Hosting Luna's Studentby KartacChaptersStrolling, Scales, and StoriesReasoning, Research, and ReflectionDisasters, Dreams, and DelusionsStrolling, Scales, and StoriesDISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, it is owned by Hasbro and the Hub and other cool peoples who make it. This story is written out of love for the creation, I promise I no stealy or makey the money. ### Oh how could he be six hours late, how could have he miscalculated the length of his trip to Ponyville so gravely? The opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to study a fledgling dragon in the flesh, not just out of books, or from Luna's recollections. A real live dragon that he could touch and examine, plus the chance to speak with the pony who effectively raised him. The only other pony like him in the world. The only other student of a Princess. He was so late though, and Celestia had mentioned aside in conversation how punctual her student was. What if he was punished for his tardiness by her, and not allowed to examine her pet. "No, Stoneheart. You musn't think like that..." the Navy colt said aloud to no one in particular, "... She too is a student of the Princesses, if anyone were to understand, I'm sure it will be her." Stoneheart gazed out over the empty streets of Ponyville, the meager light of street lanterns punctuated heavily by the light of moon, hanging in the sky. A beacon to guide him, courtesy his Princess. He flipped his slate grey bangs out of his eyes, making sure to parse them around his horn and continued his slow walk towards the center of town. The city was exactly as his mentor had described it, and with every quaint shop he passed he imagined what they were like alight and bustling during the day. He stopped in the center of town to attempt to get his bearings, something that was exceptionally difficult given that he knew nearly nothing about Ponyville except that it was poor and tame compared to Canterlot. In the darkness getting his bearings was nearly impossible, especially not knowing the city at all. He looked to the sky and begun tapping his hooves, until a particularily bright beam of moonlight pointed him down a road. "Thank you, M'Lady" Not that he had travelled even a block before around the buildings, in it's own little clearing, set a lit-up tree. Just as Luna had described the library. *** "SPIIIIIIKE!!!!" A young, lavender unicorn shrieked. "How is it that the library is still a mess?!" Twilight Sparkle was normally calm and collected, certainly not the type of person to burst into tears, but if the library wasn't clean in exactly three seconds, she might consider it. He should've been there hours ago, she was so lucky he hadn't shown up on time, not that she exactly approved of tardiness. She hastily grabbed a stack of papers and books and mindlessly shoved them onto the nearest shelf. She was immediately followed by a small purple and green dragon, who quickly pulled the stack off of the shelves and began properly organizing it before putting it back up. "Well, it would help if you actually cleaned up and didn't just move your mess from the floor to the shelves. Then I could actually help you and not just follow you around fixing it." Spike remarked snidely, noting almost immediately that he was being ignored. He continued following her around the library where she once again picked up a pile of junk and went to throw it on the nearest shelf. Spike couldn't take it anymore, so he walked up alongside her flank, grabbed some hair and stopped her the only way he knew how. "OW! SPIKE!" Twilight shouted, yanking her tail out of his hand. She momentarily lost her concentration and her magic failed, dropping her collected mess back onto the floor. "Twilight, you're freaking out and all it's doing is making more work for me. Please, just go make some tea and relax, I will finish as much as I can in here." He said as slowly and calmly as he could, hoping to curb Twilight's nerves. "I'm so sorry Spike. I'm just so nervous, this is Luna's first student and I just really really reeeeeally want to make a good impression, maybe I'm just worrying too..." She was cut off by a quick knock on her door. "EEP!" Twilight let out an incredibly high pitched squeak before desperately diving under the table. Spike just shook his head, Twilight had managed to put Fluttershy to shame. *** Stoneheart stood patiently outside the library breathing in the cool, night air. He hadn't noticed until just now, standing still, the weight of his saddlebags. Luna had advised him that his trip could potentially be a very long one and to pack accordingly. He just smiled to himself, it was his own fault for insisting on getting to Ponyville on his own and not just allowing the guards to bring him in Luna's carriage as was offered to him. He didn't want to make a scene, and instead, now his back hurt. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait very long and shortly after he knocked a soft creak alerted him to the door's slow opening. Stoneheart froze when he saw the creature that had opened the path for him, what a beautiful and magnificent creature... "Hi, welcome to Ponyville Library." It was almost a snap action, with one simple motion Stoneheart barged into the library, picked up the young dragon who had answered the door and dropped him on a nearby counter. With a glow of his horn, a quill and parchment came flying out of his saddlebags as did rulers and other such instruments of measurement. As they flew around his subject the quill scratched hurriedly across the paper jotting down each noted measurement. While the dragon's initial reaction had been something along the line of stunned paralysis, the creature was now entirely aware of what had happened, and he was hardly happy about it. He stood up and attempted to climb off of the counter but found himself now bound by this strange unicorn's magic as well. "Just sit still for a little longer while I get my measurements and information. Purple and green color scheme, check. Tail, short but well defined and spined, excellent. Apparently traditional breed, though youth may disguise final growth. Also speaks native pony tongue, and not draconic, can you speak draconic too?" Spike just stared at him, seething. Who was this guy? Some kind of an idiot? Spike let out a growl, hoping to intimidate him but then found his mouth clamped shut by magic as well. "I'll take that as a no, well let's see..." Spike was then caught off guard to see a magnifying glass also be levitated up, focusing on something on his short neck, roughly under his earspines. Fortunately, to levitate so many things, he had to let Spike's mouth go and Spike desperately yelled for his savior at the same time Stoneheart exclaimed excitedly. "TWILIGHT!" "A GREED GLAND!" Stoneheart stopped dead in his tracks, allowing his various measuring tools to clatter to the ground, only keeping the quill and parchment in the air in front of him. Stoneheart stared at the dragon, curiously. "Who is Twilight?" "Ahem." Came a feminine voice behind him. Stoneheart wheeled around slowly, the last traces of his magic disappearing and the quill and parchment were set down on the counter. His head carefully wheeled around and he found himself face to face with a lavender unicorn with a 6-point star as a cutie mark, the symbol of powerful magic. Stoneheart realised exactly who she was. "Celestia's student?" "Twilight Sparkle, the owner of this library, whose assistant you just assaulted." Stoneheart blanched, he had never been so embarassed in his life. It wasn't very often he got to see or study a baby dragon, even a dragon youth was rare. Then he realised in his haste, that he had barged into a home that was not his own and begun studying one of the occupants. "I am so sorry." He expressed to her, only to receive a snarky comment from the young male dragon. "Yeah, apologize to her." Twilight just leaned around Stoneheart and gave Spike a rueful stare, the baby dragon carefully hopped off the counter and tried to slink away before Twilight pointed a hoof towards the kitchen. Her instructive symbol for 'Get Me Tea' which in this case, Spike assumed, was actually 'Get Us Tea'. The moment Spike was out of earshot, Twilight suddenly burst into laughter. "I have never seen him stunned so much in my entire life." She snuck out amidst giggles. Stoneheart had never been more confused in his entire life, he had broken in essentially and begun attacking one of the occupants and now the owner was in front of him with a huge smile on her face laughing at how upset her cohort was. Was this pony crazy? "Uh... Hello, I'm..." "Luna's student." "Stoneheart, yeah..." "Just come in Stoneheart, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about." *** Spike had long since gone to bed and Stoneheart's barely touched cup of tea was long since cool, but Twilight Sparkle and Luna's student were still deep in conversation. Or at least, Stoneheart was, as his quill and parchment were back to work as he grilled Twilight on Spike's history. "So his perfect speech stems from the fact that you hatched and raised him and he's never spent any time living amongst dragons?" Twilight smiled, she was more than happy to be sitting with another pony who was as inquizzitive as she was but to be truthful, she was almost at a point where she was annoyed at how much Stoneheart was directing the conversation. "Yes..." The moment the word came out of her mouth the quill started it's frenetic scratching once again, Twilight frowned, enough was enough. "Stoneheart, stop. Just stop. We've been talking for hours and the only thing I really know about you is your name, that's hardly fair." Stoneheart scoffed, "Oh come on, it hasn't been nearly that..." He noticed Twilight idly point a hoof at a window partway through his sentence, looking over towards it, Stoneheart could see the first colours of Celestia's sunrise already poking in. "Long?" Stoneheart gave Twilight an apologetic look, it was amusing to her the way his brow furrowed when he felt that way. She'd seen a few times since the conversation started, it was a very endearing quality. "It's okay Stoneheart, really it is. I've acted that way plenty of times, everything else takes a backseat, pouring over research, answering or sometimes asking the same question over and over again." "I did not repeat questions..." "You asked why Spike spoke so well, at least 4 times." Stoneheart immediately glanced back over his parchment skimming over what seemed to be an impossible amount of notes he took. "Four times... wow." Twilight smiled at him, she had at least managed to get him off of his obsessive track. Now to see if she could lead the conversation. "So can we talk about you a little bit?" She asked, radiating a bit of pride at her success in getting his attention. Stoneheart let out a quick sigh, "I suppose it's only fair. Ask away Ms. Sparkle." Twilight perked up almost immediately, Stoneheart was roughly her age but he hadn't become a student until much later, there were so many things he probably did that she missed out on the opportunity to. First things first, however. "So why such an interest in Spike?" "Well it's not Spike particularily that interests me. Although there are some aspects of his composition that I do find intriguing, he has greed glands, which are virtually now just an evolutionary leftover. So either he got them from your magical hatching, or because his egg survived a very long time." Stoneheart explained. Twilight put leaned her head on her hoof, staring very intently at Stoneheart. One benefit to having Spike around and Stoneheart's knowledge base is that she could probably learn everything that she hadn't already read in books, from him. "What else can you tell me about Spike?" "Well, there are three primary archtypes of dragons. There are tyrant dragons, serpentine dragons, and of course your traditional dragons, sometimes called Legend, or Lore dragons. Tyrants are very large dragons, but usually the weakest of the three, their wings don't develop very well and they can't breathe fire. What makes tyrant dragons so dangerous is that they can breathe a fine mist, that when inhaled, forces other creatures to submit to the dragon. Hence the name tyrant." "Well Spike breathes fire, and when he grew he had very large wings, so I'm guessing he's not one of those." "That's correct. Spike isn't a serpentine either, since when serpentines grow up, their legs recede and their bodies begin to elongate, similar to a snake. Although they will also grow very prominent wings, sometimes several sets of smaller ones, and naturally because of their body shape and such, they are both adept at flight and swimming." "Well, Spike definitely had legs when he grew, so that leaves traditional?" "Traditional type dragons are by far the most common. As the dragon grows they add considerable size and musculature, this additional weight usually forces them to spend most time as quadripeds to avoid collapsing under their own weight. Usually they grow large and powerful wings to carry themselves as well, and while not as strong at flight as serpentines they're definitely capable of it. Traditionals are usually the strongest of the dragon archtypes. This is where Spike ultimately falls." Twilight wore a perplexed expression on her face, one she often defaulted to when forced to digest large quantities of important information. Princess Luna had definitely made the correct choice in making him her student, he was like an encyclopedia of everything you could want to know. Except that instead of it just being words, you can talk to him, and feel his excitement. "Anyway, to steer us back on topic, it's not Spike particularily that interests me. It all comes back to Princess Luna, since Celestia is interested in learning about ethereal magic, such as friendship, as you study. Luna has begun devoting herself to learning the magical properties of physical creatures..." Stoneheart paused for a moment and was pleased to see Twilight listening intently. "... So, Banshees, Griffons, Hydras, and most importantly, at least as far as I'm concerned, Dragons." Twilight wore a perplexed face now for a completely different reason, Stoneheart was definitely well read and very impressive in his knowledge base but something still confused her. The edges of Stoneheart's lips curled upwards as he watched her sit there and contemplate. "But doesn't the Canterlot Royal Library have lots of books about Dragons?" "Pfft, hardly. Most of the books were written eons ago by ponies travelling with dragon hunting parties, not exactly an unbiased resource. Publishers just kept re-releasing the texts for the benefit of scholars who thought they knew the truth." Stoneheart finished smugly. In Twilight's mind, that wasn't really an adequate response. Accusing the library of not knowing what it's texts are saying was almost treasonous to her. At the same time though, there had to be a reason why Luna would choose him as her student. Twilight ultimately decided that asking outright, regardless of how rude it was, would be best. "So why you, Stoneheart? What happened that made Luna choose you?" Stoneheart was momentarily taken aback, but answered nonetheless. "Well, when I was younger. Before I had earned the indicator now on my flank, I was a young colt at Scholar's Free Academy in Canterlot. I joined the school midway through the year after moving into the city, and since it was a slightly older class, not having your cutie mark at that point is an absolute embarassment. You get accused of not having any talent, et cetera..." Twilight felt kind of bad for Stoneheart. Sure, some of her classmates mocked her for being a loner but she couldn't imagine what it would be like to be an older child and still not have a cutie mark. The name calling would be relentless. "... Anyway, the unofficial class president told everyone in the class that they weren't allowed to be my friend unless I proved myself so a couple nights later they blindfolded me and brought me to the entrance of Sigil Caverns." Twilight giggled, "You mean the cave from those old mare's tales, with the dragon inside that gobbles up naughty little colts and fillies?" "Yeah yeah, I know. Everyone's heard the stories. Either way, I had to spend one night in the cavern on my own with just a candle for light." Stoneheart continued, plowing through Twilight's skepticism. Twilight's expression changed very quickly when she heard the conditions as she moved closer to the edge of her seat, she had a good idea where this was going and she already didn't like it. "The candle went out and you got lost didn't you?" Stoneheart just flashed Twilight an amused smile, he wondered if she did this for every story she heard. Admittedly the prediction may not have been that hard, but it was still adorable she could figure it out, less for him to explain in the end. "Not exactly, the candle did indeed go out. I never got lost though, for some strange reason when the candle went out the cavern filled up with a faint blue glow. At that point I wasn't sure which way was out though, lost deep within a cave, so I just followed the light, assuming that it had to be coming from some outside source." Twilight just stared at him, enraptured by his story. He found that amusing too, he'd never really credited himself as a very good storyteller. He continued to smile at her as she seemingly stared off into space, not noticing the faint colour change of her cheeks. "At the end of the tunnel I wound in this properly carved and artistically designed room. It was massive in size, and of course, since it's a large room, and my cutie mark ended up to be dragon related, it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that I found a dragon... A really big one." Twilight's eyes had half shut at this point as she seemed to just gaze off into eternity, Stoneheart didn't know that this was normal for Twilight, to get completely lost in a story. So he gave her a little poke, snapping her back to reality. "Do you want to get some sleep Twilight? It's my fault you're still awake and you seem tired." Stoneheart asked the startled mare. "No, no... Sorry about that, I just tend to get really lost in stories. I have a surprisingly vivid imagination..." She replied, "Please just finish your story." Stoneheart looked at her, still not entirely sure if he believed her. If getting really lost in stories meant falling asleep to them, then Stoneheart was tempted to agree with her. He continued on anyway. "Well, the dragon in the cave was a Celestial Dragon..." Stoneheart noticed Twilight immediately revert back to the perplexed face she'd been wearing at the start of his story. He could see the question forming in her eyes, and thought it best to just answer it first. "... They're like the Luna and Celestia of Dragons. There's three, nearly supreme in power, one each to represent the Earth, the Sky and the Sea, more or less." Twilight's face scrunched up in thought as she desperately attempted to digest the implications of this information. "Anyway, supposedly if you're not a Dragon, you have to be 'worthy' of an audience with a Celestial to ever actually see one..." "And it..." "He." "Sorry. He didn't just kill you for intruding?" "Actually no, he actually helped me out of the cave, at which point my cutie mark appeared." Stoneheart finished. "So when it came time to acquire a student, Luna heard the story and found you." Twilight added. "She didn't exactly have to look very hard." Stoneheart added with a smirk. Twilight's face could do nothing else but default back to her perplexed look. He had to admit, it was cute, if nothing else. "I was an understudy to a castle scholar at the time, the foremost expert on magical creatures..." He explained. "All she had to do was come to my room, I was locked in pending the results of my explusion hearing." "You were getting expelled?!" Twilight exclaimed with all the grace of an overprotective mother. "My scholar was threatening to have me removed from study if I published a paper disproving one of his theories about dragons..." Stoneheart continued calmly "... So instead I removed some of his teeth with my forehead..." "YOU DID WHAT?!" "... and let him try to expel me for that instead." Twilight just shook her head. There was so much information to sift through and understand, from the types of dragons, to the celestial dragons, and Stoneheart's obvious pride issues. Twilight really didn't know what she was going to do with it all, especially on no sleep, something she couldn't hope to get now that the sun was up. Although, Twilight was happy to have Stoneheart around, he had done much of what she herself had hoped to do before the blessing that was studying under Princess Celestia. "Well, I'm going to have to open up soon, and I can't show you around until at least Spike is up to take care of the place. Why don't you just show yourself around? I can meet you at Sugarcube Corner in two hours or so, it's the big confectionary at the center of town, you can't miss it." Stoneheart smiled, then got up and prepared to leave. "I might just do that..." Twilight turned away from him, levitating some papers up to continue the cleaning of the library. "... Oh, and Twilight. Thanks for letting me stay." Twilight was glad she hadn't been facing him, because something about that comment just got to her and made most of her face flush a bright red. "Anything for the Princesses." ### A/N: Trying something different to get back on the horse, so to speak. This one went through a different process then my now stalled first fic on this site, so I'm excited to hear what people think. Please R&R, I love comments and ratings, it gives me a barometer of my work. Reasoning, Research, and ReflectionA/N: Hey friends, Pony Ranger Green here. I just wanted to thank everyone for the outstanding support the first chapter of the story has received. The response, especially compared to my other story 'Forest for the Trees' has been all heavily positive. I also want to throw a huge thank you out to my proofreader Arklight, who has been combing my story for consistency. However he is unfortunately indisposed this week, so instead of having all of you wait another week. I made it to a natural stopping point in chapter two, and decided to just upload it as a shorter 2 & 3 instead. Enjoy! Chapter 2: Reasoning, Research, and Reflection Twilight really couldn't help but smile as she watched Spike and Stoneheart argue from across the room. She smirked as Spike desperately tried to fish various dragon reference guides out of a trashcan that Stoneheart was vigilantly guarding, having put them there for a reason. The argument was honestly the perfect capstone to Stoneheart's first week in Ponyville. Much like her first visit, all of the juiciest bits happened on the first day. Twilight remembered Stoneheart showing up at Sugarcube Corner that first day covered in dirt, eyes bloodshot and his neatly parted (yet somehow still messy) mane absolutely disheveled. Her first reaction to his appearance had naturally been laughter. Then she heard the story of what happened in the two hours she'd left him alone. Apparently he had decided that the best way to explore the town was to head out to the outskirts and work his way in. Which would've been a fantastic plan had he not stumbled onto the grounds of a significantly large apple farm, currently on the hunt for an apple thief. It took Stoneheart over an hour to convince the orange mare who had caught him trespassing that he meant no harm, and to get untied. In a rush to make it to Sugarcube Corner, Stoneheart had bolted back into town. Where, in his haste, he smacked right into Spike, who had snuck out of the library to go see a particular fashionista before taking over for Twilight. Apparently Spike had exaggerated the story of the previous night just a little bit, using words like 'attacked' and 'evil tools'. This meant that Stoneheart had been forced to spend most of his remaining exploration time getting the dressmaker's coiffure out of his face. Luckily, he'd been saved by a rainbow pegasus. Who, flying faster than her own good, smashed into him while Rarity was berating him. Sending him blissfully, but painfully, flying away from the fashionista's unnecessary arguements. After surviving the impact, Stoneheart didn't even bother to brush himself off, just running as fast as he could for Sugarcube Corner. The best part for her though, was when Stoneheart had learned that those ponies were not only Twilight's friends, but also the Elements of Harmony. With her smile widening, she was snapped from her daydream by her male guest's voice. "Twilight." She had heard him speak her name so many times in the last week that everytime she heard it, she giggled inside like a schoolfilly. Stoneheart usually only called out for her under one circumstance. To settle a fight between the two testosterone infused residents. "Yes, Stoneheart?" "Could you tell the purple and green menace over here that he is in my room and I'll do what I want in it?" Twilight giggled under her breath, she still felt bad about the fact that Stoneheart was sleeping on a couch down in the main library. She was thankful how cavalier he had been after hearing that the only spare bed was in her room and that she wasn't comfortable with him sleeping in it. "As long as you aren't throwing out any books." Twilight said teasingly, knowing that's exactly what he was trying, for the third time. "Pfft, these are barely that. I don't even want to call them tabloids." Stoneheart sputtered before ultimately giving up and letting Spike take the books out of the can. He still stood defiantly between Spike and the shelf however. "Anyway, I'm going to wash up and go to bed if you want to use the balcony." Twilight said to Stoneheart, hoping to move him. Stoneheart cringed a bit, his condition to not having a bed was that he could use Twilight's balcony for a few minutes every night. Since the first few nights he'd snuck out to do that while Twilight had been bathing the purple unicorn now informed him when she was doing so. Of course, it was just her nature to not realize how awkward that was to hear as a guest. He watched Twilight climb up but didn't follow her, instead waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Ignoring the triumphant celebrations of Spike as he reshelved the guides. After a few minutes of silence, Spike gave Stoneheart an awkward stare. "You know she's probably in the bath now, you can just go upstairs." He said. Stoneheart proceeded cautiously, there had been a reason he stopped himself initially. Now, thanks to that stupid purple gremlin's interruption, he no longer remembered why. He walked into Twilight's room slowly, surveying the scene. He was very thankful to see the crack of light coming from the bathroom door, indicating her presence in it. He quickly trotted across the room, noticing just one thing out of place, which made him remember what he'd been waiting for at the bottom of the stairs. He pushed open the double doors and effectively marched onto the balcony. The air was cool, and incredibly refreshing after a heated debate. He took a couple deep breaths to enjoy the sensation of the spring night before basking in the moonlight provided by his princess. He looked out over the fields behind the library, enjoying the occasional soft light of a loose ponyvillian house. This balcony showed him exactly why Ponyville was so great, he could honestly see why somepony would make a life happen here. He turned his head a little to the side and managed to see a small purple piece leaning around the doorframe. "I was waiting for you." Twilight was immediately taken aback, ducking behind the wall. "How did you know?" "First, you didn't run the water, I would've heard it downstairs. Also, you left your towel hanging from the cornerpost of your bed, you're much too analytical to forget something like that." Twilight sheepishly stepped out onto the balcony, she felt bad trying to be deceitful but she was way too curious about what Stoneheart needed the balcony for. "She's late." Stoneheart spoke, still staring at the sky. "Who?" "Luna." Twilight walked up alongside him and placed her front hooves on the balcony rail, she looked at him for a second then tried to follow his line of sight to the sky. She noticed his target, one star caught amongst clouds constantly threatening to cover it's glow. Then it shone, briefly, more brilliantly then that tiny star ever could. Stoneheart began to speak softly, "Goodnight my princess." Twilight watched him in confused silence as Stoneheart talked about his day with somepony who was not actually there. She heard him discuss the fact that he had agreed to teach Cheerilee's class a little about dragons every week, and how surprised he was at the good night's sleep he was consistently having on Twilight's couch. He also talked a little bit about Spike and the dragon's active attempts to resist being studied. Twilight didn't exactly know what to make of this display. She shifted along the railing, closer to Stoneheart. Then her curiousity got the better of her and she interrupted. "What exactly are you doing?" Stoneheart ignored her briefly, continuing his talk. However, after several minutes of her intense staring, he chose instead to just give a fond farewell before answering her. "Luna likes to hear about my day while she meditates. She also seems to think that reflection is good for me." Twilight continued to shuffle closer to him leaving little space between them. "So do you only reflect about your day?" Stoneheart turned to Twilight, wearing a gentle smile on his face. "No, sometimes I talk about life, or fears. I've gone on some research trips where I've asked her to take care of my affairs. I'm a little afraid of dying, apparently my father is too, runs in the family I guess." "So why do you do such dangerous research?" "Why did you fight Nightmare Moon, or Discord?" "Because it was my duty." Stoneheart gave her a deadpan stare. She understood immediately, shifting her face into a quiet 'oh'. She shifted even closer to Stoneheart, leaving them shoulder to shoulder on the balcony. Twilight could feel his warmth against her and it felt good mixing with the cool air around them. It comforted her greatly. "You don't give yourself enough credit Stoneheart. In those situations, I had to act. I mean, I didn't know it at the time but Princess Celestia had trained me for that. You face the prospect of death all the time and you don't have to. You only do it to fight ignorance, and at the very least... That makes you one of the most dedicated scholars I've ever met." Stoneheart just stared. Here she stood alongside him, trying to explain to him, how he was better then her! She is the savior of Equestria. She couldn't possibly be so clueless. "That little speech there, magical talent or not, is why Celestia chose you." Twilight smiled at him before pushing off the rail and proceeding to head back inside. "Oh Twilight?" "Yes?" "If I wanted a feel for where dragons in the area would nest. Is there someone nearby I should talk to?" "I can take you to see Zecora tomorrow." Stoneheart watched her walk back inside and shut the door before a smile crept onto his face. Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, Protector of Equestria. Subtly a hero to hundreds of thousands, if not more. Yet still humble, cleverly masking her accomplishments as duty, doing nothing to pad her own ego. His eyes glinted and his cheeks gently shifted in color. He was more than a little sad that his research would mean less time around her, and the library. Luna was right, reflection does a pony good. A/N (2): So there it is, chapter 2. Would've been twice as long before, but like I said, I couldn't make you wait. Arklight didn't get a chance to proofread all of this so of course any of that would be appreciated in the comments. The support so far is awesome. As always, comment and let me know what you like, or don't like. Disasters, Dreams, and DelusionsA/N: Here it is, the second 'half' of chapter 2. Now officially chapter 3. I'm glad with how it turned out even if it took an extra 15 days to get anything of substance out. Although I'm appreciating the support from my proofreader greatly, encouraging me to write to increased length and higher qualities. Much love and thanks to Arklight once again. “So, we walk the path through a deadly forest, risking life and limb to visit your friend, and she lives there?” Stoneheart proceeded to point at the gnarled tree in which Zecora was known to live. “How exactly has a manticore just not knocked it over?” “Come on, the forest is barely dangerous at all if you actually stick to the road.” Twilight replied, holding in a scoff. She didn't care at all for Stoneheart's whining and decided to just trot up to the door. As much as she respected his ability to learn, he just wouldn't get it until he actually met the zebra shaman. Twilight gave the door a gentle knock, causing it to gently swing open. Inside, Zecora was working over her cauldron mixing up some kind of potion or brew, as per usual. The thing that caught Twilight's eye and put her a little off guard was the thick, faintly green smoke that was all throughout the home. The air was heavy and a bit difficult to gather a full breath from, though Twilight didn't find it in any way cumbersome, in fact she quite enjoyed the faint herbal smell of it. The zebra waved the purple unicorn in from the door and gave a simple gesture to the guest entering with her to indicate to him that he should shut the door. "Hello Zecora, what are you working on?" "Young Pumpkin’s teeth are in much pain, a mixture of these herbs should make it wane." Twilight leaned over the cauldron with a curious eye as it belched out another heave of smoke. Twilight inhaled the scent again, and it brought a brief smile to her face. "It smells amazing." She said, Zecora just nodded in agreement. Across the room, weakly trying to exit the building was Stoneheart whose breaths had been reduced to heaving shudders. Twilight hadn't even noticed him back away from the cauldron, nor was she seeing his weak, desperate steps towards the door. "Twi... Light..." He spoke softly, hoping she would hear him over the boiling cauldron. She heard her name faintly called out and turned just in time to see Stoneheart barely standing. He looked pale and sickly, almost as if he was ready to vomit. She walked over to him and helped him properly onto his hooves. "Stoneheart! What's wrong?" She asked, her voice had taken on a pleading tone, as if she was begging for an answer. "Can't... breathe..." Were the last words out of his mouth before he collapsed in a heap. *** A foul smell snapped Stoneheart out of his slumber. Twilight was seated next to him, dabbing a wet cloth gently against his forehead. She looked into his eyes and smiled wide. She leaned in and nuzzled him quickly, before rechecking him for injuries. “That was quite a reaction. I was really worried about you.” Stoneheart gave Twilight a simple wink, which caused her to very quickly turn away from him. Stoneheart gave her a funny look. Something about her reaction didn't quite seem natural. She faced him once again, a frown on her face, the slight blush distracting from it. Why was she blushing? Why do I feel like I've seen this before? “I didn't know... I'm sorry.” Stoneheart quickly regained enough strength to sit up. He felt familiar warmth in his heart when Twilight attempted to stop him from sitting up. It was nice to know that someone other than Luna cared about him a little bit. Twilight sighed as the cloth tumbled from his forehead, levitating it back into its bowl. Stoneheart couldn't have misunderstood the dirty look that followed if he tried, she wanted him to rest. He wanted to do no such thing. “How long was I out?” He asked her. “An hour or two. I was really worried about you.” She repeated, not that it was necessary. Even an idiot could read the concern off her face. Stoneheart realized that something here was definitely off. He chanced a glance at the space around him and realized that Zecora was nowhere to be seen. In fact, this wasn't even Zecora's cabin, unless somehow the library magically teleported inside it. He was in a tree for sure, but it was certainly not Zecora's. It was impossible of course, with him in that state, bringing him back here was just impractical. He searched across the room for some sort of sign and spotted the shelf where the dragon reference books were supposed to be. It was close enough to him that he could tell the guides were no longer on it, and in fact, the books that were there had his name on the spine. What? “No Twilight, it's not your fault. Come here.” Stoneheart said softly, leg creeping around her to pull her close. From that point on, Stoneheart could tell he wasn't in control of himself any more. He was just going through a sequence of motions and he could not fight against them, in the deepest parts of his soul, he just wanted them. There was an internal voice just screaming at him that this was how things were supposed to be. His other front hoof grazed itself along Twilight's cheek, drawing her closer. Her face was now a furious red blush, growing darker as his leg slid behind her head and forcibly pulled her in. It took nothing for Stoneheart to pull her velvety lips against his, he knew it was brief, fleeting, possibly unreal, but for all he could process at that moment it might as well have been eternal. She tasted herbal, strongly like the tea she so commonly drank. It made her lips just as soothing as any cup he'd ever had. He knew something was drastically wrong with this picture, but he just couldn't resist what was happening before him, it was like some far off release based on his new attraction. He was so enraptured that he didn't notice the library around them slowly collapse into a crystalline, swallowing darkness. How exactly am I seeing myself? Soon there was no library as the outer walls just disappeared into the infinite blackness, the books and their shelves disappeared soon after. The floor was crumpled and swallowed as the shade overtook more and more. Until the kiss broke and Stoneheart was granted the pleasure of seeing Twilight gradually be swallowed, her face contorting in pain as the blackness ate away at her. He panicked, and tried to reach for her, only to learn that the darkness had eaten at his legs and covered his horn, leaving him as just a face in the black. Then he saw it, one thing that terrified him to the core. They were Luna's eyes in the darkness, but not as he knew them how. They were as they had been once, when she was threatening to coat Equestria in this blackness. They were Nightmare Moon's eyes. The darkness comes... *** “Twilight!” Stoneheart yelled, snapped vigorously from his slumber. He bolted upright, the blanket sliding partway off of him. He quickly looked around, frantically to get his bearings. He thankfully recognized a few things almost immediately. There was the double doors leading to Twilight's balcony, the (now multiple) towels hanging over the cornerposts of the bed as Twilight often did, and of course the spare bed across the room. Spare...? He held on that thought for a second. Was he in Twilight's bed? He was so confused by his observation that he didn't notice the purple unicorn sit up next to him until he was nuzzled into by her. “Did you have another nightmare love?” She asked, her voice concerned and yet somehow still cheerful and relieved. She placed a gentle kiss on his neck, making him feel like everything would be alright. “Come back to sleep, it's cold without you.” Stoneheart turned to face her slowly, he didn’t know what was going on, or what to expect. When he saw her though, he couldn’t help but smile, it was his... His...? ... Twilight alright, looking at him with a worried look on her face. He could certainly spot a couple differences in her, ever with minimal light he could see that she was definitely a few years older than he remembered, an adult for certain and not a well-learned teen as he saw her last. He could see that her hair was a fair bit shorter in the back although he couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that her pink stripe remained defiantly against her new maturity. The last and most important thing he noticed was a bump over her stomach. Wait, why am I bearing a child? Twilight? Stoneheart’s stomach leapt into his throat. That same feeling of unreal déjà vu overtook him, this seemed so real before and now it seemed scripted. A play, with he and Twilight playing perverted versions of their parts. At the same time he felt so happy, here with her. He throat remained locked up, he wanted to speak, to recoil, to desperately scramble together a sense of what had happened to get him here. Twilight’s eyes opened wide and she grabbed his hoof, pulling it against the bump. “She’s kicking...” Twilight whispered. He didn’t speak, he wanted to scream out loud, demand to know what was going on. This was real, he could feel it. It was certainly reality, but it had never happened. He and Twilight weren’t even close enough to consider a relationship, even if he did certainly have an attraction to her. Yet, she had his child. He was happy, and tortured. He could not speak, and still he did. “Is she now?” Stoneheart said amused. Then he felt it, the dull hit against his hoof. It startled him, possibly more than it should have, causing him to accidentally recoil back out of the bed. He never hit the floor. There was a deep pit of blackness and he could do nothing but tumble through it at speed. He could feel the stress of the rushing air against him, threatening him with unconsciousness. No, he wouldn’t give in, he had a daughter coming... No, he had research to finish. Who was he? He kept falling, more blackness, darkness eternal. It was exhausting to deal with, he so didn’t want to but he had to sleep, and accept his fate. Again, Stoneheart fell unconscious. *** He was on a small slab of stone surrounded by rivers of lava threatening to swallow his platform whole, taking not only his life, but the lives of the unconscious ponies around him. He recognized them all immediately, Celestia was unconscious, her horn somehow still glowing, projecting an aura over the six other unconscious forms. Twilight and five others, the elements. Twilight was no longer an adult, she was a teen again, Celestia’s loyal student. Stoneheart shook his head, what did he mean she was a teen again. Of course she was a teen, he was also in his late teens, right? Who did I become? "Stoneheart!" Came a deep female yell from ahead of him. Stoneheart gingerly lifted his gaze, trying his best to ignore both the searing heat and his own splitting headache. He could see Princess Luna, barely able to stand, holding up a large shield of magic that was desperately forcing the molten rock aside. Stoneheart could see plainly that the barrier was crumbling and Luna could not hold it for much longer. He leapt to his feet and dashed forward, horn flaring a powerful grey aura as Stoneheart scrambled to reinforce Luna's failing blockade. Then he heard it, serpentine and gruff, the roar. It wasn’t really a roar, more like a piercing shriek of dominance. Brute strength and power defined in a single, awe-inspiring sound. He had heard it but once before, ear splitting and constitution shaking. There was only one source for a draconic roar like that. He hoped in his mind that he was wrong, it couldn’t be, he wouldn’t do this to everything around him, he controlled the earth. What could cause such a terrible disaster but him... He looked up the mountain face and saw the massive silhouette of a creature, made of stone and earth, whose mere movements made the lava ebb and flow. "Stoneheart..." Luna said weakly, her legs were bent and buckled and her eyelids could barely be considered open. "Why... why did you fail us?" Deep inside his mind he could hear himself shouting in his mind, this hadn't happened, he hadn't failed anyone. Yet, he suddenly felt like just giving up... This was his fault and there was nothing he could do now. It was final, yet tormented. A war between himself and this self, from Zecora's shack to this mountainside, he honestly wasn't sure which was the reality. None of this had happened, but it had happened... hadn't it? His horn ceased to glow as Luna fainted and he merely accepted his fate, allowing the heat to overtake him. The heat did not swallow him, as much as he wished to be encased in its burning glory. At least then he would not feel. Instead he was surrounded by a haze, a thick fog that he could not penetrate though the air was still stinging his lung, almost a burning dew. It was suffocating, painful... and herbal. It smelled really good, but it made him sick. Am I sick? *** Stoneheart awoke gasping for air, he like he hadn’t breathed in hours and his entire body was on fire. He silently hoped that Twilight had managed to catch the train he must’ve stepped in front of to feel as awful as he did. He hacked and wheezed his way to recovery as his body seemed to relish in the existence of elements necessary for living, like oxygen for example. He could tell he was now in Zecora’s cabin but he was barely able to connect one thought to another. He was... delirious? That was the word, right? Luckily his coughing fit drew Zecora’s attention and the zebra came over with a bowl full of some sort of liquid in which she had a cloth. She took the cloth and held it in front of his mouth and Stoneheart just stared at her confused. She poked him in the jaw a few times and he managed to let his jaw go slack with a little effort, he felt like such a foal until she wrung the cloth in his mouth and had him swallow some of the nasty tasting liquid which suddenly made him feel cool all over and snapped his mind back to attention. “Oh Zecora, right now you are a lifesaver.” Stoneheart spoke through sighs of relief. The zebra merely chuckled at him, enjoying the irony of Stoneheart calling her a lifesaver when it was her herbal mixture that nearly killed him. Stoneheart writhed in bed, revelling in the blissful cold that the zebra provided him with. His mind began to straighten out, leading him to two fairly unrelated but pivotally important points. He didn’t know why they were so urgent, but there were two things he needed, Twilight and to go searching for dragons. “Twilight, where is she?” His voice was desperate and scared. Zecora looked at him surprised. She didn’t expect him to come around nearly as fast as he had. “She was afraid to watch you lie, in and out of life; she feared you might die.” Zecora emphasized her point by pointing towards the door and holding a hoof up to her mouth. Out of the silence he could hear some tearful wailing from beyond it. Twilight was clearly crying, quite eccentrically at that. “From what I know; you’ve not known each other long, I cannot guess why her fear was so strong.” Zecora spoke a little louder than usual giving Twilight the information she needed. The door swung open with a massive bang and her horn flared with energy, Stoneheart hadn’t even quite realised what had happened before two lavender legs were wrapped around him and any air he’d had in his lungs was painfully squeezed out. She sobbed into his shoulder uncontrollably and he felt her warm tears plunge into his fur. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know. I don’t know what I would tell the Princesses, and I would feel so guilty, I’d have to tell your parents too and I haven’t even met them and you would be gone and I’d see those stupid dragon guides every single day and... and...” Twilight rambled on and on as she cried and Stoneheart didn’t really know what to do. “Twilight, I’m fine. There are some plants and stuff that affect me worse than most. It’s normal, it happens. I’m alive and everything’s okay now. I just need to get back to the library and send a letter to Princess Luna.” Stoneheart nuzzled Twilight’s neck gently, comforting her much like when they cuddled up side by side on the balcony. It finally stopped her waterworks, although she still sniffled heavily and refused to let go of her powerful iron grip around him. He inhaled deeply to keep air in his lungs before trying to get off the bed. Twilight head him firm, shaking her head into his chest, she clearly didn’t think it was safe to let him stand. “Twilight, please... I need to stand up so we can see if my hooves still work...” He joked, but Twilight sobbed in return, making him feel awful. “and make arrangements with Zecora to go searching for dragon dens.” Twilight immediately pulled back from him, and stared at him with tears forming in her eyes. Then they quickly disappeared as Twilight regained her senses, she was still sniffling and clearly wanting to cry, but she was back in her right mind, not in hysterics. “Look Stoneheart, I know that’s why you came but I’m not letting you go until you’re healthy.” Twilight said matter of factly, showing the spectacular tact of a doting mother, much like when she’d heard his history. “I agree with friendship’s student, waiting until you’re healthy would be quite prudent.” Zecora added, the zebra was holding a sly smirk. “Especially if we are searching Whitecliff Veil, for creatures at that height we must certainly scale.” Stoneheart just stood up, gingerly placing his hooves one at a time against Zecora’s wood floor thankful that none of them were buckling underneath him. He gave the witch doctor a deadpan stare, hardly amused at her pun. “Fine, Zecora. If I come back in one week, would that put everyone at ease?” Stoneheart was thankfully granted a few nods of agreement. “Twilight, I know this wasn’t a great visit, but would it be alright if we just headed home. I still feel exhausted and Luna is certainly going to want a letter about this.” Twilight just nodded, wearing a smile for the first time since Stoneheart came to. She walked over next to him and just waiting for him to begin walking out, almost like she was just waiting for him to fall down. Fortunately, this event did not occur. Stoneheart closed the door silently after him. Zecora listened intently as Stoneheart and Twilight continued to speak while trotting away from her house, there had been a noticeable change in Twilight’s demeanor after Stoneheart had passed out and it had gotten even worse after he momentarily stopped breathing. Something intangible. Zecora immediately rushed to her cabinet, where she kept the bulk of the herbs she worked with and snatched the bottle she’d worked with earlier that day. She peered down at the label and frowned. Whatever was so special about this was far beyond her expertise, she couldn’t decipher why it would affect anypony the way it did him. Something about Stoneheart was odd, and it was now affecting Twilight. Zecora put it out of her mind, for now he was going to spend another week in the safety of Ponyville. Then Zecora would have the chance to ask him anything she wanted.
Strolling, Scales, and StoriesDISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, it is owned by Hasbro and the Hub and other cool peoples who make it. This story is written out of love for the creation, I promise I no stealy or makey the money. ### Oh how could he be six hours late, how could have he miscalculated the length of his trip to Ponyville so gravely? The opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to study a fledgling dragon in the flesh, not just out of books, or from Luna's recollections. A real live dragon that he could touch and examine, plus the chance to speak with the pony who effectively raised him. The only other pony like him in the world. The only other student of a Princess. He was so late though, and Celestia had mentioned aside in conversation how punctual her student was. What if he was punished for his tardiness by her, and not allowed to examine her pet. "No, Stoneheart. You musn't think like that..." the Navy colt said aloud to no one in particular, "... She too is a student of the Princesses, if anyone were to understand, I'm sure it will be her." Stoneheart gazed out over the empty streets of Ponyville, the meager light of street lanterns punctuated heavily by the light of moon, hanging in the sky. A beacon to guide him, courtesy his Princess. He flipped his slate grey bangs out of his eyes, making sure to parse them around his horn and continued his slow walk towards the center of town. The city was exactly as his mentor had described it, and with every quaint shop he passed he imagined what they were like alight and bustling during the day. He stopped in the center of town to attempt to get his bearings, something that was exceptionally difficult given that he knew nearly nothing about Ponyville except that it was poor and tame compared to Canterlot. In the darkness getting his bearings was nearly impossible, especially not knowing the city at all. He looked to the sky and begun tapping his hooves, until a particularily bright beam of moonlight pointed him down a road. "Thank you, M'Lady" Not that he had travelled even a block before around the buildings, in it's own little clearing, set a lit-up tree. Just as Luna had described the library. *** "SPIIIIIIKE!!!!" A young, lavender unicorn shrieked. "How is it that the library is still a mess?!" Twilight Sparkle was normally calm and collected, certainly not the type of person to burst into tears, but if the library wasn't clean in exactly three seconds, she might consider it. He should've been there hours ago, she was so lucky he hadn't shown up on time, not that she exactly approved of tardiness. She hastily grabbed a stack of papers and books and mindlessly shoved them onto the nearest shelf. She was immediately followed by a small purple and green dragon, who quickly pulled the stack off of the shelves and began properly organizing it before putting it back up. "Well, it would help if you actually cleaned up and didn't just move your mess from the floor to the shelves. Then I could actually help you and not just follow you around fixing it." Spike remarked snidely, noting almost immediately that he was being ignored. He continued following her around the library where she once again picked up a pile of junk and went to throw it on the nearest shelf. Spike couldn't take it anymore, so he walked up alongside her flank, grabbed some hair and stopped her the only way he knew how. "OW! SPIKE!" Twilight shouted, yanking her tail out of his hand. She momentarily lost her concentration and her magic failed, dropping her collected mess back onto the floor. "Twilight, you're freaking out and all it's doing is making more work for me. Please, just go make some tea and relax, I will finish as much as I can in here." He said as slowly and calmly as he could, hoping to curb Twilight's nerves. "I'm so sorry Spike. I'm just so nervous, this is Luna's first student and I just really really reeeeeally want to make a good impression, maybe I'm just worrying too..." She was cut off by a quick knock on her door. "EEP!" Twilight let out an incredibly high pitched squeak before desperately diving under the table. Spike just shook his head, Twilight had managed to put Fluttershy to shame. *** Stoneheart stood patiently outside the library breathing in the cool, night air. He hadn't noticed until just now, standing still, the weight of his saddlebags. Luna had advised him that his trip could potentially be a very long one and to pack accordingly. He just smiled to himself, it was his own fault for insisting on getting to Ponyville on his own and not just allowing the guards to bring him in Luna's carriage as was offered to him. He didn't want to make a scene, and instead, now his back hurt. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait very long and shortly after he knocked a soft creak alerted him to the door's slow opening. Stoneheart froze when he saw the creature that had opened the path for him, what a beautiful and magnificent creature... "Hi, welcome to Ponyville Library." It was almost a snap action, with one simple motion Stoneheart barged into the library, picked up the young dragon who had answered the door and dropped him on a nearby counter. With a glow of his horn, a quill and parchment came flying out of his saddlebags as did rulers and other such instruments of measurement. As they flew around his subject the quill scratched hurriedly across the paper jotting down each noted measurement. While the dragon's initial reaction had been something along the line of stunned paralysis, the creature was now entirely aware of what had happened, and he was hardly happy about it. He stood up and attempted to climb off of the counter but found himself now bound by this strange unicorn's magic as well. "Just sit still for a little longer while I get my measurements and information. Purple and green color scheme, check. Tail, short but well defined and spined, excellent. Apparently traditional breed, though youth may disguise final growth. Also speaks native pony tongue, and not draconic, can you speak draconic too?" Spike just stared at him, seething. Who was this guy? Some kind of an idiot? Spike let out a growl, hoping to intimidate him but then found his mouth clamped shut by magic as well. "I'll take that as a no, well let's see..." Spike was then caught off guard to see a magnifying glass also be levitated up, focusing on something on his short neck, roughly under his earspines. Fortunately, to levitate so many things, he had to let Spike's mouth go and Spike desperately yelled for his savior at the same time Stoneheart exclaimed excitedly. "TWILIGHT!" "A GREED GLAND!" Stoneheart stopped dead in his tracks, allowing his various measuring tools to clatter to the ground, only keeping the quill and parchment in the air in front of him. Stoneheart stared at the dragon, curiously. "Who is Twilight?" "Ahem." Came a feminine voice behind him. Stoneheart wheeled around slowly, the last traces of his magic disappearing and the quill and parchment were set down on the counter. His head carefully wheeled around and he found himself face to face with a lavender unicorn with a 6-point star as a cutie mark, the symbol of powerful magic. Stoneheart realised exactly who she was. "Celestia's student?" "Twilight Sparkle, the owner of this library, whose assistant you just assaulted." Stoneheart blanched, he had never been so embarassed in his life. It wasn't very often he got to see or study a baby dragon, even a dragon youth was rare. Then he realised in his haste, that he had barged into a home that was not his own and begun studying one of the occupants. "I am so sorry." He expressed to her, only to receive a snarky comment from the young male dragon. "Yeah, apologize to her." Twilight just leaned around Stoneheart and gave Spike a rueful stare, the baby dragon carefully hopped off the counter and tried to slink away before Twilight pointed a hoof towards the kitchen. Her instructive symbol for 'Get Me Tea' which in this case, Spike assumed, was actually 'Get Us Tea'. The moment Spike was out of earshot, Twilight suddenly burst into laughter. "I have never seen him stunned so much in my entire life." She snuck out amidst giggles. Stoneheart had never been more confused in his entire life, he had broken in essentially and begun attacking one of the occupants and now the owner was in front of him with a huge smile on her face laughing at how upset her cohort was. Was this pony crazy? "Uh... Hello, I'm..." "Luna's student." "Stoneheart, yeah..." "Just come in Stoneheart, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about." *** Spike had long since gone to bed and Stoneheart's barely touched cup of tea was long since cool, but Twilight Sparkle and Luna's student were still deep in conversation. Or at least, Stoneheart was, as his quill and parchment were back to work as he grilled Twilight on Spike's history. "So his perfect speech stems from the fact that you hatched and raised him and he's never spent any time living amongst dragons?" Twilight smiled, she was more than happy to be sitting with another pony who was as inquizzitive as she was but to be truthful, she was almost at a point where she was annoyed at how much Stoneheart was directing the conversation. "Yes..." The moment the word came out of her mouth the quill started it's frenetic scratching once again, Twilight frowned, enough was enough. "Stoneheart, stop. Just stop. We've been talking for hours and the only thing I really know about you is your name, that's hardly fair." Stoneheart scoffed, "Oh come on, it hasn't been nearly that..." He noticed Twilight idly point a hoof at a window partway through his sentence, looking over towards it, Stoneheart could see the first colours of Celestia's sunrise already poking in. "Long?" Stoneheart gave Twilight an apologetic look, it was amusing to her the way his brow furrowed when he felt that way. She'd seen a few times since the conversation started, it was a very endearing quality. "It's okay Stoneheart, really it is. I've acted that way plenty of times, everything else takes a backseat, pouring over research, answering or sometimes asking the same question over and over again." "I did not repeat questions..." "You asked why Spike spoke so well, at least 4 times." Stoneheart immediately glanced back over his parchment skimming over what seemed to be an impossible amount of notes he took. "Four times... wow." Twilight smiled at him, she had at least managed to get him off of his obsessive track. Now to see if she could lead the conversation. "So can we talk about you a little bit?" She asked, radiating a bit of pride at her success in getting his attention. Stoneheart let out a quick sigh, "I suppose it's only fair. Ask away Ms. Sparkle." Twilight perked up almost immediately, Stoneheart was roughly her age but he hadn't become a student until much later, there were so many things he probably did that she missed out on the opportunity to. First things first, however. "So why such an interest in Spike?" "Well it's not Spike particularily that interests me. Although there are some aspects of his composition that I do find intriguing, he has greed glands, which are virtually now just an evolutionary leftover. So either he got them from your magical hatching, or because his egg survived a very long time." Stoneheart explained. Twilight put leaned her head on her hoof, staring very intently at Stoneheart. One benefit to having Spike around and Stoneheart's knowledge base is that she could probably learn everything that she hadn't already read in books, from him. "What else can you tell me about Spike?" "Well, there are three primary archtypes of dragons. There are tyrant dragons, serpentine dragons, and of course your traditional dragons, sometimes called Legend, or Lore dragons. Tyrants are very large dragons, but usually the weakest of the three, their wings don't develop very well and they can't breathe fire. What makes tyrant dragons so dangerous is that they can breathe a fine mist, that when inhaled, forces other creatures to submit to the dragon. Hence the name tyrant." "Well Spike breathes fire, and when he grew he had very large wings, so I'm guessing he's not one of those." "That's correct. Spike isn't a serpentine either, since when serpentines grow up, their legs recede and their bodies begin to elongate, similar to a snake. Although they will also grow very prominent wings, sometimes several sets of smaller ones, and naturally because of their body shape and such, they are both adept at flight and swimming." "Well, Spike definitely had legs when he grew, so that leaves traditional?" "Traditional type dragons are by far the most common. As the dragon grows they add considerable size and musculature, this additional weight usually forces them to spend most time as quadripeds to avoid collapsing under their own weight. Usually they grow large and powerful wings to carry themselves as well, and while not as strong at flight as serpentines they're definitely capable of it. Traditionals are usually the strongest of the dragon archtypes. This is where Spike ultimately falls." Twilight wore a perplexed expression on her face, one she often defaulted to when forced to digest large quantities of important information. Princess Luna had definitely made the correct choice in making him her student, he was like an encyclopedia of everything you could want to know. Except that instead of it just being words, you can talk to him, and feel his excitement. "Anyway, to steer us back on topic, it's not Spike particularily that interests me. It all comes back to Princess Luna, since Celestia is interested in learning about ethereal magic, such as friendship, as you study. Luna has begun devoting herself to learning the magical properties of physical creatures..." Stoneheart paused for a moment and was pleased to see Twilight listening intently. "... So, Banshees, Griffons, Hydras, and most importantly, at least as far as I'm concerned, Dragons." Twilight wore a perplexed face now for a completely different reason, Stoneheart was definitely well read and very impressive in his knowledge base but something still confused her. The edges of Stoneheart's lips curled upwards as he watched her sit there and contemplate. "But doesn't the Canterlot Royal Library have lots of books about Dragons?" "Pfft, hardly. Most of the books were written eons ago by ponies travelling with dragon hunting parties, not exactly an unbiased resource. Publishers just kept re-releasing the texts for the benefit of scholars who thought they knew the truth." Stoneheart finished smugly. In Twilight's mind, that wasn't really an adequate response. Accusing the library of not knowing what it's texts are saying was almost treasonous to her. At the same time though, there had to be a reason why Luna would choose him as her student. Twilight ultimately decided that asking outright, regardless of how rude it was, would be best. "So why you, Stoneheart? What happened that made Luna choose you?" Stoneheart was momentarily taken aback, but answered nonetheless. "Well, when I was younger. Before I had earned the indicator now on my flank, I was a young colt at Scholar's Free Academy in Canterlot. I joined the school midway through the year after moving into the city, and since it was a slightly older class, not having your cutie mark at that point is an absolute embarassment. You get accused of not having any talent, et cetera..." Twilight felt kind of bad for Stoneheart. Sure, some of her classmates mocked her for being a loner but she couldn't imagine what it would be like to be an older child and still not have a cutie mark. The name calling would be relentless. "... Anyway, the unofficial class president told everyone in the class that they weren't allowed to be my friend unless I proved myself so a couple nights later they blindfolded me and brought me to the entrance of Sigil Caverns." Twilight giggled, "You mean the cave from those old mare's tales, with the dragon inside that gobbles up naughty little colts and fillies?" "Yeah yeah, I know. Everyone's heard the stories. Either way, I had to spend one night in the cavern on my own with just a candle for light." Stoneheart continued, plowing through Twilight's skepticism. Twilight's expression changed very quickly when she heard the conditions as she moved closer to the edge of her seat, she had a good idea where this was going and she already didn't like it. "The candle went out and you got lost didn't you?" Stoneheart just flashed Twilight an amused smile, he wondered if she did this for every story she heard. Admittedly the prediction may not have been that hard, but it was still adorable she could figure it out, less for him to explain in the end. "Not exactly, the candle did indeed go out. I never got lost though, for some strange reason when the candle went out the cavern filled up with a faint blue glow. At that point I wasn't sure which way was out though, lost deep within a cave, so I just followed the light, assuming that it had to be coming from some outside source." Twilight just stared at him, enraptured by his story. He found that amusing too, he'd never really credited himself as a very good storyteller. He continued to smile at her as she seemingly stared off into space, not noticing the faint colour change of her cheeks. "At the end of the tunnel I wound in this properly carved and artistically designed room. It was massive in size, and of course, since it's a large room, and my cutie mark ended up to be dragon related, it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that I found a dragon... A really big one." Twilight's eyes had half shut at this point as she seemed to just gaze off into eternity, Stoneheart didn't know that this was normal for Twilight, to get completely lost in a story. So he gave her a little poke, snapping her back to reality. "Do you want to get some sleep Twilight? It's my fault you're still awake and you seem tired." Stoneheart asked the startled mare. "No, no... Sorry about that, I just tend to get really lost in stories. I have a surprisingly vivid imagination..." She replied, "Please just finish your story." Stoneheart looked at her, still not entirely sure if he believed her. If getting really lost in stories meant falling asleep to them, then Stoneheart was tempted to agree with her. He continued on anyway. "Well, the dragon in the cave was a Celestial Dragon..." Stoneheart noticed Twilight immediately revert back to the perplexed face she'd been wearing at the start of his story. He could see the question forming in her eyes, and thought it best to just answer it first. "... They're like the Luna and Celestia of Dragons. There's three, nearly supreme in power, one each to represent the Earth, the Sky and the Sea, more or less." Twilight's face scrunched up in thought as she desperately attempted to digest the implications of this information. "Anyway, supposedly if you're not a Dragon, you have to be 'worthy' of an audience with a Celestial to ever actually see one..." "And it..." "He." "Sorry. He didn't just kill you for intruding?" "Actually no, he actually helped me out of the cave, at which point my cutie mark appeared." Stoneheart finished. "So when it came time to acquire a student, Luna heard the story and found you." Twilight added. "She didn't exactly have to look very hard." Stoneheart added with a smirk. Twilight's face could do nothing else but default back to her perplexed look. He had to admit, it was cute, if nothing else. "I was an understudy to a castle scholar at the time, the foremost expert on magical creatures..." He explained. "All she had to do was come to my room, I was locked in pending the results of my explusion hearing." "You were getting expelled?!" Twilight exclaimed with all the grace of an overprotective mother. "My scholar was threatening to have me removed from study if I published a paper disproving one of his theories about dragons..." Stoneheart continued calmly "... So instead I removed some of his teeth with my forehead..." "YOU DID WHAT?!" "... and let him try to expel me for that instead." Twilight just shook her head. There was so much information to sift through and understand, from the types of dragons, to the celestial dragons, and Stoneheart's obvious pride issues. Twilight really didn't know what she was going to do with it all, especially on no sleep, something she couldn't hope to get now that the sun was up. Although, Twilight was happy to have Stoneheart around, he had done much of what she herself had hoped to do before the blessing that was studying under Princess Celestia. "Well, I'm going to have to open up soon, and I can't show you around until at least Spike is up to take care of the place. Why don't you just show yourself around? I can meet you at Sugarcube Corner in two hours or so, it's the big confectionary at the center of town, you can't miss it." Stoneheart smiled, then got up and prepared to leave. "I might just do that..." Twilight turned away from him, levitating some papers up to continue the cleaning of the library. "... Oh, and Twilight. Thanks for letting me stay." Twilight was glad she hadn't been facing him, because something about that comment just got to her and made most of her face flush a bright red. "Anything for the Princesses." ### A/N: Trying something different to get back on the horse, so to speak. This one went through a different process then my now stalled first fic on this site, so I'm excited to hear what people think. Please R&R, I love comments and ratings, it gives me a barometer of my work.
Reasoning, Research, and ReflectionA/N: Hey friends, Pony Ranger Green here. I just wanted to thank everyone for the outstanding support the first chapter of the story has received. The response, especially compared to my other story 'Forest for the Trees' has been all heavily positive. I also want to throw a huge thank you out to my proofreader Arklight, who has been combing my story for consistency. However he is unfortunately indisposed this week, so instead of having all of you wait another week. I made it to a natural stopping point in chapter two, and decided to just upload it as a shorter 2 & 3 instead. Enjoy! Chapter 2: Reasoning, Research, and Reflection Twilight really couldn't help but smile as she watched Spike and Stoneheart argue from across the room. She smirked as Spike desperately tried to fish various dragon reference guides out of a trashcan that Stoneheart was vigilantly guarding, having put them there for a reason. The argument was honestly the perfect capstone to Stoneheart's first week in Ponyville. Much like her first visit, all of the juiciest bits happened on the first day. Twilight remembered Stoneheart showing up at Sugarcube Corner that first day covered in dirt, eyes bloodshot and his neatly parted (yet somehow still messy) mane absolutely disheveled. Her first reaction to his appearance had naturally been laughter. Then she heard the story of what happened in the two hours she'd left him alone. Apparently he had decided that the best way to explore the town was to head out to the outskirts and work his way in. Which would've been a fantastic plan had he not stumbled onto the grounds of a significantly large apple farm, currently on the hunt for an apple thief. It took Stoneheart over an hour to convince the orange mare who had caught him trespassing that he meant no harm, and to get untied. In a rush to make it to Sugarcube Corner, Stoneheart had bolted back into town. Where, in his haste, he smacked right into Spike, who had snuck out of the library to go see a particular fashionista before taking over for Twilight. Apparently Spike had exaggerated the story of the previous night just a little bit, using words like 'attacked' and 'evil tools'. This meant that Stoneheart had been forced to spend most of his remaining exploration time getting the dressmaker's coiffure out of his face. Luckily, he'd been saved by a rainbow pegasus. Who, flying faster than her own good, smashed into him while Rarity was berating him. Sending him blissfully, but painfully, flying away from the fashionista's unnecessary arguements. After surviving the impact, Stoneheart didn't even bother to brush himself off, just running as fast as he could for Sugarcube Corner. The best part for her though, was when Stoneheart had learned that those ponies were not only Twilight's friends, but also the Elements of Harmony. With her smile widening, she was snapped from her daydream by her male guest's voice. "Twilight." She had heard him speak her name so many times in the last week that everytime she heard it, she giggled inside like a schoolfilly. Stoneheart usually only called out for her under one circumstance. To settle a fight between the two testosterone infused residents. "Yes, Stoneheart?" "Could you tell the purple and green menace over here that he is in my room and I'll do what I want in it?" Twilight giggled under her breath, she still felt bad about the fact that Stoneheart was sleeping on a couch down in the main library. She was thankful how cavalier he had been after hearing that the only spare bed was in her room and that she wasn't comfortable with him sleeping in it. "As long as you aren't throwing out any books." Twilight said teasingly, knowing that's exactly what he was trying, for the third time. "Pfft, these are barely that. I don't even want to call them tabloids." Stoneheart sputtered before ultimately giving up and letting Spike take the books out of the can. He still stood defiantly between Spike and the shelf however. "Anyway, I'm going to wash up and go to bed if you want to use the balcony." Twilight said to Stoneheart, hoping to move him. Stoneheart cringed a bit, his condition to not having a bed was that he could use Twilight's balcony for a few minutes every night. Since the first few nights he'd snuck out to do that while Twilight had been bathing the purple unicorn now informed him when she was doing so. Of course, it was just her nature to not realize how awkward that was to hear as a guest. He watched Twilight climb up but didn't follow her, instead waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Ignoring the triumphant celebrations of Spike as he reshelved the guides. After a few minutes of silence, Spike gave Stoneheart an awkward stare. "You know she's probably in the bath now, you can just go upstairs." He said. Stoneheart proceeded cautiously, there had been a reason he stopped himself initially. Now, thanks to that stupid purple gremlin's interruption, he no longer remembered why. He walked into Twilight's room slowly, surveying the scene. He was very thankful to see the crack of light coming from the bathroom door, indicating her presence in it. He quickly trotted across the room, noticing just one thing out of place, which made him remember what he'd been waiting for at the bottom of the stairs. He pushed open the double doors and effectively marched onto the balcony. The air was cool, and incredibly refreshing after a heated debate. He took a couple deep breaths to enjoy the sensation of the spring night before basking in the moonlight provided by his princess. He looked out over the fields behind the library, enjoying the occasional soft light of a loose ponyvillian house. This balcony showed him exactly why Ponyville was so great, he could honestly see why somepony would make a life happen here. He turned his head a little to the side and managed to see a small purple piece leaning around the doorframe. "I was waiting for you." Twilight was immediately taken aback, ducking behind the wall. "How did you know?" "First, you didn't run the water, I would've heard it downstairs. Also, you left your towel hanging from the cornerpost of your bed, you're much too analytical to forget something like that." Twilight sheepishly stepped out onto the balcony, she felt bad trying to be deceitful but she was way too curious about what Stoneheart needed the balcony for. "She's late." Stoneheart spoke, still staring at the sky. "Who?" "Luna." Twilight walked up alongside him and placed her front hooves on the balcony rail, she looked at him for a second then tried to follow his line of sight to the sky. She noticed his target, one star caught amongst clouds constantly threatening to cover it's glow. Then it shone, briefly, more brilliantly then that tiny star ever could. Stoneheart began to speak softly, "Goodnight my princess." Twilight watched him in confused silence as Stoneheart talked about his day with somepony who was not actually there. She heard him discuss the fact that he had agreed to teach Cheerilee's class a little about dragons every week, and how surprised he was at the good night's sleep he was consistently having on Twilight's couch. He also talked a little bit about Spike and the dragon's active attempts to resist being studied. Twilight didn't exactly know what to make of this display. She shifted along the railing, closer to Stoneheart. Then her curiousity got the better of her and she interrupted. "What exactly are you doing?" Stoneheart ignored her briefly, continuing his talk. However, after several minutes of her intense staring, he chose instead to just give a fond farewell before answering her. "Luna likes to hear about my day while she meditates. She also seems to think that reflection is good for me." Twilight continued to shuffle closer to him leaving little space between them. "So do you only reflect about your day?" Stoneheart turned to Twilight, wearing a gentle smile on his face. "No, sometimes I talk about life, or fears. I've gone on some research trips where I've asked her to take care of my affairs. I'm a little afraid of dying, apparently my father is too, runs in the family I guess." "So why do you do such dangerous research?" "Why did you fight Nightmare Moon, or Discord?" "Because it was my duty." Stoneheart gave her a deadpan stare. She understood immediately, shifting her face into a quiet 'oh'. She shifted even closer to Stoneheart, leaving them shoulder to shoulder on the balcony. Twilight could feel his warmth against her and it felt good mixing with the cool air around them. It comforted her greatly. "You don't give yourself enough credit Stoneheart. In those situations, I had to act. I mean, I didn't know it at the time but Princess Celestia had trained me for that. You face the prospect of death all the time and you don't have to. You only do it to fight ignorance, and at the very least... That makes you one of the most dedicated scholars I've ever met." Stoneheart just stared. Here she stood alongside him, trying to explain to him, how he was better then her! She is the savior of Equestria. She couldn't possibly be so clueless. "That little speech there, magical talent or not, is why Celestia chose you." Twilight smiled at him before pushing off the rail and proceeding to head back inside. "Oh Twilight?" "Yes?" "If I wanted a feel for where dragons in the area would nest. Is there someone nearby I should talk to?" "I can take you to see Zecora tomorrow." Stoneheart watched her walk back inside and shut the door before a smile crept onto his face. Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, Protector of Equestria. Subtly a hero to hundreds of thousands, if not more. Yet still humble, cleverly masking her accomplishments as duty, doing nothing to pad her own ego. His eyes glinted and his cheeks gently shifted in color. He was more than a little sad that his research would mean less time around her, and the library. Luna was right, reflection does a pony good. A/N (2): So there it is, chapter 2. Would've been twice as long before, but like I said, I couldn't make you wait. Arklight didn't get a chance to proofread all of this so of course any of that would be appreciated in the comments. The support so far is awesome. As always, comment and let me know what you like, or don't like.
Disasters, Dreams, and DelusionsA/N: Here it is, the second 'half' of chapter 2. Now officially chapter 3. I'm glad with how it turned out even if it took an extra 15 days to get anything of substance out. Although I'm appreciating the support from my proofreader greatly, encouraging me to write to increased length and higher qualities. Much love and thanks to Arklight once again. “So, we walk the path through a deadly forest, risking life and limb to visit your friend, and she lives there?” Stoneheart proceeded to point at the gnarled tree in which Zecora was known to live. “How exactly has a manticore just not knocked it over?” “Come on, the forest is barely dangerous at all if you actually stick to the road.” Twilight replied, holding in a scoff. She didn't care at all for Stoneheart's whining and decided to just trot up to the door. As much as she respected his ability to learn, he just wouldn't get it until he actually met the zebra shaman. Twilight gave the door a gentle knock, causing it to gently swing open. Inside, Zecora was working over her cauldron mixing up some kind of potion or brew, as per usual. The thing that caught Twilight's eye and put her a little off guard was the thick, faintly green smoke that was all throughout the home. The air was heavy and a bit difficult to gather a full breath from, though Twilight didn't find it in any way cumbersome, in fact she quite enjoyed the faint herbal smell of it. The zebra waved the purple unicorn in from the door and gave a simple gesture to the guest entering with her to indicate to him that he should shut the door. "Hello Zecora, what are you working on?" "Young Pumpkin’s teeth are in much pain, a mixture of these herbs should make it wane." Twilight leaned over the cauldron with a curious eye as it belched out another heave of smoke. Twilight inhaled the scent again, and it brought a brief smile to her face. "It smells amazing." She said, Zecora just nodded in agreement. Across the room, weakly trying to exit the building was Stoneheart whose breaths had been reduced to heaving shudders. Twilight hadn't even noticed him back away from the cauldron, nor was she seeing his weak, desperate steps towards the door. "Twi... Light..." He spoke softly, hoping she would hear him over the boiling cauldron. She heard her name faintly called out and turned just in time to see Stoneheart barely standing. He looked pale and sickly, almost as if he was ready to vomit. She walked over to him and helped him properly onto his hooves. "Stoneheart! What's wrong?" She asked, her voice had taken on a pleading tone, as if she was begging for an answer. "Can't... breathe..." Were the last words out of his mouth before he collapsed in a heap. *** A foul smell snapped Stoneheart out of his slumber. Twilight was seated next to him, dabbing a wet cloth gently against his forehead. She looked into his eyes and smiled wide. She leaned in and nuzzled him quickly, before rechecking him for injuries. “That was quite a reaction. I was really worried about you.” Stoneheart gave Twilight a simple wink, which caused her to very quickly turn away from him. Stoneheart gave her a funny look. Something about her reaction didn't quite seem natural. She faced him once again, a frown on her face, the slight blush distracting from it. Why was she blushing? Why do I feel like I've seen this before? “I didn't know... I'm sorry.” Stoneheart quickly regained enough strength to sit up. He felt familiar warmth in his heart when Twilight attempted to stop him from sitting up. It was nice to know that someone other than Luna cared about him a little bit. Twilight sighed as the cloth tumbled from his forehead, levitating it back into its bowl. Stoneheart couldn't have misunderstood the dirty look that followed if he tried, she wanted him to rest. He wanted to do no such thing. “How long was I out?” He asked her. “An hour or two. I was really worried about you.” She repeated, not that it was necessary. Even an idiot could read the concern off her face. Stoneheart realized that something here was definitely off. He chanced a glance at the space around him and realized that Zecora was nowhere to be seen. In fact, this wasn't even Zecora's cabin, unless somehow the library magically teleported inside it. He was in a tree for sure, but it was certainly not Zecora's. It was impossible of course, with him in that state, bringing him back here was just impractical. He searched across the room for some sort of sign and spotted the shelf where the dragon reference books were supposed to be. It was close enough to him that he could tell the guides were no longer on it, and in fact, the books that were there had his name on the spine. What? “No Twilight, it's not your fault. Come here.” Stoneheart said softly, leg creeping around her to pull her close. From that point on, Stoneheart could tell he wasn't in control of himself any more. He was just going through a sequence of motions and he could not fight against them, in the deepest parts of his soul, he just wanted them. There was an internal voice just screaming at him that this was how things were supposed to be. His other front hoof grazed itself along Twilight's cheek, drawing her closer. Her face was now a furious red blush, growing darker as his leg slid behind her head and forcibly pulled her in. It took nothing for Stoneheart to pull her velvety lips against his, he knew it was brief, fleeting, possibly unreal, but for all he could process at that moment it might as well have been eternal. She tasted herbal, strongly like the tea she so commonly drank. It made her lips just as soothing as any cup he'd ever had. He knew something was drastically wrong with this picture, but he just couldn't resist what was happening before him, it was like some far off release based on his new attraction. He was so enraptured that he didn't notice the library around them slowly collapse into a crystalline, swallowing darkness. How exactly am I seeing myself? Soon there was no library as the outer walls just disappeared into the infinite blackness, the books and their shelves disappeared soon after. The floor was crumpled and swallowed as the shade overtook more and more. Until the kiss broke and Stoneheart was granted the pleasure of seeing Twilight gradually be swallowed, her face contorting in pain as the blackness ate away at her. He panicked, and tried to reach for her, only to learn that the darkness had eaten at his legs and covered his horn, leaving him as just a face in the black. Then he saw it, one thing that terrified him to the core. They were Luna's eyes in the darkness, but not as he knew them how. They were as they had been once, when she was threatening to coat Equestria in this blackness. They were Nightmare Moon's eyes. The darkness comes... *** “Twilight!” Stoneheart yelled, snapped vigorously from his slumber. He bolted upright, the blanket sliding partway off of him. He quickly looked around, frantically to get his bearings. He thankfully recognized a few things almost immediately. There was the double doors leading to Twilight's balcony, the (now multiple) towels hanging over the cornerposts of the bed as Twilight often did, and of course the spare bed across the room. Spare...? He held on that thought for a second. Was he in Twilight's bed? He was so confused by his observation that he didn't notice the purple unicorn sit up next to him until he was nuzzled into by her. “Did you have another nightmare love?” She asked, her voice concerned and yet somehow still cheerful and relieved. She placed a gentle kiss on his neck, making him feel like everything would be alright. “Come back to sleep, it's cold without you.” Stoneheart turned to face her slowly, he didn’t know what was going on, or what to expect. When he saw her though, he couldn’t help but smile, it was his... His...? ... Twilight alright, looking at him with a worried look on her face. He could certainly spot a couple differences in her, ever with minimal light he could see that she was definitely a few years older than he remembered, an adult for certain and not a well-learned teen as he saw her last. He could see that her hair was a fair bit shorter in the back although he couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that her pink stripe remained defiantly against her new maturity. The last and most important thing he noticed was a bump over her stomach. Wait, why am I bearing a child? Twilight? Stoneheart’s stomach leapt into his throat. That same feeling of unreal déjà vu overtook him, this seemed so real before and now it seemed scripted. A play, with he and Twilight playing perverted versions of their parts. At the same time he felt so happy, here with her. He throat remained locked up, he wanted to speak, to recoil, to desperately scramble together a sense of what had happened to get him here. Twilight’s eyes opened wide and she grabbed his hoof, pulling it against the bump. “She’s kicking...” Twilight whispered. He didn’t speak, he wanted to scream out loud, demand to know what was going on. This was real, he could feel it. It was certainly reality, but it had never happened. He and Twilight weren’t even close enough to consider a relationship, even if he did certainly have an attraction to her. Yet, she had his child. He was happy, and tortured. He could not speak, and still he did. “Is she now?” Stoneheart said amused. Then he felt it, the dull hit against his hoof. It startled him, possibly more than it should have, causing him to accidentally recoil back out of the bed. He never hit the floor. There was a deep pit of blackness and he could do nothing but tumble through it at speed. He could feel the stress of the rushing air against him, threatening him with unconsciousness. No, he wouldn’t give in, he had a daughter coming... No, he had research to finish. Who was he? He kept falling, more blackness, darkness eternal. It was exhausting to deal with, he so didn’t want to but he had to sleep, and accept his fate. Again, Stoneheart fell unconscious. *** He was on a small slab of stone surrounded by rivers of lava threatening to swallow his platform whole, taking not only his life, but the lives of the unconscious ponies around him. He recognized them all immediately, Celestia was unconscious, her horn somehow still glowing, projecting an aura over the six other unconscious forms. Twilight and five others, the elements. Twilight was no longer an adult, she was a teen again, Celestia’s loyal student. Stoneheart shook his head, what did he mean she was a teen again. Of course she was a teen, he was also in his late teens, right? Who did I become? "Stoneheart!" Came a deep female yell from ahead of him. Stoneheart gingerly lifted his gaze, trying his best to ignore both the searing heat and his own splitting headache. He could see Princess Luna, barely able to stand, holding up a large shield of magic that was desperately forcing the molten rock aside. Stoneheart could see plainly that the barrier was crumbling and Luna could not hold it for much longer. He leapt to his feet and dashed forward, horn flaring a powerful grey aura as Stoneheart scrambled to reinforce Luna's failing blockade. Then he heard it, serpentine and gruff, the roar. It wasn’t really a roar, more like a piercing shriek of dominance. Brute strength and power defined in a single, awe-inspiring sound. He had heard it but once before, ear splitting and constitution shaking. There was only one source for a draconic roar like that. He hoped in his mind that he was wrong, it couldn’t be, he wouldn’t do this to everything around him, he controlled the earth. What could cause such a terrible disaster but him... He looked up the mountain face and saw the massive silhouette of a creature, made of stone and earth, whose mere movements made the lava ebb and flow. "Stoneheart..." Luna said weakly, her legs were bent and buckled and her eyelids could barely be considered open. "Why... why did you fail us?" Deep inside his mind he could hear himself shouting in his mind, this hadn't happened, he hadn't failed anyone. Yet, he suddenly felt like just giving up... This was his fault and there was nothing he could do now. It was final, yet tormented. A war between himself and this self, from Zecora's shack to this mountainside, he honestly wasn't sure which was the reality. None of this had happened, but it had happened... hadn't it? His horn ceased to glow as Luna fainted and he merely accepted his fate, allowing the heat to overtake him. The heat did not swallow him, as much as he wished to be encased in its burning glory. At least then he would not feel. Instead he was surrounded by a haze, a thick fog that he could not penetrate though the air was still stinging his lung, almost a burning dew. It was suffocating, painful... and herbal. It smelled really good, but it made him sick. Am I sick? *** Stoneheart awoke gasping for air, he like he hadn’t breathed in hours and his entire body was on fire. He silently hoped that Twilight had managed to catch the train he must’ve stepped in front of to feel as awful as he did. He hacked and wheezed his way to recovery as his body seemed to relish in the existence of elements necessary for living, like oxygen for example. He could tell he was now in Zecora’s cabin but he was barely able to connect one thought to another. He was... delirious? That was the word, right? Luckily his coughing fit drew Zecora’s attention and the zebra came over with a bowl full of some sort of liquid in which she had a cloth. She took the cloth and held it in front of his mouth and Stoneheart just stared at her confused. She poked him in the jaw a few times and he managed to let his jaw go slack with a little effort, he felt like such a foal until she wrung the cloth in his mouth and had him swallow some of the nasty tasting liquid which suddenly made him feel cool all over and snapped his mind back to attention. “Oh Zecora, right now you are a lifesaver.” Stoneheart spoke through sighs of relief. The zebra merely chuckled at him, enjoying the irony of Stoneheart calling her a lifesaver when it was her herbal mixture that nearly killed him. Stoneheart writhed in bed, revelling in the blissful cold that the zebra provided him with. His mind began to straighten out, leading him to two fairly unrelated but pivotally important points. He didn’t know why they were so urgent, but there were two things he needed, Twilight and to go searching for dragons. “Twilight, where is she?” His voice was desperate and scared. Zecora looked at him surprised. She didn’t expect him to come around nearly as fast as he had. “She was afraid to watch you lie, in and out of life; she feared you might die.” Zecora emphasized her point by pointing towards the door and holding a hoof up to her mouth. Out of the silence he could hear some tearful wailing from beyond it. Twilight was clearly crying, quite eccentrically at that. “From what I know; you’ve not known each other long, I cannot guess why her fear was so strong.” Zecora spoke a little louder than usual giving Twilight the information she needed. The door swung open with a massive bang and her horn flared with energy, Stoneheart hadn’t even quite realised what had happened before two lavender legs were wrapped around him and any air he’d had in his lungs was painfully squeezed out. She sobbed into his shoulder uncontrollably and he felt her warm tears plunge into his fur. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know. I don’t know what I would tell the Princesses, and I would feel so guilty, I’d have to tell your parents too and I haven’t even met them and you would be gone and I’d see those stupid dragon guides every single day and... and...” Twilight rambled on and on as she cried and Stoneheart didn’t really know what to do. “Twilight, I’m fine. There are some plants and stuff that affect me worse than most. It’s normal, it happens. I’m alive and everything’s okay now. I just need to get back to the library and send a letter to Princess Luna.” Stoneheart nuzzled Twilight’s neck gently, comforting her much like when they cuddled up side by side on the balcony. It finally stopped her waterworks, although she still sniffled heavily and refused to let go of her powerful iron grip around him. He inhaled deeply to keep air in his lungs before trying to get off the bed. Twilight head him firm, shaking her head into his chest, she clearly didn’t think it was safe to let him stand. “Twilight, please... I need to stand up so we can see if my hooves still work...” He joked, but Twilight sobbed in return, making him feel awful. “and make arrangements with Zecora to go searching for dragon dens.” Twilight immediately pulled back from him, and stared at him with tears forming in her eyes. Then they quickly disappeared as Twilight regained her senses, she was still sniffling and clearly wanting to cry, but she was back in her right mind, not in hysterics. “Look Stoneheart, I know that’s why you came but I’m not letting you go until you’re healthy.” Twilight said matter of factly, showing the spectacular tact of a doting mother, much like when she’d heard his history. “I agree with friendship’s student, waiting until you’re healthy would be quite prudent.” Zecora added, the zebra was holding a sly smirk. “Especially if we are searching Whitecliff Veil, for creatures at that height we must certainly scale.” Stoneheart just stood up, gingerly placing his hooves one at a time against Zecora’s wood floor thankful that none of them were buckling underneath him. He gave the witch doctor a deadpan stare, hardly amused at her pun. “Fine, Zecora. If I come back in one week, would that put everyone at ease?” Stoneheart was thankfully granted a few nods of agreement. “Twilight, I know this wasn’t a great visit, but would it be alright if we just headed home. I still feel exhausted and Luna is certainly going to want a letter about this.” Twilight just nodded, wearing a smile for the first time since Stoneheart came to. She walked over next to him and just waiting for him to begin walking out, almost like she was just waiting for him to fall down. Fortunately, this event did not occur. Stoneheart closed the door silently after him. Zecora listened intently as Stoneheart and Twilight continued to speak while trotting away from her house, there had been a noticeable change in Twilight’s demeanor after Stoneheart had passed out and it had gotten even worse after he momentarily stopped breathing. Something intangible. Zecora immediately rushed to her cabinet, where she kept the bulk of the herbs she worked with and snatched the bottle she’d worked with earlier that day. She peered down at the label and frowned. Whatever was so special about this was far beyond her expertise, she couldn’t decipher why it would affect anypony the way it did him. Something about Stoneheart was odd, and it was now affecting Twilight. Zecora put it out of her mind, for now he was going to spend another week in the safety of Ponyville. Then Zecora would have the chance to ask him anything she wanted.
