Has that always been there?
I should really consider putting a bathroom closer to my room, thought Twilight after leaving the toilet.
On her way back to her bedroom, she heard some grumbles coming from the library. It seemed she wasn't the only pony who had difficulties to sleep tonight.
Quietly looking through the half-opened door, she saw that it wasn't a pony but a dragon. Her number one assistant was sat at a reading desk, with different sized piles of books surrounding him.
"No, that won't do," he muttered, closing the book in front him and putting it on a pile on his right. Then he took another book from a pile on his left.
"Spike?" she asked, not being able to prevent her mouth from speaking.
"Oh, hey Twilight," he replied, only moving his eyes from the book for a second before opening another one and reading it. "Not this one too" he commented, repeating the same motions of moving books.
"What are you doing? Isn't it way past your bedtime?"
"I know Twi, but there is something that has kept bugging me since we came back from the rock farm."
"If it's about the fact that the Pies are actually able to harvest rock, it falls in the same category than the Pinkie Sense," she lectured him. "I thought you would have learned from my experience that you shouldn't try to understand anything related to this family and just accept it."
"It's not about that."
"What is this then?"
He didn't reply immediately and instead, finished his quick reading and then, looked straight at Twilight.
"It's about rocks," he said with a serious voice.
"So? What about them?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
Once more, he took a moment to clear his thoughts. "When Pinkie's parents took us on a tour of the farm, I kinda... felt something around the giant egg-shaped stone."
"You mean Holder's Boulder? Is this why you spent a long time outside after dinner?"
"Yes, I wanted to check if it was just a feeling or if magic was involved."
"Magic? Are you sure Spike?” she asked doubtfully. "Holder's Boulder seemed to be just a simple rock. I didn't feel any magic."
"That's why I left you after dinner. I came back to study it and I was right, the rock is magic. It is weak but persistent and it's definitely there."
"I find that hard to believe. And even if the rock is magic, why are you so concerned about it? If it had posed a safety hazard, don't you think that the first Pies who had discovered it would have disposed of it?"
There seemed to be no end to the barrage of questions from Twilight. Spike couldn’t hold it against her- after all, he hadn’t be very clear about why he felt the urge to find some answers. Maybe it was time to stop beating around the bush.
"I'm sure but... promise you won't laugh?"
"Pinkie promise," swore Twilight, adding the motions to her vow.
"I heard the stone... calling... like, I don't know, like it was alone and was calling for someone it... loved." He didn't add that he has felt from the rock the same feeling he had when he sometimes thought about Rarity. The feeling of a love made unachievable, not only because of their kind but also because of the age difference. "And I was wondering if, maybe, and I insist on maybe, Holder's Boulder would not be a rock but a real egg. A dragon's egg. It has the shape and now that I know it has magic too: I'm sure of that, it's the only conclusion I was able to come to. I mean, what if there is a dragon inside that had been trapped for generations?"
Twilight didn't laugh, just like she had promised. (But the idea was so alien to her that she could only stare at her little friend, mouth slightly agape.) Seeing her stare and her mouth slightly agape, Spike concluded Twilight wasn’t convinced.
"Huh... Twilight?" tried Spike.
He didn't insist, preferring to wait patiently for the young alicorn to end her brainwork. He could almost hear the gears of her brain rattle.
"Yes... yes…," she whispered after a moment, "that's... interesting."
Interesting huh, thought Spike, she is usually more excited than that when she finds a subject 'interesting'. Soon enough, he saw light shine from Twilight's eyes. Here we go.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she said in a joyful tone, grabbing Spike's head in her hooves. "If you are right Spike, it could mean that every dragon's egg needs a spark to be hatched, like I did for -you! And what if this one never received its spark but still grew nonetheless? Imagine Spike, a dragon from the past has waited to be freed for so many generations! And the Pies have lived next to it all this time without suspecting anything! All the questions that it raises, all the answers that we can get from this!" She was now happily bouncing in circle. "We MUST contact the Dragon Lord. Spike, take a note."
"Hum Twilight? It's the middle of the night. I don't think that Princess Ember would be happy to be woken up this late."
Twilight stopped her bouncing and froze, a small grin on her face.
"Yeah... I guess we should wait for tomorrow and take a good sleep."
"Ready to go?"
"As ready as I’ll ever be," Spike answered.
They had sent a letter to Ember that morning to ask her if she could receive them today and she had almost instantly replied that she would be more than happy to do so. Dragon's magic communication definitely had its advantages.
"Brace yourself" warned Twilight.
She lit her horn and focused. They disappeared in a flash, reappearing in the dragon land and in front of the new Dragon Lord. She was sitting on a magnificent throne adorned with multicolored gemstones, and was flanked by two armored dragons.
"Dragon Lord," said Twilight, bowing before her, and soon followed by Spike.
Princess Ember rose from her throne and took a few steps towards the newcomers. Before he could stand, Spike found himself grabbed in a hug.
"Spike! It's so nice to see you again!"
"Hehe, thanks, it's nice to see you too." Looks like she’s quickly learning the magic of friendship.
She released the little dragon and turned to Twilight,nodding to her with a smile. "Princess Twilight Sparkle. I believe you both wanted to discuss something regarding dragons?"
"Indeed your Highness."
"Forget the protocol and call me Ember, please. But for now, I think that we would be more comfortable with a drink, don't you think?"
She led the group to a smaller room next to the throne where a table, a few chairs and bowl of gemstones awaited them. The room itself wasn't decorated and seemed to have been recently dug into the mountain. The guards had taken position at the entrance, their expressions as welcoming as a brick wall.
Spike noticed the appetizing gemstones but he pushed his gluttony away and it soon faded, as he started explaining to Ember his theory about Holder's Boulder. She listened to him, keeping quiet and nodding from time to time.
Once his explanation finished, silence fell and stayed for a moment, each one of them lost in their thoughts. Spike had tried to bring the subject in a convincing way and hoped he had managed to do so, knowing that it was almost entirely based on an impression. He didn't want to trouble anyone, especially if it turned out he was wrong. For her part, Twilight had kept her mouth shut the entire time. Even if she had difficulties keeping quiet about this exciting topic, it was right to let Spike hold the conversation: he was the one who had speculated about the giant rock, after all!
Ember cleared her throat and resumed the talk. "I must say that I have never heard anything about dragon's eggs being left alone, nor becoming a rock, so I don't know if an unhatched egg can still grow."
"But what about the spark needed to hatch an egg?"Twilight asked, finally, after being silent for so long.
"I... don't know about that either," answered Ember shyly. "I'm still young and that is a topic I didn't have the chance to... address with my father," she added, blushing and turning her head away in shame. "Anyway, speaking of him, he might know something about it. We should talk to him."
"We?" asked Twilight. "I'm not sure that my presence will do any good. I'm a pony and he is a dragon."
"Ponies and dragons may had avoided each others for centuries but that’s over now," said Ember firmly. "As the Dragon Lord, I intend to create a long-term relationship with ponykind. Even he has to comply. It started several weeks ago with the Gauntlet of Fire, and it continues now with helping you and one of my hypothetic subject," she concluded with a disturbing smile of a predator.
"Daaad! Are you in here?" called Ember.
A loud sound, between a snort and a grunt, was the only answer coming from inside the huge cave they were facing.
"Yep, he's definitely there," she commented.
They entered the cave and found the previous Dragon Lord, Torch, laying lazily on his belly on a bed of gemstones, his head resting on his arms and surrounded by even more precious and shiny objects, from jewels to golden candlesticks.
"Why do you disturb my nap? What do you need this time?" he asked grumbling, even though his deep voice was echoing through the cave like thunder.
Twilight recalled that Torch was a big dragon but now she was closer to him than she had never been, he was really, really big. Her instinct was telling her to put a very long distance between them. Maybe going to the Moon would suffice, but that wasn't sure.
"We need your help. It's about a possible and ancient dragon's egg which is actually in the hooves of some ponies and has been for centuries."
"I told you, I don't want to have anything to do with ponies. They are unreliable creatures."
"They're not!" argued Spike.
"Ha! And what do you know about it, little dragon?"
"I'm Spike! And ponies are my friends! I won't let you talk bad about them." Even though he wanted to sound brave, he hadn't been able to prevent fear from giving his voice a whisky tone.
"What are you gonna do about it?" asked Torch with a grin, moving his head closer to Spike.
"Enough!" intervened Ember. "Dad, don't oblige me to make you comply. You know I don't like it. You will come with us to see what is this egg and what we can do about it."
"And yet, this is how you show true leadership, something that you seem to lack,” he sighed. “But fine, I'll go with you.” He stood from his bed and stretched his arms.
Okay, he is even bigger now, thought Twilight, letting out an uncontrolled yelp that would have made Fluttershy proud. She knew he wasn't a threat and that she could probably match him in a fight but that wasn't making him smaller.
"And don't worry you Lordship, you'll be back to resume your nap in no time," said Spike.
"And how will you do that little one? By snapping your claws?"
"Not me, but Princess Twilight can teleport us all to the rock farm," he added grinning.
"Spike!" whispered Twilight loudly, "He's way too big, I can't do that."
"Hehe, actually, why don't we just fly? I'm sure you must feel the urge to stretch those giant wings."
His only answer was a snort.
During the three hours flight, they had presented to Torch, one after the other, the whys and wherefores of their hypothesis. He hadn't expressed any enthusiasm nor interest, settling for listening.
The rock farm was in sight and Twilight pointed to the group a large area south of the farm where they all could land. Torch was last and his landing, even if it could be considered smooth, made the alicorn and the two dragons jumped.
"Now, I should announce our arrival first," informed Twilight, her back to the farm. "They probably didn't expect visitors, even less dragons." She started walking towards the gate, her face still turned to the dragons. "So stay here, I'll be back in... Eeeeep!" The moment she had turned her head, she was caught by surprise, a pink and grinning face only an inch away from hers.
"Hey Twilight!"
"Pinkie!" exclaimed Twilight in a breath, stepping backwards and putting her hoof on her chest to calm her heart, "You have to stop doing that!"
"What? Greeting my friends? Not a chance!" she said, bouncing up and down. "By the way, what are you doing here?"
"We came because of Holder's Boulder" answered Twilight.
"We?" Pinkie then finally noticed the three dragons who were accompanying Twilight. "Hi Spike. But who are the other two?"
"They are…," started Twilight.
"No, no! Let me guess!" she cut her. "Hmmm, from what Spike has told me, you must be... Ember!" she said, pointing to the young dragon. "And the big guy with the frowning face here? I bet you're... Torch!" The two dragons nodded. "Now come on everypony, and dragons, there’s a welcoming party awaiting you all!"
"Pinkie?" asked Twilight while they were walking towards the farm, "How did you know that we were coming?"
"I didn't silly, I just saw you outside after the small earthquake. Now that I think about it, I've never heard there had been any earthquake here before. That's strange. Anyway, my family is waiting for us so let's hurry!"
As she had claimed, every Pies, except for Pinkie, was waiting them in front of the house. Limestone was the first in line, looking disgruntled. Next were Igneous, Cloudy Quartz and Maud, the first ones standing straight and dignified and the last wearing her usual neutral expression. And behind her parents, Marble was trying her best to only show her mane.
After the presentations were quickly made, Igneous was the first to talk "It is truly an honor to receive a member of the royalty once more, Princess Twilight."
"And it is also an honor to welcome the Dragon Lord and her father in our humble residence," added Cloudy Quartz. "However, our daughter has informed us that you didn't only come back for the pleasure of our company but because you had an important matter to discuss."
"Indeed," replied Twilight. "Long story short, Spike believes that Holder's Boulder might be a dragon's egg, and from what we have gathered, it seems more than probable. So we came with Lord Torch here to see if we were right and if we could help the poor dragon trapped inside. Haven't you noticed anything out of the ordinary about Holder's Boulder? Something that might involve magic?"
"We haven't," said Igneous. "And I don't remember my parents telling me anything about it. My ancestors have found it here, in a dragon nest, and it hasn't moved or been moved since. Well except during the last Hearth Warming Eve."
"Yes, Applejack told me about that. In fact..."
"Hey! Don't touch that!" shout Limestone.
Torch had picked Holder's Boulder with his giant hand and was now looking closely to the rock.
"Put Holder's Boulder down or you will regret it!" she shouted again.
Torch didn't seem to care about Limestone's threats, his look completely enthralled. A small smile began to creep on his face, which soon became a thunderous laughter. Everyone stood there open mouthed at the sight of such a giant creature genuinely laughing.
"What's funny?" asked Pinkie after Torch had calm down.
"Irony," he answered with a smile, putting the egg shaped rock back in its place.
"Ooooh so that's his name! Welcome among Equestria Irony!" she exclaimed, hugging the giant stone.
"So, is it really a dragon's egg?" asked Spike to Torch.
"Absolutely not. It's nothing more than a rock. I understand why you thought it was one though, Little Spike. Only dragons can feel dragon's magic."
"What is it then? And why does it have magic?" Spike was oblivious of everyone around him, except for Torch who seemed to be the only one to have the answers he had been looking for.
"It is a long story my little dragon, which dates from a thousand years or so. This rock has been sculpted by a young and candid dragon a long time ago, sculpted to be a gift for a pony he liked, believing or hoping she felt the same. He spent hours and hours to craft the perfect gift, a gift which was intended to be a step on the starting relationship between dragons and ponies, as well as an expression of his feelings. He put so much effort that it seemed a part of his own magic was transferred to the rock. But the pony never showed, and the dragon felt betrayed. From this day, he swore he would never trust ponies anymore."
"That's the saddest story I've ever heard!" said Pinkie sobbing on Maud's shoulder.
"I agree," added Maud in her monotone voice. "This story is heartbreaking."
"Don't be sad pink pony,” said Torch. “It happened a while ago and I heard that the dragon has moved on since."
"But what happened next?" asked Twilight. "Did the dragon and the pony had a chance to meet again?"
"Unfortunately, no. The dragon left the gift where he had made it and never returned to the pony land."
"And what about the irony you mentioned?" It was Spike's turn to ask a question. "How this can be called ironic?"
"Because it has somehow created a bond between our two species. Even if he didn't want to have anything to do with ponies, his gift has remained and I can see that not only ponies have taken good care of it, but it has also blessed them with some gifts."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Harvesting rocks is a dragon ability. Ponies aren’t able to do it."
"Are you implying that this rock has given our entire family the ability to do what we’ve done for generations?" asked Igneous unbelieving.
"I’m not implying anything, I’m stating a fact."
Silence fell as everyone was pondering the revelations. Twilight was the first to broke it, being the quickest to deal with new informations. "Can Holder's Bolder give some kind of powers too? Like a sense to foreshadow some events from the immediate future?"
"Really?" commented Spike, eyeing Twilight with a raised eyebrow.
"Absolutely not,” said Torch with a patronizing look. ”I don’t know where you got this idea because this kind of power you are talking about is nonsense."
"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask," she said sheepishly.
"Enough chitchat," Pinkie exclaimed. "Now it's time to party!"
The party and the dinner that had followed were long finished and everyone was resting for the next day to come. During the party, Ember had been surprised to see that her father had been less grumpy than usual, allowing smiles to appear more often than what she was used to, even starting conversations with the Pies about rock farming. It was all thanks to Pinkie Pie, this pony really had a gift to make someone smile.
Laying outside the house,Torch was about to sleep. His eyes half-closed, he was enjoying that moment when consciousness is slowly drifting to slumber. Unfortunately for him, a pony had decided otherwise. A black shadow was leisurely coming down from the clear night sky and Torch watched the shadow landing in front of him.
"Good evening Torch," quietly spoke the black alicorn.
"Luna," answered the dragon, nodding.
They looked into each other eyes for a long time. No one seemed ready to speak, lacking words to express what they wanted to say, trying to communicate through their look. But at last, the silence was too heavy for one of them to bear.
"You have changed a lot," said Luna, afflicted by the banality of her own words.
"And you haven't," he answered. "You are still the same pony I remember."
"My body may haven't changed but the same cannot be said for my mind. It is the main reason why I didn't come so long ago."
"What? You figured that I wasn't worthy enough for your attention?" he jeered. "Or maybe you let your sister persuade you that it was foolish to expect anything than greed from dragons?"
"My sister was well aware of your feelings and even if she wasn’t keen on an alliance with the dragons, she wanted to spare you the harsh truth. I was feeling... alone,” she said looking away. “My mind had become a prison and my heart as black as the First Night, where there wasn't any stars or Moon to illuminate the sky. I needed to be sent away for a long time, a very long time."
"All your prose won't make up for the thousand years of waiting Luna."
"I'm deeply sorry Torch. Have you really waited for me for all this time?"
Silence came back, carrying the weight of the things unsaid.
"More or less,” he resumed, turning his head away from Luna’s and looking at the moon. “I knew that some of my feelings would never be returned. I was really young at the time and it had faded, but at least, I expected a friend. Why showing yourself only now?"
"As I told you, I had to be sent away. But I’m here now, thanks to Spike. He has correctly guessed that you were the dragon of the story, and the only reason why a pony could have betrayed such a promise is because this pony had been banished."
"The little one is too naive for his own sake. Living with ponies has made him soft," snapped Torch.
"It is also what has made his heart so big,” she countered. “Thanks to his friends. I remember another young dragon who wanted to have a friend too. Does this little dragon still exist?"
"Maybe... maybe not. For the moment, I just want to forget about him and rest."
"I shall take my leave then." Luna stretched her wings and started to leave.
"Do you have to?" asked the previous Dragon Lord. His voice was less of an order and more of a request.
Luna froze in mid-air. "No... No I don't." She turned back and settled beside Torch, the two quietly gazing at the night sky.
Long talks would be needed, they had a thousand years to catch. But for now, they were happy to just enjoy each other company, resurrecting those long nights they had spent together, in a previous life.
Author's Note
This was supposed to be my entry for the Writeoff event Has That Always Been There? if I wasn't a lazy pile of...
