I glide on thermals for as long as I can before flapping to maintain altitude. The land beneath was slowly getting flatter and grassier. Here and there I can spot little wicker huts with little ponies going on in their day to day lives. Must be simpler down there, living on the grassy plains with naught but a hut and your family. Wild ponies one and all however. They’d bite you as soon as look at you. I hum in thought as one glances up at me when my shadow passes over. I wave and I see the hint of a smile as he waves back at me. I flap once and accelerate past his hut with a piercing whistle. The pony whistles back and I keep flying.
Soon I’m past the grassland and the ground turns barren before my eyes. Sharp rocks with jagged edges jut out of the ground and charred remnants of skeletons litter the ground here and there. It always makes me shiver to imagine that one day one of the skeletons could be mine. I draw in a sharp breath and fly over the shattered spires of rock with hardened resolve. Fear won’t get me anything here in the Dragonlands. I fly on into the sweltering warmth aiming towards a lonely mountain. The sky around it is conspicuously clear of any smoke. In the land of smoke and fire this is a considered a bad sign. I don my mage sight glasses and examine the area for intense magical residue. Nothing, no traps nor sign of life. I frown and fly closer circling the stony spire until I find the entrance, a deep dark hole surrounded by scorch marks and furrows in the ground where something was dragged out kicking and screaming. I swallow nervously and step into the darkened cave. As I walk deeper into it a sickening stench assaults my nostrils and I gag. Coughing with watery eyes I walk on into the central cave. There, directly below a crack in the ceiling in a patch of golden sunlight is a horrifying sight, the wyvern I was sent to hunt strung up and roasted to death. Scales shattered and peeled off. A message written in sticky, blackened blood reads ‘Justice has been dealt peacekeeper. You may return home. Do not dally long in the dragon lands or we shall serve you justice as well.’
I clench my eyes shut and puke violently. “They… I… Oh gods...” I wipe my mouth and stiffly turn away and run from the sight. This is why I don’t like dealing with dragons, the brutality they can commit on a whim. I run out of the cave and jump into the air with a few harsh flaps and tear through the sky. “Murderous… but I cannot condemn them. Not with my orders.” I head back home, leaving this place behind. May he rest alongside the path I suppose. That niggling little feeling of shame sticks with me for the whole flight. Shame that I was grateful to the dragons who did that. I frown and fly just a little faster so I can get out of there as quick as possible. Soon I’m soaring through clear blue skies, the smoke-clouds of the dragons far behind. Eventually I feel the tingle that signifies return to Equestrian lands. The warmth of home for many, each nation’s magic has it’s own special feel to it. Which, unless you’re traveling you’d never know. The plains of grass soon pass by again and I put on extra speed, the wind howling in my ears as it pushes with me cutting through the once still air.
All too soon for my liking I have to land and rest, letting my wings take a break as I snack on some granola. I lay down and rest my head on my hooves. Twenty minutes later I’m a tangled heap of pegasus on the ground who just can’t sleep. I groan and roll over again reaching for the plushy and squeeze it to my chest, seeking comfort from it. I don’t fall asleep, my mind dwelling on the dragon justice. The trip back isn’t as joyful as it was out here, I resolve to rest my wings by walking so I can keep moving. Some pegasi would look at me strangely for that statement. ‘you can still get places without your wings?’ is what I imagine they’ll say. Silly ponies. I smirk briefly at the thought and pick up the pace, cantering speedily to the place I call home so I can drop off a few things I will no longer need. It does take a little longer trotting there, but it’s quicker than repeatedly overworking my wings and waiting until they’re rested enough.
“I wander on~ Eternal as always~” I flick my wing out and jump lightly, after having my silly little moment I shrug and keep trotting forwards. Little happens on the trot home, though I did make a fair bit when I stopped at a coastal village and fished with them for awhile. Fishing isn’t a bad way to live, not by a long shot. After the short break in the fishing town I get back on my journeys with a fresh pack of food and a hop in my trot. Eventually I get back to the rolling foothills of Hoofington and enter my humble shack, setting my saddlebags by the door and flopping onto the couch to relax for a bit. Eventually I reach out with a lazy wing and flip the lid of my chest up glancing in for a time before rolling off the couch and nuzzling my saddlebag open and tossing a few carefully wrapped packages into the chest and locking it carefully. I look around at the plain walls of my shack, painted in a dull beige.
I sigh, “Gotta paint these walls one day. So dreary...” The new Wonderbolts plushy goes on the couch positioned carefully so it looks like it sitting next to me. I hum at the little blue thing and smile fondly. “You’re a special little thing ain’t ya?” I fidget for a while taking in the calm my little home has. I glance around at the single room again and sigh, glancing at the bed and couch before staring at my cooking cabinet. “Maybe some tea? Maybe tomorrow.” I hop into my cozy little bed and curl up seeking happy dreams.