Gusty stood next to Ember with pursed lips. The deck of the Onyx sprawled out before them, bustling with nervous ponies. Around the airship a squadron of young dragons circled. They were large creatures, each about the size of a large cottage and sported their own color. They were splendid orange, yellow and bronze, others cool blue, and shimmering pearlescent purples or amber. Their translucent wings revealed spiny veins and brilliant windows of color as they flew about. The deck of the Onyx could perhaps house one of them at a time but those young lizards were small compared to the giants that flew alongside the vessel.

An enormous red fellow with long orange spines and oversized fangs of the same stained color flanked them on their left. His huge maw nearly the size of the bow alone. Two or three ponies could have easily fit in between his great jaws and still have room to dance. He was silent and flapped his wings with a steady grace. His shield-sized eyes were a similar pale yellowy-gold to that of Celestia’s magic. Their ultra-thin pupil blacker than night, surrounded by the ocean of twinkling jewels of iridic irregularities that were trademark of a dragon’s eyes.

His opposite, on their right, hummed an extremely low and bumbling tune. She was equally large, but her body was stockier and less serpent-like making her seem bigger. Her spines were short, blunt, and numerous, coating her back almost like a shell. They sparkled a curious robin’s eggshell of blue, in stark contrast to the patchwork of deep brown and olive scales on her body. Of her glimmering blue eyes, the one that faced the Onyx, watched the ponies on deck curiously as she floated unevenly along. Her jaunty attitude made her feel as if she was a particularly large and discolored bumblebee. The dragon’s head slowly swivelled up towards the helm where Gusty and Ember stood.

“Young Princess.” Her voice was so deep that she sounded like a teenage pony male whose voice was trying not to break as he spoke.

“Don’t call me that unless my mom is around. How many times do I have to tell you?” Ember grimaced. Her tone was not harsh but more annoyed.

The elder dragon emitted a gravelly chuckle. A smile rose to her great sapphire eyes and she wagged her head dangerously close to the deck.

“Young Princess. I am no expert on pony custom. Their lives are just so...fleeting. It is too hard to memorize all of their changing attitudes. But the last delegation was hosted by your father and the ponies did not come in some strange metal contraption filled with soldiers,” observed the giant female.

That point had not been lost on either Ember or Gusty. However, with the operation being run by Guardian Angel neither of them had the final say. However, there was a simple explanation. One that…

“They are for our protection...as in for the dragons’ protection,” Ember answered.

Gusty wanted to facehoof. The young cyan dragoness knew better than to say something so ridiculous. The dragons did not need the ponies’ protection. In fact the only real reason this great gathering was even here was to give Guardian Angel the cover needed to come along. The “protection” argument was just a euphemism for hiding himself. Evidently that bit of wordplay was lost on Ember. Or perhaps she simply was too lazy to come up with a different excuse.

“Hummm. Strange. The ponies have never been concerned about us before. Why would they change their minds? Pony magic is quite powerful, but I do not believe dragons need to be worried.” The elder female answered with grace. It was a pleasant surprise. Gusty had expected to be mocked.

“Don’t be so foolish,” rumbled the even lower tones of her compatriot in red. Disdain was evident in his voice,“Ponies gather in groups when they are scared.”

His words brought silence to the conversation. It was easy to watch the ponies on the decks grip their spears and crossbows. The dragons had no idea these soldiers were not Royal Guard, and it needed to be kept that way. A curious clop of small hooves caught Gusty’s attention and so appeared the curly pink mane of Amethyst. The teal mare scowled with disapproval. It was a look in great contrast to her daughter's gaze of awe as she peered at the dragons in wonder. Slowly the filly tore her eyes away from the great flying lizards and hopped up the stairs to the helm.

“Hey mom!” she chirped, happy regardless of her recent punishments. “How did you sleep by the way?”

Gusty stared at Amethyst in horror. She had not slept well. Her daughter had never asked that before. Her simple concern sadly confirmed what Guardian Angel and Luna had told her. Amethyst knew about her condition. The churning of her stomach solidified the realization in a cold and terrible way.

Now you see.

That terrible little voice once again echoed in her head and the numb feeling of terror that had plagued her entire night of sleep now returned. Nearly breaking into a cold sweat Gusty desperately tried to tune out the Curse’s laughter. She had thought knowing who possessed the cold, angry voice in her head would help. Somehow since she had found out the few months ago it had made it worse. Those months had drug into years and those years into centuries. Time had no meaning when her entire world was stuck in a dark spiral she had no control over.

“Mom?” Amethyst prodded her legs and broke her momentary lapse into frozen fear.

“Sorry. I was...no. No, I did not sleep well,” Gusty finally answered. She did her best to calm her features but I was obvious Amethyst was not fooled.

“Well it’s not all bad, you get to see Ashijinir again! That has to be pretty exciting! I mean I can't even imagine! Look at these two dragons, they're huge!” The filly bounced as she spoke. Her exuberance managed to make Gusty smile.

Suddenly an angry growl came from their left, echoing across the skies. An enormous snort shot smoke and soot into the air only to be whisked away by the Onyx’s propellers. However, the point was made long before the great red dragon spoke.

“Did that hatching dare to speak her Majesty’s name?!” he snarled.

The tenseness in her muscles reached a fever pitch. Gusty released a growl of her own and jumped into the air, the fear of flight converted to the fear of fight. Magic sparked from her horn before she even realized what she was doing. Her glimmering golden grip of telekinesis hit the red lizard’s throat just as she extended her wings to fly at his face. A loud slapping of wet flesh signalled his airways snapping shut as she landed on his nose. He clawed at his long neck, his eyes watering with huge tears and sparkling with surprise.

“You shall not render judgement on my daughter, hatchling.” The venom in her last word seemed to strike a chord. His eyes fixed upon her and suddenly flashed with fear.

Her voice felt distorted and strange. Gusty vaguely could hear the ponies on the deck calling out to her anxiously, asking her to stop. The world seemed to snap back into clarity and she immediately released the dragon.

“I-I...I’m sorry,” she stammered out before teleporting herself back to the deck.

Give in. Just give in. You already use me. Give in.

With a hoarse cough and a short burst of flame, her victim heaved an even breath of relief. Then the ship fell silent again. All the ponies on deck watched the dragons anxiously. Especially the one she had just assaulted. Amethyst stared at her worriedly and Ember took several steps away from her. Gusty could not blame them. After all, with the way she felt, the world was just one short mishap or slip in judgement away from catastrophe. It caused her to turn her eyes to the wooden ground below her.

“Forgive me, Great Matriarch. My memory is not as long as our Queen’s. I was fresh from the egg when Her Royal Flames lamented your passing. I did not believe you real…Did not believe you could strike such fear into the heart of a dragon.”

He paused for a moment. The tension in the air settled as he sighed. Long trails of steam exited his nostrils as he did.

“I retract my previous statement, Grellista,” he turned his head towards his counterpart on the right of the Onyx. “These ponies are not gathered out of fear of us.”

The brown, green, blue, and ugly dragon slowly started to laugh in response. She kept laughing until eventually most of the soldiers around them laughed too. Even Amethyst and Ember joined in. Gusty did not. She stood mortified, feeling supremely alone and disconnected from the situation.

The scene slowly calmed to where it was before. Boredom overtook the group and idle chatter resumed as they approached the great island and mountain that housed Ashijinir. Amethyst and Ember talked lazily in the background as Gusty stared at the ever growing mass of land wondering how much long she had until they were alighted on its surface. It took everything to just stand on the deck and not shake from her adrenaline and fear.

“Hey!” Ember’s coarse voice pulled her out of her self-loathing.

Gusty met her orange eyes with surprise.

“Why didn’t you show me some of that aggressiveness back in Canterlot? I have to agree with Rubicrix. I was still pretty skeptical of you being some sort of big badass!” the dragoness croned with pride.

“Well, It wouldn’t be fair to treat you like I did him, Ember. I would have actually hurt you!” Gusty replied with a smile.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure!” the dragoness harrumphed with smiling sarcasm.

Somehow the cyan lizard’s jolly attitude had snapped her into a better mood. Silently, she cursed the swings in her demeanor. The excitement and happiness she felt now was her real self. But, it seemed so fleeting and transient compared to the sensation of the Curse crawling around in her head, waiting to pick its moment. Same with the dread and depression, it was by far more persistent than the feelings she wanted to feel. Furrowing her brow she swore to herself that if she survived the only thing she would feel were those good things. Even with her long life, no more time would be devoted to suffering the ravages of trauma, her mind simply could take it no longer. There was a life waiting for her, she just had to reach it. That thought alone might just save her so Gusty saved it in her memory. For as long as she could make it last anyway.

“Yeeeessss,” blustered Grellista slowly, her hearty voice rumbling like distant thunder. Her brown scales rustled as she hastily made a few short flaps of her giant wings to keep her face even with the deck.

“Her majesty will be quite pleased you have aged better than the lot of us,” The great dragoness smiled.

“I still think that might be up for debate, but it will be good to see her. She was much smaller than either of you when I last saw her,” Gusty replied.

“That is difficult to picture.” Rubicrix yawned, a clear smile in his voice where there had not been one before. “Command your guards to start the descent. We are close enough now.”

Gusty did not have to say anything. As soon as the last word had exited the red giants lips did a hiss of steam and air echo across the sky. Slowly, the Onyx began to fall with a slow, controlled grace.

“Mom, come on, let's go out on the bow and take a better look at the island!” Amethyst declared giving Gusty a nudge.

She agreed with a smiling nod and followed her daughter down from the helm. Ember accompanied them, her claws clacking pleasantly on the wood. The soldiers still looked between the attending scaly flotilla suspiciously but stood out of their way as they advanced. Amethyst chose the starboard side of the vessel and quickly hopped up on her back legs, looping her front pair over the deck rail. A brief flutter of fear for her daughter’s safety took Gusty. She pushed it aside. Even if Amethyst fell the filly probably could have simply levitated herself back onto the deck. And that was if somehow she did not snag her with her golden magic herself. It was a good little worry that made Gusty feel better. Then she beheld the mountain.

For some time, the edges of sand and green had poked out against the horizon, growing with their slow pace through the sky. However, it became quite clear that the smooth ground near the ocean had been causing an optical illusion. What she had thought to be mountains in the distance was actually the enormous rock itself. She had not realized the staggering width and height of the great throne of the dragons. The size was so incredibly vast Gusty could hardly comprehend it. This was made all the more dizzying by her realization that the few clouds she had thought she had seen behind the Onyx’s balloon was actually the ice upon the massive mountain’s top. Around its tall thresholds, mist and steam pulled up into the sky in great waves. It gave the gargantuan stone an artificial life, its consistent puffs of smoke moving like the unsettled breaths of something alive.

A long girly inhale came from Amethyst. Her eyes sparkling with delight and wonder, she smiled. Gusty could not but smile too.

“It’s huge! Well, I guess it would have to be if the Queen of the Dragons can fit inside of it!” She chattered excitedly.

“Eh...Mom’s big, but the mountain is waaaaaaayyy bigger,” Ember interjected. “The great volcano is big enough to pretty comfortably fit most of the dragons inside at the same time.”

“Whoa…”

They marvelled for a long time. The speed of the Onyx did not seem to make the mountain approach any quicker and to a degree that was concerning. However, their steady descent began to make a dent in the distance, with the small talk and the pleasant hums of Grellista the trip was pleasant. The world seemed to freeze in that bright sunny moment. The harsh wind’s wild lament against the airship eased like pressure released from a valve. The faint smells of sulfur and the rich salt of the sea wafted up from below as they grew closer to the ground.

Gusty’s smile widened. The whimsical nature of the beauty before her had her bewitched. The vibrant greens of the jungle plants danced as she raked her gaze across them eagerly. The contrast of grey and black of volcanic rock, that dazzled like stained-glass in the sun reminded her of dreams that she no longer had. Amethyst jumped onto her back and plagued her with a myriad of questions about Ashijinir that she answered absent-mindedly. The relaxed feeling in her heart sang one last final note before a sudden pang of darkness swallowed her mind. The terrible orange smoke she had seen in the Palace back in Canterlot returned.

Angrily she shook it away. Paying no mind to the rest of the floating gathering, Gusty found herself lost in thought. She wished to remember more about Ashijinir than she did. The feelings in her heart told her she had cherished her great green scaly friend, like she was not only a daughter but a regent. With the great dragoness assuming such a role there was a chance for some of the old world order to be restored. Now the so-decreed hatchling Queen was no longer a babe. Over a millenia had passed since those simpler times and the realization made Gusty feel the pull of the Curse again. She grit her teeth. She was not ready to give in. She could not lose now after all this time. Everyone she cared about: the dragons, Amethyst, Guardian Angel, Bunker, Luna, Celestia, and all of ponydom were being threatened still. Threatened by her. If she was going to go she wanted them all to be preserved in her loss.

Liar.

The orange smoke did not return this time, but the voice of the Curse rang in her ears loud and clear.

Liar. Liar. Liiiiiiiar!~

Electing to ignore the song the voice made, she looked back over the deck. Her gaze settled on the open passage to the cabins. Now that the dragons had taken to escorting the Onyx, Guardian Angel had remained locked away in his cabin. The magic between them cut off and quiet, his presence known to her only because she knew he still remained on board.

He can’t help you. Just like you can’t help yourself. Liar.

Shut up. Gusty internally commanded the voice finally, her frustration forcing her to break her composure

You want to live. You’re a coward. You want the world to go back to the way it was. You know that I can get what you want. You know that you’ll love all of it. You just have to cooperate with me.

Now who is the liar? Gusty retorted to her own voice.

Oh, how she hated the sound of her Curse, how it used her own voice. She hated it almost as much as she hated herself. She nearly broke into tears at that moment but refused. She was in control, surrounded by ponies and dragons that would do everything to protect her. She did not need what the Curse offered. She never had, not even when she would repeatedly lose her memories.

Centuries had passed that way. She would see many more pass that way as well. Never would she return upon the world what the ancient Shadow-kin had put upon her. Vaguely she realized her breathing had grown short and rapid, even as the air thickened with the smell of jungle and humidity.

I do not lie. My creators knew you would forgive them, and survive all of the tragedy they heaped into your soul. But...but...my sweet, sweet alicorn you could never forgive yourself. And eventually, no matter the circumstance, it would break you. And oh how wondrous it is to feel you realize that now.

Gusty went to retort in anger but her inner voice refused to move. Her mind rattled through dozens and dozens of thoughts, none helping her. The laughter of the Curse, of her own voice, echoed for an eternity before leaving her. Gusty panted for a moment as the world seemed to focus again. The desire to scream welled- up in her chest only to dissipate into sorrowful resignation. When she looked again at the great mountain and island her eyes did not notice the colors this time, but only the crawling signs of desperate life. Dragons fought and sparred on the beaches and trees. The volcano spewed waves of thick black smoke that tinged the whole air with an acrid smoke. The whole of the beauty she had seen had disappeared as if it never existed. Even though she had just seen it, Gusty sickeningly felt that it had all been an illusion and that left her again lost in her mind trying to sort reality from fiction.

“Mom!” Amethyst hit her on the back of the neck.

It was perhaps the third time she called out to Gusty and had received no response. The elder mare jumped in surprise, only now remembering her surrogate daughter had hopped on her back. Her comprehension of time returned and she apologized leaving Amethyst to look at her warily. That only forced another icy knife of guilt into her heart. Her daughter knew how tenuous her situation, and that only made Gusty feel worse.

“Are you okay?” the filly asked.

Before Gusty could respond a deep rumble that sounded like a chuckle overtook her. Grellista turned her head to look at them. A smile played in her eyes, though it could not be seen through her fangs.

“She’s just doing a bit of...musing. It is something that anyone with such an ancient mind would do, pony hatchling. I find myself doing the same from time to time,” the great brown dragoness stated amicably.

“Oh. Okay.” Amethyst replied.

However, her eyes betrayed that she did not believe Grellista. That brought a measure of pride to Gusty. To not hop on the nearest excuse for an easy answer was something she was happy the filly had learned.

“I’m fine, punk. Little disappointed that you aren’t excited to fly with me to Ashijinir though,” Gusty recovered. She invoked Guardian Angel’s nickname for the filly with a sly grin.

“Hey! I am excited! And you can’t call me a punk! That’s…” Amethyst’s voice fell still and she leaned up into Gusty’s ear with a scowl on her face. “That’s Mr. Stormwalker’s nickname only!”

Gusty just started to laugh. Everyone present just looked at her in surprise. Her voice carried over the rustling water of the shores and waving trees like a ringing bell. Both in her earnesty and her child-like secrecy Amethyst had managed to relax her again. As she calmed the alicorn looked at the dragons around her with a wry, smile. The Onyx released a long, groaning hiss of steam as it came to a stop over the beaches as she did. The deck crew started moving about, bustling with hushed voices. They were finally there. Close to the great stone halls and hordes of gold that harbored the Queen of Fire. Somehow against all odds, she was ready. Gusty turned her eyes towards Ember and narrowed her gaze in a challenge.

“Princess, shall you show me the way to your Queen? Perhaps in a race?” She asked coyly.

The two elder dragons gasped in surprise. To her credit the cyan dragoness only rolled her eyes. Ember tapped a clawed paw on the deck making a loud set of clicks that drew the attention of one the armored ponies that milled about. He turned towards the helm and quickly nodded. Silently, a small group of golden clad Royal Guard filtered out of the crowd with a familiar face at their head. Captain Stiff Inspection and the four guardsponies stood before them in short order. The young captain bowed to Ember, before continuing to approach. This elicited an approving rumble from the red Rubicrix which compelled Gusty to turn and scowl at him. He let a wide toothy smile encompass the whole length of his long snout in response.

Stiff Inspection wasted no time. He quickly parsed through formalities and addressed the situation at hand. He offered the Royal Guard behind him as escorts to which Ember refused. Likewise, he asked Gusty who turned her head to one side in confusion. She had no need for escorting ponies. What good were they if they were to come along anyway? She could not expect them to handle her if suddenly the end came, they would just become casualties. To her at least, such was unacceptable and she informed the captain as such.

“I understand. His Lordship wished me to ask. He is preoccupied and apologies for this formal departure,” Inspection replied calmly. However, the glint in his eyes told Gusty that he maintained a healthy amount of worry in his heart. It was as if he had been instructed to follow them into the great halls of the Queen of Fire regardless.

Thus, it was to her great surprise that when Ember took to the sky that the captain remained on the deck, unmoved. Even as Gusty herself extended her wings and felt Amethyst grip to her neck tightly he stood still, willing only to dwell on the floating wood and go no further. This left the teal alicorn to wonder in silence: what in the world was Guardian Angel doing that kept him from coming to see them off? She kept thinking of the peculiarity even as she followed Ember into a dive and Amethyst loosed a long cooing howl of delight as they picked up speed.

Her daughter commented on how much she loved the increase in speed from falling flight. Gusty smiled at her, turning her head enough for the filly to catch the grin in her eyes, but enough for the alicorn to keep watching where Ember flew. And beyond the first loud yell, Amethyst remained fairly quiet afterwards. The flight was pleasant, the thick, warm air ease to fly in, they made good time towards some of the glittering rockface. Young dragons, similar in size to Ember looked up as they passed over them prompting Gusty to initiate a barrel-roll. It was unnecessary but certainly made her feel like she had some actual happiness. It helped that Amethyst squealed with delight, and perhaps a bit of fear as she did.

“I almost wasn’t ready for that!” she cried when Gusty righted herself.

She chuckled at her daughter and kept on flying, adding occasional tricks to fight boredom and an idle mind. The distance they were traveling was unknown to the alicorn, although it was not necessary information. The most important thing was moving forward and thus she continued on, the beat of her wings soft and repetitive. She watched Ember as the dragoness changed pitch in flight and started heading more directly towards a distance rockface. Beyond her sparkling scales Gusty could see a gap in the mighty purple and charcoal volcanic rock. It did not seem too large, however, as a few more minutes passed as they journeyed towards it the size seemed to grow, so did the mass of the mountain. Frankly, the scale of the volcano was difficult to comprehend. The closer she got to it, the larger it seemed to get and the smaller everything else felt.

Fortunately, their time in the sky was not wasted. Though it was slow, they finally neared the massive hole in the rockface and their descent increased. Gusty’s hooves landed on the stone with a hardy clop regardless of her controlled glide. With the sun casting its light over her shoulder, long shadows of her legs and body stretched into the darkness of the cave. As she felt Amethyst bounce a few times before jumping down to the ground herself, Gusty watched their silhouettes mirror their motion in exaggerated length. Likewise, Ember’s outline walked towards where she stood, but Gusty did not look up to meet the dragon princess’s eyes. She remained gazing at the black shapes and contours momentarily lost in her absorption of the scene.

“Well...she’s at the end of this cave, right in the heart of the volcano, that's where the horde room is,” Ember stated.

For anyone else her voice was confident, but Gusty was too accustomed to her own facade of confidence to ignore the catch in Ember’s voice. She was nervous, just as Gusty was nervous. There was enough at stake to make the alicorn want to turn around and leave. Unfortunately, she did not have that option. Thus, they moved on ahead, silently.

Slowly, the light of the sun disappeared as their shadows were absorbed by the darkness of the cave. For a little while the area was absorbed by the shadow of the cave. However, a new source of light became visible as they went further. The distant ceiling of rock sparkled with gems of hundreds of colors. Their glittering lights like stars in foreign skies, beautiful but somewhat terrifying in their unfamiliarity. The sheer volume of the gemstones allowed the distant and indirect light of the sun to fill the grand passageway with dim, but colorful reflections that lit their path through the cavern. The rainbows made Ember’s cyan scales change hues and mirror the vibrant lights that shimmered around them.

Amethyst cooed and murmured her wonder at the effect. Her awe provided a sense of child-like simplicity to the otherwise tense situation. Gusty suddenly was very happy her daughter had decided to stow away. Her presence was a strong stabilizing factor for her mind. Such remained deathly important, her ears still perked at the whispers of the Curse. The beast waited, choosing the next moment to strike her with pain and regrets. Gusty shuddered as she moved.

She shifted her thoughts to Ashijinir. The great green dragon queen made her nervous. If perhaps her mind had stored more memories beyond a nickname, and a sense of loss this would be easier. Gertrude had been easier. The memories are much stronger and much warmer compared to the cold lump that came into Gusty’s mind. However, not every sensation within her memories were sad and fearful. She remembered how Torch and Ashijinir once played in the skies. Those had been fun times, simpler times. When tackling and pinning down her scally ward was not much trouble. Ashijinir was not much larger than Ember at the time. Gusty marveled for a moment as the pace of her hooves slowed. How many thousands of years ago was that now?

If her knowledge of dragon growth rates remained accurate; to be the size of Grellista and Rubicrix meant that it was at least four thousand years. However, those two were freshly hatched when she had been captured by the Shadow-kin. Ashijinir had grown, not huge but at least large at that time. Suddenly, the terror of that battle that had seen her suffer returned to Gusty. The cries of the dying dragons stopped her in her tracks, and the shrill shrieks of the very dragon she now walked to meet came to her ears. The green dragoness had desperately come to her aid, but Gusty had told her to run, to save her species. Then she had been swallowed by darkness.

The voice of the Curse hissed with joy as she writhed in one of her most terrible memories. The moment lasted for much longer than she would have liked. She saw the red eyes of her captors as if they surrounded her once again. Out of the crowd, the silhouette of the prodigal Primivus Stormwalker and his sheer fury brought tears to her eyes and more laughter from the Curse. Dettered but not beaten, Gusty lifted her hooves and made haste towards Amethyst and Ember who had gotten ahead of her while she stopped.

Such good memories, are they not, my sweet? Hummed the Curse with malicious delight.

Leave me alone. Gusty commanded. She was hurt, but there was no comfort to be taken, so she persisted on, catching her daughter and the dragon princess.

For now….for now....

The terrible voice and its presence died away as she returned her thoughts to the present. The air inside the long chamber suddenly got warmer. Gusty turned to look over her shoulder to find their original entrance not visible. Perhaps they had turned or the slope down was simply too shallow to notice. It did not matter, the heat of the tunnel meant that they were much closer to Ashijinir.

A low grumble seemed to slowly make its way through the tunnel. Its power making Gusty wobble from the force of the vibrating air. After the rumbling wore down a great cascade of metal upon metal, clinking and clanking in a massive waterfall of coins. The sound sent butterflies spiraling their Gusty’s stomach. They were this close now and her nerves made her clinch her muscles in apprehension.

“She is on her way here? Did you see her then? Is she as I described?” The long and raspy voice of the ancient Ashijinir echoed down the stone hall.

The very rocks shook with her tones. Her powerful voice was a gift Gusty had long forgotten the Queen of Fire possessed. She never could whisper. The vague memories and the feeling of love suddenly returned to her and the alicorn again froze where she was. She did not remember Ashijinir as she was now, but she remembered how much she cared for the dragon. The awful nightmares of the battle that separated them seemed like a frivolous affair by comparison. The feeling of companionship and the chance to see a creature she cherished so put Gusty at her strongest.

Without a second thought she broke into a trot, then a gallop. Another set of hooves down and she pushed up from the stone floor and unfurled her wings. With all the speed she could muster she zipped past Amethyst and Ember and towards the growing orange light at the end of the dim tunnel of jewels. She only vaguely heard them shriek in surprise as the air she displaced hit them. Sweat formed on her brow from the humid air and her sudden exertion. It flipped off her face as she pitched her wings to allow her to turn into the chamber she could just barely feel at the end of the passage.

Then she crested the threshold of the cave and entered the grand expanse of the heart of the volcano was before her. She slammed her legs out to halt her rapid approach towards the center and quickly found the ground. She gaped. Her eyes almost unable to see all the gold and jewels that laid in a great mountain within the mountain. The reddened and wine-colored stone that appeared in layers went up and up and up in the shape of a colossal egg. And in the center of the great vaulted expanse sat Ashijinir. Her lime and emerald scales sparkling as marvelously as the pile of coin and diamond she lay on. The hiss of steam and rumble of bubbling lava that back lit the Queen of the Dragons seems to fall silent as Ashijinir looked towards her.

Without a word the great green dragon began dislodging herself from the ocean of wealth. The clacking and cluttering of millions and millions of metal pieces sounded like a chorus of tuned sand. No rhythm, only short bells and clicks. Finally, as her long tail emerged from the depths of the pile, Gusty beheld her old friend in all her splendor. While she was not as stout as Grellista she made up for it in long, extensive, lithe muscle and scale. Her size made Gusty feel unimaginably small: like a mite compared to a pony.

Slowly, and with a clear deliberateness, Ashijinir closed the distance between them before slowly encompassing Gusty in her length. Her long powerful legs and broad wings wrapped around where she stood. The alicorn did not flinch, waiting for her strange kin to settle. Once her body formed a full circle, the Queen of Fire turned her narrow skull toward her, both eyes peering at Gusty intensely. The shimmering emerald orbs betrayed heaps of worry, apprehension, and...hope. Finally lowering her head down to be as even with the alicorn as possible the dragon pulled a wing over them, casting their visages in pale green light.

With a mighty inward heave, Ashijinir drew a breath. The force of the suction of air pulled at Gusty’s fur. An equally powerful wave of hot exhale nearly pushed her mane off her head. Blinking with surprise Gusty gave the dragon a bit of a balking stare, unsure of the purpose of such a dramatic upheaval of breathing.

“I did not truly believe it,” Ashijinir suddenly and softly spoke. Her eyes seemed to twinkle with an indescribable amount of joy.

“You still smell the same. You don’t even look different, not a single sign of age.”

Gusty wanted to answer but was interrupted by an instant and disturbing action of the dragoness’ tongue. The muscle was easily twice her size and left a long sticky spit rope attached to her side where Ashijinir had violated her.

“You even taste the same!”

The giddiness could not be hidden in her voice. Ashijinir moved her wing and the ruddy light of the hot chamber hit Gusty again. The great dragon bobbed her head back and forth a deep happy hum emanating from her gullet, and rings of smoke puffing from her nostrils. However, furiously indignant did not adequately describe how Gusty felt at being licked for a taste test. What was it supposed to accomplish other than mat her fur?

“What the hell was that for!? You haven’t licked me since you were literally fresh from the egg! I had thought that perhaps some time on your own would have matured you, but I can see that that assumption was wrong! Gusty boomed with a seething hiss.

Ashijinir only responded by closing her eyes and loosing the pure ringing laughter of her deep voice. Her chuckle rattled the chamber and made the mountain of gold coins sift and fall some. Marching up to the nearest portion of the dragoness snout and rubbed her side ferociously onto it. She was sure to smear the spittle off of herself and exclusively onto the soft scales at the front of her assailant’s face. This only made Ashijinir chuckle more. She lifted up her head and slowly took to standing only on her front legs. Her chest towered over Gusty, easily fifty feet above her before the length of her neck got involved with distancing the dragon’s face from her position. Still miffed Gusty opened her wings and rapidly climbed to meet the Queen of Fire face to face again.

“You even act the same! If it, not for my size I would think that no time had passed at all! A truly joyous occasion this is!” She cheered directly into Gusty’s face in response.

Once the ringing in her ears stopped the alicorn scowled at her. The laughter that followed was stunted by the cheeky perk of the dragon’s lips locked into a closed smile. Still the rumbling merriment was at her expense and Gusty was not one for being the but of the joke. However, Ashijinir raised up a massive scaly set of claws and held it beneath Gusty for her to land on. Begrudgingly she obliged and stopped her hover.

“Ashijinir,” Gusty stated through raised and upset lips.

“Forgive me. I...I still am lost in joy and disbelief.” The green dragoness turned her head away for a moment. “I have oft dreamt of this day. I had told myself it was folly. That it were only dreams…that you were dead...that…”

The grand chamber fell silent. Gusty had no words for her friend. She understood the hurt of the heartache and the happiness she felt now. Tears rolled over her eyelashes that reflected the pitch and tumble of her emotions. She drew a sniffle and smiled at the dragon. Being with her felt like home. That alone made Gusty’s smile turn into a horsey beam even as she silently weeped. To her surprise, Ashijinir gently nosed her in response. They held the pose for a long time, and Gusty raised a hoof and wing to touch more of the emerald snout.

With a gentle purpose Ashijinir withdrew and extended her long arm away from her body. Gusty watched as the rush of air momentarily overtook her ears as she waited for her friend to speak.

“Behold, all dragon kind! Gusty Twilight. Fair Matriarch of Alicorns and Dragons alike! Back among us again!” Her voice echoed differently than before.

There was magic behind her words. It was clear that all the dragons heard their Queen’s words. A distant but great roar went up and found its way into the chamber. The whole mountain seemed to shake as the chorus struck a hearty chord. Ashijinir added her own voice and Gusty quickly added a small shield bubble around her head to keep her eardrums from completely shattering. She desperately hoped Amethyst had managed the same. From her perch Gusty looked down to find her daughter and Ember gaping at Ashijinir, a similar bit of magic around the filly’s whole body. Evidently, Amethyst had thought of the possibility long before the chorus had rang out.

“Daughter-Ember!” Ashijinir cried. The great green mass of scales moved towards the entrance where the two other beings stood and Gusty went with them, crouching down to keep from inadvertently flying off of her clawed perch.

“Of what good fortune are you comprised, sparkling princess of dragons?” the Queen spoke with jubilation to her daughter.

“Uhh…” Ember responded her face twisting into pure confusion. It was clear that she had never seen her mother be happy. That kicked a bitter pang of sadness into Gusty, but there was not much she could do for it.

“A merry and momentous occasion is upon us, Ember. Go and fetch the Elders. And tell them to bring as many Foolla Fruit as they can carry!” Ashijinir declared.

“Foolla Fruit?! Are you serious?! Are you the same Mom I had before I left?!” Ember asked hysterically. She was totally flustered. Not that Gusty could blame her. Ashijinir’s merriment had even rendered Amethyst devoid of a reaction. That was no small feat.

“Of course I am! And I declare a celebration! For at least today. Business, Gusty and I may have but I will not waste the first feeling of joy I’ve experienced in over a decade!”

Ember looked at her enormous mother for a few moments more. Her face seemed to search for any betrayal of reality. However, she did not find any and only turned her head down in defeat. She cast one last thousand yard gaze at Gusty who only shrugged and motioned for her to carry on with Ashijinir’s instruction.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon,” Ember finally replied. She turned and left without looking back.

“Make haste with your return, you shall be joining us!” the great green dragoness crowed after her daughter.

The chamber fell into a brief silence that was dashed quickly by Ashijinir. Dipping her head and rolling her long neck she hummed and cooed as if she was a giant cat. Also bringing Gusty up close to where she coordinated herself, it became obvious that Ashijinir’s focus was now on Amethyst. Gusty quickly extended her telekinesis and picked her daughter up and floated her to herself. This elicited a soft surprised ‘oh’ from the dragon who adjusted her head and claw to view them both with one of her gargantuan emerald eyes.

“Is this a relation of your’s Gusty? I did not know that any besides Princess Luna would be joining you on your visit.” Ashijinir rumbled cheerily.

Within her hoof Amethyst remained limp. However, after a moment the filly shook her head and adjusted her view towards the dragoness. She shuddered with awe and made a weak attempt at clearing her throat. Gusty hummed and gave Amethyst a nudge with her snout. It seemed to shock the budding filly out of her stupor.

“I-I’m Amethyst, I’m Gusty’s daughter,” she shakily managed. While she spoke her eyes remained locked onto the eye Ashijinir provided for them to look at.

“Quite so. A pleasure to meet you little pony. Although I am surprised you are not an alicorn.” The great green dragoness’ smile perked up the edge of her scaly eyelids and made her wagon wheel sized eye sparkle with joy.

“She is my daughter by choice, not by birth. And I couldn’t be happier with her.” Gusty sat Amethyst down.

The filly stared down at their green platform. She lifted her hooves in a random sequence raising and setting them down on Ashijinir’s claws. She seemed locked in wonder. The ancient matriarch of dragons watched her with amusement and Gusty mirrored her daughter’s movements just to see if Amethyst would notice. She did not and that made her chuckle. There was at least still a little bit of child wonder in her daughter and it made Gusty beam. They stood like this for a few moments longer before Amethyst suddenly perked up and looked at Ashijinir’s face.

“What the heck are Foolla Fruit?” the filly asked.

“Melons. Huge melons. Nearly as large as Gusty herself little filly.” Ashijinir hummed amusedly. “They are savory, sweet, and succulently juicy. However, and most importantly, they ferment.”

Amethyst’s eyes widened with comprehension. Likewise Gusty felt heat rise in her stomach. Unintentionally, her wings unfurled some and she felt dizzy. The idea of partying with all the elder dragons became quickly something that made her both anxious and excited. Worried for what might happen with her Curse. Excited for the possibility that the distraction would be powerful enough to keep anything that could happen at bay and she could be happy.

“This looks to be quite the event.” The smile in Ashijinir’s voice was palpable. The great green dragoness adjusted her long neck to look towards the great cave entrance.

The now familiar face of Grellista appeared from the dark of the cavern. In each wing she held six of the gigantic yellow and pink striped melons. She proudly strutted her thick legs and heavy body up to where they were and sat the fruit down with a bow. Ashijinir roared a pleasant greeting. Grellista returned it.

A great clamor turned Gusty’s eyes back to the entrance tunnel. Motion in the darkness showed the silhouette forms of more dragons. And from the shadows, they sprang forth marching out in lines. Most were only half of Ashijinir’s size. Some, like Grellista rivaling her in girth or length. The poured in, more and more, until Gusty spied the ruby scales of Rubicrix. Their bodies packed in close and the heat of the chamber increased leaving Gusty to sweat as if it was a sauna.

Silently, Ashijinir lowered her face in front of Gusty’s. The playful look of yesteryear was sparkled in the ancient lizard’s eyes. She waited calmly for the pony’s call to start the festivities. Gusty cast one look at the pile of melons, nearly the size of the grand throne of gold where Ashijinir still partially rested.

“Let the party begin!” Gusty declared to her dragon cohort.

A unison roar rang forth accompanied by breaths of fire and ice. The explosion of different unique colors of dragon breath held her transfixed for a time. The raucous rumble of conversation and munching of fruit overtook her ears. Ashijinir tilted her claw and prompted Gusty and Amethyst to slide down onto the rock below. Her scaly fingers quickly returned. Two of the Foolla Fruit in hand. She set one before the ponies and the other remained in her claw before being bitten by her pillar-like teeth.

“S-so...do I get to eat some of this?” Amethyst shouted her question over the growing festivities.

“Maybe.”

Next Chapter: Act 5: Chapter 9 - Secrets Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 55 Minutes