Kristall Snö

Drakarna av eld

The fire dragons

On a mountain with a flat part about twenty large dragons gathered, with even small dragons, and with them was Kristall Snö, they stood in front of two columns made of stones, waiting for something.

Flod was the first to approach and Regn was next to him, they were both checking the two columns, but then Flod turned to his wife,

• "Why did you bring Kristall Snö here?" -

• "Because it seemed right that she knew other dragons, that's what Lumi would do too" -

• "I don't want the other dragons to see that we are pony friends" -

• "Oh come on, don't do that, Kristall is here to represent her race, to bring peace between our races, as Lumi always wanted, and I'm happy that in one way or another Lumi lives through Kristall" -

• "But Lumi is dead, it doesn't matter that Snö is her daughter, she can never be here" -

• "You've been going on with this story for years, you have to stop" -

• "Listen, that's why I never wanted ponies while we met other dragons from other kingdoms, because I didn't want to make a bad impression on other races, it's one thing if there are ponies with our clan, but another thing is when there are other dragons she has never seen "-

• "It will do you good to meet other dragons, especially from another kingdom, she didn't even know about other kingdoms, I had to teach her everything, I never talked about these things even with Lumi" -

• "I'm not surprised, her village knows nothing about these things, they are a tribe apart, if they had been Vikings it would have been different, they know the stories and legends of these lands, I dare say even better than us "-

• "Don't you think it's time to start singing?" -

• "Okay, but I recommend whatever happens, you and Sven stay close to Snö" -.

All the ice dragons lined up, and behold, Flod and Regn began to make noises to the sky, and after them the other dragons began to make them too.

All the dragons emitted roars, hisses and whistles, it seemed as if they were singing a song in who knows what language,

Kristall Snö was curious to know what was happening, Sven clarified everything,

• "They're calling the Bifrost" -

• “The Bifrost? Vad är det? (What is that?)"-

• "It is a bridge of iridescent light that unites the various kingdoms, only the gods or dragons can evoke it, but only dragons who know the ancient language of dragons, in fact, those that seem like verses to you are actually words, depending on which they are said and how they are pronounced, we have access to various kingdoms, but in reality we only use them to go to a few of those kingdoms, for example we certainly cannot use it to go to Ásgardr, there the pony gods live like Odin and Thor, dragons are not allowed in "-

• "Why can't dragons get in?" -

• "Mum and Dad have never explained it to me in detail, but there seems to be no good blood between the giant dragons and the gods, and at this rate not even dragons are welcome, we are not giant dragons, only some of us when they were small they saw them, now I think they have almost all disappeared, I myself have never seen one, neither a giant dragon of ice nor of fire "-

• "Hey something is happening" -,

while Sven spoke, Kristall noticed a light that was taking shape from the two columns, materialized on both sides, this light from white became a big rainbow, precisely a rainbow bridge that started from the stone columns until it disappeared on the horizon.

• “Here we are Kristall, this is Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, from there the fire dragons will come” -.

Kristall could not believe it, that bridge made entirely of rainbow seemed to her just a colored light, but Sven told her that it was perfectly solid and that it could also hold an army of dragons.

After a while all the dragons stopped singing, and from a point of the Bifrost dragons could be seen coming towards them, there were not many, at most a dozen, they were getting closer and closer, some walked on the bridge, while others flew over.

It took them a long time to get there, but in the end they passed the point of the two columns, and greeted the ice dragons, there were fifteen of them, some were large, some were medium others were small, but still bigger than Sven, and their color differed from that of the ice dragons, they were red, some with yellow stripes, and others with orange scales.

A large dragon followed by three smaller dragons approached Flod.

• "God morgon Flod (Good morning Flod), it's been a while huh?" -,

Flod squeezed his paw

• "Hi Flamma, it's nice to see you again, it's nice to have you here with your clan" -

• "We came in a few this time, others stayed at Múspellsheimr" -

• “How long do you plan to stay? Because I'd rather you stay a little longer "-

• "You know well that we cannot stay so long away from the climate of our kingdom, snow and ice are not for us" -

• "But we have enlarged our mountain to accommodate you all, the mountain can now perfectly accommodate us all, we have also collected a lot of gems to eat" -

• "Then it can be done, do you remember my children?" -

• "And how could I forget them?" -,

Near Flamma there were three dragons following him, two of them neither small nor medium approached Flod, but Sven also approached, since he knew them, one dragon was male and orange in color, the other was a yellow dragoness, Sven was glad to see them again.

• "Hello Lapillus, hello to you too Lava, how nice to see you again" -, the male dragon and the female dragon greeted him in turn,

• "Hi Sven, I'm glad to see you again" -

• "It's nice to be able to meet again" -,

Sven hugged first Lapillus and then Lava, then saw another dragon behind them, taller than him, it was red with a yellow crest, but he knew it, and then he came closer,

the other dragon took Sven with one arm and slid his fist over his head,

• “How are you doing Sven? Are you still a weak dragon huh? "? -

• "Ouch, stop Flail, it's not funny" -

• "It depends on the point of view, for me it's fun" -,

Regn called the dragon,

• "Now Flail is enough, leave my son alone" -,

• "As you like dear Regn, I was just kidding" -.

Flamma wanted to shake hands with all the dragons present, but then he turned to the right and saw Kristall Snö.

Intrigued he turned to Flod,

• "Excuse me Flod, but what is a pony doing here?" -,

Flod replied calmly instead of being worried,

• "Oh don't worry, she is Kristall Snö, she is the daughter of a friend of my wife, who died years ago, I told you that Regn had a pony friend years ago, remember?" -

• "Yes, I remember, but this is the first time I've seen her, you said that she is the daughter of her friend of hers-", this time it was Regn's turn to answer,

• "You see Flamma, unfortunately the mare who was my friend died after an attack by the Ice Changelings, she is the daughter, her name is Kristall Snö, and she is here to welcome you in the name of her race" -,

Kristall, came over and bowed,

• "God morgon, dear fire dragons, my name is Kristall Snö and in the name of the pony race I welcome you here to our kingdom, I hope you are comfortable, and that you do not miss anything, I am happy to be able to know you, I hope to know you all ”-.

All the fire dragons were amazed, they had never met a pony in that kingdom, indeed they had never met one in their life, since in Múspellsheimr there were no ponies, of any breed.

There was an awkward silence, but Sven took Lava by the hand and led her close to Kristall Snö,

• "Come on Lava, Kristall is a female like you, you don't have to fear anything, give me your hand" -, Sven took Lava's hand and Kristall held out her hoof, the pony and the dragoness shook their limbs as a gesture of greeting,

• “So ... are you a pony? It is .... the first time I see a pony, I had never seen one in my life, there are none in my kingdom "-

• "Here instead there are no fire dragons, it's the first time I've seen them, I've only ever seen ice dragons" -,

Regn was happy with that interaction, but behind her Flamma was confabulating with Flod,

• "Is it safe? Isn't she dangerous? It's still a pony "-

• "You don't have to worry Flamma, she is peaceful, and besides she doesn't know how to fight, more than anything else it is Regn who has to protect her from dangers" -

• "It will be ... ..but I do not know whether to leave my children in the company of a pony, you know that we have always held our gatherings in secret from other breeds" -

• "The fact is that it is my wife who insisted on letting her come here, she is very fond of that filly" -

• "She also wears an ice dragon skin" -

• “That's Regn's moulting skin, my wife gave it to her so she wouldn't get cold, but let's not think about Kristall, let's go into the cave” -.

All the dragons entered the mountain carved by the ice dragons, Kristall herself was amazed at how big the den was, there was enough room to accommodate all the dragons and there was space left, in some parts there were colored gems that the dragons ate, in in another part there were salmons put on sticks on a bonfire, ready to be cooked with dragon fire, and there were tubs of hot water where the dragons could dive and take a hot bath, there were near those pools of dragons digging in the mountain and collecting coal using tools made of ice, then blowing fire and lighting the coal, when the coal was hot enough they threw it into the tanks to make them warm, both the ice dragons and the fire people seemed to be enjoying themselves, then Kristall saw that in a corner of the gout there were several barrels, and the dragons took animal horns to drink the contents.

The filly sat in the corner and waited, she just watched all the dragons celebrating and talking to each other, but she felt out of place, she wanted to introduce herself to the fire dragons sitting next to her too, but she froze, so she just sat there in silence.

The dragoness Lava noticed Kristall, it seemed strange to her that the filly was standing there doing nothing, so she walked over to her and sat down.

• "Hey Kristall, what are you doing here all alone?" -

• “Um ... me? Nothing, simply …… simply …… I'm alone here without bothering "-

• "You are not a pony that sees many dragons are you?" -

• "Well ... ..I only know Flod, Regn and Sven, the other ice dragons I know only by sight, I never came here to their lair, it was always Flod, Regn and Sven who came to my village, they are not never went to see them "-

-"How come?"-

• "Well ... I shouldn't say that, but Flod ... he doesn't want me to show me with him with the other dragons, he says that he would no longer be taken seriously in his clan, he never approved that Regn had a pony friend, now I'm only here because Regn insisted, she wanted me to know dragons of another race, and my mother would have wanted me to do it too, she said that dragons are a noble race, mistreated by others, and which are more rational than what other ponies think "-

• "Regn told me about your mother, to hear you and she was a sensitive and intelligent mare, I'm sorry she's gone now, she also did everything she could to save Sven, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be here"-

• "If my mother had been strong now Sven would have a sister and a brother, even more, unfortunately it went like this" -

• "Hey, don't say that, even my mother wasn't strong and now she's gone" -

• "Do you no longer have your mother?" -

• “No, she…. She was killed, one day when we were in the kingdom of Álfheimr to go to see the mushrooms of light we were attacked by Changelings and Dark Elves ",

• "I thought that only the light Elves lived in Álfheimr" -

• "That's right, but the Changelings are also found in other realms, in Múspellsheimr for example there are the Fire Changelings, which are not here in Midgard, then for some strange reason it seems that the Dark Elves are also in Álfheimr , we fought but my mother didn't make it, it was our father who defeated them, Flail also saved us, took me and my brother Lapillus hand in hand and we ran away "-

• "I'm sorry for your mother" -

• "Who really was traumatized was Flail, he is the first born, he saw our mother die in front of his eyes, our father was sad, but he took courage for us, and told us not to be sad, because mom wouldn't wished we would always mourn his death, dad has always been a strong dragon, mom was more sensitive, but you can't reason with a Changeling, they are wild and irrational creatures, worse than Timber wolves, they are only capable of attacking in groups to satisfy their bloodlust, you will never be able to reason with a Dark Elf or a Changeling, so I recommend that you never find yourself alone if you meet a Changeling"-

• "I ... .. I haven't seen one for years, I haven't seen one since my mother protected me, I don't remember that moment well, but sometimes if I try to remember my mother, I seem to hear growls and rumblings "-

• "You were little, and you could hear their language, a language that only wild beasts speak, beasts that do not have a conscience, but only the instinct to hunt, no matter what the Changelings are, they are all the same, all bloody and murderous "-

• "Maybe that's why my father wants me to learn to fight, I've already started using the bow, but I'm not good" -

-"Do you want a tip? Learn to fight and you will never be in danger, and if you find yourself with a trusted companion, then it will be easier to survive "-

• “A battle mate? I have not"-

• "Yes you do, you have Sven, and you also have me and Lapillus, and maybe Flail too, but he's not very sociable, but he counts on me, I like being able to say I have a pony friend, since you are the first I know "-

• "But if you can go to the other realms why haven't you met other ponies?" -

• "Because we have been in a few kingdoms, like Jǫtunheimr and there are only dragons there, once there were also giant dragons, then Álfheimr, where only elves live, and finally Midgardr, that is, here, but we never went further this plateau, we have only heard about ponies, as far as I know, only some of the older dragons have seen them, among Vikings for example, those are dangerous, from what my father told me, Vikings are barbarians who live near the coasts of Noreinway and Horsweden, and are also found in the Iceland, my father tells me that they are made up of various races, such as bisons, yaks, minotaurs, griffins and also ponies, pegasi and unicorns, they are said to attack other villages , burn them, and kidnap wives of various races, and eventually kill dragons too "-

• "It's terrible, I would never want to meet a Viking" -

• "You would not be in danger, you are not a dragon, it would be dangerous if you were older, and a Viking would like to take you as his wife, you would be condemned to work for him, and to have children for him"-

• "Dad once warned me about the Vikings, but he never told me all these things" -

• "It is better to know certain things if you want to know how to defend yourself from those who are dangerous" -

-"I understand"-

• "But there are many other dangers in the other kingdoms, indeed perhaps there are more of them here in Midgardr, but do not worry, since you have dragon friends you will be safe" -.

Kristall was happy with that talk with Lava, because she was already starting to get acquainted with the new dragons, then she got up and looked around to see all the group of dragons conversing.

She was happy to be able to be there, and to be able to learn about new things, as well as being able to socialize.

Near the entrance to the cave she noticed Sven talking with Flail, and thought she could join the conversation.

Sven was pleased with her, and introduced Kristall to Flail, but it seemed that the latter was not happy to meet her.

• "Hi Flail, I just met your sister Lava, and now I would like to know you better, tell me ... .. how is Múspellsheimr made?" - but the red dragon did not answer, so Kristall tried to ask another question,

• "Your sister told me that you have traveled to other kingdoms, is it true that there are giant dragons?" -, but the dragon did not answer again, on the contrary, he seemed very annoyed,

Sven then spoke to him to ask him to answer Kristall, but Flail threw down the horn from where he was drinking and was furious with both Sven and Kristall.

• "I KNOW WHAT SHE SAID TO ME, I'm not deaf, I just certainly don't want to talk to a damn pony, indeed it amazes me that you have allowed a pony to stay, even you dear Sven, you really have to do with a pony? This disgusts me, ponies should not be among dragons, indeed dragons and ponies cannot tie, I'm going out, it will be cold but always better than being together with this damned filly "-, having said that Flail went away outside, leaving Sven and Kristall stunned, the other dragons had also turned to Flail's lecture, Flamma himself was surprised by that reaction.

Sven was very good friends with Flail, but he couldn't tolerate him scolding Kristall,

• “But who does he thinks he is? He can't treat Kristall like this, now I'll show him "-, Sven left and went to Flail.

He stood with his arms crossed leaning against the entrance to the cave, then turned to Sven,

-"What do you want?"-

• “You have been very rude to Kristall Snö, what has she done wrong to you? He just wanted to introduce himself "-

• "Why didn't you ever tell me you had a pony friend?" -

• "Because ....... I don't know, that is, I know, it was my father who had always asked me not to say anything about her, but she is like a sister to me, and I don't allow you to disrespect her, it doesn’t matters that you are bigger than me, you must not allow yourself to behave like this with her "-

• "Listen to me well, ponies kill dragons, as well as griffins, minotaurs, bisons and yaks, and even elves, without counting the gods, for all of them we are just a plague to be eradicated, we will never be treated well, one day even that filly will grow up and kill you, maybe not now, and not tomorrow, but one day in the future she will hurt you, and you will regret not killing her yourself "-

• "But how can you say such a thing, you've never even met a pony in your life" -

• "I did it all right, when I once snuck into a Viking village with my brother Lapillus, there were several ponies armed with swords, spears and axes who wanted to kill us" -

• "Are you telling me that only ponies wanted to attack you?" -

• "No, there were other races too, but the concept doesn't change, ponies still wanted to kill us" -

• "But Kristall Snö is not a Viking, she is not rough or violent" -

• "It doesn't matter, it's in the nature of ponies to hate dragons" -

• "Kristall would never attack us, and besides, she can't fight, she hardly knows how to shoot an arrow" -

• "Let some time pass and she will learn" -

• "No, because she will never have to fight, I will defend her" -

• “Ah… is that so? So she takes advantage of you? There will be several dangers one day and you will not be able to do anything, you will die because of that filly "-

• "I will be strong, even stronger, especially for Kristall, I will not allow anything to happen to her, I will be a strong dragon" -

• "If you had to deal with a group of Changelings" -

• "The Changelings destroyed my brothers' eggs and also killed Kristall's mother, I will kill them all" -.

Kristall was listening to everything they were saying and at one point she saw that Sven wanted to punch Flail, but then she intervened and stopped Sven by taking him by the arm,

• "That's enough Sven, you don't have to lower yourself to his level, he's just a provocateur" -

• "But he told you bad things, and he also said that you are dangerous and equal to other ponies" -

• "You leave him alone, you don't have to behave like him, it's not your fault that he has had bad experiences, stay calm" -

• "Okay, but know that he must not compare you to a horrible Viking" -.

Sven returned to the cave, then Kristall spoke to Flail.

• "Listen, I'm sorry you met Vikings, but you can't help them, even my people hate them, but I assure you that I'm friend with dragons, as was my mother" -

• "Now you talk like that, but there will come a day when you will hurt a dragon" -

• "It won't happen, I promise" -

• "Obviously you do not know the story of the giants, and of what Odin did, you are ignorant" -

• "I will also be ignorant, but you are just a bad dragon, I wanted to be your friend, but in the end it is not worth dealing with you, even if you are Flamma's son" -

• "You think you are wise, but you are still small, you will see, the day will come when you will feel the power in wielding a weapon" -.

Having said that Flail went back into the cave, Kristall knew that he just wanted to provoke, so she didn't listen to his words, and she too went back inside the cave.

None of the dragons present paid any attention to what had been said outside the cave, Flail himself started drinking the contents of the barrels again, Sven instead started talking to Flod, Kristall sat angry in a corner of the cave.

After a couple of minutes, the dragon Flamma turned to her, it seemed strange to her such an attitude on the part of the chief of the fire dragons.

• "Your name is Kristall Snö, right?" -

• "Yes, and she must be Flamma"

• "I saw you before with my son" -

• "I'm sorry I was so rude, but on the other hand he was also grumpy, he compared me to the Vikings, when I never met one in my life, and he thinks that all ponies are the same, I don't know why to say these things, apart from the fact that he says that he met some Vikings in a village who wanted to attack him and he also talked about Odin and the Giants, things that I don't know ”-.

Flamma was silent for a while, then let out a sigh and turned back to Kristall,

• "Listen, Regn and Flod told me your story, you were born in a village at west of here, your mother and Regn were very good friends, then Regn gave her her eggs, your mother took care of you and those eggs , but she was killed by Ice Changelings, she died along with some of those eggs, but she gave her life to save you and Sven, and it was a very noble gesture on your mother's part "-

• "Unfortunately, I never met her, what I know is what Regn told me" -

• "Listen ... I'll tell you something, dragons are not seen well among other races, especially when it comes to Vikings, who are violent and rude, but my son Flail was attacked by them because he was stealing mead. "-

• “Mead? Was he stealing a drink? "-

• "Dragons often steal something from the Vikings and their villages, like gold, gems, and beer, sometimes even mead, even your ice mates must have stolen those barrels from the Vikings" -

• "But ... .. this is not rght, it cannot be done" -

• "We are dragons, we do this" -

• "But it's wrong" -

• "It's in our nature to do this Kristall, it's not our fault, in our kingdom we don't have people to steal drinks from, we fire dragons in our kingdom have gems and gold, but not drinks, we can drink the lava "-

• “I have to talk to Flod” -.

Kristall went to Flod to find out where those barrels came from, and he replied that they came from a village in the south near a fjord, where Vikings lived, the filly was amazed,

• "But then you steal" -

• "Calm down Kristall, it is true we steal, but there is no dishonor in stealing from the Vikings, who are the scum of these lands, you must not be angry" -

• "I thought you drank pure mountain water" -

"-We do this, but sometimes we like to steal the mead and beer of other peoples" -

• "Of course Vikings attack dragons, you behave like thieves, and Regn agrees?"

• "No, she disagrees, and then she doesn't like mead" -

• "You must stop stealing from other peoples" -

• "But we never did it with your village" -

• "Even if you had done it, I would not have told anyone and then I would have forgiven you but other peoples do not know you as I do, sooner or later some of you will be killed" -

• "It will not happen, we are strong, and then hardly anyone dares to approach an ice dragon, I myself am very powerful, I have even killed some Vikings" -

• “DID YOU DO WHAT?” -.

Kristall flew up to observe all the dragons present in the cave to be able to talk to everyone.

• "Listen, ice dragons and fire dragons, from now on I want you to live with what nature has to offer you, you should no longer steal from other peoples, if you continue like this surely some of you will end up being killed, you don't have to, you are better than the Vikings, you are not thieves, nor murderers, indeed if you collaborated with the right ponies you could also stop living in a cave and live in a hut, as we do, if for example you ally with my village we will all be able to live safe from dangers, we will offer you a hot meal, and all the mead you want plus a house, you will no longer be forced to hide in the mountains, nor remain in another kingdom, you could also the others of you stay here in Midgardr, understand? ”-.

There was no answer to what the pegasus said, she returned to the ground, all the dragons looked at her, then suddenly, there was a dragon laughing, and then another, after which all the dragons were laughing in the whole cave, Kristall felt strange to that reaction, no one apparently took it seriously, Flod himself took her and carried her out.

• "Listen well Kristall, don't you dare anymore, never again to make speeches like that" -

• "But Flod, if only you tried to collaborate with our people" -

• "Listen to me well, for no reason in the world I will collaborate with ponies, griffins or other races other than dragons, what you said is impossible, you want to bring peace, while this is impossible in our time" -

-"But….."-

• “No buts, now shut your mouth, I have endured for too long that Regn was with your mother, the truth is that what you say is impossible, do you know that once Vikings wanted to kill some of my fellows? And just because we had entered their territory, without doing anything, they just wanted to take us out because we were in their territory, I killed some of them myself, including a minotaur and a small minotaur, I would have managed to kill the minotaur father too but he escaped , and you know what? I don't regret what I did "-

• "But you almost killed a family" -

• "If I knew where that minotaur is, I would kill him anyway, I have an ax scar right on my right shoulder, do you know?" -

• "I didn't ... .. I knew it, but my mother and Regn were hoping so much that ponies and dragons would live together" -

• "I don't care what Regn dreams, and I care even less that your mother dreamed it, if only she had never cured Regn, indeed if Regn had been stronger she would not have had a stupid mare as a friend" -

• "My mother was not stupid, and Regn is wiser than you if you want to know, you are nothing but a blue-eyed dragon, you only care how other dragons about you rather than your family" -

• "I care about my family, it is you that I do not care, and now I would like you to leave, you made me look bad, thank goodness the dragons didn't take you seriously otherwise they would be too taken with me, and I want to remain the pack leader of this clan until Sven takes my place "-

• “When will the fire trial take place? Because I want to be there "-

• "Why do you care?" -

• "I care, Sven is my brother, I want to be there when he wins" –

• "You can't be there, it's reserved only for dragons, and then it will be decided by the oldest of the elder dragons" -

• "Well, I tell you that when Sven wins I will be his advisor, and we could do what we want, first of all a place for both dragons and ponies" -

• "This is ridiculous, I have not heard anything more stupid" -,

• "It's not stupid, dad" -, Flod turned and saw Sven behind him, he went up to Kristall and then looked at his father,

• "Kristall Snö and I talked about it among ourselves one evening before returning here, my mother and I, if Kristall cannot participate in the test, I will win and I will proclaim that Kristall will be my advisor, and together we will bring peace between our peoples" -

• "You can't be serious, a dragon and a pony can't reign together" -

• "I don't think it's forbidden" -

• "It is not forbidden, because such a thing is absolutely unthinkable, a pony and a dragon cannot already be friends, you can’t create an alliance" -

• "Well, that's what I'll do, Kristall's mother did everything possible for me to be born, and her mother also wanted peace and prosperity in our lands, I'll do what I want" -

• "Nobody will listen to you, you will be a leader without a clan" -

• "But once I have taken the scepter everyone will have to listen to me" -

• "An insurrection could also happen and they will take away your scepter" -

• "Then I hope I can find the dragon heart fruit" -

• "You will have to be lucky, only Asteikko knows where it is, and our talk ends here, and you Kristall, don't put certain things in my son's head anymore" -,

Flod returned to the cave and only Sven and Kristall remained outside.

• "I'm sorry for what my father told you" -

• "It seems that he will never change his mind, he doesn't want to listen to you either, and he doesn't even care about Regn" -

• "Unfortunately that's the way it is, not even my mother can make him change his mind about how to govern a clan of dragons, and he doesn't want to lose the respect that other dragons have for him, so it's unthinkable that he can think of a peacetime. , as our mothers wanted "-

“-But why do dragons do certain things? If only they tried to get along with the ponies of my village "-

• "You see, a long time ago, when I was a little younger, Flamma told me stories about the other kingdoms and told me that when he was younger, there were a lot of giant dragons, they were dragons and lindorms, the latter are dragons but without wings, and they were called Jotunn, and it is said that they were adversaries of the gods, but it is also said that some giants or giantesses had love affairs with the gods, it is said that the first giant dragon was a certain Ymir, a night while he was sleeping under his armpits a male dragon and a female dragon were born and created a six-headed dragon, all three were the creators of the race of the Hrìmthursar, who were the giant ice dragons, and populated Niflheimr, while the ponies are descendants of the giant pony Buri "-

• "What a story, but it's interesting" -

• "But it happened that Ymir was killed by Odin and Buri's nephews, his blood became water, flooded the kingdom of Niflheimr and killed all the giant dragons except for a dragon named Bergelmir and his wife who sailed in a gigantic hollow log , and it was thus that they repopulated their race, but they told me that the giant dragons of the sea, earth and wind also existed, and their names were sjǫrisar, leirjǫtnar and vindthursar "-

• "But this happened a long time ago" -

• "Flamma says that even today, both Odin and his son Thor, kill giant dragons because they are a threat to them" -

-"Oh"-

• "I guess it is for these things that elder dragons hate gods and ponies, even if they sometimes name them, we actually worship our ancient spirits, like Ymir" -

• "Can I ask you a couple of questions?" -

-"Yes, tell me"-

• “Who is Asteikko? And what is the dragon heart fruit? "-

• "All these things were told to me by mum, dad and Flamma, and also a couple of elder dragons, first of all Asteikko, is the oldest giant ice dragon existing today, some say it is also the last, it is said that he knows many things, like the lindorm Mimir, only that Mimir is somewhere in Midgardr, instead Asteikko is stuck in the kingdom of Niflheimr in a cave of which no one knows the location, however it is said that many dragons and many pony warriors have tried to kill him for his power, it is also said that if you kill him he will give you the power of a giant ice dragon, or before he dies he will answer your question "-

• "And is he still alive?" -

• "Unfortunately Odin threw a curse on him, he could not die, only a wise warrior would be able to kill him, the curse prevents him from dying of old age and so he has seen his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren die, and is a heartbreaking even for a dragon, but it cannot be killed easily "-

-"How come?"-

• "As I told you many dragons and ponies have tried, but no matter what you use, whether claws, or a sword or an ax, he cannot be killed easily, because if you hit him you will feel the wound, for example, if you try to cut off a paw his wound will return to normal, but then you will be the one to have the paw cut off, and don't think about pointing a spear at his heart, because that would be your death "-

• "It is terrible, so he is destined to live forever?" -

• "It is said that one day a warrior among the Vikings will be able to kill him without even touching him, but this seems impossible to me" -

• "Poor thing, he has seen his people dying, and now he just wants to stop living" -

• "As for the dragon heart fruit, it is a tree that appears every 200 years, but no one knows the location, many say it is a relative of the Yggdrasill, the world tree that connects all kingdoms, others say that it existed even before Yggdrasill, every 200 years it can appear in any part of the kingdom and in any kingdom, but no one knows where also because it remains in that point for only three days then disappears again, and its fruits are juicy heart-shaped apples, but it is said that only one of those fruits can give full powers to a dragon, for other races like ponies it would be poisonous, only dragons can eat it, and if a dragon eats it its powers increase, and all dragons of every race will obey him "-

• "All dragons of all races?" -

• "Exactly, if only I could find it, I would eat it and the dragons could not help but follow my orders, unfortunately to know exactly where the tree will be, you should ask Asteikko, but he would never tell you if you don't kill him "-

• "A real shame, with that fruit everyone would have listened to you" -

• "When my turn comes, I promise you that I will do everything possible to help you, for the fire trial we have to wait for the eldest dragon to die" -

-"How come?"-

• "You see, his great grandfather managed to find the dragon heart and ate it, the power of that fruit also spreads to future generations, so he too can command the dragons, but he never had a family, so no children, no power to give, and once he dies we will look for the right place to do the fire trial, and I will be able to participate, but to do it we will have to wait a week after his death, it is the rule "-

-"Interesting"-

• "I promise you that I will make sure that you can be my advisor" -

• "If I will be useful, apparently I don't know how to fight" -

• "I will always protect you" -

• "This is the point, I don't want you to protect me, I have to learn to defend myself" -

• "But there are a lot of dangers you still have to know, and I don't know if you will know how to defend yourself from them if you don't know them" –

• "I'll learn, I'll make sure I'm strong as a dragon and your father and that Flail won't be able to say anything" -

• "But you mustn't get violent" -

• "I don't intend to become violent, I just want to protect myself from dangers like Changelings, Trolls, Wargs and Mephits of ice and air, and now I'm sorry but I'm going back to my village" -

• "Wait, there is one thing I would like to show you before you leave" -.

Sven took Kristall to another part of the mountain, inside another cave going down the ice stairs there was a room all covered with ice crystals, and Kristall was fascinated by it.

• "Wow, how wonderful, did you create these ice formations?" -

• "Some yes, but others were already there, now I'll show you a couple of things" -.

Sven led Kristall in front of a large block of ice where a dragon's horn and a particular dragon skull were embedded. Sven touched the ice and spat a blaze, the ice melted and he could take both the horn and the skull, Sven showed the pegasus the horn first.

• "These two objects are treasures, they are some treasures that we have kept for generations, and they are very important" -

• "A dragon horn and a luminescent skull?" -

• "The horn belonged to a millennial ice dragon, and they say that if you lend your ear you can hear the dragons' language" -

-"How?"

• "You see ... we dragons can speak many languages, some even disappeared, and if you listen to someone from that horn you can hear what they say in the language of dragons, like the one you heard when we invoked the Bifrost, also if a creature speaks only one ancient language you will be able to hear what it says in your language, for example if I spoke to you in my ancient Draco language you would hear my normal voice in your language "-

• "Interesting" -, Sven then took the skull that shone with various lights,

• "And this skull belonged to a crystal dragon" -

• "What is a crystal dragon?"

• "It is not known how they were born, but they are a race of dragons with scales that shine in various colors and each of their scales is a crystal, they are said to be the only dragons who can use magic, now I think they are all gone, or rather, dad told me that they hid so as not to be found neither by dragons nor by ponies nor by gods, since every part of their body emanates magic, and can be used by anyone without needing to know magic, they also say that if you wear this skull you can be repaired from any attack, whether by sword, arrow or ax, and if you wear it you can know the ancient languages without the need for the horn "-

• "But ... ... have any of you ever tried it?" –

• "Yes, my dad wanted me to keep it, but nothing happened, no magic or anything else, I think many other dragons have worn it, but no one has had gifts from it" -

• "It is a particular skull, as if it were not made of bones, but of ... precisely crystals, but magical crystals, I almost feel ... .. I don't know an energy coming from it" -

• "why don't you put it on?" -

-" Are you crazy? It is the skull of a dead dragon "-

• “Come on, what does it cost you? Nobody will know, and then I think it is your size "-, Sven continued to insist, so Kristall took the skull and slowly put it on, the skull was neither big nor small, but the right size of Kristall's head , so her head could fit right into it.

-"So? Do you feel something? "-

• "No, I don't feel anything ..." -, she didn't even finish the sentence that something happened, Kristall was pervaded by a white light all over her body, her eyes became white, and a ray of light came out of her mouth, her own wings opened and her feathers were bright, around her there was a cold breeze surrounding her, Sven was frightened.

• “Kristall, what's going on? What you are doing? Please stop "-, Sven tried to touch her, but his hand burned when he touched her,

• “Kristall? Enough, you're scaring me, STOP! "-, Sven began to cry with fear, but at that moment everything fell silent, lights and winds stopped working, Kristall Snö was still in midair, then slowly stopped, her eyes, her mouth and her feathers stopped shining, she was back to normal.

• "But ... what happened?" -

• “Don't you remember anything? You started to shine and there was a cold wind around you, I tried to help you, but the skull was hot "-,

Kristall immediately removed the skull and put it back in the thawed block,

-"Hurry! Re-freeze the block "-

• "Yes, now" -, Sven let out a cold breath that rebuilt the block, so the horn and the crystal skull returned inside the ice.

They both left the cave to return to the other dragons, but on the way Sven was worried about Snö.

• “Are you sure you feel good? Don't you remember anything? "-

• "All I remember is that I saw strange signs flying around me, and an energy filled my body, I could do nothing but drown in this energy, because it was like I was in water, but I could breathe, and I only saw these signs that shone, I can't tell you what they were, I just know that I could understand them without knowing I had ever seen them "-

• "Do you remember what shape they had?" -

• "More or less, but I remember the pronunciations of some of those letters, like ……. Ansuz, Berkana, Kano, Dagaz" -,

• "Strange, I think I have already heard these pronunciations, I just don't remember where, or ... ... but yes, one of the elder dragons told me these pronunciations, it is the runes" -

• “Runes? You mean those inscriptions that have to do with the gods? "-

• "Exactly, have you ever seen them?" –

• "Yes, in my village there is a stone with some of them, but usually only the Vikings have them, as well as the gods, it is an ancient language, and that only some people are able to read, at least I believe"-

• "But it is said that there are also people able to exploit their magic, it seems there are different spells with runes, depending on how they are written or composed" -

• "How do elder dragons know these things?" -

• "They have traveled extensively and have known ice dragons who were able to use some of those runes, but it is said that only female races can read them to make predictions, and that they used magic to help males in battle "-

• "Well, that's weird," -

• "We have to tell dad, the skull has never reacted like this to anyone" -

• “Eh? är du galen? (Are you crazy?) Would you really like to tell your father? "-

• "Why, what's wrong with that?" -

• "If he knows that I have touched a precious treasure, who knows how he will be angry, not to mention that he will take it out on you because you showed it to me, he will be angry above all for this fact of light and energy, if you said that no dragon has had this effect but I do, who knows how it will react "-

• "Don't worry, it's my fault, it is I who insisted on showing you our treasure, and it is I who insisted that you wear that skull" -

• "Your father is already angry with me, let's not tell him anything" -

• "What if something happened to you?" -

• “And what could have happened to me? You said dragons had to have the powers "-

• “And how do you explain that now you can read the runes? The old dragons have always memorized them, but besides them no one knows them, and no one can do magic with runes, not to mention that we ice dragons cannot do magic like crystal dragons "-

• "I .... I don't know what to tell you, but I don't want to make your father angry, nor worry your mother, let's keep this to ourselves" -

• "Okay, but if something happens to you, just let me know, I don't think I could keep a secret from my parents if you feel weird" -

• “Okay, okay, but only in that case, now it's better that I go back to the village” -.

Kristall Snö wanted to say goodbye to Regn before returning to the village, also because no other dragon seemed to want to greet her, Regn told her to come back when she wanted and Kristall promised to return, then she went to the village accompanied by Sven, the two flew up at the filly's birthplace, with her father waiting for her, Kristall greeted Sven, but first the dragon secretly asked him to talk to him if any changes had happened.

Kristall answered yes, then greeted him.

The filly went into the house with her father who had prepared food, for lunch there was excellent salmon cooked on the bonfire with evergreen tree leaves and pine cones.

While they ate, Tømmer wanted to know from Kristall what she had done, she told him everything she had seen and heard, without however talking about the experience with the crystal dragon skull.

Tømmer listened to everything about her, especially the part of her where her dragons laughed at her about not having to steal more of her.

• "I understand, Kristall, listen, even your mother before she was pregnant was talking to Regn about the possibility of changing the habits of the ice dragons, but Regn replied that even if she was the queen, no dragon would listen to her" -

• "And what should I do if I have to bring peace between dragons and ponies?" -

• "You can start from our village, sure that if there were more people many other species would follow our example, but this is almost impossible, everyone hates dragons, especially for those old legends, I'm not a Viking, but once here in this village, there was a bison who knew the old stories about Odin, Thor and all the giants well, and always told them to every inhabitant of the village "-

• "And where did this bison go?" -

• "Unfortunately he died a few days after your mother and I got married" -

• "Too bad, there are a lot of things I wanted to ask him about the gods, giants and runes, like the ones on the stone near Vinge's hut" -

• "That stone belonged to that bison, he said he had won it against a duel with a Viking" -

• "And is there no one able to read the runes that are on it?"

• "No, nobody, the bison did, but I never asked him what they said" -

• "Too bad, now I am left with curiosity" -

• "Why these questions?" -

• “Simple curiosity, dad, nothing special” -.

After eating, Tømmer decided to go to the nearby forest to look for mosses, lichens and some mushrooms, instead Kristall Snö wanted to go and see the stone that she had always noticed but never observed closely.

In the village there was no one outside, they were all inside their houses, so no one could ask her what she was doing, and of course no one who would tell her not to pry near the stone, but no one had ever warned her about that stone, so it didn't have to be dangerous.

And there it is, a large stone in the snow, just behind the house of the griffin Vinge, his father's friend, Kristall for the first time came completely close to that stone.

She had always seen the engraved inscriptions from afar, and now she could see that they were just runes.

• "It's strange, they have always seemed to me to be somewhat singular signs, but now, on the other hand, I can understand them" -,

the first letters she set her eyes on there were:

a letter F with the tips pointing upwards,

• "Fehu, means livestock, abundance, wealth, but also satisfaction and luck",

a kind of letter N,

• "Ur, internal strength, health, courage, confidence, endurance" -,

and an R,

• “Reid, indicate a path, a journey, the choices made on a journey” -, then Kristall was surprised by what he was saying.

-"How is it possible? I did not know the runes, in our village these are the only existing runes, and now not only do I know how to read them, but I can also understand what they mean "-, but curiosity was stronger than fear, so she put her right hoof on stone and try to read what was written on the stone.

• "Let's see, whoever reads this on the stone: will have 2 spells available, the first is an enhancement of their strength and is called bärsärk, evoke this spell by looking at your right hoof and say it, or hold the weapon you have between the hooves raise it to the sky and pronounce bärsärk, your strength and your speed will be doubled, however you will suffer damage from the enemies because your defense will be decreased, this spell lasts only two minutes, if you know how to use it well you can use it even for longer, but remember, do not use it too much the first few times, as this spell will give you a strength that you will not always be able to manage "-,

after reading those lines Kristall thought it was cool to have such a spell, but she was not magical and could not use it,

• "It would be fantastic, I would no longer have to depend on anyone and so I could defend myself, too bad I'm a pegasus, and the other?" -

Kristall also began to read the last lines of the stone,

• "The second spell is only for archers, anyone who knows how to hold a bow and arrow will be able to take advantage of this magic, its name is Sant Skott and allows you to enter your physical strength in the arrow, if used in battle the arrow could pierce an armor, but only if the user is strong and healthy enough because if used too much this spell will leave you without strength and you will have to rest for a long time to regain the energy used, but its power is devastating, even from a distance you can break a tree in two "-,

Kristall Snö was not afraid now, but she could not access those spells, but then she saw another inscription at the bottom of the boulder.

• "Here she says: if you intend to learn these spells then rests your hoof on the letter Berkana" -.

In the last part there was a letter resembling a B, and Kristall knew it by now, but what could she do? She certainly couldn't learn magic, but she was curious anyway and so she placed her right hoof on the letter.

At that moment all the runes lit up with a blue light as if they were written with fire, Kristall became afraid again, but for some reason she could not remove the hoof, then all the blue light broke off the stone and entered the filly .

When the light was over, Kristall was able to remove the hoof and she ended up in the snow, she was frightened but also confused, she stared at her hooves, but she didn't see anything special.

• “But what happened? Let's see… ..nothing on the hooves, nothing on the wings ”- she, to be sure she went to look at herself in the lake of the village, but in her image of her she did not see anything unusual.

• “Nothing in the face, nothing in the horsehair, it seems that there is nothing new, but what happened?” -.

Kristall went back to her house, nothing had happened, but she couldn't explain why the writing of the runes had entered her, she thought back to what Sven told her, that no dragon had had the chance to learn something through of that crystal skull, why had it happened to her that she was a pony? And what about a pony without magic? Ice dragons have no magic either, but at least someone could read the runes, she could now read and translate them, but she certainly couldn't use them.

The filly's gaze rested on her father's ax, it was a beautiful iron ax, with a sturdy wooden handle, but the father only used it to chop wood, because the spear was his weapon.

Kristall Snö had to get a question out of her head, absolutely, and she couldn't wait until the following day, so she took the ax and left the village, headed for the nearby forest, and chose a tree to cut.

She chose one at random and saw that it was full of snow, there were no animals in that forest, so she was not in danger of taking away some little creature's house.

• "And now let's see what happens if I use this ax, I really want to know what I can do" -.

She rubbed her hooves and then with her front hooves squeezed the handle of the ax, and hit the base of the tree, but despite using all her strength she made just a small sign.

• “I don't seem to have improved, nothing happened, maybe I have to repeat those words,… .bar… bar… bar… barbar? Not at all, I have already forgotten them and now what do I do? I have to go back to the stone to remember what the word was ”-.

Kristall put down the ax, but there was a tingling sensation on her right hoof and when she looked at it she was a little scared, there was a blue flame above it but it was not hot, in fact Kristall felt nothing, and from that flame came out of the runes, were written in the air, they were the same ones that Kristall had read on the rock, but related only to the first spell,

• "Bärsärk, summon this spell …… right hoof… ..hold the weapon tightly …… raise it to the sky and pronounce bärsärk, that's what it was, but then" -, if Kristall concentrated she could read everything without problems, then the writings disappeared, she looked at her right hoof but there was nothing, then she tried to rethink the spell and the letter Berkana appeared before her eyes, then followed by other runic letters, and here the word Bärsärk reappeared in front of her eyes.

Kristall Snö was again amazed by what had happened, but she after all she wanted to try the same because she was curious.

• "So ... I just have to raise my weapon to the sky and shout the magic word, then let's try, what do I have to lose?" -,

Kristall picked up the ax and raised it in the air, then screamed,

• "Bärsärk (Berserk)" -, but nothing happened,

• "I knew, it couldn't work, I'm a pegasus, not a unicorn, but it would have been nice if it had worked" -, but Kristall didn't want to give up so easily, she thought back to the words that Flail and Flod said to her, she didn't want to be a weight, she wanted to learn how to defend herself so she concentrated better, closed her eyes, and lifted the ax high and screamed again,

• "Bärsärk (Berserk)" -, this time around Kristall there were three runes that lit up and created a blue aura around the filly.

Kristall felt pervaded by a powerful energy and throughout her body there was a yellow light,

• "I feel ... ..I feel .... well, I feel .... I feel that I could handle this ax without feeling fatigue, I ..." -,

Kristall looked at the tree she had just hit, then she squeezed the ax and gave another blow, this time she dug deeper into the trunk, then she struck and struck again, on the fifth blow she gave a strong push with the ax and cut the tree that fell in the snow,

• "It's extraordinary, I had never taken an ax in the hoof, yet I managed to cut this tree down with just five blows, wait a minute, does that mean it worked? Did I use runic magic? "-,

Kristall was more happy than shocked, if she managed to cut down a tree she maybe she could also hit an enemy, she had to do something, she had to tell someone, but to whom? If she had told her father about her, he would have worried, even someone else in the village would have reacted badly, since the pegasi cannot do magic, what if she had told Sven? In that case she would have to tell Regn too.

Kristall knew that what had happened must have something to do with the skull of the crystal dragon, but first she had to do another test, but she needed to tell Sven, only the two of them, because thanks to that spell she could already look after herself without someone else's help.

To be continued ....

My little pony By Lauren Faust & Hasbro