Prologue: In Which a Dragon Meets a Star
In Which a Dragon Meets a Star“The ponies relished, and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.”
It was dark. The darkness stretched on until eternity in every direction, uninterrupted in its inky blackness. Here and there, sprinkled liberally in some places, and isolated and alone in others, were tiny pinpoints of bright light.
Some lights shone brightly, huge balls of fire burning with the force of an eon of fury. Others created a small, cool flame, shining upon cold, dead places in the farthest reaches of the blackness. Still others reflected that light weakly, a dull rock drifting lazily through the cosmos.
Some however, sparkled with life. Unlike the comets and meteors of the universe, these lights possessed souls, singing with cries of purest joy and darkest deception. Their eternal songs waver and change during the course of millennia. A lifetime passes quickly in the inky darkness of space, and voices dim and silence.
Suddenly, a scream of purest agony breaks the metronome of voices. A bright light, brighter than the hottest sun, flashes for an instant, before a single star breaks from its place, and shoots through the darkness, propelled by an unknown yet decidedly dark force. The crying star hurtles toward a nearby planet, quiet and dark, the once colorful lands brown and dead.
Upon the wartorn world the inhabitants look up to the sky and see the narrow streak of light. Some rejoice in the horrible beauty of it. Others curse it, believing it to be an omen of ill will. The multitudes of lives, all survivors of a long-forgotten war, look to the sky, and pray that the powers that be deign to forgive this dead world and allow life to bloom once more.
SLITHER
The long, serpentine body wrapped itself around the branch of the dead tree. His thin, muscular coils hung loosely on the long-dead branch, hanging down like a silver-sheened vine. His red crest flared momentarily as he shifted into a more comfortable position. His lidless eyes filmed as sleep overtook him, and his tense body slowly relaxed.
His dream began, the same as ever. A single, tantalizingly sweet ruby, dancing and floating, just close enough for him to sense its spicy scent, yet dancing playfully away just as he lunges for it. He grunts, frustrated, as he takes a step towards it.
He falls flat, staring in horror at his flayed and mutilated stumps, his once strong limbs having been shorn off in a flash of pain and blinding light.
He grits his sharp teeth in agony, and looks up at the tasty treat. But a figure has appeared, a dark gray pony with a black mane and piercing blue eyes. A look of greed and fear flits across his shadowy face as his grubby hoofs snatch the glistening treasure.
Slither feels the pain of his wounds, mixed with the fierce pang of disappointment and embarrassment. His wounds heal, and he begins to slide along the ground like a lowly reptile. Mocking voices hurl derogatory insults at him, calling him ‘snake’ over and over again.
Still he slithers on, and now books appear, written in an alien language full of squiggly lines and dotted circles. Slowly, their meaning becomes clear, and a wealth of information begins to surround him, floating into his head as he doggedly pursues an unknown and unseen objective.
A face appears amidst the conflicting emotions, a shade of comforting grey amidst a sea of angry gray and bloody red. A wall-eyed mare, her skin peeling and her mane rotted away, tucks him into a dark, cool corner and teaches him the language of his foes. They speak in a language so ancient that anyone can speak it, yet no one can understand it.
A book, written by the selfsame mare, gives enlightenment to the dark and clouded world. Written from the view of one who has seen it all and survived, it contains a wealth of practical information. It lists do’s and do not’s and hints and advice and just plain common sense. The information streams from the hoof-made pages and plants itself deep within his memory, a parting gift from a new friend.
He continues on, now bolstered against the jeering calls and dangerous foes. He hides from monsters and sneaks into towns. He steals what he needs and absorbs all the information he can. He comes to a large, blank expanse of green and blue, and finds a way across.
Although the way is long and uncomfortable, so has his life been thus far. He arrives at a distant land, unaffected by the poison of his home. The sky is open and the sun twinkles merrily. He feels happy and content for the first time. He slithers into the green trees and−
A bright light disturbs his dreams of the past. Through his clear eyelids his bleary eyes make out a streak of white hurtling towards him. He opens his eyes and hissing in displeasure as the light speed past his perch, just a few feet overhead.
WHUMPF
The earth heaves upwards as the burning object impacts. A wall of moving soil and rock sweeps the disgruntled animal from the tall branches, burying him in an avalanche of pounding pain. The ground continues to surge back and forth, the surface shuddering like a shifting plate.
The shaking begins to lessen, and a few minutes later subsides. For a moment all is quiet, all the birds and monsters frightened away. Then, a narrow, diamond-shaped head emerges from the newly-formed hill. It is followed by a long, serpentine body as the irritated dragon pulls himself from the tunnel he crafted.
He gives his cylindrical body a severe shake to dislodge the clumps of dirt from between his silver scales. He blinks his gold and blue eyes, and slithers towards the top of the hill. It is a thankfully short trip, and as he crests the hill, he comes to the edge of a vast crater.
The bushes on the edges of the crater have spontaneously combusted in the extreme heat of the alien object. Protected from the deadly heat and fire by his thick scales, Slither lays on the lip of the crater, his forked tongue flickering in the night air.
He spots a bluish silver glint from within the smoke obscuring the fallen object. He excitedly squirms down the side of the hole, hoping against hope for a treasure from the sky. He reaches the bottom as the smoke clears, and finds not a treasure trove or a space rock, but a normal pony.
Disgusted, he turns to leave. But, a lingering memory from his dream taunts him. An image of the ghoulish mare, her face twisted into a condescending expression flitted through his mind. What would Ditzy Doo do? Muffins, of course! With a scowl, he coils up next to his newfound treasure.
As he watches over the mare, her guardian as she sleeps, he remarks to himself how unusually pretty she is. Just like a star in the sky. Why, she could pass for a clouded sapphire statue lying still like that. He decided to keep her, and just like any dragon, he kept watch over her, daring anyone to dare to steal her and invoke his wrath!
STAR
For a fleeting second, I heard a heartbreakingly familiar song, an echoing sound beyond mere words, full of conflicting feelings of loneliness and eternal joy. For that instant, I was soothed. Then, it vanished, to be replaced with a crackling fire and a distant pop.
As I lay there, hard ground under my flank, and a cool breeze upon my face, I wondered how I had gotten there. As soon as that thought formed itself, another appeared. Who was I? Where was I? Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!
Calm down self, I ordered. Panicking won’t do you any good. Let’s just focus here. I’ll start with the basics. Or is it we? Argh!
Stupid, memory-less head! And also, how is it I know how to formulate words? Wow. Too deep. Let’s just back up.
I opened my eyes a crack. At once they flew open, absorbing the scene of breathtaking beauty before my eyes. It was too astounding for mere words, but I decided to try to describe it anyway.
It was a dark… no. It was inky… no. It was− Argh! It was the night sky! Dark and foreboding, the blackness of space was offset by the deep purples and blues of the cosmos. A few wispy clouds marred the beauty of the clear night, but the overall hugeness and infiniteness of the sky made me feel small and insignificant.
But most beautiful of all were the stars. There were trillions and trillions of them. Twinkling and shining playfully amongst the terrible blackness, the countless numbers seemed somehow familiar and comforting. And yet, somehow, they seemed to also have a terrible power, and some merrily twinkling lights seemed plain malevolent in their innocent winking.
I felt slightly sick looking at the sky, as though it would draw me up, and fling me into the cosmos, to wander for all of time, alone and afraid. I tore myself from those disquieting thoughts, and looked anyplace except that shining expanse.
There wasn’t a lot to look at. I seemed to be in a deep hole in the earth, lined with steeply sloped walls and ringed in flickering fire. Dimly lit by the dying ember, the trees surrounding me seemed dark and oppressive. Far off in the distance I spotted a huge, black structure, obscuring the night sky with its dark bulk.
A small hiss disturbed me from my poetic thoughts. A small reptile, a snake probably, was coiled right next to me. My first thought was to jump away, but I instinctively felt no animosity from the animal. I took a good look at it, committing it’s features to my new memory.
It looked about four or five feet long, with a long, tapering body covered in silver scales. A red crest rose from its diamond-like head, and flowed down its back, disappearing into nothingness somewhere near its mid-back. Its slitted, lidless eyes glared at me, one gold and the other blue. It had an expression of arrogant superiority about it, tempered with a cautious flare.
Its tongue flicked out for a split-second, and then it reared its head up, and looked me straight in my face. Its mouth parted, and I glimpsed curved fangs gleaming in the fire light. I felt goosebumps erupt on my flank as I prepared to dodge its inevitable strike. Then, I felt dumbfounded as it began to speak to me!
“It isss impolite to ssstare,” it hissed, its voice barely a whisper. It struck me that this voice seemed vaguely masculine, and a red flush creeped over my face as I blushed in embarrassment at my folly. I opened my mouth to apologize, but he cut me off.
“Ssso, the pony awakesss,” he began. “You will have a lot of exsssplaining to do. Who are you? Where did you come from? The sssky? The land?”
I was tongue-tied, unable to answer any of his questions, and utterly confused by the bombardment. I panicked, and said the first thing I could think of.
“Omigosh! You’re a talking snake!” Even as I said it, I inwardly winced. Great, me. I just made myself look like the biggest airhead ever. On the other hoof, my voice is kinda sexy, low and smooth like that. That’s not weird, is it?
The look on his face was amusing. His eyes bugged out of his skull at the mention of the ‘S’ word, and his head reared back like he was about to strike. A shiver of fear rippled down my spine as he hissed his displeasure.
“I. Am. Not. A. Sssnake!” He growled, his eyes flashing dangerously, daring me to call him that again. I shook my head rapidly, my eyes wide as I face certain death. “I am a Dragon! Never call me a sssnake!”
I quickly apologized. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” He seemed to accept this, his head slowly moving forward. He began to sway back and forth, like a metronome. I would have wondered how I knew that word had I not been hypnotized by the snakelike charmer.
He relaxed, and began to speak again. “I underssstand. You do not ssseem the type to insssult others unwarranted. I will forgive you this one time, but never let it happen again.” I continued to stare slack-jawed at the swaying dragon, and he stopped to hiss angrily at me.
I shook myself and mumbled something, having utterly failed to listen to anything he said. I looked away from him, and realized that I was still lying on my side. My muscles suddenly remembered that I had been in this position for who knows how long, and I was bombarded by an urge to stretch.
I rolled onto my hooves, which I had just noticed were attached to my sleek, midnight blue limbs. A small rain of dirt clods and pebbles rattled to the ground as I rose and shook myself, causing the dragon to hiss in displeasure as specks glanced off his scales.
I gave myself a once over, noticing my lush, purple mane and tail. I glanced at my flank, feeling a strange, temporary feeling of anguish at the lack of any distinguishing marks there. It vanished as soon as I focused on it, leaving me even more confused.
The snake noticed me looking at myself, and hissed in annoyance.
“You are misssing your cutie mark, you are tall for an earth pony, and you have dragon eyesss. Other than that, you are pretty, for a pony, and seem to have a kind persssonality, if a little ssstrange.”
I blushed at his compliments. I decided to return the favor.
“Well, thank you. You have very sleek scales, and your eyes are quite lovely.” I smiled at the slight blush on his scaly face, and he scowled at me. I returned the scowl, and he actually laughed, a long, hissing chuckle.
“You are not bad, pony. You may call me Ssslither. And what may I call you?” At my downcast face, he put the puzzle together. “You have no idea, do you? Unsssurprisssing, consssidering your fall. You sssee, I witnesssed a ssstar hurdling from the sssky, and found you in the sscenter of the crater. Therefore, I will call you Fallen Ssstar from now on.”
Hmm. Fallen Star. It did have a certain catchy ring to it, now didn’t it. Alright, Fallen Star it is. Star for short, of course.
I looked at Slither as he uncoiled himself. I noticed four small nubs of flesh on his sides. I squinted and could just see the scarred tissue at the ends.
“Umm, hey, Slither? Why are you missing your arms?” I asked hesitantly, hoping not to spoil the good conversation we were having. He was the first and only one I had ever talked to or even seen, and I didn’t want to frighten or anger him into leaving me alone. In fact, I never want to be alone again.
Just as I began to ponder where I had been alone before, Slither sighed and answered my previous question. “Sssuppossse you would asssk that sssooner or later. Not long after I was hatched, I foolishly tried to protect my preciousss hoard from a passing pony. I should have waited and followed him, killing him in his sssleep, but I was brash and young, and decided to ssstrike him head on.”
“It didn’t end well, of course. He had an old shotgun on him, and he shot at me oncsse. It wasss an old shell, to be sssure, missssing my vitalsss, but it ssstill hit my limbsss with enough forcsse to shred them beyond repair.” I gasped in horror, imagining the small, baby dragon reduced to a shivering, bloodsoaked ribbon of flesh. Pity blossomed in me, and I felt tears well up in my eyes.
His tail flicked at my face, drying my unshed tears. His scornful look told me that he wanted no pity. “However, I am a ssstrong dragon. A wound sssuch as that couldn’t kill me, even at sssuch a tender young age. I healed, and ssspent my time learning your language. And now, here I am.”
I looked at this small survivor. He must have been through a lot in his lifetime, but he held on tenaciously. I tried to imagine the psychological torment of losing my limbs, and having to relearn how to move. It certainly explained his deep hatred of the word ‘snake’, given that he acted, sounded, and now even looked more like a reptile than a noble dragon.
He was looking at me as I slipped once more into quiet contemplation. Maybe I was an airhead. It seemed like I couldn’t think and act at the same time. Now he was giving me an exasperated look. Okay, thinking time later, act time now.
I started to walk out of the giant hole. Althought the slope was steep, my four strong hooves dug into the soft earth, and I easily climbed up the walls of my crater. At about the halfway mark, I turned and looked back at Slither.
It was kind of pathetic. The slope must have seemed like a mountain to him. He was forced to wiggle up the slope, curving one way, then the other, taking five minutes to make it halfway to me.
I could tell he was tiring, so I dropped back. “Can I help you? You seem to be floundering.”
He stopped, breathing heavily through his slitted nostrils. He lifted his head and looked at me thoughtfully. I felt almost naked under his penetrating stare, until I realized that I was.
He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. He slithered over and looked askance at me. Not having a single clue what he wanted, I nonetheless nodded. He smiled a snakelike grin, and began to climb up my leg.
It was the weirdest feeling ever. My first instinct was to shake him off, but I crushed that down, afraid to hurt him. It felt like… like a snake crawling up my leg. You had to be there.
He curled around me like I was a pony-sized tree. When he got to my shoulders, he wrapped himself lightly around my neck. I felt his bulging muscles, and gulped nervously, realizing that he could choke me to death easily. He then pulled himself onto my back and coiled up into a snug little pile.
I twisted my head and looked back at him, looking cozy with his head nestled on his coils and the end of his tail flicking near my own. I couldn’t help but giggle, and his scowl only made me laugh even more.
As I laughed, I felt stress I didn’t know I had melt off me. I realized that I had been scared out of my mind, confused at my situation. In fact, if Slither hadn’t been there for me to talk to, I might have freaked out and ran into trouble alone. All in all, he was good company, and something told me that we would be together for a while. Call it mare’s intuition.
With his surprisingly light weight nestled between my shoulder blades, we easily made it up and over the lip of the crater, past the glowing embers of the fire, and into the eerily dark woods.
I paused at the edge of the forest and glanced up once more. I thought I could spot a gap in the starry sky, as if a star had simply vanished. I though once more to my name, Fallen Star. I really liked it.
Without another look, the dragon and I started our journey together.
Footnote: Halfway to Level 2
Footnote: Level Up! Perk Gained: Hardy Constitution- Your experiences in the wasteland have toughened you up, resulting in +3 DT.
