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// Chapter 13: A Sick People (Part II)// Story: Sunshine and Fire// by BornIn1142//------------------------------//

Chapter 13: A Sick People (Part II)

No one had ever taken a hammer and chisel to the gate of the Matriarch's premises, but it had not gone completely without craftsmanship either. Over the course of millennia, the opening of the cave had been battered by spikes, fins and various other protrusions of scaled bodies until it had attained a form that was right for every shape of dragon. It must have been hundreds of hooflengths high, and proportionately wide.

The opening was framed by twin waterfalls, split in twain by a rock formation higher up on the side of the mountain. The doorframe of water looked so elegant and appropriate that it must have been intentional; this touch of ornamentation was as close as dragons got to art or architecture. At the base of the mountain, the two waterfalls joined up with an underground stream to become the river they'd been traversing. They could simply continue on their way, though none of them felt comfortable about entering the tunnel into the unknown.

"What's going to happen to us in there?" asked Luna.

"This mountain is a rip current in the tides of time," said Steven, as if that explained everything, "Time flows the other way here, and foreign bodies are caught in the drift. Inside, old things become new, old persons become young. I've even heard of some folks regrowing lost limbs when they come here. It happens proportionately, so even the oldest feel the effects, and the reverse aging gradually slows down, so you won't be unborn or something like that. It feels a little weird, but you don't have to worry at all. Once we come back out, everything will be back to normal."

"There are things in my past I'd rather not revisit," said Luna. There were things in her past that would have been dangerous to revisit...

Luna wanted to be annoyed at Steven for failing to mention the unusual properties of the mountain earlier, but she was herself to blame. He'd wanted to explain, but she'd cut him off in her rush to move forward.

"I don't think it works quite like that," said Steven.

He took initiative and swam forward into the mouth of the cavern, and nopony objected. It was the only way forward, after all.

"The Matriarch's Rock of Ages was mined here, a long time ago," Steven continued, "Some barbarian canines lived in these lands and dug these tunnels before dragons came and took both from them. That was before living memory, of course. This place is where the Rock of Ages gets its magic. It's said that the gem stops its owner from aging, though it's hard to tell whether that's the case with the Matriarch."

When the longest rays of sunlight no longer reached them, Rarity put her horn aglow to light their way in the tunnel before Luna could even think to suggest it. The thin blue light reflected from the water and sediments on the walls to create a wavery ambiance that most ponies would probably have found eerie.

"Do I look any different yet?" Rarity asked.

"Nope," said Dash, but continued carefully studying Rarity's face even after her reply.

The tunnel got smaller and narrower the farther in they got, though it remained huge in comparison to most underground spaces. Stalagmites and stalactites would have been expected but were nowhere to be found. They too must have been worn away before they could form by visitors and the Matriarch's own outings. (Or perhaps stalagmites and stalactites dripped upwards into nothingness in this place?) The tunnel also split off into smaller paths, some of which opened up from above and some of which led underwater. There must have been a labyrinthine criss-cross of caverns throughout the mountain. Steven kept them on a straight path though, so Luna supposed the Matriarch's lair was at the very heart of the mountain.

In the underground emptiness, the rest of the world seemed to fade away, quite literally. Existence was reduced to the small section of the cave system they could see. There was no sound that they didn't make themselves. Even the pulsing heartbeat of the sun across the world that Luna could feel at the back of her head if she wanted to first quieted and then disappeared completely. This would ordinarily have been very disquieting, but with the evil energies that permeated and powered the sun in this dimension, Luna did not miss the sensation. If she needed any proof that the mountain wasn't just a mountain, however, this was it. There should have been no earthly way to interrupt her connection to the cosmos like that.

Luna had been in a similar situation once before, actually. The would-be king Sombra had trapped her in a pocket dimension of his own creation. None of Luna's senses, movements or magics could take her back outside. It had been a space of infinite scope and tiny magnitude; there was nothing to see not because of a lack of light but because of a lack of anything. It had been a true emptiness, with only Sombra's own voice to give her company. There had even been moments when he'd addressed her directly, but most of the time, his presence had been a background noise of maniacal laughter and depressive musings about entropy and the void of being.

Of course, Sombra had been a very different pony back then. He'd gone beyond his usual gloomy spells and outbursts of rage into the realm of outright hostility, but he hadn't yet been the villain he'd later become. There was still good in him, and enough sentimentality to value the past between himself and Luna. In the end, he'd let her go.

Luna wasn't sure whether she would ever have been able to escape there on her own. The Backwards Mountain was worrisome, but she'd been through worse. She hadn't turned back into Nightmare Moon like she'd feared, had she?

Luna shook her head. She had best focus on the matters at hoof...

Rarity's head had drooped and her hornlight seemed somewhat duller. Judging by the slight scowl on her face, she wasn't just bored. Rainbow Dash, by contrast, was staring right through the cave-wall, a corner of her mouth raised in a subconscious smirk.

Luna glanced at the spot on Steven's back where he'd taken his wound, and found she could barely tell where the scales had been missing. He was as good as healed, but he too was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed or felt the need to bring it up.

"What are you thinking of?" asked Luna, of no one in particular.

Steven didn't react, but her pony companions took notice.

"Ah, excuse me," said Rarity with an affected lightness in her tone, "My mind was wandering."

"Just fantasizing about something," said Dash with a shrug.

"Remembering?" asked Luna.

Rarity and Dash both looked at her, and she knew she'd hit the mark on its head. All of them were remembering.

They did look different now, both of them. Rarity was slimmer, with bigger eyes and what might have been a pimple on her cheek. Dash, already petite and underfed, seemed even smaller now. Her tail hair was longer, the colors brighter. Though most of Steven's mass was still hidden under the waterline, he too seemed to have shrunk. As for Luna herself, she realized her mane had come to rest on her back, and the starlight appeared to be fading from it.

Steven had been right. It did feel weird. The three of them looked at each other, hoping to see the changes as they happened, wondering what to say or do. Luna half-way expected them to shrink down to fillies and lose their cutie marks when she blinked her eyes. Nothing like that happened, of course. They tried to keep the worrying down and just continue on their journey.

Luna had to give credit to what a perfect arrangement the Matriarch had set up. The Rock of Ages remained in the Matriarch's possession even if she didn't hold it in her claws, so every time she left the mountain, she would grow to her natural size and regain full use of the power her treasure gave her. No other dragon could match her then, and if she wished to throw off the shackles of her gargantuan size, all she had to do was return to her abode and grow young again. Meanwhile, the jewel itself remained where the Matriarch's greatest rivals could literally never reach. Young upstarts could perhaps sneak into the mountain to try to take it for themselves, but the jewel was sure to be well hidden in the caves, and searching at length probably would have made them helpless children.

Eventually, main body of the underground river split off from the path to the Matriarch's lair. They had to continue by hoof. Although Steven was quite elegant in water, seeing him waddling on land on his stick-thin limbs was awkward in every way. Then the path turned upwards, and with the rock underhoof slick from trickles of water, Steven regained the advantage. He had a much easier time with his claws and knowledge of the cave system than his hooved companions. Yet even though he was leading the way for them and taking great big steps, there was no energy in his movement. He fell in behind Luna and the others. Once he started hyperventilating, they guessed they were almost at their destination.

The ever smaller tunnel opened up into a much larger space, or at least a somewhat larger space. It wasn't quite the size of a cathedral, but perhaps that of a large church, from what they could see in the limited circle of light. The cave at the heart of the mountain may have been natural, but it must surely have been expanded and reshaped by digging, once upon a time. The flatness of the ground, really more of a floor, and the angles of the steeped cave ceiling indicated architecture more than geology. Their steps echoed all too ominously as they moved forward.

The Matriarch of Dragonkind was not the biggest among her species right now. She appeared to them as a young adult, two times taller than Luna yet diminutive. The lair was too big for her. Her scales looked like the armor plates of a knight, silver and gleaming. In the dark, she was bright. There was a strange sort of transparency to her body - hints of crystal bone, veins of mercury and glowing white flame were visible inside her. The effect should have been horrifying, even disgusting, but it was neither. Seeing her inner workings made her look like an intricate, perfect organism.

She was currently curled up on an elevated platform in the middle of the cavern, her wings loose around her. Her head was raised and she was looking directly at her visitors. No matter how hard Luna tried, she could not discern an expression in the Matriarch's face. She was thankful enough the ruler had more restraint than the subjects, and that there was no malice or anger in the zirconic eyes cast upon them, at least not yet.

Everything Luna had prepared, every diplomatic greeting she'd thought of, was wiped from her mind with the Matriarch's first words.

"Welcome back, Princess."

"You know me?" Luna rasped.

The Matriarch considered her coolly. "We spoke not long ago, did we not?"

Part of Luna's mind went wild with conjecture, but another, more rational part realized how she might have misunderstood.

"When was that?" she asked.

"Only some centuries ago. Perhaps seven hundred and fifty years by your old reckoning."

Of course. There was little chance of meeting the Forgotten Princess at any later point in history.

The Matriarch's voice was smooth and steady; it was not a monster's voice. Yet even though she seemed cordial, Luna could not help the impression that she was acting against her nature, that she had to make an effort to be polite. Somewhere inside her was still a furnace waiting to burn.

"The Princess Luna you met," said Luna, "was not me."

Even though her curiosity was obvious, the Matriarch seemed to make a point of not asking the obvious question. She stood up to full height, folded up her wings and slowly padded closer to the group. There was grace in her every move, but it was not the grace of a doe or a swan, but of a predator. She leaned close to Luna and smelled her. Luna met her gaze. If she was being tested, she intended to leave a favorable impression, a strong impression. The Matriarch may or may not have found what she was looking for. She turned around and stepped further away again.

"You wretched creature. You would have been better off not coming back."

As before, outrage started bubbling in Luna before she could remind herself what was really happening. The Matriarch was speaking to the guide that had brought them to her.

Steven had been trying to hide behind Luna and the others – which was quite ridiculous even with his slightly smaller stature. He might have been a very gentle soul among dragons, but he was no coward. So why was he cowering? There had to be a reason for his fear of the Matriarch. Her words to him were harsh in everything but tone. They did not sound like a threat at all. Then again, perhaps his feelings towards her were more complex than just fear, with shame and a considerable amount of resentment in the mix as well.

"Ah, hello, mistress," he said, with his neck bent down but his eyes turned up to look at the Matriarch.

"I'm surprised to see you back here."

"So am I, mistress," replied Steven. He was squirming under her gaze.

"He came back here as a favor to us," said Luna.

"Dragons do favors for ponies now?" mused the Matriarch.

"They return favors."

The Matriarch bared her fangs in amusement. "I suppose we do."

She was smiling at Luna's words, not at Luna herself. Then, without warning, she threw back her head and released a breath of shining-white fire. Though she was not aiming at them, Rarity and Dash both leapt backwards on instinct, and Luna unfurled her wings to take action if necessary. The flames snaked through the cavern above their heads, where they froze in place to illuminate the audience instead of dissipating. Rarity put out her horn when it became clear that the cavern would remain bright as daylight.

"Don't be frightened," said the Matriarch, "I only thought you'd prefer better lighting."

It was an apology without an apology. At first Luna thought the Matriarch was making a display of her power, or was simply trying to gauge their reactions. She'd seemed to make an effort to keep her guests on the defensive through the whole conversation so far. There was another possibility as well, however, that Luna wanted to kick herself for not realizing right away. Maybe the Matriarch was simply not used to interacting with others? Maybe she was just awkward?

"What are your names?" she asked, addressing Rarity and Rainbow Dash now.

They introduced themselves, and the Matriarch accepted their introductions even though it was quite clear to everyone involved that she was unlikely to remember either their names or their existence in a century's time.

"If you have something to say to me, then speak."

"It's a long story," said Luna.

"I have time to spare."

"And it might be hard to believe."

The Matriarch said nothing more, so Luna went on and explained herself. There were in fact quite a number of things she'd have liked to ask about her counterpart and what the Matriarch knew of her, but she thought it best to focus the mission. She told the story simply and without varnishing, covering the tale of their expulsion from their home universe in only as much detail as necessary, but going over why they stood against Queen Celestia and what they intended to do about her more convincingly. Since they couldn't be sure of the Matriarch's allegiance – she was after all a nominal ally of Equestria – Luna wasn't going to reveal everything all at once. She let Rarity and Rainbow Dash explain the particulars of how they knew 'Steven' and the deal they'd made with him.

The Matriarch, so emotionless before, now made some attempts to express herself. She nodded her head, she raised her brow, she raised a clawed hand to her chin. It all came across as an act, like she was mimicking ponylike behavior for their convenience. But that was a good thing, wasn't it? She was being... forthcoming. It just made it difficult to tell what she was really thinking. When Luna's story ended, the Matriarch looked down at her expectantly, as if waiting for more to come.

"Have you ever had the feeling," she finally said, "as if moments in your life keep repeating?"

"Deja vu?" Rarity filled in mechanically.

"That must be it," said the Matriarch, "Somehow, I know exactly what you're going to say next. Go on then, ask the question."

Luna went on as requested. "I – we – came here to ask for your assistance in defeating Queen Celestia."

"I shall give you the same answer as last time. I know your journey here must have been perilous, but I'm afraid you've wasted your time. I'm not going to take any action against Celestia."

Luna took a deep breath. There was no need to be disheartened; this was only the beginning. She had not expected to close this without a lengthy negotiation.

"Would you tell us why not?" she asked, "You do believe us, don't you? I told you, we've never had this conversation before."

"I see no reason to doubt you. I've known that there are realms above and below ours for most of my life. I shouldn't be surprised that there are also realms next to ours."

"Then why?"

"Isn't it obvious? Celestia is a dear friend of mine. We've known each other for a long time, and we've done much for each other. You're asking me to betray her, but why would I?"

This was... unexpected.

"I don't believe this," said Luna, shaking her head, "You must realize that your 'friend' is only using you to secure her empire!"

"How presumptuous!" The Matriarch growled that last word. Realizing this, she paused and carried on in a much more conversational tone. "You know us so well, do you? Tell me, what do you really think you know? Have you ever even met her? Have you seen her? Or are you just making assumptions?"

Nightmare Moon had not been a complete person. She'd existed only in the present moment – the only existence a being with the ambition to wipe out all life could lead. Luna couldn't imagine being able to carry on living in such a state, nor being able to maintain any sort of relationships with others, not even as an illusion or deception. Yet Daymare Sun seemed to have managed to do both. Even as she made a conscious attempt to suppress it, her sister's idea wormed its way forward from the back of her head. What if there was no Daymare Sun?

What she was forced to conclude – the only thing she allowed herself to conclude – was that Celestia was simply better at being a supervillain than she herself had been.

"I know her by her actions," said Luna. It was a bit of a deflection, but it lead her to a very important question. "So you agree with the things she's doing?"

"What things?" asked the Matriarch.

"The ecological devastation, the oppression of other species, the wars of conquest..."

The Matriarch considered. "None of that is of any great concern to me." She turned away from them and walked off, as if she'd grown disinterested with the conversation, but carried on talking. "Oh, it's true that Celestia has changed since we first met. She's moved in directions I would never have expected. Of course, she's still quite young. I believe the current world order is just a phase she's going through. Growing pains, if you will."

"Growing pains?" repeated Luna in disbelief, "Growing pains she's gone through for centuries, costing the lives of... what, millions?"

The Matriarch only barely seemed to be listening. Luna wondered if she too was prone to reminiscing in this place. She must have had a lot to think back on.

In any case, this wasn't as big of a setback as it might have seemed. She'd never really expected to be able to appeal to the Matriarch's nobility. The plan all along had been to lean on her pride and self-interest.

"What about what she's doing to your people? Your so-called friend is using your sickness to turn dragons into slaves!"

Luna had let her passion into her voice, and recaptured the Matriarch's attention.

"Is that so?"

The coldness in the Matriarch's words disturbed her. She had to count on the idea that the ruler of dragonkind had some concern for the welfare of her people. There was nothing to bluff with here; she could only play the cards in her hooves.

"Yes, that is so," she affirmed, "But I swear to you now, we will put a stop to it! We will fight as hard to liberate dragons as our fellow ponies, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that your lost children are returned to you! If you join together with us, we can work out a new deal, where ponies keep hatching dragon eggs without pressing the little ones into our service and turning them into tools. Dragons could keep going strong as a people!"

The Matriarch paced back and forth during Luna's appeal. They stopped together.

"Would you leave us be for a while?" said the Matriarch.

She threw her voice into the space of the cavern without direction, but somehow, all of them could tell she was speaking to Steven. The water serpent started moving and stopped.

"Er, where should I go?"

"Find someplace in my chambers. Don't wander."

Steven looked at his companions with worry in his eyes as he brushed past them, both for himself and for them. He lumbered off into one of the other tunnels leading away from the central cavern. The Matriarch waited for him to leave, but remained silent even after he was gone. She was staring far away, and broke the silence as suddenly as she'd breathed fire earlier.

"You seem to think that the arrangement Celestia I have is something forced on me," the Matriarch said, "Not at all. It was my idea." Her voice seemed to reach them from distant stars. "The whole plague was my idea."

Words failed Luna. Dash had to pick up the slack.

"What the hell are you saying?!" she demanded.

"Scholars call it the Draconic Ovistasis, don't they? Everyone else calls it the Doom of Dragons. You know what I call it? Our redemption. And yours..."

Luna instinctively stomped her foot. If the Matriarch's statement had not been so perplexing and intriguing, she might not have managed to stop herself from doing something stupid. As it was, she needed to know where the Matriarch was going with this.

"Confused, are we? It takes magic to hatch dragon eggs, but generally, magical cures only work for magical problems. Did you really think such a plague could be natural?"

In truth, Luna had never paid it any real attention. She'd learned about the Draconic Ovistasis as a new fact of life in a history book while reintegrating into Equestria. It had taken hold in the world during her absence.

"Dragons," said the Matriarch, "are disgusting. We are a vile, destructive race. I'm sure you've noticed it yourselves. We have much and more of the greed, lack of caring and bloodlust other beings can show at their worst, but with none of their redeeming qualities. Other species may dip into states of conflict, while we never leave it. They may fight for politics and religion and even pettier things, but we don't need a reason to fight. The only things that keep a dragon from killing are apathy and laziness. I've seen the forces of evolution give the gift of empathy to so many different creatures. Dragons are as savage as we've always been. Over millions of years, we've remained the same. Only our ability to manipulate has grown. We're loose bands of marauders, who harry strangers, kill them for our amusement and take what's theirs when we aren't busy tearing at each other over nothing."

She didn't need any further prompting to keep talking. Indeed, more and more it seemed she wasn't even addressing her guests anymore. She'd started pacing again. Back and forth she went across the cavern, turning around abruptly on each side to go again. It had seemed like a sign of distraction before, but now it hinted at mania.

"We don't create or build things. We have no homes, only the most basic tool use, no culture, no civilization! I've seen the art your kind creates. I've seen beautiful paintings, evocative sculptures. thought-provoking stories and haunting songs created by ponies, griffons, reindeer and leviathans – but not us. There are species long-extinct that never invented the wheel and yet became much more than us. Oh but how we love shiny things, yet making something beautiful is almost impossible for our kind. Once we've scraped some precious metals and minerals from rockwalls, our wisdom is exhausted, so we fall back on taking from others. We're less than the vainest magpie or most rabid of hounds. The worst of us are clever enough to fool others with nice words and not feel a thing doing it. We're just monsters that have fooled the world into thinking we're more!"

This outburst rendered Luna all but speechless. None of the questions that echoed through her head seemed fit to ask, and none of the comments she'd have liked to make seemed like they would make a difference. She was starting to wish the Matriarch would stop, if only because her tone of voice was becoming genuinely painful in its despair. Luna wanted to do something though, so she blurted out the obvious.

"What about Steven?" she asked.

"Who?" The Matriarch stopped and swiveled to face them again. "Oh, him. There are exceptions, of course. I admire them, and I'm thankful for them, and I pity them. Most like him are killed by their parents or brood siblings before reaching maturity. I was sincere in my words to him, you know. He was never happy here among his own kind, and he should not have returned. Weakness doesn't last long among us, and he's lasted longer than I would have expected."

"Steve isn't weak," burst in Dash.

"Can't you just tell them to leave him alone?" asked Rarity hesitantly, "You could do more than that. You are their Matriarch, after all."

The Matriarch chuckled bitterly. "Do you really think I can control them? Dragons respect no laws; the only authority we have is power. By this point, my people are far too numerous to watch over. It took us a long while, but we eventually started multiplying faster than we our violent clashes could cull our numbers. Our territory begun expanding faster than it used to. Every time we spread out and appropriated the labors of others, a new generation would already be on its way to one day do the same. It has gone on that way for longer than you can possibly imagine. My predecessors, warlords all, reveled in it. I could not stop it. Finally, we reached a point where I knew we would ruin the world."

She turned around fully, sat down on her hindlegs and addressed the group directly.

"Do you find the Eternal Day uncomfortable? It's not so bad, if you think about. Celestia takes great pains to keep you all alive, with safe zones where temperatures are carefully measured for agriculture to remain viable. She is in perfect control, whereas our world would have no control. It would be a thousand thousand dragons bringing down their own fire from the sky, charring the countryside for fun and profit where ever they pleased. Your sister integrates other races into her empire instead of exterminating them. Under the reign of dragons, instead of a fascist government, you would be allowed no government. All you would have is dwindling numbers and a road to extinction as all your achievements are smashed to rubble and all your resources are used up for the benefit of others. Do you understand what I'm saying? Can you possibly grasp when you've seen nothing like this in your limited lifespans? A plague of locusts, where each locust is a dragon..."

She paused, and sighed. It sounded of inexplicable relief.

"We would, in truth, probably be better off not existing. That was my first line of thinking – how to wipe us all out. I would have had to do it myself, and – and I admit I lacked the conviction to go through with it. I talked to your sister about these matters, Princess, and I had a different idea. We were already sick, I thought, so... it seemed fitting. It seemed to be the only way to control my people, to keep us from overrunning everything, to make us more civilized. I couldn't have done it without the help of Celestia's magic. She prepared the spells according to my designs. We made it so dragons couldn't just keep breeding, because only unicorn magic can hatch live babies from our eggs. More than that, we made it so the young are raised by ponies who shape them into docile creatures. And the last centuries have proven that it is working!"

The Matriarch smiled again, but not with the same self-assurance as before. Luna couldn't quite say she was hoping for their approval, but she did seem a bit more tentative now.

"Future generations of dragons will exist in a state of symbiosis with ponies. They will be tame – not harmless, but tame. They may be put to work as warriors, but they will not grow up to menace the entire world. Their lives will be strict, but ultimately better than the mindless violence of their homeland. This arrangement has changed things even back here, actually. For the first time in history, dragons consider matters of genetic destiny. They are less likely to get into fights with the knowledge that their bloodlines could end with their deaths. Those among us who cannot adapt will kill each other off. Everything is getting better. I can't say I wasn't selfish in doing this, but it was as much for the sake of everyone else as for my people. You can see why I won't help you ruin it all, don't you?"

The whole thing was ridiculous, morally bankrupt and more than a little bit insane. On the other hoof, Luna at least thought the good intentions underlying it all were genuine. All of a sudden, it seemed like their ambition to recruit this dragon to their case was hopelessly out of reach. It didn't seem like the Matriarch would brook any argument. There was a certainty in her words that must have built up over literal ages.

Luna wondered how long the Matriarch had been living with this. She obviously wouldn't have shared what she'd said here with any other dragons, not just because their reaction might have been violent, but also perhaps because they might have lacked the intellectual and ethical capacity to understand her motives. Aside from Queen Celestia herself, the last time she'd gotten to air these dark thoughts may well have been... with Luna herself?

"This... doesn't have to be," Luna attempted, "I can see what you're trying to do, but... you're going too far! Listen, we have a similar program in our world! We take in dragon eggs and hatch them, but instead of raising the little ones as brainwashed tools of oppression, they become companions for our students of magic. They grow up to be free members of our society, and we respect them as individuals."

"Free members of your society," repeated the Matriarch dubiously, "And what happens if they don't play along? What if one of them wants to return to their people?"

"Then... we let them."

The Matriarch sneered joylessly. "That defeats the purpose of it. You're trying to entice me to your cause, but you have nothing to offer me."

"It's not just about you joining our cause," said Luna with a shake of her head. It was true as well, she realized. "The point this experiment makes is that whatever the problems of dragon society are, they're not inherent! The violence isn't in your blood! Any baby dragon can become a good person with the right nurture." She wished Spike had been there to add his voice to hers.

"There is no one to nurture them right among us," said the Matriarch. "Any dragon that tried to raise their young to be peaceful around here would get chewed up and spat out. Generally speaking, a nice dragon is also a weak dragon."

"What about you, Your Grace?" suggested Rarity, "You're not weak."

This amused the Matriarch enough to provoke a hollow laugh that went on a little too long. "Oh, but I'm not a nice dragon either! I am no better than any of the other beasts out there on the countryside! I have tried to raise my children before, of course, and many times at that. I'm afraid I am not fit to be a mother. All my attempts to set examples, to show empathy and to educate rather than punish have failed. I can't teach something I don't know. You can have others force you to change, but you can't change your own nature."

Luna didn't know what to do anymore. A full-frontal assault – a rhetorical one, of course – didn't seem like it would get them anywhere. Even though she wanted to press on, it seemed like pulling back to reassess these new revelations was the best way to go. They needed to think about whether this situation could still be salvaged, or perhaps even turned to their advantage somehow. Luna would have liked to speak to Steven some more and see if he had any advice – but how much of this they could even share with him was another big dilemma. A talk with Celestia would have been helpful too, but that wasn't really an option.

Luna looked over to her companions and realized that they were both making headway on their teens. Both were now noticeably smaller and cuter. The whole thing was so subtle and gradual that they probably hadn't even noticed it themselves. Luna hadn't. It seemed harmless enough, but staying in this cave for longer to see how far it would go did not seem like a good idea.

"So there's nothing we can say or do to change your mind about this?" Luna asked, quite uselessly.

The Matriarch returned to stand directly before them, and Luna realized that neither she, Dash nor Rarity had moved at all over the course of this conversation. As before, the Matriarch approached her in particular, but she seemed a little bit taller now, or perhaps Luna herself had lost a few inches.

"No," said the Matriarch, "Though I wish you all the best in your endeavors, and hope you and your sister and work out your differences without another war. I'll be gracious and not go out of my way to let Celestia know that you approached me. If she happens to come and visit, I will tell her, but I'm not expecting her."

Though her reptilian expression was still hard to read, Luna now had some experience to interpret her emotions. The little flicker sideways that her eyes made could have meant she was lying, but in this situation, Luna thought it indicated guilt instead. The Matriarch had promised not to betray her dear friend, after all. Despite all that she'd done, keeping this secret made her feel bad. No matter what she herself thought, she was pretty nice for someone that had flirted with the concept of genocide.

"Thank you," said Luna, "We may be back yet. And what about Steven?"

"Ah yes, 'Steven'. I would speak to him for a while. I will send him out after you."

"You gonna tell him what you told us?" asked Dash through gritted teeth. Her voice was a fair bit squeakier than usual.

"No, I think not. And neither will you."

"He deserves to know," said Dash.

"If you tell him," said the Matriarch, stepping away again, "I will kill him."

The Matriarch held herself to be the leader of the greatest evil in the world. She saw this as an almost deterministic fact, and that's why she could say what she'd just said.

The white fire that had burned over their heads all this time started fading rapidly and then flashed away entirely, leaving the Matriarch herself the only source of illumination in the cavern. Luna hadn't paid attention to it earlier, but her crystalline frame revealed a faint glow shining from her insides. Though barely there, it was enough for them to see themselves out by.



They were going to wait for Steven at the mouth of the cave, near the waterfalls.

Their age didn't immediately catch up to them on the way out, but something did seem to change, even just from turning around and heading the other way. Presumably they were surfing on the currents of time, or whatever. Without Steven to ferry them on the currents of time and the actual, physical river at that, the way back was a lot more arduous than it had to be. There was a thin stony ridge at the side of the waterway they could make use of, if they walked in a row, but it was slow going and immediately made them all wish they'd waited it out in the Matriarch's chambers. None of them talked much. At one point, either Rainbow Dash or Rarity – one of the two anyway – asked Luna what they were going to do next, but she was too hard at work thinking to pay notice or answer. She was not going to let this be. She could not be the linchpin on which Celestia's plan failed – there was too much at stake.

They were going to wait for Steven at the mouth of the cave...

When they stepped outside, someone was already there waiting for them.

They all froze, and even Luna – if pressed – would have admitted to feeling a shock of fear. Still, she stood her ground, whereas Rarity and even Dash took an instinctive step backwards into the relative safety of the tunnel.

There was a shadow looming over them. It was as if the mountain itself had bent over to have a look at them. Luna recognized it as the same dragon she'd glimpsed on unwilling journey earlier. She wondered if he recognized her as well. Had he seen here there? Was that why he was here?

"G r e e t i n g s,  l i t t l e  p o n i e s."

His voice was the bass to end all basses. It pressed down on Luna and her companions and rattled their bones even though he was making an effort to speak softly. More disconcerting than that was that he spoke with an absurd mockery of friendliness, making it clear that he knew they knew he had no chance of acting harmless. Whether he was really friendly they couldn't say yet, but he didn't seem to be hostile, and that was more than Luna would have expected. This one might have been a little harder to take down. Not impossible, but harder.

The dragon's body was the black of coal, the black of obsidian. Scales and scutes flowed into each other, looking like volcanic rock-wall. Though hardly sleek, he was also not as misshapen or disproportionate as some other dragons could be. He had no wings, and that was well and good, because Luna refused to believe something this big could fly no matter how much magic was flowing in its veins. He was lying on its stomach, one gigantic forearm casually crossed with the other.

This black dragon had two heads – but it had once had three. The head on their left and his right had been torn off, and it had been centuries since the wound had scabbed over. It was the middle head that spoke, and it was the middle head that looked down at the ponies in front of him with two gigantic red eyes. The head on their right and his left was looking down and off to the side. The remaining necks were short, quite unlike a hydra's, so the heads were placed very close to each other, but the head on the side seemed to be trying its hardest to be further away.

"Hello," said Luna, and then repeated herself, louder and stronger, "Hello!"

"W h o  m i g h t  y o u  b e?"

Luna took a deep breath. "I am Princess Luna of Equestria, here on a diplomatic mission to your Matriarch. And you are?"

The black dragon made a rumbling noise indicating understanding, but ignored her question.

"A r e n ' t  y o u  s u p p o s e d  t o  b e  d e a d?" he wondered.

Suppressing any hesitation, Luna stepped out from the mouth of the gave and took flight to approach the black dragon's head – the middle one. She stayed there in front of him, close enough to make conversation easier but not so close that he couldn't focus his gaze on her.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

The black dragon showed its fangs, each larger than Luna's whole body. Perhaps he was making an effort to be threatening, or perhaps he found her defiance amusing. There were things between his teeth that would have made great villains for horror stories.

"M y  n a m e  w o u l d  m e a n  n o t h i n g  t o  y o u.  T e l l  m e  o f  y o u r  m i s s i o n."

So Luna told the story again, this time in even more edited form. She said nothing of what the Matriarch had told them about the Doom of Dragons and her arrangement with Queen Celestia, but she made it clear the Matriarch had declined to support them. At first she did it because they didn't have anything to lose, but as she went on, she started to wonder if this was not exactly the opportunity they needed. They'd approached the Matriarch in the first place because she was dragonkind's nominal leader, but dragon society was independent enough that individuals might have joined them on their own. This would have been improbable due to their hostility – but this black dragon seemed receptive enough. He was even likely to be influentially powerful, and could perhaps press others into joining in. Everything was still open to them.

Once Luna finished explaining, the black dragon showed even more of his fangs.

"I  w i l l  h e l p  y o u."

"Just like that?" asked Luna.

The black dragon chuckled a minor earthquake.

"O f  c o u r s e  n o t.  I  w i l l  h e l p  y o u  i f  y o u  h e l p  m e."

"Then what do you want?"

"I  w a n t  d r a g o n k i n d  t o  b e  m i n e. Y o u  s h a l l  b r i n g  m e  t h e  R o c k  o f  A g e s  a n d  m a k e  m e  P a t r i a r c h."


Next chapter: Daymares.