Chapter 4 takes place directly after Chapter 3.

Rainbow lay in Emerald's hooves, his warm and deep indigo shielding her from the cold. After a minute of silence, Emerald's deep, powerful and warming voice enshrouded the wind in softness: "Dashie, I must know: what is it about dresses that you don't like?" He liked to ask these kinds of questions in order to get the responder to unintentionally reveal more information about themselves. This allowed him to understand a few things about his daughter that he would only be able to guess otherwise.

"They make my wings feel trapped." Rainbow replied, jerking her wings to make sure that they were free.

Emerald had been skeptical of Zecora's words, as they seemed like superstition, a concept which he didn't trust. Yet, despite this, Zecora's words were proving true. He suspected that Zecora had picked up her information through signals of feeling, as this was the only concept that made any sense. Zecora had specifically told him, "She yearns to be free." She wasn't wrong.

Emerald thought about everything. Rainbow governed her life by her desire for freedom. It was why she'd stolen the cupcakes twice. Emerald had bound her by a weight, and his daughter was determined to lift it, carefree of any cost that lifting the weight may bring. His understanding of Rainbow was growing as she grew, her personality blossoming minute by minute.

"You're thinking about something, aren't you?" Rainbow asked bluntly. This caught Emerald completely by surprise.

"That I am. If I didn't think, I would be worse than a blind stallion." Emerald said, in his typically cryptic philosophy. He was deliberately cryptic because he wanted Rainbow to learn to fill in the gaps. He'd tried to create a balance between crypticism and spoon-feeding, but knowing where the balance lay was a blind guess and Emerald had failed to find it.

Even before Rainbow began speaking, Emerald knew that he'd been far too cryptic. The problem was that one can think one thing, and when the same thought is spoken out loud, its meaning changes totally. "Not to worry," Emerald thought to himself. "I can learn from this. After all, although Rainbow is my daughter and it's my duty to raise her, it's also my duty to know what I can know. The balance I'd sought clearly lies elsewhere." Emerald's thoughts were muddled, but he'd learned to understand his muddled thought patterns. Or at least, he believed he understood them. No, he could never quite be sure. This was delving into assumptions now, which were probably correct, but one had to account for the unlikelyhood that they weren't. Emerald refused to resort to assumptions, because if he did, eventually he'd mistake them for facts. It happened every single time. Fortunately, Emerald was woken up by the boisterous voice of his daughter.

"Could you tell me a story? One about those great Pegasus warriors!" Rainbow Dash asked, combining her boisterousness with an innocent and high pitched tone that sounded far too cute for Emerald to even consider refusing.

Emerald Dash had his own voice for storytelling; a voice that was deeper still than his normal voice. Within his voice lay a mysterious quality that sounded as though he was speaking from a bygone and forgotten age. "I know of one. Your mother, Flameborn Skylighter was one of the finest warriors that Equestria has ever bore. Everypony respected her for her bravery, and for her ferocity as well as determination. She was wild at heart, but her wild nature stemmed from a passion to show her patriotism to Princess Celestia. She died through her bravery but were it not for her, the Island of Gallopoli would've been taken over by wind demons. Flameborn however, stopped more than just wind demons. She slew vicious dragons also, through nothing but her sheer strength." Emerald paused, to study Rainbow's eyes. They were positioned a long way forward, and were wide open. She wasn't even blinking.

"She'd returned from one of her flights to inform Commander Windblazer of the Wonderbolts that dragons were in Equestria. Commander Windblazer, being a stallion that preferred thorough action to immediate, told Flameborn to wait. Of course, being the rebel she was, Flameborn refused, convinced that she could take on a dragon. She took only one companion with her - Emerald Dash, who had utmost trust for all of Flameborn's words and actions. Other ponies doubted her, but he knew that Flameborn would keep to her word. Flameborn knew her capabilities, impressive though they were."

"You saw one of the best warriors in their awesome moments firsthoof?" Rainbow asked, squeeing with excitement.

"Indeed I did, Rainbow. And I didn't fight - I was too afraid. Much like Flameborn, I know my capabilities. And I didn't have the strength to survive against such a foe. I also lacked the courage - I was not willing to risk my life. While courage may not be physical, courage can create power in one. Flameborn bore it in abundance."

Emerald shut his two emerald green eyes, and they re-opened, appearing to be a deeper shade of green than before, one that accompanied his deep storytelling voice perfectly. "Flameborn raced through the skies, a flaming trail behind her made of nothing other than the burning flames within her heart. Her rear hooves kicked back with the force of a tornado, as she fearlessly raced where her danger detector guided her. Her heart pumped faster than before from the adrenaline, with the wind to cool her sweating mane. I followed, myself exhausted and wrestling fatigue to avoid being engulfed by the hurricanes of wind. I fought the wind only because I knew that the feisty mare would stay by my side through any weather, cold or warm." Emerald had now forgotten the last time Rainbow had even blinked, it was that long ago. Even though her eyes were wide open, the cute little filly was in an unbreakable trance within Emerald's story.

"The two bold Pegasi swiftly progressed towards the volcanic realms of Kulath-Akhrenta, the gateway between the pony and dragon kingdoms. Such a name was chosen for its dreadful sound; and dreadful was a rather fitting term to describe the place. All dragons who even came close to this gateway had their sights set on ruthless destruction within Equestria. They were beastly, to the extent that civilized behaviour was unteachable - for their stone hearts had no place for kindness. They were not allied to each other, for they were far too selfish to think anything of generosity, and certainly far too dishonest to be loyal to one another. As for the typical dragon game - well, whether you could call it a dragon game is quite disputable. Dragon games typically consisted of menacing one another, asserting their dominance. If a dragon wasn't the alpha, they'd better be ready to learn their place quickly - although backstabbing usually prevailed in the dragon kingdoms. They seemed incapable of knowing anything of laughter. Well, they knew of laughter rather. But they certainly didn't know what it was for. If a dragon were to laugh, you could guarantee it was at somedragon else's expense, or maybe even somepony if they got lucky. And dragons weren't weak. They bore quiveringly sharp teeth - all of them canines with the steepness of spikes. They bore mighty claws, of which a single swipe could bring an oozing cut to even the toughest of ponies. Their tails were clubs, which if swung would knock out ponies, and even other dragons, in seconds. And if you accidentally impaled yourself on their shining scales, well. Nopony ever lived to tell the tale. And dragons weren't slow. They were not as fast as Pegasi, but were many times bigger with greater wings to accompany them; these brought intensive resistance behind them. Ah, but I forgot to mention one thing, for a dragon's flaming breath is their deadliest weapon of all. Dragons made pretty good cooks - if you liked your food nice and crispy, that was."

"But Flameborn was not afraid, in much the same way that she wasn't afraid of anything. She landed aground, taking a few seconds to catch her breath. But she knew that she couldn't spare any more time, for if she did, the malevolent and savage dragons would be all over her without even a warning. Dragons knew nothing of any moral codes. But I diverge - for I took landing side by side with Flameborn - the mare and stallion looking closely into each other's eyes, shimmering lights of green and rose intertwining, these lights together bringing energy and strength.

"Impressive flying, Emerald. But still not as great as me." Flameborn joked. Well, almost. Eventually I’d gotten used to them. “Flameborn jokes,” I guess you could call them – she told them all the time.

"Do you have a plan of attack?" I asked, snarking the fireball.

"I have a plan. ATTACK!" Flameborn nearly dashed off, except that I, in a sudden burst of energy bit her by the tail. Flameborn's look of passion quickly turned into a sulk.

"Hey, let me go!" Flameborn said, nearly but not quite shouting.

"You mean, your plan is to make a rapid flight, circling around dragons?" I asked.

"Oh sorry. I forgot you don't like flying." Flameborn taunted, her apology being very clearly sarcastic.

"I don't mind flying, but what you're planning is suicide!"

"It's not suicide if I can survive it!" Flameborn said, in an excited sounding voice with a boisterous fuelling.

And yet, as wild as Flameborn could be, she never overestimated her capabilities. I thought that I was probably being a fool, but in all the outcomesof which I could imagine this dragon battle, Flameborn would triumph, the proud mare once again victorious. I was suddenly woken up by Flameborn's loud voice "What're you thinking about, egghead?"

At this moment, three dragons were seen in the skies. "I have another plan. Sit back and watch this - I'm telling you it's awesome!" Without another word, Flameborn skylighted off to the dragons.

"Hey, dragons!" Flameborn called out playfully.

The three dragons clearly heard this, as they flew towards Flameborn, their wings flapping back and forth. But they weren't following one another - they were all choosing a different route to take through the skies, seemingly determined to prove that their route was the most direct of the three. When two dragons' paths crossed, one would usually say "Move over, idiot! You're in my way!" And without another word, they'd knock the other dragon to the side.

After about fifteen seconds, one of the dragons arrived, giving out a guttural laugh. He was a male dragon, red in colour, with an armoured, rather than spiky tail. A dragon's tail made a slight difference as to the dragon's personality - if it was scaly, they seemed a bit nicer at first (of course, “seemed,” in this instance, did not mean “was.”) But Flameborn wasn't looking at his features. She was looking at him. His eyes were large and down-facing. They were a light green, but with a very sombre texture. But it was a sombreness without depth. There was no depth to a dragon's character, unless one considered political strategizing to be a character depth.

"Derek! Barry! We got a little pony here!" The dragon shouted at the other two dragons, who were now facing Flameborn, one in front of her and left, and the other in front of her and right, all about three metres away.

The dragons began singing. If you could call it singing, that was. It sounded like extremely guttural death metal that may have been caused by burned lungs, combined with an attempt to sing in a patronisingly sweet voice (or more accurately, it vaguely resembled one, as dragons were hardly capable of singing in sweet voices). "My little pony, my little pony." "It's a shiny new day, where everything's pink and friendship is magic."

"You know all about us! Congratulations!" Flameborn snarked.

"So, my little pony, what are you here for?" The red dragon spoke once more.

"You're on the Equestrian border, and it's my duty to protect ponykind!" Flameborn's voice rose, making her sound very aggressive, and almost intimidating (it undoubtedly would've been intimidating if she wasn't a fiftieth of the size of an average dragon.) Unfortunately, the dragons thought that Flameborn's attempt at intimidation was hilarious more than it was scary.

"Oh, I'm everso scared." One of the dragons said sarcastically. He was a shiny green colour, with spikes on his tail, and small but sharp scales of a white colour down his back. He was thickly armoured, with a strong plate all down his front to protect him. And he had claws, two sharp and lengthy claws that gave him a pleasurable selection of crush or cut against Flameborn. But she was ready. Her deep rose eyes sparkled with a mighty glare filled with strength.

"You will be!" Flameborn quipped. In less than a second, she dived towards the dragon, her focus upon his face. She moved as close to his nose as possible, before unleashing a staggering kick that sent the dragon's face flinching and in turn, momentarily disabling him. While the dizzy dragon was recovering, she flew off to circle him and confuse him, as the dragon's menacing claws felt around for pony flesh. But in all his clawfuls, there was no pony. Finally deciding that he was confused enough, Flameborn moved towards his nose once more, preparing for a kick of equal ferocity. She felt her hind legs spring back to strike the dragon, a movement strong enough that she kicked wind along with the dragon.

Her hind hooves finally struck the dragon, leaving the dragon helpless as he could handle no more of Flameborn's club-like hooves. His wings temporarily disabled themselves, offering Flameborn a chance to send him to the ground. Her trails of flame could do nothing against these beasts, thus she was forced to use an alternative method of attack. While the dragon was still stunned, Flameborn grabbed onto the dragon's foot, an overwhelmingly brave and risky move, as the spikes upon its tail could stab her if she mispositioned herself even a centimetre within the weapon's range. Flameborn tugged onto the foot from above, holding him firmly in place as he fell to the ground. Once he was on the ground, Flameborn found herself in the perfect position to kick the dragon's hindquarters; their hidden weak spot, but now in reach of her hind legs. She blindly threw out her hind legs, hoping for gold. Much to her delight, her hoof hit something soft - and from that moment she knew she'd succeeded. The dragon writhed in pain, falling to the ground as though he had been paralyzed. Flameborn's strong legs had brought upon him more pain than he could take. She darted away to my side, waiting for the entertainment that was to come.

"You're gonna love this, Emerald." Flameborn said, somewhat mischievously.

The other two dragons were not following Flameborn. Instead, they were feuding with each other, and mocking the beaten dragon. "Haha Derek, you got your hinds kicked by a pony!" The familiar leader called out.

"How embarassed do you feel, Derek?" The other one said, condescendingly and maliciously. He spoke far too slowly for the insult to be meant in good fun. Flameborn insulted others all the time, but she always had a touch of mischief in her voice when she did so, in stark contrast to the dragons. Flameborn could now finally see the true appearance of the last dragon - he was white, very tall but very thin. He looked like a white beanstalk with wings, such was his build. His wings, however, were gargantuan, and his mouth was sharklike. That was Emerald's description anyhow. Flameborn's description would've gone along the lines of "a very ugly white dragon whose hinds I could kick in seconds."

The red dragon was now on Derek, ready to make a vicious swipe. Derek was defenseless, as a razor-sharp claw dug for blood, and struck rich in the tiny gaps between Derek's plates. Pale green blood spattered out like water from a fountain as Derek lost consciousness. It was one dragon down, two to go. But the dragons weren't going for Flameborn.

"You got gems, didn't you, Winston? Dumb Derek's always got some hidden on him!" The white dragon asked, in a tone halfway between a death threat and a child-like tantrum.

"Hey, why don't YOU kill a dragon, Barry?" Winston retorted. Without a second to spare, Winston tore at Barry's leg, and without another word, soared into the sky, realizing that Barry was cut deep and stranded, doomed only to follow the footsteps of fellow dragon Derek.

"I think they're ready for me." Flameborn winked. She accelerated into the sky, her flaming trail behind her for all to see. She stopped about fifteen metres from Winston, with a loud call of "I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR ME!" Without a second thought, she charged, attempting to ram his neck (a weak spot) headfirst. She angled herself very carefully (or her version of carefully), aiming straight for the neck in her relentless dash. She felt herself travelling faster. And faster. And faster. And then...

BOOM! She'd felt Winston tip back, as the dragon and pony split from each other like repelling electrons. But being much smaller and more agile, Flameborn was faster to recover. She was sure that a second neck strike would be enough. Praying that she was too quick for Winston to react, she threw herself headfirst into the neck once more, faster even than
the previous time. This time it was only Winston who lost himself - Flameborn maintained her composure even after the strike.

Now it was time to try something extremely daring. If Flameborn stayed near Winston's mouth half a second too long, Winston could breathe his flaming armageddon upon her. Through skill, and skill alone, Flameborn was quick. She sweep-stroked herself so that her hind legs were next to Winston's mouth - and ready to strike. With the aggression of a hungry dragon, Flameborn gave her parting blow, using every inch of strength that her flaming heart could give her. The dragon growled in pain, and Flameborn realized that she had succeeded. He fell to the ground, where he lay, his face shaking all over from the kick.

"Now you've seen how a pony fights!" Flameborn taunted, dancing all over Winston.

"Spare me." Winston said, in an emotionless monotone.

"As a devout advocate of love and tolerance, it is my duty to protect ponykind from the clutches of threats. Your request is overruled." Flameborn said, in her best attempt to mock Emerald's formal speech, whilst very clearly getting her point across.

Flameborn stepped up to the dragon, attempting to break his right leg. She gave a tug with her front legs, as slowly, but surely, the two sides of the knee moved inwards to one another. She gritted her teeth whilst her body wildly quivered. Then all of a sudden, a loud tearing noise could be heard. Flameborn had succeeded, her strength proving phenomenal!

Emerald, watching in sheer awe, now flew over to Flameborn.

"Impressively done, Mrs Flameborn Dash. And a nice speech to round it up!" Emerald shouted.

"This will go down as one of the greatest warrior feats ever done! YES!" Flameborn's voice was full of almost filly-like excitement.

"I don't doubt you. You said that you could kill a dragon, and did exactly that. A badflank if ever there was one. I don't think many ponies have beaten a dragon. There have been a few, but not many. (he quickly scanned through his head) Yet yours may actually be the most impressive-" Flameborn interrupted Emerald.

"Commander Windblazer said it was too dangerous. And now it's time to tell the wimp just how wrong he was." Flameborn said, playfully.

(Emerald switched back to his normal voice) "And thus ends the tale of Flameborn's greatest triumph."

Rainbow gasped for air, suddenly returning to the real world. "You seem a little breathless," Emerald joked.

"Well, um, cool story!" Rainbow shouted. After the breathtaking tale of heroism that she had just heard, she had become dangerously close to turning into a part of Emerald's quicksand mind.

"A truly great warrior deserves only the best stories." Emerald replied.

"Hey Emerald! Race you home!" Rainbow Dash blurted out, suddenly raising her wings to take off.

"Don't jump the start, Rainbow!" Emerald bit her by the tail. Rainbow sulkingly frowned, as though she were a rebelling slave who realized that their escape plot was a plan for failure.

Three! Two! One! GO!" Emerald Dash boomed out.

By the time that they'd got home, Rainbow was shattered. She fell onto her bed, and sleep took hold of her - a pleasant sleep that was far too deep for Rainbow to even think about waking up - not that she wanted to, anyway.

Emerald grinned. "Goodnight, Dashie." He said it more for his own comfort than hers - his daughter was certainly in no place where Emerald's voice could be heard. When Emerald was completely certain that he was getting no reply, he regally exited the room, sweating with pride over his daughter.

Author's Note

I'm aware of the considerable lack of direction in this story - as of Chapter 5 onwards, things will be more consistent and time skips will be less. Rainbow Dash will be ten years of age for quite a few chapters.