//------------------------------// // Ett sto och den drakarna // Story: Kristall Snö // by Kawat3ngusan //------------------------------// Ett sto och den drakarna A filly and the dragons It was a beautiful day, the snow was fresh and there were no clouds in the sky, the few pegasi in the village had no rain or snow plans for that day, Lumi hoofed out of the hut, and saw the various ponies and griffins coming out from the village to go for wood, the griffons naturally went hunting as they were carnivores, while Tømmer was outside the hut on his way to the frozen lake of the village to go fishing. The mare pegasus just closed the door to go back to take care of little Snö who was sleeping blissfully, and from one side of the hut she observed the six eggs that Regn had entrusted to her and stroked one, then headed towards the kitchen where she was cooking the bread. - "Mmm what a good smell, I think I'll go and get some plants from the other room, maybe a good moss and lichen soup could go well with the bread" -, Lumi went to another room to get some herbs and lichens which were kept in some baskets. - “I hope that little Kristall Snö can appreciate dragons as I did, so she can have a good life in this village away from strife and violence, dragons can protect her” -. Lumi was often busy at home preparing food, but when it was the summer she often collected plants to eat and other things that would be kept for the winter, but she did not hate this season, she was in fact happy to see the mountains and the plains full of snow, but she did not mind staying at home in the warmth of a good bonfire especially accompanied by a good loaf of excellent salty cheese. After some time Lumi heard a knock on her door, it was her friend Regn who wanted to talk to her. - "Regn, how nice to see you" - - "Don’t be exaggerated, we haven't seen each other only for two days" - - "For me it is always a tragedy not to be able to see you, you are my best friend and seeing you always fills my heart with joy" - - "That makes me happy too, how are the eggs?" - - "I keep them on one side of the house in the warmth, if I put them near the fire they would end up opening up, maybe you should stay here in the village" - - "You know that if I wanted I could, but unfortunately I have to stay close to Flod, and then the people of your village don't like me staying here" - - "I'm sorry, maybe you should take care of your eggs" - - "No, I chose you to take care of them, because you are the only pony I trust" - - "I hope not to disappoint you, I am doing my duty, and it is neither easy nor difficult, since I also have to take care of Kristall Snö" - - "How is the little filly?" - - "She sleeps often, and when she is awake her beautiful eyes are a joy to see them" - - "I hope she becomes like you too, a pony who loves dragons" - - "So do I, I hope always to be close to her, and to defend her, as I hope that dragons can always be close to her and protect her" - - "Flod wouldn't allow it, but I don't care what he says no matter what happens, I promise I'll take care of her and you" - - "I'm happy, would you like a lichen soup?" - - "For me it's fine" -, Lumi took a bowl, put the soup in it and gave it to Regn, who drank it in one gulp even though it burned, - "Ah, delicious, really good" - - "Will you stay here a little longer?" - - "Just a little longer to fly around the village, then I think I'll go back to my caves" - - "Does this mean that I won't see you until tomorrow?" - - “Don't be sad, basically we see each other anyway, right?” – Regn greeted Lumi and then flew around the village, then went east towards her caves, Lumi greeted her although the dragoness could not see her, then closed the wooden window and began to gulp down some soup and she cradled little Snö, then occasionally glanced at Regn's eggs to see if there was any movement. Another day passed and Lumi thought about going to the village pond while the other ponies and griffins were out looking for food. She took a wooden spear with her and when she got to the pond she used the spear to penetrate the ice, made a small hole, then with the right precision she tried to hit the fish under the ice with the spear, it was not easy at all since the fish were fast, but after many attempts, Lumi managed to catch a fish, and set it down on the snow to catch another. At a certain point, however, she heard a loud grunt coming beyond the big fence that crossed the village, Lumi did not notice and continued to fish, but later she heard that verse again accompanied by another similar one, intrigued she got up from the snow and she went to observe what was beyond the fence. She slowly approached and saw something in the snow, something she never wanted to see, there were Ice Changelings, they were blue and white and camouflaged in the snow, they were the same Changelings that Tømmer and the other warriors had defeated , for Lumi it was strange that there were other Changelings since the queen mother had been shot down, the only thing she did was back away, but the Changelings were approaching, so Lumi immediately ran to her wooden hut to escape, without looking behind. The sound she heard as she ran was chilling, she heard the rumblings and roars that the Changelings were making, bad luck would have it that during her run, Lumi had dropped her spear, while fleeing she tried to warn the few remaining mares and griffins. - ”Hjälp Hjälp! (Help Help) there are the Changelings, run away, run away ”-, the mares and the griffonesses opened their doors and saw Lumi escape from the Changelings. After a few seconds Lumi closed the door and bolted it with a wooden board, the poor pegasus was panting from running, but she knew that she would be safe in there, meanwhile little Snö was crying, so Lumi ran to make her calm. - "Sshhh, ssshhh, don't cry little one, don't worry, dad will soon come to save us" -. In the meantime, outside the hut the five Changelings were waiting for Lumi to come out, they looked like stray dogs waiting for their prey at the gate, some had even started beating with their hooves on the roof. The fillies and griffonesses didn't know what to do, they didn't have weapons with them, but their friend was in danger and they couldn't sit still. However, two Changelings kicked the door and knocked it down, Lumi did not know what to do, the two Changelings stood in front of her a few steps away, and they growled, she took Kristall Snö in her arms to protect her, but something else attracted their attention, the dragon eggs, and they both approached them. -Oh no- Lumi said, she could not allow those hungry beasts to eat the eggs, but in the meantime the other Changelings managed to make a hole in the roof, Lumi could not help but hurry, hugged Kristall Snö tightly and put immediately the six eggs in a bag and ran away kicking the Changelings who were in front of the door, but before fleeing, she closed the door to block the Changelings. After that she quickly ran out of the village, hoping that the Changelings would not follow her, unfortunately no one helped her, they were all terrified of the Changelings. The latter managed to get out of the hut and tried to chase the mare with the smell, unfortunately the Ice Changelings are able to smell a prey even in the middle of a snowstorm, and therefore they immediately understood where the mare had gone and ran out of the village. But just when the Changelings came out of the village, there were ponies and griffins who saw them, including Tømmer and his friend Vinge, who was the first to see that herd - “Hej! Vad händer? "(Hey! What's going on?) - - "Jag vet inte" (I don't know), it seems that there are Changelings who are escaping from our village- - "It will be better to go and see, someone may have been attacked" -. Tømmer and Vinge ran with the other ponies and griffins to see what was happening, they immediately entered the village and some mares and griffins stood in front of them, - "Those Changelings ... those horrible beasts, they attacked Lumi, she had little Snö with her and the dragon eggs and then those horrible beasts started chasing her" -, Tømmer was scared but also a little angry - “And you didn't do anything to save her? Were you just looking at her? "- - "We're sorry, we didn't know what to do, we were afraid" - - "You are all idiots, Lumi is in danger because of you" -, but Vinge stopped the pony from his anger, - "Come on Tømmer, we can still chase those Changelings, we can save your wife right away if we start running" - - “Right, let's go” -, Tømmer and Vinge and the other ponies and griffins immediately ran to chase the Changelings, and tried to run as fast as they could despite the snow, luckily Tømmer and Vinge could fly fast. They flew for about ten minutes and found a bad scene, the Changelings were piled on top of something in the snow, and around there were traces of destroyed eggs. It didn't take long to realize that the Changelings were attacking Lumi, so Tømmer and Vinge with their spears attacked those beasts. Both Tømmer and Vinge used a lot of force against them, but the Changelings were very tough, and returned to attack, but Tømmer would not allow Lumi to be in danger, so with the spear he pierced the sturdy exoskeleton of one of the Changelings and killed them all. Vinge on the other hand in addition to his spear also had his claws like any self-respecting griffin and had no difficulty in attacking the Changelings, luckily there were not many and so after a few strokes of the spear the Changelings were all dead on the snow. Vinge was excited about that little battle - "Wow, it was fantastic, since I hadn't happened to kill some Changelings, and now we have won and ..." -, Vinge had to stop celebrating because Tømmer was in despair, Lumi in fact was full of bites and scratches and she was losing a lot of blood, he took her and raised her in his hooves, he noticed that she had put herself on the little Kristall Snö and the last dragon egg that had survived, Lumi during the fight had acted as a shield with her body to protect both of them. Tømmer held Lumi very tightly then turned to Vinge, - "You take the egg and Kristall Snö, I must immediately take Lumi to the old griffoness to cure her" - -Immediately-, and Vinge did as he was told, Tømmer immediately took Lumi to the old griffoness hut so that he could heal her, the old she -griffin was not at all happy with the wounds she had, but did as Tømmer asked him and so she brought her inside to do everything possible to help the poor mare. Meanwhile Vinge had brought little Kristall Snö into her wooden cradle, the filly couldn't stop crying, even during the fight she could be heard, then Vinge put the dragon egg on top of the straw, tried to calm the filly, but it was useless, evidently little Snö wanted her mother, Tømmer came in at that moment to see how the little one was. He walked over to her and took her between his hooves, and cradled her a bit to calm her down, even though her baby wanted her mother, he managed to stop her crying. - "Don't cry little Snö, mom is just hurt, stay calm, everything will be fine, if only I hadn't gone in search of food, I shouldn't have left her alone" -, Vinge tried to cheer Tømmer, - "Don't be angry, it's my fault and that of others, we shouldn't have asked you to come, we should have left you here with your wife and then brought you something to eat" - - "No, it's my fault, I didn't have to leave her alone, it was my decision, I hope she's fine, I couldn't bear to lose Lumi" - - "Now don't beat yourself up, you'll see, she'll be fine" - - "If something happened to her, I could never forgive myself" - - "Do not say these things, and in front of your daughter" - - “Sorry, sorry, it's true, I have to think positive, if I also think that those beasts have also destroyed the eggs of Regn, now who will tell them? Who knows what dragons would be able to do "- - "It's true, Regn could understand, but Flod I don't think it would be understandable" - - "Lumi is the only one who can speak without fear with dragons, but I don't dare go near them, here we are talking about ice dragons, they are very proud creatures" - - "I don't want to think about what they would do to us when they know about their broken eggs" - - "But the fault is not ours, it was the Changelings, even the ice dragons hate those cursed creatures" - - "But the eggs were under the responsibility of Lumi, I also promised to give a hoof" - - "We will all come out, after all it is also the fault of the rest of the village" - - "It's true, they did nothing when Lumi was in danger, they all shivered with fear, they condemned her" - - "Now it’s enough, it has happened, we can only pray to the gods of the north, hoping that everything will be settled, Lumi has to do it" -. Time passed and the sky began to darken due to the clouds that were gathering, by now it was also time for dinner, but neither Tømmer nor Vinge were hungry, but little Kristall Snö was crying, she was hungry, so Tømmer poured some milk into a bowl and gave it to the filly who drank it from the tip of the bowl. After feeding her he rocked her to burp and sleep again. Time passed and Tømmer was always worried about Lumi, so he decided to go to the old griffoness hut to find out new news. He knocked and the griffoness opened, - “How is Lumi? Will she recover? "- -"Come inside"-, Tømmer did as the old she-griffin said, and when he entered he saw Lumi on a straw bed, with various bandages, on the face, on the chest, on the hooves and on the wings. Tømmer wanted to get close to touch her, but the old she-griffin stopped him. - "Don't touch her, she is still very hurt" - - “But how is she? Please tell me how she is "- - "Listen, I don't want to lie to you, unfortunately she received a lot of bites from those beasts, they sucked a lot of blood and it seems that they injected a lot of poison" - - “But… how is she? Please tell me that she is fine "- - "Now she is fine, I have done my best, I have tried to save her, but I really believe that she will not survive the night, I have tried, I’m sorry" -. Tømmer could not believe those words, he would have liked so much it to be a lie, but the griffoness repeated that it was not, the pegasus went crazy immediately wanted to be near his wife, but the old she-griffin stopped him. - “LUMI, LUMI, NEJ, NEJ (NO, NO), it's not possible, she can't die, she and I have to be together, we also have a filly, she can't leave us, what will become of us? What will I tell Regn? What will we do with the dragons when they want their eggs? "- - "Keep calm Tømmer, it is certainly not barking so that she can heal" - - “Now you talk like that, but when she was attacked what did you do? Nothing, you were all left to die of fear, YOU DID NOT DO NOTHING, you let her die, AND I WHO ALSO LEFT HER ALONE TO LOOK FOR FOOD "-. Tømmer ran out and punched in the snow with anger, he was holding back the tears, but now he started crying with pain, - "It is mostly my fault, MY FAULT, I abandoned her, it was I who condemned her, I, I, AM THE STUPID WHO CONDEMNED her" -, Vinge saw how his friend was venting and thought he was doing nothing to get him to let his anger out, Tømmer continued to beat the snow with his hooves until the griffoness called him back. -"What's up?"- - "Your wife wants to talk to you" - -"What? Does Lumi want to talk to me? "-. Tømmer approached Lumi, but the pegasus was very weak and coughing, so she could only speak to him in a low voice. - “Lumi? What's up? You shouldn't talk, you have to rest "- - "Cough, cough, I know ....... that ....... I won't make it, you don't have to lie to me" – - "Nej, nej, you have to rest, I'm sure you will make it, you just have to rest" - - "No, this is my end ... ..I won't make it" - - "Don't say that, you'll see you'll get better, and we'll be together with our little Snö" -, Lumi took Tømmer's hoof and looked at him with her right eye that was not bandaged, - "Listen to me, Tømmer, please listen to me" - - "Okay, I'll listen to you" - - "I don't have much time left, when I was attacked I tried to fly as fast as I could, but those Changelings caught up with me and bit me and I couldn't do anything, the only thing I could do is to be a shield to the little Snö and the last egg that the Changelings didn't destroy, what I want to tell you, is that nobody's fault, it happened, you can't do anything about it, my regret is that I didn't keep my commitment with Regn, I disappointed her, the Changelings broke all her eggs, but one remained, I just hope you forgive me "- - "It wasn't your fault Lumi, it was the Changelings, you did everything possible" - - "Now what I am asking of you is this, you must return the egg to Regn, and explain the truth to her, and that I am sorry to not be able to speak to her here right now, and do not forget the most important thing, our little Snö, I want you to you take care of her that she never misses anything, she must grow up as a beautiful pegasus who does not have to stop at the first difficulties, and you will make sure that she is never afraid of dragons, which are fantastic creatures, I want her to be friend with dragons as I was, you understand? "- In front of her dying partner Tømmer could hardly say no, so he promised that he would do all these things, - "I know I can trust you, I'm sure our little Snö will be a good filly" -, having said that Lumi put her hoof on her chest and went to sleep, her breathing was light, Tømmer thought about letting her sleep, and went back to his filly. Vinge didn't even ask what the old griffoness had said, because it was enough for him to have seen Tømmer's reaction to know the truth. Tømmer sat down on a chair and began to think, how could he have looked after little Kristall Snö alone? But the little filly was distinct to her mother as well as having her father's blue eyes, but he also thought that he could not say no to his wife, and that he had to do everything possible to take care of the little Snö, he had to talk to Regn, to make sure also that Kristall Snö had to deal with dragons, just like her mother, and perhaps her mother would have lived through the filly. By now the night came Lumi breathed her last breath, so the village organized a funeral, they transported the dead pegasus on a wooden cot carried by four ponies, the whole village was present, there were ponies and griffins and bisons, males and females who they wielded torches of fire. They brought Lumi near a stone stele where there was a hole to put it in, the pegasus was also wrapped in a blanket, it was Vinge who put it in, took the body and placed it in the hole, on the stele was written "Kristall Lumi, a special pegasus for ponies and dragons ". Tømmer was holding little Snö in his arms, the little one didn't know what was happening, and it was better this way, Tømmer held her tight and then greeted his wife who was now leaving them alone - "Adjö Lumi (Goodbye Lumi), I will not love any other mare besides you, I promise you that I will do everything possible to make our Snö grow well, I swear to you" -, Said that, the hole was filled and everyone began to pray for the loss of their dear pegasus. Tømmer knew that his life would not be the same as before, but he had to be strengthened precisely for his filly, he could not be demoralized, nor feel weak, nor show himself negative, he had to be strong because he had promised it to Lumi and also to himself, now he only had Kristall Snö, and for him it was already a lot, since it was the inheritance his wife had left, luckily everyone in the village promised Tømmer to help him with the baby, as they were guilty of not helping Lumi. Tømmer struggled to sleep that night, but in the morning he was awakened by a knock on the door, he thought it could be other Changelings but when he opened the door he was surprised, it was the dragoness Regn, who had come to see Lumi. Tømmer left the house and closed the door, then took Regn in front of Lumi's tomb, at first she did not understand, but then the pegasus explained to her in detail what had happened the other day, without leaving any details. Regn started to cry very loudly, put her claws on her eyes, and screamed, she couldn't believe she had lost her best friend, she was more desperate for the loss of Lumi than for that of the eggs. - "It's my fault, it's all my fault, I can't believe that this pandemonium happened one day when I didn't come, and now ... now she's gone" -, - "It's not your fault, it's my fault that I left her alone" - - "No, I also left her alone, I should have stayed here in the village, and not be with those stupid buff-blue dragons" - - "You are the wife of the boss, it is natural that you should be with him" - - "But I shouldn't have allowed my duty to keep me away from Lumi, and now ... .. now she is dead, and all because I was not with her" - - "I know how you feel, before she died Lumi asked me about things" - -"What?"- - “She told me to give you back the only egg she managed to save from the Changelings attack, and also to take care of Kristall Snö, make her grow up healthy and strong, and that she could be friends with dragons, as she was, and I don't know if I'll be able to do all these things, however, precisely for Lumi I have to do it "- -"What's the problem? I'll help you "- - "No, I could never ask you such a thing" – - "She did everything she could to save my eggs, but she was not strong enough to fight a group of Changelings, when the egg will hatch I want to take it here to the village to introduce my puppy to little Snö, so she will have a bond with my only heir "- - "Flod will not appreciate, someone as proud as he will never accept" - - "Bah, may Odin forgive him, I will not allow him to interfere anymore, precisely because I had to stay with him that I lost my best friend, I will not allow him to prevent me from seeing the only thing that Lumi has left on earth , he can grumble all he wants, but I am still his wife, and I am more powerful than him in terms of authority, and I will teach little Snö to trust dragons, to be their friend, indeed I hope she can grow up with my puppy, male or female that will be, I'll visit the village whenever I want, and if there are Changelings attacks I'll be there this time "- - “But what will happen when you tell Flod about the loss of the other eggs? Won't he be furious? He will be angry with us "- - "Don't be silly, I won't let him put a paw here, Lumi did everything to save my eggs, I certainly couldn't leave them in the midst of those buff dragons, I preferred to leave them to those I trusted most, however I should also have been there for her and the eggs, it is mainly my fault that she is gone, I will do everything to protect and raise little Snö, she reminds me so much of Lumi, as if Lumi were still among us "- - "It is very nice what you said, with your help I am sure I could do it, I too would like to see you often here, you have many memories of Lumi, and it is as if Lumi was still with me, but above all I have Kristall Snö who looks like Lumi, and she is the real living memory I have of her, and I hope she can be a smart filly, because I love her "- - "Now I'm going to take my egg to our cave, I'll be back when it hatches, but you take care of Kristall Snö in the meantime" - - "Don't worry, many creatures here in the village also promised to help me so I won't be alone" - - "Now I'm going, we'll see each other when the egg hatches" - - “See you Regn, hejdå (bye bye)” -. Regn flew away from the village to return to the cave where she lived. Unfortunately she was not warmly welcomed by her husband Flod, who wanted to know about the eggs. She almost never lied to her husband about it, but in this case she had to tell the truth, so she told the whole story to Flod, poor Regn she couldn't hold back her tears when she started talking about the death of Lumi. But Flod didn't care about that, he was infuriated to hear that story. - “OUR EGGS? WERE OUR EGGS DESTROYED? "- - "Don't scream, all the dragons are listening to you" - - "I scream all right, it's your fault, you left our eggs in the hooves of that damn mare, your friend, and look what happened, you trusted that stupid mare, and here's what happened, we only have one egg left "- - "Do not you dare to speak about Lumi, she did everything possible to defend the eggs from the Changelings, unfortunately she was not a mare who knew how to fight, the fault is mine, I have not been with her, I abandoned her and she was attacked, the fault is only mine, and now she is dead "- - "At least now that she is dead you won't go to that village anymore" - - "No, you're wrong, I'll go back, Lumi's daughter lives there, her only inheritance" - -"What? Do you want to go back there for a filly? "- - "That filly is what I have left of Lumi, she herself wanted her daughter to be friends with dragons before she died, and that's what I'm going to do, when my egg hatches, I'll introduce our little dragon or little she-dragon to little Kristall Snö "- - "You can't be serious, now that Lumi is dead you had no more reason to go to that village" - - "But I have to, I saw that filly, she is beautiful, she looks all like her mother, and I want her to be friend with dragons just like her, and if you don't like it, I can go very well in that village permanently, so I'll make sure the Changelings don't hurt anyone this time, I won't make the same mistake twice "- - "NO STOP ... OK, you won, if you really want to, do it, just be happy, I can't allow you to stay there, leaving me here alone, I won't hinder you" - - "I knew that a heart of gold was beating under that hard shell" -. Flod actually needed Regn, as he was the leader and his wife the queen of the ice dragons, and the queen couldn't stay away from the pack for too long, because Flod's leading position would suffer, but he however he was not as cold as his element, because he always loved his partner even after a long time, so he let her. 7 years later Seven years had now passed, and life was peaceful in the village, both thanks to its inhabitants and the fact that Regn scared off any hostile creatures nearby. From a house here comes a cute light blue filly, with a long tail and a thick mane of light blue and dark blue, it is our protagonist Kristall Snö, who leaves her house to go to pray at the grave of her mother, but before she leaves she goes back to the house to get a couple of things. The first things are a wooden bow and a quiver, the other thing is an ice dragon skin, it is precisely a dragon skin after a moult, and it belonged to Regn herself, who gave it to Kristall Snö years ago, as this type of skin was thrown away by the ice dragons, but Regn gave it to the filly to protect her from the cold, as unlike the Dragons of Equestria, the skins of elemental dragons have magical properties and are as light as leaves , but hard as diamond, and Kristall Snö was never without that skin, which did not even stink, indeed it smelled of snow, and even allowed her to blend into the white winter coat. Arriving in front of her mother's grave, Kristall Snö joined her front hooves and prayed, - "Great ancestors, protect my mother, whom I could not know better, unfortunately the Changelings took her away from me" -, after leaving the house Snö used to visit her mother's grave, and she often cried for not having known her. - "Mom, how much I would have liked to know many more things about you, it's not your fault, but dad always says that if I'm here, you will continue to live inside me, and you will never be forgotten, and you have also done everything to save my life to me and the last dragon egg, you will always live in my heart, even if I don't know much about you, the only things I know about you, dad, Regn and the other villagers told me, I hope may you rest in peace, vila i fred, mamma (rest in peace, mother) "- Kristall Snö got up from the snow and stared at her mother's grave, above the tombstone was a necklace made of ice dragon's teeth, those teeth belonged to Regn, she herself created it with her old teeth to leave something to her dear friend. Kristall Snö put the quiver back in place and walked into the forest near the village where her father Tømmer was waiting for her. The pegasus stood near a tree, and then turned to her daughter, - "Here you are Kristall Snö, I see you lingered at your mother's grave" - - "I have to do it father, my mother saved my life, I have to honor her" - - "It is true, but it is also true that you must learn to defend yourself, I will not allow you to be attacked like your mother, you will still be a small filly, but you must learn to use some weapons" - - "Dad, I'm no longer small, I'm seven years old now" - - "And that's why you have to learn to defend yourself, now take your bow" -, Kristall Snö took a pose, flapped her wings to stay a few centimeters from the snow, then took an arrow with one hoof and held the bow steady with the other, her father asked her to aim for the bark of a tree. - "Concentrate, Kristall, aim well with one eye and observe well where you will point with your arrow" -, Kristall Snö shot the arrow, but the latter ended up just a few centimeters from the tree and stuck in the snow, the filly did not understand what she had done wrong, her father consoled her, - "You don't have to be sad Kristall, it can happen the first few times, I waited until you were older to let you use a bow, you just have to concentrate better, make another attempt, and if you can't, do another one, until you can, but keep in mind that you must always keep yourself in training if you always want to be ready to defend yourself from an attack by the Changelings, or by other ferocious beasts "-, Kristall Snö took courage, and started shooting another arrow again, but she shot too much to the right and missed the trunk, she shot again but this time she aimed too much to the left, she tried another arrow, but not even with this one she succeeded to hit the bark, the father stood next to her and helped her to hold both the bow and the arrow, Snö managed to shoot it without shaking but the arrow hit the base of the tree. - "It seems that the bow is not for me" - - "Honey, you don't have to give up, just train and you'll see that you will succeed, after all you managed to hit the tree, right?" - - "Yes, but only because you helped me, dad" - - "You will see that you will be able to shoot arrows by yourself, remember, aim your target well, keep the string taut, and then let go the arrow" -, Tømmer and Kristall Snö took their belongings and returned to the village, but just before entering the village they saw two familiar figures greeting them from afar in the snow. The first was Regn, the second was a dragon neither small nor large, but a little bigger than Kristall Snö, it was a dragon with light blue scales and a yellow belly, Kristall Snö ran to meet him, - "Sven, Sven, you came" -, the young dragon in question was called Sven, and he was the only heir of Regn and Flod, practically the last surviving egg, Sven unlike his father was always happy to be able to visit the pony village, since his mother taught him to accept the interactions between the two races. To Sven, Kristall Snö was like a sister, and he knew he was born by Lumi's sacrifice, he was not gruff like Flod, but kind like Regn, only when he was among the dragons he become equal to his father. Sven hugged Kristall Snö tightly and was happy, - "It's nice to see you Kristall" - - "It's nice for me to see you too, my brother" -, Sven put down Kristall to talk to her better, - "What are you doing outside the village?" - - "My father was training me with the bow" – - “Are you starting to learn to defend yourself? Great, but remember, if anything happens your big brother Sven will always be here to protect you "- - "Dad says that I must also count on my strength, you will not always be here" - - "Maybe it's true, but I won't let anyone twist your hair" -, Regn gestured for them to enter the village. None of the inhabitants were scared anymore by the presence of the dragons, apart from the fact that it was only Regn and Sven to visit, especially the dragoness who wanted to see Kristall Snö every now and then, and of course pray in front of the grave of her friend Lumi. Most of the time Regn stood in front of the grave with a melancholy way, and sometimes Tømmer kept her company, but the pegasus did not want to stay too long in front of that tombstone, because otherwise he would have started crying, and then he would have to do in the house, although now that Kristall was old enough she could very well help her father. Kristall and Sven instead enjoyed playing in the snow, and also fishing in the village lake, Regn was happy for these moments, even if they didn't last long, because after all he couldn't stay away from his pack for long, especially after Sven was born. But Regn didn't care, she loved that village, and Sven and Kristall were always happy to spend time together The pegasus and the young dragon sat down, facing the lake and began to fish, and in the meantime they talked. - "Sven?" - -"Yup? Kristall? "- - "When one day you will be the leader of the dragons will you become like your father?" - - "Dad says it's too early for a fire trail, we'll have to wait when I'm older, he'll decide" - - "What is a fire trail?" - - "It is a test to measure the physical strength and speed of a dragon, you have to overcome obstacles, fly, and all to retrieve a scepter that one of the elder dragons has hidden" - - "Hidden where?" - - "This is not known, my father is training me for when that day comes, the training he makes me do is very tiring, but he says he does it for my good, he wants that when it happens I will have to be ready, he wants absolutely that I can take his place someday "- - "Do you think that day I will be able to attend the Fire trial?" - - "It's something reserved for dragons, I don't think my father would let you see it, just as he doesn't want you to come and see our lair" – - "Your father is very mean to me" - - "You don't have to be angry with him, he's like that, he doesn't like being with ponies, since not everyone accepts dragons like in your village, and he's a very proud guy, he doesn't like to show his feelings, not even with my mother and me, but you must not hate him "- - "I was hoping to see you on the day of the test, I would have liked to cheer for you" - - "In reality it is not that the ponies cannot see it, there is no written law prohibiting it, but it is well known that they cannot participate in it" -, Kristall noticed that Sven was able to catch a fish while he was talking, while she did not, she got up from the ground and took her rod, - "See you near my house, I have to go" - -"Why? Stay a little longer "- - "I can not catch even a fish, it is useless to be here" -. Kristall walked up to her wooden house, and put down her fishing rod, then she flew to the roof and sat staring at the mountains. A few moments later, Regn saw her and approached her. - "Hello little Snö, what are you doing on the roof of your house?" - - "Regn, please, I'm not so small anymore, I'm seven years old" - - "For me and for your mother you will always be a filly, since you were born you were not afraid of me" - - "I ... ..I don't know anything about my mother" - - "Ooooh, poor little one" - - "I know that everything I know I learned from you and from dad, but I would have liked to know her so much to have memories of her, the only thing I remember about her was her voice when she sang songs to me to make me fall asleep "-, Regn took Kristall in her hands and caressed her and then gave her a kiss, - "Little Snö, don't feel sad, your mother still lives inside you, and I will always be there for you, as if I were a mother for you" - - “Sniff, seriously? Like a mother? "- - "If you want you can also call me mom, and don't worry about what Flod would say, I am more powerful than him in terms of authority, he would be lost without me" - -"Really?"- - "I know that he is the leader of the ice dragons, but I'm still his wife, and he wouldn't want to see me angry, he's a tough head, but deep down he loves me, like his son Sven, and I'm sure that he loves you too, in fact you know what we will do next time we come here? I'll take you to my pack "- - "But Flod doesn't want me to be there" - - “It doesn't matter what he says, I say so, and you know it? Next time some old friends of Flod will come to visit us, they are a pack of fire dragons from Múspellsheimr "-, Kristall was a bit perplexed by that word, she dropped from Regn's hands and sat down on the snow, - "What is a Múspellsheimr?" - - "But how….don't you know the nine kingdoms that surround us?" - - "No, I don't know anything about it, which kingdoms?" -, - "Mmm, I guess here in your village you don't have this belief, it is more the Vikings who live on the coasts who have this knowledge, you who pray?" - - "We pray to our ancestors, we have no gods" - - "In fact, I never talked about these things with your mother, Regn took a twig he had found nearby and drew nine circles in the snow, - "You must know that in our lands there are nine kingdoms, where different races live, there is for example Ásaheimr up here where Ásgardr is located, the kingdom of the pony god Odin, then there is Álfheimr, the kingdom of the light elves, the Svartálfaheimr, the realms of the dwarfs and the dark elves, then there is the Jǫtunheimr, the realm of the ancient giant rock dragons, the Vanaheimr, the realm of the Vani, further down to everything there is the Helheimr, the realm of the dead, returning further up there is the Múspellsheimr, the realm of fire where the giant fire dragons lived, then there is the Niflheimr, the realm of the giant ice dragons, where I was born, and finally here in the center is the kingdom where you live and where we live now that is Midgardr, where races such as ponies, griffins, yaks and even dragons live "- - "So you come from another kingdom?" - - "Exactly, Kristall Snö, I come from Niflheimr, a kingdom made of ice, I was born there, and so was Flod, but one day my family and I decided to come here to Midgardr, and then we were so happy that we never left, we always lived in the mountains and we created our clan, but now after so many years, our old friends come to visit us from Múspellsheimr, and they are fire dragons, they would like to see some of us again- - "And what I will do?" - - "I would like to introduce you to them, even if they are dragons of another element, I want you to meet other dragons, and to welcome them here in Midgardr as the representative of the ponies" - - "But Flod ... would he approve?" – - "Leave him alone, only what I told you counts, in fact we don't tell him anything, I'll come and get you the same day we meet the dragons" - - "But ... are there really giant dragons in the other realms?" - - "Almost all of them have disappeared, Kristall, and then they would never leave their kingdom, but when I was little there were many, the reason for their disappearance is unknown to me" - - "It will be a fantastic experience, I can't wait" - - "I'll talk to your father, it's right that he knows where you will be that day" -, Regn went to find Tømmer, while Sven wanted to talk to Kristall Snö again. The filly said everything Regn had said to her, Sven was surprised, - "I didn't ... ..I didn't expect my mother to tell you about our friends of the fire" - -"Why? Does Flod told you? "- - "He thinks that ponies can kill dragons, after all not all peoples accept our race" - - "I will be the only one, in fact Mom would have liked me to have contact with dragons, instead of being afraid of them, I would be happy to be able to be friends with them" - - "You will see, you will like them, I already have friends in that pack, there are two dragons younger than me, they are a brother and a sister, they are called Lapillus and Lava, and they also have an older brother called Flail, and their father is the leader of the fire dragons, it is him who is my father's friend "- - "I can't wait to see these dragons" - - "But it's better if you don't bring your bow, otherwise they'll think badly of you, as long as my mother and I will be there to protect you" - -"Got it!"-. To be continued….. My little pony By Lauren Faust & Hasbro