Man, Mare, Machine

Sylvia took hold of the large wooden door's handle and pulled. The thick door easily glided on it's hinges, not producing so much as a squeak. After the door was completely open, a large wall of darkness was all that could be seen. No matter where you looked the darkness was absolute. The walls were lined with a smooth black stone which completely failed to twinkle or reflect light in any way.

As they peered in, not a single noise was heard coming from the cave, at least not any normal noise. Sylvia could hear just the faintest pulsing noise coming from inside the cave. She focused on the noise as hard as she could. It sounded like wind, but more level, controlled. She realized that the noise was the sound of something breathing.

"I know you're hiding over there, I can't see you but I can hear you." She spoke directly toward one of the walls near the door. At once, two large white orbs appeared against the wall, moving momentarily before becoming locked on Sylvia. Slowly, a diamond dog with deep black fur pulled away from the wall.

The trick to sizing up members of an unknown species is that there isn't one, most of it has to be done on gut instinct. Regardless of instinct, several facts were unchanging about the diamond dog before them. Firstly, he was smaller than Bowser, the guard had at least a good six inches on him. Second, he had without a doubt been hiding from them.

As he pulled himself away from the wall, a small parallel pattern of white fur was revealed on his chest, making him much easier to see. Two lines of white descended from around his stomach and sloped upward, connecting right below his chin. He didn't have any armor or even a weapon excluding several sets of claws which occasionally glinted between his hairs. Unlike most of the other dogs, this one had let his hair grow long on both his arms and body. The rest of his body was gradually cut shorter and shorter until his legs were of the same short length like Bowser and Lucky had.

It's so that the hair stays out of the way when he walks on his back legs, but then why let it grow out at all? Thought Sylvia, examining the dog as much as it was examining her. He hadn't bared fangs or done anything else aggressive so she didn't react when he started coming closer.

The dog leaned down and examined Sylvia. He looked around her body, examining every part of her armor before finally retreating back into the darkness. After a moment, the light of a torch appeared further in the cave. The dog, torch in hand, walked to the wall and held the torch to a small indent in the wall. One by one, more lights appeared until the cave was fully lit.

"Come in." Spoke the dog in a clear voice with just a hint of an accent.

They advanced slowly, coming to a stop in front of the large chair in which the dog was seated. The seat was made of the same hard to see material as the rest of the cave, making the chief appear as if he was seated in the air.

"What may we call you?" Asked Dominic, standing in front of the throne.

"Chief." Responded the chief, looking them over still.

"I am Dominic, she is Valkyrie. We are humans."

"What do you want from my dogs?" He asked, paws resting against his knees.

"You speak differently than your citizens." Observed Dominic.

"I am the chief, I must excel or else I will be replaced by someone better. Why are you here?" He was stating the law of the land with a fierce confidence, making the bragging statement sound almost mundane.

"My people wish to extend friendship to yours." Spoke Dominic, head not turning away from the chief, giving him full attention.

The chief was silent. "What am I supposed to do with friendship? Of your race I have seen two, a male to talk and a female meant to protect him." He cast a disapproving eye on the both of them as he talked. "If you ask me, that isn't quite enough to make a declaration of friendship out of."

"Please don't turn us away that simply, we only want to help your people, and you could use allies." They stared at each other, neither moving an each.

"I stand by what I said, if you really think that you are suitable representations of your people then by all means, prove it." He seemed to be treating their extension of friendship as a game, one meant to distract himself but by no means one he would actually take any results from seriously.

"You're people have shown much kindness to us since we got here, I refuse to believe that they are like that not due to you being their ruler. We heard stories of you, stories where you defended the name of your own enemies so that they wouldn't earn blame they didn't deserve, even after what they have done to your people. You don't blame the whole race for their past actions. I know rulers like that are few and far between, and I would have to be insane to let a chance of friendship with one of those rulers slip away from me."

The chief had a look of concentration on his face. "Who did you talk to?"

"Your guard Bowser, and his brother Lucky."

"Tell me what you think of Bowser." The chief said simply.

"I can tell that he hates the ponies, no matter what, I think he still wants to get revenge for his brother, but he won't. He has too much respect for you to do something like that. You could lock Bowser in a cage with a pony and he would eat his own arm off before hurting them, that is how much he wants to remain here."

"How long did you talk to him?" The chief continued to pose questions in a very leading manner.

"Around five minutes."

The chief nodded his head. "How could you tell?"

"The way he looked at everything. Everywhere he looked, even when he was talking about his brother, everything he saw seemed to be able to pull him out of it."

The chief sat there, now actually reclined in his chair. "You speak well enough." He gestured toward Sylvia. "How do your people fare against their enemies?"

Dominic let a smile come to his face. "Our people live peacefully but we do not stand down when an enemy comes. In many ways we are like you. One home, defended until the end."

"Do your people have ceremonies to commemorate friendships?" He asked.

"We believe it is generally more polite to experience the customs of those we wish to understand first. We humans are quite adaptable, but occasionally our customs have to be edited slightly so as to not seem distasteful to some."

"Living amongst both herbivores and carnivores, I can understand that."

"Does this mean you reconsider?"

"Oh no, not in a thousand years." The chief waved a dismissive paw. "Unfortunately, I do not have final say, or else you would already be gone from here."

"Aren't you the chief? No dog out-ranks you right?"

The chief stood, pawing the ground slightly. "Correct, but there is one who rules alongside me." He pushed against a wall and walked straight through.

Both humans present followed him, making sure to not trip in the dark cave. Dominic reached his hand out and felt where the chief had disappeared.

"It's cloth, he put black cloth against the stone out of the torch's light, clever dog."

They both entered and found the chief waiting for them. He gestured for them to follow and they proceeded deeper into the cave.

"He is responsible for our people's survival. Without him, we would have failed long ago."

Sylvia and Dominic both remained silent as they followed.

Eventually the small path in the rock opened up, revealing a huge, dome-like structure inside the cave. The ceiling was curved and faint traces of sunlight could be seen peeking in through the top.

"They are here!" Yelled the chief before backing away from the center of the room.

They could both hear a loud clicking noise coming from further within the chamber. Eventually, a large, pale, scaly head broke the surface of darkness and continued forward until a full-sized dragon laid before them. He was covered in a thick layer of pearly scales and had large, green eyes which stared at them intently. His back had a long line of spikes sticking out of them and ended with a long, pointed tail. On his back two large scars broke the otherwise beautiful layer of scales.

"Greetings Dominic, Valkyrie." Spoke the creature.

"If I may ask, what are you? You're magnificent." Stated Dominic, eyes open wide looking at the immense creature.

"My kind are called dragons. I am... you may call me Reh, I am afraid my other name would come out quite incomprehensible. I do thank you for your compliment." The dragon's eyes closed as he laughed deeply to himself.

"You heard our names from here?"

"This cave has many wonders, one of which is that all sound made in them eventually find their way here. The same can not usually be said for the opposite."

The chief stepped forward, injecting himself into the discussion. "Reh has saved more of my dogs with his power than any warrior could hope to match, he is considered our greatest hero."

"I am no hero," argued Reh, "heroes do not leave forests in flames, nor do they take the lives of guards doing what they think is right."

"No, but heroes do risk themselves to save innocents."

The dragon gave another laugh. "I am sorry if you had the misfortune of arguing with this dog my dear humans, he is as stubborn as they come and his opinion is quite like a mountain."

"Reh," spoke the chief, "they say that they want friendship, do they seem trustworthy?"

"Hmm." Reh pondered a moment. He ran his eyes across Dominic, then Sylvia, each getting the same amount of scrutiny. "Trustworthiness... I would say no, but at the same time they hold no ill will toward your people. They are an odd combination, but they will not betray you should you side with them. Should you not, well they will most likely not do anything directly but I'm afraid the future would not be bright for the diamond dogs. Let us just say that what they have would be better suited in your paws than that of the other races."

"Thank you for your council." He turned back toward Dominic and Sylvia. "I agree to declare public declarations of friendship with your people, I will sign whatever you want to prove it."

"You're just going to trust us, after everything he just said?" Asked Dominic, quite confused. "He made us sound down-right evil right there!"

"Reh only sees fractions of multiple scenarios, what you do in one is of no consequence to the others."

"Well I... that makes a kind of sense I guess."

"The document?" Asked the chief.

"Oh, right! Just give me a moment."

As Dominic digged around in his pockets looking for the right piece of paper, Sylvia could feel something prod her. She nearly had a heart-attack when she found Reh's head behind her.

"You seem like you want to say something, or maybe do something, what is it?"

She felt a little embarrassed that a giant creature had noticed. "It was nothing, I just kind of wondered what dragons are like."

Reh breathed a small spiral of smoke out of his nostrils. "Dragons are old, we can live forever should we never fall victim to outside misfortune. Despite what you may think, few dragons are like me. My race is greedy, our avarice unmatched by any other. When a dragon sees treasure, he must use all his might to avoid taking it and hiding it away. Well, I say must, but it is a rare occasion to see a dragon that even hesitates before taking it. My race you see, we eat the gems that these mountains provide, they give us our strength and without them, we grow weak and small, more dependent dragons can even suffer a quick death when restricted from their gems."

"Why aren't you like that?"

"You may have noticed that this room has no dragon-sized exits. I was left here, abandoned due to my older ways. I knew my chances of escape were low, so I rationed the small veins of gems that originally grew here, but eventually even those ran out. I grew weak, my body became pale and I slept. I slept long, so very long. One day, I was awoken by the sounds of digging. These diamond dogs, although then they were being called digger dogs, they have had many names, had drilled into my prison while trying to find a new place to live. They saw me weak and unable to fight and instead of killing me like I expected, brought me gems. A myriad of gems of every color, style, and size. I asked why they gave me such a bounty and you know what they told me?"

"What?" Sylvia was engrossed in the story, it was like a fairy-tale, but real.

"They asked me if they could use my cave as a base for their new tunnel homes!" He began laughing, drawing Dominic's attention briefly before being pulled back into discussion by the chief. "In all my life, I had never expected that they would think of such a plan, a dragon, in the annex of their homes! I of course asked them why they wanted to live in the mountain, and they said that they had to, or else they would be hunted in the forest. In return for their generosity, I told them I would defend their village if they would restore my strength, to which they accepted. Over the next few weeks, countless dogs came in and made large cuts into the walls, allowing me to climb to freedom. Do you know what I found though?"

"What?"

"The sun's rays hurt my eyes, I couldn't go above without the blinding light rendering me an invalid, I was all but useless. Dragons, you see, have complex physiology, we change rapidly depending on our environment. This is why you see all kinds of swamp, desert, or arctic dragons. Over my incubation, I had developed all I needed for a life in a cave, slow metabolism, night vision, all the skills needed, but I had lost all my previous abilities used in the sky and lands above. I felt wretched, I had promised these dogs hope, and in return they get a protector who can be defeated by the sun."

He leaned his head forward, whispering to Sylvia. "But then the chief of the dogs had an idea. He came to my cave, as he had many times before, and proposed a new method. He tied a banner around my eyes and sat on my back. You should have seen our first attempt, broken columns and smashed rocks everywhere, I'm sure it must have looked hilarious. Over the next weeks however, we learned the correct timing and motions. From that day forward, it became one of the great dog legends, chief Chester, rider of Reh. Every chief since then has been required to learn how to successfully coordinate with me should he wish to lead."

"So does that mean the chief-"

"Indeed." He pointed a clawed finger at the chief. "Little pup, hardly the strongest, but smart, clever. He came here the most, often volunteering to bring me my food himself. Over time, we grew to understand one-another, as I had done with many dogs in the past, and eventually he asked me to let him train to ride. Despite his high intelligence, he had little talent, often becoming frustrated and cursing to the skies whenever he would fall off and need assistance. Now, he has earned the name Alpha, chief."

"Would you mind if I came back with a pencil and paper? I'm just thinking of writing this down so I can become sickeningly wealthy."

Reh laughed again. "It is nice to know that you don't let the little sad facts cling to you, people find comfort in that kind of person." He hummed to himself, occasionally letting a small plume of flame escape his lips, it appeared he had the giggles. "I'm, I'm sorry, just..." He began laughing again.

"What is it Reh?" Asked the chief.

"You were so bad!" He yelled before laughing loudly.

The chief looked furious. "Shut up! I learned just like the others had learned, and that was over a dozen years ago, just let it go!"

Reh was still laughing. "But... but... so awful and now you, you act all tough and-" He couldn't complete his statement before laughing again.

The chief grabbed Dominic and Sylvia by the arms before leading them out. "Let's go, there's no helping him when he gets like this."

"Come on Alf," Moaned the elder dragon through a small layer of mirthful tears, "you're being a stick in the mud again, I was having a lovely conversation with that girl."

"Not if you are going to berate me while I try to negotiate with them!"

"Okay, okay... I'm okay now, I'm sorry." The dragon held a fist up to his mouth, coughing and releasing a cloud of smoke.

The chief just kind of made some disapproving groan and turned to Dominic again. "Where were we?"

Sylvia had to suppress a grin when she saw Reh seated by her again. Her smile eventually won-out when he stared at her with a completely serious expression.

"Okay, that was really funny." She admitted through a small laugh.

"You need the little things sometimes when everyone gets too serious."

Sylvia had another request, but felt that it might be awkward. "Um, would you mind if I touched your scales?"

"Oh my, I don't mind, go right ahead."

She touched her hand to the scales. They were smooth and strong, the spots where one scale went to the next was completely untraceable to touch, they were clearly there, it's just that they were so close-pressed she couldn't tell. They felt cool, and slightly slick. They weren't slimy, it was just a faint feeling of dampness, the kind you can feel when waking up while camping and finding that a fog had moved in during the night. To her surprise, Reh started moving, adjusting his body. He was basically slithering under her hand, a very odd feeling as she felt the scales move along her hand. He suddenly stopped, and she had to look down to see why.

Her hand was inches away from one of the large scars across his back.

"Do they hurt to touch?" She asked.

Reh twisted his body around so that he could face her and stay in his current position. "No, the skin healed a long time ago. Do you want to know about them?"

"I'm guessing this story won't be as fun."

"You would be correct."

"Well I'd like to know anyway, if that's okay."

"Of course it is, like I said, we have to learn to accept the small things and move on. Where to begin..." He tapped a claw to his face. "It was... I believe it was around sixty-seven years, nine months, and fourteen days ago. The cave was dark and depressing, the dogs brought me some gems, I accidentally looked up once and got a headache, you know, standard day. Anyway, I hear this great rumbling and a dog runs in to inform me that another dragon had inadvertently caused a rock-slide. I tried to climb to the ceiling to protect the village but the rocks had already reached my escape hole. I couldn't fit through so I started trying to force the rocks out. I got a little headway but soon more rocks replaced them. I decided that if I didn't get out there right then that all the village would be lost before they could evacuate. I struggled to get through the hole and was most of the way through when this colossal boulder comes completely out of nowhere and pins my right wing. Now, I thought that was that, but I couldn't have been more wrong. You see, the boulder below my wing started to shift downward at the same time the boulder above did. Dragon scales are tough, but they aren't meant to be pulled, I felt my whole right side starting to tear, those rocks would have taken the rest of my skin before those scales snapped off so I did the only thing I could think of, I cut the wing off with my claws."

Sylvia winced at the story. "How could you handle that?"

"I told you how I had adapted to cave life, my wings had atrophied, to the point of uselessness anyway so it was no real loss, most of the nerves had died a long time ago."

"What about the other wing?"

"I asked the diamond dogs to help me remove it, they were small, but they were ballasts and I couldn't walk correctly with only one wing anymore."

"I couldn't handle that, I think I would just sit down and never walk."

"Something tells me you've already endured something far worse than anything I have dear." He gave her a knowing eye. "It isn't only the future you know, the past is a lot more concrete. You my girl, are stronger than any dragon I could name." He gave her a small nudge on the shoulder. "Go back to your companion, it looks like they are nearly finished."

"Thank you Reh." She said with a smile.

"Why, for what? Last I saw I was drowning a poor girl in history lessons." He looked around wildly in confusion. "Oh my, I do think the girl has lost her marbles completely this time!"

They shared a laugh at that.