Redux: Lineage

Verella made her exit rather quickly after cheering up. She mentioned that she had to return to her aunt, something about discussing matters of 'reconciliation' after the war was over, leaving me and Twilight alone once again. I finally went over to the smaller woman, finding her still buried in a pile of books and happily reading through one of them, her focus locked so strongly on the book that she didn't even hear me call out her name.

I rolled my eyes, flicking a small piece of pocket lint at the annoying little thing before leaving the room, desperate to find something to do. I rolled my shoulders, thankful my injuries had been healed by one of Canterlot's mages before our departure, same with Annerose, and I was looking forward to not having to deal with the awful aches and pains that came hand in hand with the morning following a hard training session... especially after the beatdown she ended up giving me.

Putting the hide-tanning to the back of my mind, I decided I'd go for a wander. The sun was still high in the sky and the Vampire menace probably wouldn't make themselves known until the darkness blanketed the land once again. I threw a quick explanation to Grael over our connection, the Direwolf making an even quicker message of acknowledgement before bidding me to be careful out there by myself.

With the mental note left with one of my protectors, I headed out of the castle gates and down the winding, cobble path into the city below. There were still signs of destruction strewn about, remnants of the initial battle with the Vampires we'd been through. I was amazed at how fast we were moving through our plans in the situation, barely ever seeing any kind of bureaucratic process going along at such a speed. I suppose that a lack of money to be gained and a low number of corrupt politicians trying to line their own coffers in some manner helped smooth the process along a good bit.

I began fiddling with my braces as I walked, seeing the townsfolk hurry about their business, a nervous feeling hanging in the air, despite the bright, summery day we were having. I couldn't really blame them. If I lived in a city where the danger of getting snatched by a Vampire was as real as the threat of being mugged for your coins, I'd be cutting the chatter and moving about faster and avoiding wasting my time. Keep in doors, keep those doors locked, and try to keep the house sounding as vacant as possible when trouble came knocking.

Though I suppose that was the life a lot of people live outside of a castle surrounded by giant stone walls and guarded by the best soldiers your country has. I had to remember that my basic existence seemed to be naught but an unobtainable dream for most of the people around me. Speaking of the people around me, a specific line of chatter caught my ear something quick.

"I'm telling you, Jorge, there were two of them, right through the mountain pass," a guard said to his watch partner.

"Dragons? This close to a human settlement?" the other laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. You probably saw two eagles flying closer than you think and your eyes merely lied to you."

"Do eagles have long tails and white scales, Jorge?" the first demanded.

"No, but they also don't have eyes that fail them as much as you," the second sighed, turning his attention back to the door they were guarding. "Enough of this nonsense. Focus on your job."

"Aye, I'll focus on it real fucking well when they come flying in from the west and burn the entire city to the ground," the first growled, irritably returning to his guarding stance.

I'll honestly never tire of the amount of convenient conversations I overhear in my life... but a dragon this close to a settlement was dangerous, and two of them would be twice as bad. Though I'm not really sure which it would be worse for. Most dragons didn't stray near human settlements... or settlements of any kind that wasn't their own. Would complain of the bad smell and all the other racist horseshit they came out with. But the common people were, sadly, an uneducated one. They knew dragons as nothing more than monsters that stole gold and ate their children.

If there were dragons here and it got to the townsfolk, they'd more than likely get together a mob and try to chase them away. Depending on how petty the dragons were, they'd either kill the entire mob and leave it at that, or they would be really angry about it and take revenge on all those that lived in the city. I could go and warn the guard about the threat, but I might be putting them on high alert for no reason, and that was not what I wanted to do in a city as panicked as this one was. But at the same time; I couldn't simply ignore the possibility of dragons and leave the risk of misinformation and the mob mentality getting innocent people hurt.

So, that had become my mission for the day: scout out the western mountain pass for any sign of dragons and to report back with my findings. Clear, concise, and easy-to-do. Just how I liked my missions. And on the plus side, it gave me an excuse to get out and see the country for a while. Maybe even do a basic bit of cardio training if I ran for a while. Time would only tell.

It took me a solid twenty minutes to exit the west gate for the city, being bade farewell by an extremely polite gate force, gently making my way through the gaggle of humans, Elves, carts, and horses that were all lined up for the 'customs' check before being given entry to the city. After that, the cobble path soon turned to well-worn dirt, the sounds of shouting, horses neighing, cart wheels rolling, and general city hub-bub gave away to a peaceful symphony of gentle winds, bird song, and the gentle cries of wildlife, calling out for each other across the distances.

It felt almost surreal to me to me going off on my own. I'd spent most of my life either in the presence of guards, my retainers, or my own family, so having the road to myself was as foreign a concept in my own country as it would be in any far-away lands. The winds picked up slightly as I walked further out of the city, changing from the scent-carrying warm breeze to a slightly harsher, colder feeling. I cast my eyes up to the mountain range a good distance ahead of me, noticing the approaching rain clouds coming over the enormous stone peaks.

If I kept walking, it would probably take me over an hour to reach the mountain valley from here. I thought about going back and getting a horse from a stable in the city, but that would probably involve three times as much effort and time to get papers signed, money promised to be handed over, saddle shopping, trust exercises with the beast, and a whole load of other shit that I wasn't prepared to deal with. And I was going to get soaked by rain either way, which wasn't a problem to me.

So an on-foot journey it remained... but one where I could do a little bit of cardio training, I hoped. So with an eager smirk and a large breath, I took off running. I kept myself at a good pace, feeling the solid ground beneath my boots as I pounded the dirt beneath them, putting the city further and further behind me. I wasn't sprinting, knowing well enough not to waste my energy this early into a run that was most probably going to be a two-hour-plus round trip. So a steady run was what I was staying at, thankful for all those early mornings Luna had dragged me out on all these years to prevent my lungs from flying a white flag the second I went faster than a jog for four seconds.

While running, I mentally kept my breath in check, and soon allowed my mind to wander. Since I was a dirty little pervert and she was already on my mind, they wandered to Luna... or more specifically, Luna's body. The thing that came to mind, as it always did while I was perving, was ass. And Luna had a big one. Not just a big one, a strong one. An ass gained from years of hard exercise and amazing genetics that created the perfect 'moon' for anyone with the privilege of standing behind her to behold.

I pictured her naked, as I did often times with beautiful women, having her kneeling, sitting on her feet, with all that ass resting on her heels. She'd turned her head sideways, a coy, seductive smile on the side of her mouth, as her midnight blue eyes glowed a deep colour, her perfect features and alluring stare enticing me more and more. She soon slid her hands up her body, running them through her thick, messy hair, raising them above her head and allowing me to catch a glimpse of the side of her titanic breasts, raising and lowering with each breath she took.

I then wondered what Celestia would look like if she were in the same position, my mind creating a similar image of the eldest royal, naked as the day she were born, hair tied in an almost identical fashion, only having the two of them snake their arms behind one another, grabbing a handful of the other's enormous ass and rubbing their tongues up against one another, moaning and giggling quietly as they did so.

I soon had to purge the thoughts from my mind, as running at high speed with a raging hard-on, especially with a cock as large as mine, was not an easy task, as the tent in my pants and the rigidity of the organ made running very difficult. I tried to wipe my mind of the sexualised images, trying to think of thoughts of childhood and innocence, of family memories and good times...

Only to imagine my mother naked once again, and then having my mind supplant her into the little tongue rubbing session between the other two, with Luna and Celestia 'ganging up' on the smaller Alicorn, toying with her tongue, breasts, and pussy. Cadance slid her hands over the large, curvaceous waists of her older relatives, allowing them to toy and play with her to their hearts' content, making so sound other than pleasure, gently whispering for them to continue as her mother fingered her dripping cunt and her aunt suckled on her erect nipples.

"As pleasant as I'm sure you're finding this," Grael barked in a rather annoyed tone. "Can you please keep this in your own little 'box'? I'm trying to eat food in a room full of people, and being mentally assaulted by your perverted fantasies is not making the conversation easier."

"Right, uh, sorry," I said, mentally shifting my thoughts to my own 'box' and making sure it didn't slip into our shared mental space.

After that, I tried my best to keep the drool-inducing fantasies to a minimum and focus on keeping my speed up and mentally fighting back the exhaustion that was starting to creep in on me. After a while, I sank into a rhythm and was able to go the rest of the distance at pretty much the same speed. As I'd predicted, it had begun to rain. But not just rain; pour. The sheer level of downpour reminded me of a tropical hurricane, and the water itself was not warm at all. I imagined it was because of the colder temperatures of the higher mountain ranges, but it was certainly nowhere near as pleasant as tropical rain was.

I pulled the hood up on the short travel cloak I wore, allowing the resin-soaked cloth to keep the rain off my head and face while I made my way into the mountain range. The range itself was beyond straightforward, being nothing more than a four-mile, even-ground stretch of rocks that lead straight out to the other side, forming a road between mountain cliffs so sheer it seemed that they'd been cut in half by some divine force. If there were dragons in this valley, they were high up in the mountains, which was a place I couldn't reach.

Before entering the pass, I took a look around, seeing the beginning of a forest further to the west of the mountains. I came to a complete stop, putting my hands on my hips, regaining my breath, and using my brain for once. Dragons were extremely intelligent. They would be more than aware of the risks, or annoyances, of settling down on a well-travelled road. The valley pass was the only way through the mountain range for at least two hundred miles. I could see fresh horse manure and turned over rocks that told me it had seen traffic just a few hours ago.

So if I were a massive racist with a hate-on for everyone that wasn't me, I'd stick my tent up in the place where a lot of humans don't like to wander: the forest. I turned away from the mountains, judging the distance as being about twenty minutes away, and deciding that a quick jog would be fast enough, mostly because my legs ached, my lungs burned, and I wasn't in the mood to completely exhaust myself sprinting over wet and swollen mud to chase after what could be a red herring.

I crossed the distance and broke through the front of the forest with enough stamina left to sprint the fuck out of there should I run into something hostile. The trees were packed together, the birds seemed to be chirping quieter and calmer thanks to the rain, and I kept an ear and eye out for any enormous lizards I might accidentally step on. As I got further into the forest, I could spot clear signs of giant creatures moving through them. Branches galore were broken, trees were uprooted slightly, and there were more leaves coating the floor than there should have been for this time of year.

Though there was one thing that caught my eye as I got further into the greenery: dragon footprints... that soon turned into human ones, large and barefoot. Ignoring the transformed footprints for the time being, I dropped to one knee and took a look at the dragon's tracks. The length of the print signified that it was a fully-grown dragon, yet not one that was far into its adult life. I looked at the depth of the puncture marks, signalling where the claws would have pressed into, and noted the smaller, thinner holes in the moist dirt. The depth of the footprint told me that the dragon was not just large, but dense, as the narrow width of the print itself was not associated with insanely large breeds of dragon, as it'd make it difficult for them to remain balance. So the depth of the print had to come from their scales and not just their size. So, going through my knowledge of large dragon species with narrow, slender limbs, short claws, and dense scales brought up three possible 'culprits': an Asyllian Ridgesnout, an Equestrian Splinter Tail... or a Narrowscale.

Now, I knew a lot about dragons. I also knew a lot about their attitude towards humans. So there was a very, very small amount of the dragon population would ever dare change into a human. To make it even more of a narrow amount, the foot prints soon started to stumble around and were then replaced with female shoes that sank quite heavily into the wet ground, meaning not only were they fresh... they also gave away quite the identity profile.

A dragon lands in the woods, transforms into a large female, presumably a heavy one judging by how deep the footprints are in the grass, who is equipped with properly-fitted female shoes that she changes into on the fly? Normally, I'd suggest magic, as not only are dragons not known to carry human shoes, there's also not a lot of cobblers in the world who would normally make such enormous shoes unless they were commissioned to do so. A possible counter to the magic theory however was that the number of footprints staggering around showed that she most likely tried to put them on manually, meaning that she was probably already carrying them on her person at the time...

So to finish: a large Narrowscale dragon that transforms into a human woman that's already equipped with tailor-made clothes?

It was a wide, wide world I lived in, but there was only one dragon... one dragoness I knew of that fit that specific description. I continued to push forwards, following the foot prints through the trees until I came to another set of footprints... another dragon set of footprints. I dropped low to the ground, tracing the outline of the print with a finger, noting the larger puncture and subsequent scraping of the dirt on the right index finger as well as the sharper, arrow-like impression on the palm of the print. The more destructive print due to a longer, broader index claw, the shape of the palm, and the sheer size of it pointed to one species:

"An Arrowhead," I muttered quietly, looking up and checking as many directions as I could to see if it ever transformed itself.

Judging from the continued destruction to the forest and the lack of any second track of human prints, I imagined the answer was no. So we had an Arrowhead and a Narrowscale dragon traipsing about the forests an hour away from an extremely populated human settlement... why, exactly?

Well, I wasn't going to find out by standing around grasping at straws, was I?

I continued to push forward, keeping my eyes and ears peeled for any sight of lizard haunch and, low and behold, as the forest opened to a large clearing with the sound of running water, it was also accompanied by the sharp sound of a dragon's voice, a human woman's much softer familiar tones, and the crackle of a fire. I pushed closer to the tree line, my eyes focused on the Arrowhead dragon first and foremost... mostly because whoever she was talking to was out of view.

It was a jetblack dragon, a strange colour for the usually green or yellow Arrowheads, and had lightning yellow eyes. The beast's triangular, broad head was aimed down at the ground, clearly looking at their 'partner' for the evening. I darted my eyes to the ground making sure there were no twigs or branches to step on and startle the two of them, taking my sword off and setting it down behind a fallen, rotting log, before making my way out into the clearing with my hands held by my head.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" I addressed the Arrowhead.

As expected, the titanic beast of a dragon's eyes lit up in response, its head lashing towards me with her fangs beared and lightning crackling all over her body.

A lightning Arrowhead. Yet another rare addition to the species.

Despite the immense danger I was in, I kept perfectly still in the light of the campfire and made no sudden movements, even as the dragon approached me. It came to a halt with its dark, rock-solid nose mere inches away from my face, snorting hard enough to knock me back several steps before its jaws cracked open, revealing many sharpened teeth and a large, barbed tongue.

"I mean no disrespect when I request this, Ma'am," I said to her in a clear and concise tone. "But can you please step away from me? I'm already well aware that you could kill with with no effort, so there's no reason for us to have a wing-beating contest about it."

The dragon's mouth closed momentarily, soon reopening and continuing to billow hot, wet breaths at me, causing my entire body to sweat, even while soaked with cold water, before it soon sat back on its haunches and cocked a scaled eyebrow.

"A human aware of a dragon competition?" she asked, her booming voice making my feet tremble from the bass of it alone. "A rare sight to see a human that doesn't vacate their bowels at the mere mention of us. An even rarer sight to see an intelligent one."

Yeah, yeah, you fucking bigot. Spin your schpiel so I can warn your stupid ass already.

"Richter?" a familiar voice asked from the side of the dragon.

My eyes turned down from the enormous beast's face, landing on a face and a figure that told me I had a right to be the world's greatest hunter after my hypothesis was proven correct.

"Svea," I said in a warm tone, smiling at the much larger woman. "What a pleasure to run into you again."

"What are you doing here?" she asked me, walking over to me at a brisk pace.

I noticed that she'd changed her outfit, just slightly. The dress was now nowhere near as thick as it had been in Winter's Maw, now looking much more like a simple slender, blue-toned white evening gown. She joined her hands above her waist as she often did, smiling courteously as the rain dripped from her soaked hair and smooth face.

"Richter, eh?" the larger dragoness asked in a rough tone. "So this is the one we're looking for?"

"Excuse me?" I asked in a defensive manner.

"Oh, do not worry, she means you no harm," Svea said with a warm, reassuring tone.

"That has yet to be seen," the dragoness huffed.

"Matriarch Krieger!" Svea exclaimed in a horrified manner. "You promised me that Richter would receive no punishment for slaying Heimili."

"So that's what this is about?" I asked with a snarl curling on my lips. "You're here to pass judgement?"

"Slaying a dragon is a crime punishable by death in our courts, child!" Krieger hissed, lowering her nose right in front of me again and glaring at me with her glowing orbs. "Only the most brave or foolish men on this earth would dare gain the ire of the dragons by harming one of us!"

"Trust you overgrown salamanders to still think a child murderer is better than one of us because they have your pathetic scales," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Excuse me?" she growled.

"You heard me," I said in a harsh tone. "You, being a member of a race that's born with their head up their own ass, are defending someone who murdered hundreds of your own, because you're all a bunch of racist morons who can barely take their cocks out of their own mouths long enough to hold a conversation."

"So says the little human with the pitiful lifespan and the weak body?" she asked.

"No, so says the Immortal Alicorn, defender of the mortal realms and the vanquisher of all those that dare threaten my kind or my people!" I barked, funnelling as much bullshit into this statement to try and trick her into thinking I actually had the power to kill her. "And should you not lower your voice and show me the respect I deserve, then I shall have no choice but to skin you, mount your skull above my eternal throne and have my Holy Armies lay waste to every hole your clan inhabits!"

I began silently praying to every God I could think of to make my plan work and not have Krieger roast me like a marshmallow over a roaring fire, her eyes analysing me for any crack or twitch in my brave face before returning to a sitting position, her eyes casting down to Svea.

"I can see why you stand where you do now, Svea. A creature as brave as this would be a worthy mate... as a human, that is," Krieger shrugged, the expression on her face giving away that she was testing me.

"A mate?" I asked, turning my eyes to Svea.

"That was not what I said and you know it!" Svea barked, glaring furiously at the Matriarch as she curled her fists down by her sides. "I said that Richter would be a great king to a worthy kingdom and a worthy queen. Stop trying to embarrass me!"

"And would you be his queen, given the offer?" Krieger asked in a chuckling tone.

"Perhaps," Svea shrugged, sticking her nose up and looking away from Krieger. "I do not know if he would be able to afford my upkeep, as I'm a very expensive creature."

"Would you mind knocking a few piles of gold off that request if I make you cum hard enough to pass out every night?" I asked with a playful expression.

"Ah!" Svea gasped, her hand going to her mouth and a blush to her face. "How lewd."

"Not just a warrior, but a true alpha male?" Krieger chuckled. "I must say, I underestimated this one quite fiercely. Maybe he is worth keeping around."

"I'm glad you see it that way," I said, looking back up at the giant dragon. "Now, do you mind telling me why you're here?"

"Svea, would you explain?" Krieger asked.

"Well... after discussing the events of our battle with Heimili in Winter's Maw... we all came to the conclusion that you should be rewarded for helping remove such a dark stain from our world," she began, returning to her usual stance. "And, as thanks, Krieger believed that a reward was due."

"And that reward is?" I asked.

"Allow us to come to the castle, and we shall show you," Svea requested.

"Only if it's something I'm gonna like," I shrugged in a joking tone.

"Trust me. Svea assured us all that it would be perfect for a man of your... type," Krieger chuckled, looking down at the younger dragoness.

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