Live&Learn

Almost a whole week had passed since Eravel was taken to Canterlot. During this time, a certain cyan pegasus looked a lot more energetic than before. She broke all her records at her weather control job, finishing it a lot faster than she actually needed. A good amount of that time was used to practice flight and the time that she usually used to nap was being used for reading. None of her friends, especially Twilight Sparkle, believed when Rainbow Dash came to the library and borrowed several different books about flight.

During these days, it was a common to see the rainbow maned pegasus laid on a cloud with a book on her hooves and she even missed the 'pet day'... The special day that all the girls could take their pets to play free in the park.

"Looks like she isn't coming today..." Twilight said looking at the sun on the horizon. It was almost evening now and no one had a slight sign of life from Rainbow Dash. All the girls were gathered over a pick-nick towel on the ground.

"Maybe we should go see her?" Fluttershy started to say. "She's been very distant these past days... I'm starting to get worried with her."

"Ah agree with Fluttershy" Applejack said. "Our Rainbow is been acting all weird these days... Is like she's not her anymore!"
"Not to mention that she is reading a lot!" Rarity mentioned too.

"Oh, but she likes t' read that... what's her name? 'Daring Do'?" Applejack said.
"But she's not reading any books from the 'Daring Doo' collection..." Twilight sighed and all the other girls looked at her with inquisitive eyes. "She borrowed a pile of books about flight from the library... and I have to say, those books are not even near the type of book that she would like to read."
"But she likes to fly... maybe she-..." Pinkie Pie started to say but was cut by Twilight.
"Those books are filled with theories and a very technical language... She left all the other that talked about acrobatic flight..."

"Maybe we should pay our friend a visit?" Rarity commented.

Before the girls could decide if that was a good idea or not a soft sound of a helicopter could be heard. They all looked at the source of that sound and saw Tank flying with that weird machine attached to his back, right next to him was Rainbow Dash.
"Hey girls!" She said landing near them "Sorry... I kind of forgot what day was today."
"We noticed..." Applejack said arching an eyebrow.
"Rainbow, dear... Is everything alright?" Rarity said approaching the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Uhh... yeah? Why?" She said feeling a little weird with all her friends staring at her.

At the same time all the other pets gathered near tank to salute him... except for Opal. She stood at bay, licking her paw, acting like all the other pets were inferior and didn't deserve to receive any attention.

"Why?" Twilight started "Rainbow, when was the last time we saw each other?"
"Well..." Rainbow Dash stopped to think "A few days ago in the library..."
"Yes, and you almost took every single book about flight I had in the stock." Twilight stepped closer to the cyan pegasus.
"And if mah memory's good, you hated to read" Applejack stepped closer too.
"Except for Daring Doo, because you love her, but flight books don't have stories of Daring Doo, do they?" Pinkie Pie approached from her side.
"You even forgot to take tank out here to play with his friends..." Fluttershy said from the other side... Rainbow Dash was getting surrounded by her friends... all wearing a frown of worry.
"Tell us Rainbow dear... what IS going on!" Rarity said behind Rainbow Dash, making the already tense cyan pegasus jump in startle.

Rainbow Dash lowered her ears seeing that she was completely surrounded by her friends. Her only escape would be flying away, but Twilight would probably catch her with magic if she tried to flee.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Rainbow Dash shouted taking her friends by surprise. "I... I'm sorry ok... Is just..." She seemed to be really shaken as her words didn't hold that confidence that the cyan pegasus always had.

Fluttershy was the one to put a hoof on her shoulder to offer comfort and courage to the cyan pegasus talk.

"It's about Eravel..." Rainbow finally said with a sight, looking at the ground... she wasn't capable of looking any of her friends eye to eye. "When I finally found that I loved him and he loved me back the same way, that damn second personality took over his body and he attacked me... and then he was transformed into a dragon! I waited for more than a month to him finally get out of that cursed egg, but now... now that we could finally be together he is avoiding me!" She said filled with frustration. "I... I don't know what to do anymore... I don't want to press him to stay with me, I would hate if somepony forced to stay by my side if I didn't want him close... But then Twilight told me that he went to Canterlot, so the princess could make his body grow... At first I just got sad because I couldn't watch him the way I've been doing" She sniffed finally able to fully contain her tears and lift her head to look at Twilight. "But you said that he would be able to learn how to fly and I saw my opportunity there! I'm trying to memorize those books to be the best teacher Eravel can have and with that, I hope he will not avoid me anymore..."
All her friends stared at her in awe... This was not the always confident Rainbow that they all knew. In fact, what they all were witnessing was all her frustration that grew day after day since that big festival, where she saw Eravel hugging Twilight Sparkle and felt jealous for the first time.

"Rainbow..." Twilight got closer and put a hoof on her shoulder, smiling softly "You should have told all this to us earlier... we are your friends! Celestia's sake! If you can't talk this kind of stuff with us, what the hay did we serve for?"
Rainbow Dash looked at the purple unicorn and then to her friends that were surrounding her... a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her face. Where did she was with her head? She had those wonderful friends to help her but instead she just tried to do everything on her own. The cyan pegasus stood there for more than a second and when a second tear rolled from her other eye she threw her hooves around Twilight's neck in a thigh hug... All the other girls hugged her friend trying to comfort her, showing that, no matter what, she would never be alone.

But Fluttershy still didn't seem very happy with all of that... there was something bothering her and she would not ruin the momentum talking about that... Thought she knew that sooner or later she had to tell her friends what was bothering her...

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"You really are worthless..." A growling voice echoed through the walls of a dark cave. Despite the thundering sound of that voice, it was clear feminine.
"Mind your tone with me you over grown lizard!" A female silhouette answered from the entrance of the cave. The shadow had a pair of wings and a horn and was taller than the average pony. "I always thought that that was a bad idea from the start... It was foolish from my part to believe in a word of what you said."
"But I said that Celestia would be weaker didn't I?" The growling voice echoed again. "And she was, just as I said..."
"Yes, she was... and as you promised, her sister Luna wasn't there to help either..." The silhouette said. "But you also promised that YOU would be there to help my children!"
"Do you really think I would lower myself to the point of helping a bunch of wretched beetles?" The growling voice laughed.
"Don't you dare said those things about my children!" The silhouette said and it horn started emanates a green glow. The glow illuminated the dark cave and both individuals could be seen.

Curled in the end of the cave was a huge female dragon staring at Queen Chrysalis. The dragon had her wings folded and her scales had a mix of blue and and green... her eyes were yellow and she looked very ferocious... She and the queen had their eyes locked on each other with angry expressions.

"If you wanted to retrieve your so precious egg you should have come with me! If our plan didn't succeed, it was as much your fault as it was mine! You for not coming to help me, and me to be foolish enough to actually go and attack Canterlot... even after somepony warned them that we were planning to attack the capital."

"But now is too late..." The dragon said "My egg already hatched, and my baby thinks that he's part of that weak community."
"This is not my problem." Queen Chrysalis said "I honestly don't want anything else from you or your race anymore... so don't bother calling me here again"
"Oh... but it is... If you don't help me queen bug, I'll make sure that the dragons hunt down every single one of your children" The female dragon threatened.

"What dragons exactly?" Queen Chrysalis said with a chuckle "Far as I know, you came looking for my help because NO DRAGON wanted to help you." The dragon growled at that affirmation and the queen continued. "They all know the true power of Celestia... Yes, she was really weak when I fought her, but even with me overfeed by all the love from Shining Armor I had barely enough power to overcome her. And I only manage to make her faint for a few minutes to trap her! If her beam had hit me… I would not be around to speak with you. Now that she is at full power again, I don't dare even look at her capital." The queen said walking out of the cave.
"Don't you dare turn your back at me bug!" The dragon roared and started t stand up.
"Or what?" Queen Chrysalis said looking back at the dragon. "Don't take me lightly, I may be not even close to being as powerful as Celestia is, but I still have enough power to win against you!"
Both creatures stared at each other, ready to start a fight. But suddenly, a blue male dragon, just a bit smaller than the female one, entered the cave and landed between the two females.

"Enough!" He said looking at both. Queen Chrysalis didn't pay him no attention but the female dragon stepped back.
"What do YOU want here!" The female dragon said to the blue one. "I think I made t clear that I didn't want to see you EVER again!"
The blue dragon approached the female one and bowed his head a little.
"Mother, please, stop this insanity..." He said. "What is done is done... That egg would never hatch, and you know it!"
"Celestia had no right to come and take it from my nest!" The female dragon roared with her son.
"She didn't take it from your nest mother!" The young blue dragon said, staring at his mother. "Father gave the egg to her when she came asking! She asked for it and father gave the egg away!"
"Your father betrayed me! He said that our egg would not hatch but I went to the land of ponies and saw him! My baby was alive!" She roared again with her son. "And I'll have my baby back, you will see!" She pined her son on the ground and jumped outside the cave, spreading her huge wings and flying away.

Slowly the blue dragon stood up... he had a few cuts on his chest made when his mother used her claws, but nothing too bad.
"I'm sorry for my mother your majesty..." The blue dragon said approaching Queen Chrysalis.

"Don't worry... But you should stop your mother from doing anything stupid... Celestia may be kind at heart, but she will not forgive anyone that tries to harm her subjects" The changeling queen walked outside the cave.

"We already tried to reason with her... but in hundreds of years my mother not once lost a son. She simply cannot accept that it happened." The blue dragon sat next to the changeling queen, looking at the horizon.

"I have many children... and even with that many I still suffer when I lost one. Every single one of them is special to me and I can understand what your mother is going through... but she will lose more than one son if she kept acting like that..." The queen said looking at the blue dragon next to her.
The young male looked away and sighed. Since the lost of that egg his mother was never the same and he feared that she would try something stupid that could cause a huge tragedy.

"I just wanted that she would come back... back the way she used to be" He sighed.

"I hope that she gets over her loss..." The queen said spreading her wings. "...and soon, or she will start a path with no return... Farewell young dragon... I have to return to my children now" Queen Chrysalis said and flew away, leaving the young blue dragon behind.

Standing at the top of a mountain, the female dragon with blue and green scales, watched the capital of the pony land, Canterlot. She would get her son back, no matter the cost of it!

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I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, trying to easy the sting that the daylight caused. I was laid in a cloud that was floating above a really beautiful landscape. I let out a sigh, relaxing for a few seconds before I lift my upper body, trying to sit but something was holding me. The cloud that was white turned into pink now and got really sticky.
"What the...? Discord!" I shouted struggling to free myself from the candy cloud I was on. Pink clouds made of candy? Who else could be if not Discord?
The draconian appeared floating next to me, laughing really hard.
"This is PRICELESS! I swear it... I will never grow tired of watching you in these kinds of situation!" He said holding his stomach... Damn bastard...
"Ok, you had your fun!" I huffed and stared at him "Now what do you want?"
"Oh, nothing at all... Just wanted to show you how your new body will be." He said and then the candy cloud disappeared. I fell for just a few seconds and landed in a lake... I barely had the time to scream before the cold water warped my body... The water washed good part of the candy from my scales and I swim to the margin. Today Discord was more than annoying! I wondered if something had happen to make him so... inspired like that.
The draconian god made a mirror appear in front of me as I stood up. I had changed... not only in size but also in some proportions. My wings were far bigger now, being useful to actually fly... my tail was an inch or two longer than my legs and was a lot more gracious... Also i had a sharp spike at the end of my tail, resembling the point of a spear. In my head I had a pair of horns and my scales had brighter colors, like they had been polished. My legs had a weird shape, something that really reminded a feral leg. But my arms were really more like human arms. My claws looked sharper than before, just like my teeth... they were like daggers, ready to slice anything.

"So... what do you think?" Discord said floating next to me.
"Well, I'm glad I still resemble a human... I feared that I was going to turn into something feral, you know?" I said and lowered my body, flexing my legs to see better how they worked. I found out that I wouldn't have any problems in walking in all fours with some training... in that position I even felt that I could ran faster than in two legs.

"Your soul affected they way your body developed... I would be surprised if you turned to be like the other dragons out there" Discord said making the mirror disappear.

"My soul?" How could my soul do something like that?
"But of course... Your physical body suffer a great influence from your soul and mind, and since you have still a human soul, it changed your body to something more alike. Also, your body has it's own memory that have influence in your mind... did you realize that until now you never asked for clothes?" Discord explained...

He was right... For some reason, being naked with this body didn't bother me at all... It simply felt natural.

"It's part of the cellular memory from your body... Wearing clothes are not part of what a dragon is and so your mind accepted the fact that you were naked as something normal and..." He stopped looking at my face and let out a sigh. "Now I know how Twilight Sparkle feels..." He finished and crossed his arms
"What...?" I asked arching an eyebrow.
"Did you understand a word of what I just said?" He asked defiant.
"Well... kind of... I still think that my soul shaping my body is crazy, and I don't know what exactly this cellular memory is... In fact, I don't know what a cell is... but I think I understand the general idea of what you said..."

It was not the first time that they used some kind of word that I didn't understand... Especially when I was at the hospital and heard the so called 'doctors' talking about 'x-rays' and other instruments they used… other names that I swear it was some kind of dish I discovered later to be internal organs.
He simply rolled his eyes as if he just wasted his time with me, so I choose to change the topic.
"So... how long until I wake up?" I asked sitting on the soft grass
"Time in your head and the time in the outside world aren't really compatible... I could hold you here for what would be a year and only a day would have passed in the real world... but I'm a kind at heart so you will wake up in a few minutes." He grinned at me.
"Kind at heart? Who are you trying to fool?" I chuckled. "you are just eager to watch me screw up again"
He simply chuckled at that.
"Well... oh, whatever! Yes, I'm eager to see how you will handle things from now on... specially with some... surprises" He let out a grim laugh.
I was going to ask what he was talking about but the ground opened under me. I fell in the void for a few seconds before grasping the real world around me. My eyes shoot open and felt my heard racing... Slowly I could feel and see the world around me again. I was laid in a big bed, probably in a room at the castle... I could see the morning sun rays passing through the spaces of a heavy curtain that was in front a big window. I rested at the bed breathing slowly to calm down... I swear I'm going to kill Discord if he makes me wake up that way again...

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Outside the castle a gray mare was talking with a royal guard... The mare was carrying a huge case with her Cello inside.

"Can't you please check if he's awake already? I REALLY need to see him... " Octavia said to the royal guard that simply sighed.

"Don't you grow tired of coming here every day?" The guard sighed.
"I'm sorry, but this is really important… also you do remember that your captain said that I had permission to see him." She remembered the guard,
" Ok, but today will be the last time I will check it for you ok? This is the third time you asked me this... the nurses that take care of him are starting to get annoyed."
"Ok, I... I understand..." Octavia sighed not really excited with those words
"Wait here... I'll be right back." The royal guard said and trotted away, going inside the castle.

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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this one ^^
Any comments are valid for me, so, don't be shy and speak your mind!
(and yes... I know I have some grammar problems u_u)