what she needed, mirage things about ancient dragon.
“Are my information helpful?” Red waved at Twilight.
“Fantastic!” Twilight said out loud, giving Red a dramatic gesture. “I haven’t ever written a topic of dragon before, it was hopeless to do it without any clue. I can’t believe I solved many problems and because of you, my progress seemed advance bit by bit.”
Red was delighted to hear her comment, nothing was better than seeing a bright smile from a friend, specially a pony whom he had come across in the first time. He significantly recalled his old life as he liked telling other dragon fellows about adventures he had experienced by his own fortitude, claiming he wasn’t scaredy dragon. And what he received was nonchalant look of them, they even told him that his stories went from nonsensicality to non-existence, making his heart sink at the reaction.
Following dragon code, Red wouldn’t share any secret to other creatures if he knew they were untrustworthy. His mother and some of his friends were the only dragons he might express because they never denied him or condemned him roundly. Twilight wasn’t different, when he told her those things she didn’t show any doubt, on the evidence of her interest in listening to each of his word carefully and precisely. The more he looked at her, the more he felt peace as his sentiment was open a little.
Though Twilight gathered plenty of amazing details from him, the thing which concerned her mostly was his unknown parent. Every time she tried to mention this all he could was to shut her off by changing her subject, an action that it sometimes irritated her, but what else should she do? Still there were queries she needed to know. How he had ended up in Everfree forest after the attacking of mean dragons, how he survived by eating only raw food and the connection between his relatives were mystery to her despite his clear explanation. So to make sure Red was comfortable around here, she temporarily put them aside and focused on her study again.
“Well, it certainly works. Princess Celestia will approve of my new research!” Twilight grinned.
“I’m sure she will.” Red smiled, taking another cup of tea.
Spike was watching them a whole time, the way they talked and exchanged really made him jealous of Red. He even thought their affection grew into something greater, notably above feelings of friendship. He also admitted that Twilight had treated new friends with respect and he wasn’t an exception, usually she would try to study them first before she decided whether they were good or not. The embrace he had seen lately was a special event, no dragon could strongly motivate her in the beginning like Red so Spike guessed he wasn’t purely an ordinary dragon, his personality got him nosy and he was going to find out this soon.
Nonetheless, thinking more wasn’t helping at all. Spike wanted to talk with Red in private but not now, so he waited patiently until the time came.
“Red, did you tell me you want to explore the world? So ask Twilight right away,” Spike reminded.
“Oh right, how could I forget that?” Red smiled sheepishly.
“Hm, explore the world… So what subject do you like to know?” Twilight asked, bringing some books from a shelf nearby as she started opening them.
The library was a perfect place for finding almost everything Red wished. Books were classified by the twenty six letters of the alphabet, and to his amazement the number of them wasn’t one or two, but more than one thousand. The bookshelves containing them were clean, a folding chair standing next to a shelf, a broom and a rug. Red then looked round them, trying to get what he was looking for.
It was difficult to pick a suitable book. With a huge amount of books Red easily lost his mind and he might be headache if he wasn’t careful when searching. So he needed a correct question, not only it could show him full details of the world but it also helped him to achieve his quest.
Red closed his eyes and spoke his thought, “Can you tell me about Equestria?”
If the dragon’s topic wasn’t exciting enough, this question, as Twilight’s eyes filled with both joy and amusement, was super exciting. She picked a thick book by her magic without looking back at its location because she did remember exactly each kind of book, knowing what shelves they should be put in were. At the time she moved her mattress to a space near Red, Spike momentarily left them and didn’t bother to hear.
“You want to know about Equestria?” Twilight asked happily.
“Yes, and the history of it too. If you don’t mind, what do Ponyville and Canterlot look like?” Red replied gently.
“Oh no, not these things again.” Spike shook his head, returning to his spot and rereading his comic book. He didn’t expect Red could utter something related to history or foundation, now it was too late to stop the situation. “Red, I hope you’re prepared.”
Red glanced at Spike who truly gave him a warning, however he instantly ignored Spike as he was eager to study new things. No pony or creature prevented him from that.
“Well, where should I start?” Twilight ran a hoof across each page of the book, recollecting her memories.
-o-o-o-
The evening came, the sun was hovering above the west of Ponyville with its glorious light color as everypony recognized the decline of day, they began to arrange their property, finishing whatever they could before walking back to their respective homes, enjoying a quite long rest with family thereafter. Road still had a few ponies walk on it, their stomp blew some leaves up and old branches falling from trees scattered on ground, moderately disordering the road a bit. A small wind reached into the town, causing dust and tiny objects to go to where it leaded. Above clouds, pegasi had their work done as they soared to the sky while others would stay at home patently. Soon, the whole town was becoming tranquil.
Light could be seen inside houses and lamps on street were lit up as well. Though the night hadn’t come yet, ponies still had many plans to do their own work so having light early wasn’t strange to their usual behavior. Life in Ponyville was always busy, but a smile could even break atmosphere of tension, allowing lots of fun things to follow.
Back at the Golden Oak Library, Twilight had told Red about Equestria, almost events in both Canterlot and Ponyville. She occasionally mentioned different countries which were far from her home, such as Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Appleoosa. Each of them was also popular by different ponies, creatures and culture, but in the main she liked speaking of Elements of Harmony, a powerful spell used to purify Nightmare Moon and turn Discord, the embodiment of chaos, into stone. The Elements were in their possession until the danger of Tree of Harmony, forcing her friends to give up them in exchange for the tree’s life.
Under the circumstances, Twilight’s hope didn’t fade as she was trying to solve a mysterious chest containing six locks, whatever inside it was very important because it might decide the fate of Equestria, as well as her home and her friends.
Though Twilight was skilled at teaching new stuff, she often didn’t realize that her long description literally made others fall into a slumber. Even her assistant Spike often found a nice area to avoid her whenever she lectured on subject. Twilight expected compliments so she could prove of her knowledge, and result she received was a full scene of somepony in sweet dream, completely making her annoyed.
Red was probably one of dragons in the world spending his time and patience to comprehend Twilight’s wonderful teaching. He was a little tired, but for the sake of his quest he wouldn’t let sleepiness fail him. He gradually loved the beauty of Equestria, saying that it was much like the promised land where his fellows had lived in harmony. There always had friendship between genres, as Twilight constantly repeated in her subject and no magic was stronger than it.
“Well, I suppose it was evening.” Twilight relaxed herself, finally catching a breath.
“So… many things! If my friends were here, they would be surprised when hearing your wondrous land,” Red praised, taking a cup of tea to get rid of his thirst.
“Thank, I appreciate this.” Twilight chuckled, closing the book in front of her. “Too bad the day seems to pass quicker than I thought. I intend to test you before we finish our lesson.”
“What’s test?”
“Test is… test. It is used for checking anything you have learned so far. For example, I add questions and you simply answer them.”
“You mean it’s a quiz, right?”
“That’s what I mean.”
Although Red was very fond of exploring, he admitted that quiz wasn’t obviously in his interest. He found it hard to do because only those who had an amazing brain could manage it without fail. If Twilight talked about something such as artistry and magic fragments then Red wouldn’t hesitate to accept, but seeing her tiredness after a whole evening he decided not to disrupt her anymore.
“I-I think you should rest for awhile, Twilight,” Red advised calmly.
“No, I’m not tired.” Twilight smiled, sipping her tea. “Besides, getting to know of you is a way to show you around my friends comfortably. I’m sure you will like them once you meet them.”
“Oh, I will try my best to have a nice contact with them.”
“About what you have said early, I need time to find a place you are looking for. So until that you can stay at my home.”
“Thank you.”
“And one more thing, Princess Celestia is going to visit you tomorrow. You better prepare well, Red.”
Red gasped, he felt sweats were formed on his brow and his legs trembled a bit. The ruler of Equestria knew he was here, but how? He didn’t see Spike turned the letter into ashes nor did he notice at Twilight writing it and asked Spike to send it to Princess Celestia. And questioning their reason wasn’t a great idea because he could throw himself into trouble, it might be worse than a Timberwolf biting his tail or an Ursa Minor chasing him throughout the Everfree forest.
Above all of this, keeping cool was strongly recommended. According to what Twilight said, Princess Celestia was definitely an alicorn who ruled the world. Red was going to face her soon so he didn’t ever dare sound like a jerk, and being rude in front of her wasn’t good either. Even Twilight’s magic could pierce through diamond, Celestia was capable of removing… a mountain with ease. They only activated a spell and his life ended miserably, their magic level was high enough to surpass even the most powerful creatures. As long as they believed in the friendship, nothing could harm them and Red was learning the meaning of it.
“Red, don’t worry about it. Princess Celestia is kind and understanding. You show her your honesty then you will be fine,” Twilight reassured.
“I’m… not sure. Having a chance to meet a princess of Equestria is great, but I still don’t feel confident.” Red lowered his head.
“You aren’t acting like a scaredy dragon, are you?” Twilight joked, making Red roll his eyes.
“N-No, I’m not scared!” Red replied firmly, a blush appeared on his cheeks.
“What makes you think you aren’t scared?”
“Because… the nature of dragon tells me that.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, truly and really.”
“Well, if you say so.” Twilight chuckled, standing up and stretching her wings. “The dinner is waiting, let’s continue your subject tomorrow.”
Before Twilight joined with Spike, she gave Red a smirk which he quickly backed away from. He knew it was nothing than a warning and should he be careful when meeting Celestia, whom Twilight called as her mentor. Regardless of whatever happening in next day, he was ready to face though he was a bit nervous.
-o-o-o-
The dinner was finished in half an hour. Red didn’t eat much, he was busy at correcting his words so if he had a chat with royalty he would not babble or play around ridiculous things. Taking a look at the night sky, he saw many stars shining and some of them created a strange shape like a dragon and young one. They were smiling at each other as if they finally found their true happiness. To Red’s surprise, those stars eventually changed their position and formed a new shape which was similar to...
“Mom!” Red said, staring at the shape.
The shape itself looked like his dragon mother, but it was so vaporous that he didn’t know whether it was real or not. Red stood there in a moment, trying to concentrate on his future rather than looking back at the past. He didn’t ever read his own diary, for some reasons he still kept and wrote it per day.
“Maybe I’m wrong. They are stars, they don’t move by their will.” Red shook his head in disappointment.
As Red walked upstairs, he glanced at the shape one more time. It suddenly vanished and he no longer found those mirage stars, however he still believed that it was a good sign.
A sign of hope, a sign he mustn’t forget.
Twilight offered him a bed next to hers so he could rest. It was warm and soft, Red could tell it was somehow better than a bunch of straws he had used to rest his back on. Spike slept in his basket as usual, his snore was tiny and he breathed regularly, much to Red’s joy. A dragon living with a pony, it might be awkward but upon seeing how they had their strong bonds of friendship, Red simply smiled at them then wrapped blanket round him, preparing a new yet busy day.
“I hope everything will be alright,” Red whispered. “No, I shouldn’t think too much. It’s important to go ahead.”
Yes, I bet you finally knew your role, little dragon, a strange voice came out of nowhere and talked in Red’s mind.
Red immediately jumped off his bed, looking around and finding where that voice was. Fear was starting to take form in him as the voice was menacing, like a predator howling at its prey. “W-Who was that?”
Relax, my dear. Being afraid of what you’re facing doesn’t help you at all. Enjoy your life as much as you can, because one day you will know your destiny, the voice spoke.
“My destiny? What do you mean?” Red asked in a frightening tone.
Be well, it’s just the beginning.
The voice disappeared rapidly, not wanting for Red to determine it. Maybe it was an evil substance, or whatever talking to Red wasn’t quite friendly. Where did it come from? Was it a dream? Did it have something with him? Lots of questions confused him. The quote ‘you will know your destiny’ made him worry, in another thought it was trying to warn him.
Red was exhausted awfully, so he didn’t bother to investigate that demonic voice. And thinking deeply about the existence of it could hurt his head. Deciding to shrug it off, he went back to bed and drowsiness slowly touched him, closing his blue eyes. The library itself became silent as well, only small wind still blew outside, creating a sweet sound which filled the entire beautiful night.
-o-o-o-
