I – The Other Stone Lands

It happened on a quiet summer's night. Ducky was awoken by Spike's rather loud snoring. In itself that was a common enough occurrence. It was what happened afterward that was less common.

Ducky yawned and stretched and frowned in Spike's direction. It was followed by a sharp glare at the rest of her siblings. How was it that they could sleep through this racket and she could not? She shifted uncomfortably and rolled around in the nest. Then she shifted and rolled around again. And again. And again.

It was at around her sixth or seventh or so different position when she saw it. She caught only a brief glimpse out of her peripheral at first. She nearly missed sight of it altogether, but she turned around and sat up just in time to get a better look.

It stood out immediately amidst the starry night sky. It appeared to be some sort of flying rock, surrounded by a bright green fire. It made a crackling sound like fire too. She only saw it for a few seconds before it flew on by and landed somewhere behind the mountain, but she had seen enough.

The following morning, Ducky gathered her friends to meet up at their usual hideaway. The tall hill with the flat, circular surface with rocks around the edges. It had been a long-time favourite place of theirs to hang out. They used to meet there in secret, when they were still keeping their interspecies friendship circle hidden from their families. It was, thankfully, no longer a secret any of them needed to carry around, but the tradition of meeting up at their tall hill hideout had remained. Not only did it offer such a nice panorama of the rest of the valley, but it was pretty quiet up there, and it was just so cozy. It was their spot.

They all sat in a semi-circle formation; Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. The hot sun beat down on them, offset by the coolness of the soothing breeze.

"So, um, why did you bring us here?" asked Cera. "You sure sounded excited about something."

"You want to play pinecone game again?" Petrie asked with a wide grin.

"Maybe later," said Ducky.

"Well, what is it then?" asked Cera, impatient yet eager.

Ducky hesitated, staring into the ever-curious faces of her friends. Then she cleared her throat and answered, "I think I saw a Stone of Cold Fire."

The initial reaction Ducky was greeted to was one of stunned silence. She waited for one of her friends to say something, but all she got were persistent bug-eyed stares.

Finally, it was Ducky herself who broke the silence. "I saw it last night. It whizzed across the sky and then landed behind one of the mountains." She struggled to think of how else to describe it, and found herself at a loss for words.

"Okay, wait," said Cera. "Another Stone of Cold Fire? Are you sure?"

Ducky nodded. "I am sure."

"Did it look similar to the stone I saw that one time?" asked Littlefoot.

"Yes, it was like how you described it," said Ducky. "Only it was green and not blue."

This was followed by another long silence where the Gang all shared uneasy glances. Ducky was relieved that they all seemed to believe her. But the question lingered… now what?

"Well, what should we do?" Cera broke the silence at last. "Should we tell the grown-ups?"

"Where did you see it land?" asked Littlefoot. He hesitated a little, then added, "If it's not far away, we might have time to sneak over there and back."

"You mean you actually want to go out and find it?" asked Cera.

"Well, sure," said Littlefoot. "Don't you?"

Despite some initial hesitation, the Gang arrived in mutual agreement that they were indeed going to investigate this mysterious new stone. It was decided that the following morning was when they'd head out. It was going to be just the five of them, as it usually was.

Pyra's eyes widened. "You're going to do what?!"

Cera sighed. "Yeah. That's how I thought you'd react."

The two sisters stared and stared at each other. Pyra's face twisted into a frown.

Cera went on, a little sheepishly. "I know how ridiculous it seems, but I think Ducky really did see this flying rock. It sounds like it really could be another Stone of Cold Fire."

"Oh, I believe it," said Pyra, though she continued to glare.

"Wait, you do?"

"Sure. I saw the flying rock last night too.

"What?!" It was Cera's turn to be surprised.

At this, Pyra gave a slightly smug grin. "I was the only one in our nest who saw it. So yeah, I believe you guys." Abruptly she frowned again. "But I still think going there is a bad idea."

"Yeah… I agree. It probably is a bad idea." Cera glanced downward and dragged one of her paws across the ground. "But I'm going anyway. So cover for me, alright?"

"And what is it you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Just… don't tell Daddy what I'm actually doing, okay?"

It was against Pyra's sharp gaze that Cera began to worry she'd made a mistake confiding in Pyra like this, and that Pyra was just going to go and tattle. But then Pyra's gaze softened. "All right, fine. I'll cover for ya."

Cera smiled softly. "Thanks." She began to leave.

"Wait, Cera."

Cera came to a stop.

"Be careful, all right?" said Pyra. "It'll be hard to cover for you if get yourself killed."

Cera grinned. "Will do. Thanks."