Title:           Not a Rock [Echoes 4] [Dragon Anon]
Author:          Woofr
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/3yjtULDR
First Edit:      Wednesday 18th of February 2015 10:00:20 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Thursday 26th of March 2015 02:28:13 AM CDT

>See!
>Told Griffinbro there wasn’t nothing to worry about.
>…
>Where are the brakes on this thing again?
>Shit is that the mountainside already?
>Char warned you about mountains bro.
>With no signs of slowing, you face planted into your abode.
>You slid down a few meters before settling on a little outcropping.
“As good a place to sleep as any I suppose.”
>As you passed into slumber, you wondered if dragons got hangovers.
 
>”Are you a rock?”
>You were now painfully aware of the fact that dragons can get hangovers.
>”… No you’re breathing. Rocks don’t breathe. You look like a rock. Igneous. Black, not grey. But still a rock. But you’re not a rock.”
>Just barely cracking open your eyes, you stand up.
>Fuck that sunlight hurt, you could feel the migraine coming on already.
>Despite the nice weather, you could see a few storm clouds in the distance, coming from the Everfree.
>Looking down, there was a pony standing before you.
>Grey, dull purple mane and tail, grey saddlebag, and a… dress?
>You didn’t even know that these things wore legit clothing till now.
>Whatever, she seemed quiet at least.
“Hello little one. Indeed, I am not a rock. I am a dragon, named Anonymous. A pleasure to meet you.”
>The grey pony blinked at you and took her time to sit down before answering you.
>”My name is Maud.”
>Well.
“So then Maud, what business do you have around here?”
>Maud blinked again.
>”I’m looking at rocks for a rock researching trip. I heard that this was the tomb of a dragon made of stone, I want to look at those rocks.”
>…
>Yeah sure whatever, you really didn’t have the energy to question this shit right now.
“Is that so, well then Maud. I can take you into the tomb itself if you want?”
>As you spoke you lowered yourself and stuck out a foreclaw for her to climb up onto your back.
>Maud stared at it for a few minutes before climbing up.
>Yes, a few minutes.
>Laying on your back, Maud adopted the most subtle look of surprise you’d ever seen.
>”Your back is comfortable. It’s like a rock, but it moves, and has give to it. Not like a rock.”
>You take that as a compliment and give her a smile before you start your ascent up the mountain.
>Walking, not flying. You couldn’t even imagine trying to fly right now.
 
>You were pleasantly surprised to discover that your claws had strength enough to grip right into the rock so that you could climb straight down into your tomb.
>Maud looked around in what you supposed passed for wonder with her.
>Touching down into the ash below, Maud jumps off you.
“Welcome to my domain little one, be at ease and see what you may.”
>Maud doesn’t even seem notice you and immediately begins to walk around, looking at every bit of rock she can get here hooves on.
>You shrug and lay down in a corner of the pit, out of Maud’s way.
>Walking up to one of the pillars, Maud taps it.
>”Not rock. Bone, but there is rock inside. Sediments.”
>She takes a step back and kneels down, brushing aside the ash to reveal the dirt and stone beneath.
>Maud picks up a flat rock in her forehoof.
>”Rock, igneous. But with a different substance binding it together. Keratin, like scales.”
>Whoa wait what?
“Could you tell me more about this stone Maud?”
>She sets the rock down and pulls a magnifying glass out of her dress.
>Whilst observing the stone and others she began to rummage through, Maud goes on.
>”Likely remnants of the stone dragon’s scales, they appear burnt over the entire surface, with cracks around the edges where heat seared straight through that suggest super cooling.”
>This hangover was seriously fucking with you right now, you hadn’t even reacted to Maud calling Chordus a stone dragon earlier.
>That must be what Marmor meant then, stone.
>And now you knew just how he was killed, Celestia torched the scales right off him and then Luna froze the exposed bits underneath.
>Fucking hell those two were a lot more hardcore than they let on.
>I mean they had that sort’ve ancient powerful vibe going, but damn.
>You’d never have guessed from the way they acted.
>”These are interesting. I will save some of these to look at later.”
>Maud picked up a few of the stone scales and put them in her saddlebag.
>If that was interesting you wanted to see exciting.
 
>You were content to watch as Maud stood again and walked over to the huge tombstone.
>Business as usual, she went right up to it and put her hoof to it.
>Immediately Maud reeled back, showing far more emotion than you dared think she possessed.
>Maud was afraid.
>There was a look of absolute terror etched on her face, extreme even for an individual who expressed themselves normally.
“What troubles you Maud?”
>You walk up to her and lay behind her, looking between Maud and the stone with concern.
>Maud backs right into you and sits down.
>”It’s a rock… But, it can’t be. It looks like a rock, feels like a rock. A sediment. But there are no lines. It’s a rock with no age, but not an igneous like it should be. I can’t classify it.”
>Well now you knew what Maud’s kill switch was.
>This was certainly something though, from what you could tell this little pony could identify nearly any sort of rock.
>From pebble to boulder.
>But Maud couldn’t identify this one.
>Something for the backburner anyway, you could get to the bottom that rabbit hole some other time.
>Right now you should be making sure Maud didn’t have a panic attack or something.
“Be calm Maud, I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for this and I’d be happy to help look for it when I have the time.”
>At the suggestion of a reasonable explanation, Maud calmed back down.
>Right into her normal passive self.
>”Yes. There is some reason for it… Thank you for letting me look at all this Anonymous.”
>You smile and let her climb onto your back again.
“I am glad to see ponies who pursue such things with a vigour like yourself Maud.”
>You might have been pushing it with vigour, but eh.
>Despite her cold exterior, you could tell Maud was actually really passionate about this stuff.
>And so you rose out of the tomb, Maud in tow.
>Up into the light.
 
>Now outside and at the bottom of the mountain, you let Maud off of your back.
“Farewell Maud, may we meet again in your travels.”
>Maud blinked at you.
>”Goodbye.”
>And then she walked away.
>Yeah you were pretty much expecting that.
>You alighted straight from the ground, it was getting a lot easier to do.
>Hangover was pretty much gone now to boot.
>WWABBDD?
>You licked your lips as you flew towards Ponyville.
“Perhaps I shall have a snack.”
>…
>Fuck that sounded creepy.
>Made you glad no one was up here to hear it.
>”Dude, Anon… Are you for real right now?”
>And there was Rainbow Dash, flying alongside you this whole time.
>Trying your best to act like you had known she was there, you answer immediately and keep your face straight.
“What are you implying Rainbow Dash? I merely wanted to inform you that I was thinking of having something to eat. Maybe you could direct me to an adequate eatery in Ponyville?
>Dash rolled her eyes at you before poking you with a hoof.
>”Don’t try to play it off dummy. You didn’t notice me till I spoke up. And yeah, I do know a good place. Try to keep up.”
> Rainbow Dash sped off away from you, leaving a rainbow streak in her wake.
>That was one hell of a contrail.
>You followed it down into Ponyville, landing carefully between the buildings.
>These ponies sure knew how to decorate.
>Before you stood the most ostentatious sweets store you’d ever seen before.
>The fact that you knew it was a sweet store just by looking at it said a lot.
>I mean come the fuck on, it was a gingerbread house with a cupcake on top of it.
 
>Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were having a chat out in front of it.
>”Telling you Pinks, he’s totally weird. You didn’t even hear what he said up there.”
>Dash scrunched up her face and lowered her voice in what you assumed was meant to be an impression of you.
>”’Perhaps I shall have a snack,’ just like that while licking his lips and looking RIGHT AT Ponyville.”
>Pinkie laughed, booping Rainbow’s nose before rolling right over.
>”Oh Dash, Anon is pretty silly. But he’s just that, a silly big old smelly dragon. He won’t hurt nopony.”
“Silly hum? Shall I show you JUST HOW SILLY I really am?”
>You stood tall and threatening while you crunched your knuckles, an angry leer on your face.
>Dash rolled her eyes at you, exactly like before.
>Pinkie just laughed even harder, rolling around and beating her hooves on the ground.
>The fuck was this shit?
>You were all bark and no bite now.
>I mean damn son, just a couple days ago you wiped a griffin off the face of the earth with about as much effort as you would put into taking a shit.
>Not even sure why you were mad about it, guess it was the fact that you were practically designed for violence now.
>Whatever, time to get some candy from the nice pink pony.
>You calm down and smile.
“Good morning Pinkie Pie. Might you be so kind as to let me sample some sweets?”
>Pinkie relaxed as well, down to normal levels of excited anyway.
>”Sugarcube Corner always has treats for friends! My treat!”
>Gigglesnorting the whole way, Pinkie Pie walked into the store, Rainbow Dash behind her.
>You sat down outside, by a park bench.
>Weird, there were scorch marks on it.
>Out from an alleyway, 2 mares emerged.
>They were both arguing heatedly, something about “bad habits”
>The first one, with a beige coat and three hard candies on her flank, lied down on the bench beside you.
>Then the second, mint green with a lyre, sat down beside her.
>Like a human being.
>You seriously just couldn’t contain yourself.
 
>You were now laughing your ass off in front of these two ponies.
>The mint one was looking at you, bemused, while the beige pony stared you down, obviously frustrated.
>”Whatcha’ laughing at Anon?”
>Pinkie Pie and Dash had just walked out of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie was looking at you, head tilted.
>You stifled your giggles.
“Ahhh, nothing Pinkie. Nothing in particular.”
>Getting back on your feet, you follow the two of them out to Twilight’s castle.
>Guess that was just the place to be around here.
>All three of you take a seat outside of it, Dash handing you a dozen cupcakes.
>Fuck yeah.
>This shit tasted better than anything you’d ever had.
>Somewhere, a mother was crying over her oven.
>Dash nodded her head as she watched you eat.
>”Pretty much what I expected. You just can’t beat Sugarcube Corner.”
>Then, she got up, stretching her wings.
>”Where are ya headed Dash?”
>Rainbow gave you and Pinkie Pie a confident smirk before striking a pose.
>”I’m off for a flight exhibition, doing all my best tricks. The crowd chooses a winner and everything. 500 bits as prize money.”
>Huh, so there was cash here.
“I wish you good fortune Rainbow Dash.”
>Rainbow nodded at you before tossing out a cocky grin.
>”Don’t need luck Anon, I’m gonna wipe the floor with these featherbrains.”
>With that she flew off.
>So you sat with Pinkie for a while, making idle chit chat and eating sweets.
>When suddenly Pinkie gasped, looking at her wrist (?).
>”Oh shoot, I have to go Anon! It’s my shift at the Corner!”
>And then she tore off as well.
>…
>Did two chicks just bail on you?
 
>You really had no game at all.
>”Hey Anon!”
>Looking down, Twilight is hugging your foreclaw.
>Naw, you had mad game.
“Good morning Twilight.”
>Twilight smiles and backs up a bit, still looking at you.
>”So, I take it you’re here for lessons on the Stream?”
>You’d forgotten about that actually, be good to get it done.
>Anti mind reading, no tinfoil hat required.
“Indeed I am, shall we?”
>Twilight alighted, hovering just above your head.
>”Sure, but do you mind if we fly for a bit while we’re at it? I was supposed to practice with Dash today but she’s busy with that exhibition and all.”
>You nod your assent and climb to the skies with Twilight.
>Once you were both flying along quietly outside of Ponyville, Twilight began to talk.
>”Everyone’s Stream is unique, with different tendencies, sizes and even appearances. Once, of course, you learn how to see Streams.”
>Twilight did a gentle aileron roll, then began to turn left.
>You followed.
>”This is probably best exemplified through the phenomena of Cutie Marks, where each pony has one that is unique to them. In fact, this is a manifestation of that Stream. Take mine for example.”
>Here Twilight pointed at her flank, where a purple star was surrounded by six others.
>”My cutie mark signifies magic, thus I am particularly skilled at it. My Stream’s tendencies allow for better use of magic and give me more overall. But cutie marks are just a picture of an individuals’ stream, you don’t need them for yours to be specific.”
>Twilight ascended, flying up higher and back to the right.
>The fields below sped by and gave way to trees.
>”Take for example Discord’s Stream. You haven’t met him before, he’s a draconequus, and the manifestation of Chaos. His Stream exemplifies and augments his power in that direction, chaotic, ever changing, so many twists and turns.”
>As if to demonstrate, Twilight started to turn around and about erratically.
>She was about to start talking again when a loud bang echoed through the air.
 
>You look up.
>Storm clouds.
>Down.
>The Everfree.
>Fuck.
>As quickly as you could, you grab Twilight and tuck her underneath you.
>Immediately the clouds began raining bolts of lightning down on you, fast, brutal and red hot.
>You could do nothing but watch as they scorched your scales, it wouldn’t be long now before they got through.
>…
>Fuck that shit.
>You beat your wings as hard as you can, trying to dispel them.
>Twilight is screaming in your arms.
>For every cloud you get rid of, three more seem to take its place.
>And then you see them, griffins.
>They were bringing the clouds over, poking at them with their spears.
>Guess that Colonel thing really was coming back to bite you.
>You try to land, but find yourself unable with all these trees around, the risk of Twilight getting hurt was too much.
>The clouds followed you down anyway.
>Suddenly you hear a booming over the noise from the stormclouds.
>In the distance you see an enormous spectrum of colour explode across the sky.
>There was a familiar contrail coming out of it.
>Before you could even begin to consider what that meant, the rainbow streak passed above you, straight through the storm clouds above.
>A few seconds later, the resounding crash from what just happened reached your ears.
>”You gotta be careful around these storms Anon.”
>And there was Rainbow Dash, cocky as ever.
>Just saved your life though, so you supposed it was warranted.
“Rainbow Dash, flee. There were griffins controlling those clouds you dispersed.”
 
>Just as you said that, one of them sped towards Rainbow, spear aimed at her chest.
>You grabbed it, breaking off the tip, before sending the griffin crashing to the ground.
>Dash seemed to catch the drift of the way things stood and began acting as a sort of decoy for you, twisting and turning through all your winged enemies.
>You went easy on them, no fatal injuries, but they’d remember this while they sulked in their beds.
>The fight didn’t last long, there were about 40 of them.
>Somehow you were on the ground now, with Rainbow Dash landing a few feet from you.
>”Uhh, Anon. You wanna let me out now?”
>Ah, forgot Twilight.
>You released your grip on her and she got down, brushing herself off.
>All around the three of you, griffins were strewn, moaning in pain.
>You looked at Rainbow Dash.
“Thank you for your assistance little one, but did you not have an exhibition?”
>”You really think I’m just gonna bail out on my friends for some stupid flying exhibition?”
>Hah.
>You were starting to like her.
>Twilight thanked you both before flying off back to her castle, something about a headache.
>”So what are we going to do with these anyway?”
>Dash pointed at the griffins.
“I will take them up into the mountains where their leader can find them.”
>Rainbow shrugged and helped pile them onto your back.
>The flight into the mountains went by quickly, you found yourself in the same ravine where you crushed Kal.
>With Rainbow Dash’s help, you set them down in orderly lines.
>Then Char showed up.
>You seriously didn’t hope you were going to have to fight Griffinbro, Dash looked at him with equal suspicion.
>Sensing the tension, Char set down his spear before coming closer.
>”I have much to explain. But I can assure you I was not the orchestrator of this attack.”