> The Dragon And The Pony
>  by Azure Drache
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> First met
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I opened the door to the worn out tavern that day, of course I wasn’t aware of how much it would change my life, forever. And truely, how could I have known?

It started out with the usual, I entered the tavern, there were the typical gasps from the crowd, the sound of dropped beer cans, the fearful silence that followed, then the anticipation for something to happen.

Trust me, it was a rather common occurrence in those days, for me that is. I am a black dragon, for those who don’t know, that means I am nearly as tall as the largest minotaurs, that is when I walk on all four like I normally do. I not only have sharp teeth and claws, I am also covered in shiny black scales which are as thick and as durable as steel, believe me, you don’t want to mess with me at all. And that’s not even mentioning my fire breath and other natural weapons. There is a reason they call us one of the deadliest and most feared creatures. I also got a nickname, a good one if I may add, they called me: The Black Death. 

Yes, you may say they’re exaggerating... but they aren’t. I would brag with how awesome I was … am, but this story is not about me, well not only me, so let me continue.

After a moment which I used to let the crowd have a good look at me, I let my gaze wander around. 

I was greeted to a view I had grown quite accustomed to. 

The scum of society; thieves, robbers, murders. In short, everything that makes such places homely. And the best part was, they all feared me. Oh it felt so good back in the days, as a black dragon, I simple loved being feared and respected.

But I digress. Of course, this was when I was younger. I was so proud, of all the fame I gathered,  the reputation, all… oh pardon, right, back to the story. 

Anyhow, that day, something was different. Even I didn’t noticed at first. I chose a table, the one that looked to be the best for me and headed towards it. The fact it was already taken didn’t matter, not to me anyway. 

Before I got there to get rid of the griffons who were currently occupying the seats, a melodic voice called out for me. Not that I noticed, I was far to arrogant and focused on my objective to even recognize that some creature had dared to address me. 

But the voice addressed me once more, louder this time. “Hey, over here, mister dragon!”

Slowly, very slowly, I turned my head around to the origin of the voice. I learned over the years that even this simple gesture of addressing others in my own time increased the fear creatures had for me by a large margin.

What I saw, however, surprised me deeply.

There was a creature I had never seen before. It was small, maybe three fourths the size of a griffon, with a coat of ocher fur. It had wings like a gryphon, covered in feathers. At the moment they were bound though. Its hair was a dark brown, maybe with some parts going into black, I wasn’t sure at that moment. It also had hooves like a minotaur, but at both fore and rear legs, there was no paws or claws, not even hands. 

Even today I adore those feathery wings, you can never find anything that soft and playful in all the world. Hehe, but I get ahead or myself, let me return to the story

The strange creature was currently being held down by two minotaurs, one of them was holding its throat, pressing its back onto the table while the other held its rear-legs, for what reason they were doing this I didn’t care to guess. It wasn’t really a hard job for them though, considering the creatures legs were all bound together, while the wings were tied against its body.

While I still wondered what this creature could be, it spoke again.

“I am sorry for being late for our date,” it fought against its captors to raise one of its forelegs, “got tangled up in business.”

That was the understatement of the century. I wouldn’t call being completely bound and helpless a bit tangled up. More so, it seemed these minotaurs where going to cut the creatures throat soon, at least one of them had tried to grab his axe whenever the pegasus stopped struggling so hard.

That was before I entered the tavern and every creature stopped what they were doing. 

So I had actually saved that creatures life, even it wasn’t my intention. It was a mistake I was going to correct rather quickly. After all, this creature had the audacity to speak to me in a common tone, in public of all places, where I had a reputation to keep.

I couldn't help but growl a little as I changed my direction to where the mismatched group was. I never appreciated having to change my actions and go out of my way to suit others. 

When I got near, the two minotaurs moved away from the bound creature, not willing to test their luck trying to fight me. I admit, a clever choice. 

Without the minotaurs holding it down, or rather, holding her down, as I soon learned the creature was female. My past self of course did not know yet, but it feels weird to keep calling her “it” all the time, doesn’t it? 

Anyway, she tried to sit herself upright and get rid of her bonds, but was pushed back onto the table by my claw before she could make any real progress. 

I could have ended it right there, a simple swipe of my claw, or a quick bite to the neck and everything would be over… but for some reason, my curiosity won over my desire to show this creature the consequence its mistake would normally have.

Looking back, I’m glad that my curiosity won out. Now listen carefully…

When my claw came in contact with her soft fur, it sunk right into her chest fluff. Not many creatures have those, you know? And those who do, meh, they are not even nearly as soft as hers, or so clean if we are speaking of minotaurs anyway. 

But hers? It was warm and fluffy to touch, leaving a feeling of immense pleasure on my scales.

Feeling this I began to reconsider my first intention to harm her. Taking a second look, everything about this creature, I mean her, seemed to be made with the sole intention of being cuddly.

Not only her soft fur, or her half curly main hair, a mane as I know today, but also her tail, bushy and long compared to her general size and more than anything else her wings… so many fleecy feathers.

Forgive me if I am purring while I tell you this, but if you ever touched those feathers... 

Well… ,so I began to feel her up with my free claw, fascinated by the pleasurable sensations her fur sent through my scales.

Ignoring my inspection of her body, she said, “I know you are upset for me being late, but I really tried to be on time, really!”

Like I said, I had never seen her before. Why did she pretend to have a date with me? I didn’t know.

What I did notice however, was how little respect she was giving me. I was currently pinning her to the table, displaying my dominance and superiority, and she had the audacity to speak to me like I was her equal, or worse… her friend. My annoyance had returned with this development.

I let my claw sink deeper into her belly fur, ready to cut her open. 

Normally, my victims began to panic, screaming for mercy or trying to flee. She, however, spoke on, not even her heartbeat increasing from what I could tell, though, it was elevated before I even placed my claws on her.

“But still this is my business, you promised to not interfere in my affairs!” Now her voice had shifted to an accusing tone.

Such insolence! I couldn’t believe my ears at first, had she really said that? In that tone?

My first instinct was to sink my teeth into the flesh of her underbelly. Perhaps the pain it would cause would remind her how to behave in the presence of her betters!

My intention must have been obvious as one of the minotaurs pushed forward with a scream and swung his axe at my right shoulder. 

How foolish, aiming for my shoulder of all places. Why not strike at my tail if he was deciding to waste my time anyway?

Still, I must admit, I had made a mistake by thinking they would have killed her without me showing up, considering he put his life at stake in a bumbling attempt to hinder me from ending it.

Quickly, I whipped my tail around and struck the axe. I barely needed to use any force to redirect the path of the axe. The minotaur failed to recognise what I had done, causing him to continue with his altered course, embing the axe deep into the table the creature was laying on. 

The creature hastily moved to the side as best as she could, the minotaur no longer seemed to be concerned with her, nor of the axe he had wielded against me. 

Rather, his gaze hung on my claw, embedded deep into his chest.

Hey, don’t judge me okay? He started it, I only defended myself. Well, yes, of course I could have spared his life and just knocked him out or so, but seriously, who do you think I am? The protector of widows and orphans? Please!

A bloody cough escaped his mouth when I pulled back my claw before he dropped to the ground shortly after.

“Noooo!” suddenly the other minotaur screamed, grabbing his axe and storming forward. 

Had everyone lost their will to live that day? I really wondered where the sudden desire for death had come from, till I noticed how similar these two minotaurs looked. 

Were they brothers? This thoughts suddenly crossed my mind. 

It didn’t matter.

This one, as a pleasant surprise, had enough brain to use the full range of his weapon, even in his rage.

He held it at the very end of the shaft, giving him some distance between me and him. He may have thought he would be able to stay out of range for my claws, and, he was right. 

He hadn’t considered the spikes at the end of my wings though.

I will say that the speed that he had wanted to use his axe with was considerable. However, I was faster impaling him with the spike on my wing before he could pose any real threat. I had aimed for his throat, but missed and hit his upper chest instead. His heavy axe had slipped from his grip when I hit him and flew behind me, producing the sound of something wooden cracking.

You don’t survive as long as I have in places like this without knowing how to fight. As thick as my scales are, I know they can’t protect me from everything, just saying.

I lifted the minotaur up, and damn, he was heavy. If it wouldn’t have been public I would have stepped closer or used my claws to lighten the load my wing was lifting. Unfortunately I had a reputation to keep and any sign of weakness was unacceptable.

Though, he was not dead yet.

He still had the guts to fight, grabbing my wing with both hands and trying to push himself off of it. 

So much willpower… even I respect that.

I mean, we both knew that wound was already deadly and still he fights the inevitable. 

That demanded an reward.

Pulling him closer with my wing, I brought his face directly in front of mine. 

Our gaze met.

So much hate... 

Definitely brothers, or, gay lovers, but I think brothers was more likely.

Again it didn’t really matter.

With a quick strike of my claw, I pierced his lower jaw and drove it into his skull, assuring the minotaur died instantly. 

You very well could say he let the dispute go through his head again.

Hey, I said don’t judge me, it is an reward. A quick death, no longer suffering. Eh, maybe you need to be a dragon to understand.

Anyhow…

When the light in his eyes faded, I dropped his dead body, cleaned my claws on his clothes and looked around. 

As expected, I was the center of attention, but no one seemed to really care about the death of the minotaurs.

In a place like this, death may be a common sight after all.

That was, except for one creature that seemed to very much care about the minotaur’s deaths. A griffon was trying to slowly move backwards from where the fight had been, until a wall behind him stopped his retreat.

I hadn’t really noticed him before, but thinking back on it, I think I remember him standing next to that new creature when she addressed me the first time. 

Well, as long as he didn’t interfere with me or my newest prey I would let him live.

I am not a mindless killer, mind you. If I can find an easier solution I’ll use it. It just so happens that there are few solutions easier than violence, hey, not my fault.

Speaking of which, the creature had used the little distraction to halfway sit up and free its forelegs.

It was just about to free its other pair of legs when my claw landed on its chest and pressed it back onto the table. The fact I had been so rudely interrupted didn’t meant that I was finished with this creature, far from it. I had not forgotten how much she had annoyed me.

She of course tried to talk her way out of this and started to speak, only for me to cut her off with a growl as I brought my muzzle meer centimeters from hers. Baring my sharp teeth to make it clear she was only alive because I hadn’t gotten around to changing that yet, and it would be in her best interest to not add oil to that fire. 

She gulped and remained silent.

Satisfied with her reaction, my anger abated enough for my curiosity to take over again. Or it could simply be that my bloodlust had been sated by the deaths of the two minotaurs, both could be true.

Be it as it will, I started to inspect the creatures body further. 

Even back then, I took an unreasonable interest in her wings, so it was only natural I continued my examination there. I used my free claw to cut off the rope around her belly and grabbed her right wing. I stretched it out and played with her fleecy feathers for a moment. When I brushed over them, they playfully sprung back into position. 

It was so fascinating! 

Again I wondered, what kind of creature is this? Like I noticed before, everything about her seemed to just serve the purpose of being cuddly or cute.

Letting go of her feathers I moved around the table and stopped at the other end, giving her fluffy brown tail a closer look. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything about it to hold my interest besides the fact that it was indeed soft to touch. I stroked it a few times but then quickly lost interest.

It was at this moment that I finally noticed that this creature was female.

Yes, I told you already, but back then, it was then that I realised it.

I know, I should have already known from the soft voice and perhaps from the shape of her body if I only had a bit more experience with this kind of species. Well, now with a good view, I had no doubt in my mind that this was a female, since I learned some time ago what non-scaly females looked like down there.

When she, I mean the creature, noticed my attention was on her very private parts, she tried to cover them with her tail and hind legs.

I bet you could guess that this didn’t get my approval in any form!

I growled deeply, baring my fangs even more than last time. I mean, what would everyone think if I let some creature hide her good parts from my gaze, huh? Besides, I enjoyed the view, regardless of the fact that she was from a different species.

With me showing the heavy signs of annoyance, she started to sweat. I admit, it was impressive how she had played cool the first time I gave her attention, now however, she knew I was pissed.

I underlined that impression by ripping off big chunk of wood from the table.

Finally, she looked to the side and removed the obstructions she had placed between us that blocked my view of her privates.

Much better.

Not that I had planned to take advantage of that, not in public, I do have standards, but my male pride was satisfied.

Spending a few moments, enjoying the view, I thought about what I wanted to do with her. There was still the idea of killing her… In my defense, back then, that was how I solved most of my problems. 

On the other claw, my interest in this creature was growing stronger and stronger, I wanted to cuddle it. No, that is nothing I be ashamed of, dragons do collect valuable things and something this cuddly, well, you get the idea.

Putting that thought on the backburner, I moved on and completed my examination of her, stopping by her head again. 

In the meantime her face had turned red. 

My, my, she showed very little signs of fear previously, but shame, shame she was able to feel in spades. 

So adorable!

Without noticing, I had started to purr. Now that was embarrassing, black dragons didn’t purr! What kind of behaviour would that be for a predator species like me, huh? No one would scream ‘look the Black Death, run for your life’ anymore, instead, ‘oh look, the purring lizard.’

No, not with me!

So when I realized I was purring, I knew I had to end it, immediately!

I lowered my head, moved it along her throat and down her underbelly, stopping an inch above her stomach, ready to bite.

And what did she do? She licked my throat! I tell you, there was me, going to kill her and all she was doing was licking my damn throat. Oh and if that wasn’t enough, she also used her soft feathers to stroke the side of my neck, several centimeters above where it met my torso

This damn, clever, seductive pegasus! Yeah, I know I didn't know that her species was called pegasus at the time but I do now, so let me use the right name.

No one had ever tried to seduce me this shamelessly and directly before. No, I am not a virgin, I had some fun already, why do you think I was able to play this cool by looking at her private parts, huh? But still, this level of softness, cuteness, fluffyness… 

Urg, this is the reason she calls me big softy sometimes.

Anyhow, I stopped my attempt to kill her that moment and enjoyed her caresses instead. What I didn’t enjoy though was that fact that I had begun to purr again. How embarrassing! I can’t do much to control it though, not even today.

When I felt I had damaged my reputation enough, I pulled back my head, straighten up, and looked down on her. 

Did I mentioned her big, hazelnut coloured eyes? Really, considering how small she was, her eyes were huge, way too big for her little head. Like I said, made to be cute would be a good description for the pegasus species.

I don’t remember what I was trying to say at that moment, it was blown away. When our gaze met after her tender acts of affection, I was in great danger to get lost in these eyes.

Coming back to reality I realised neither of us had moved for some time. Remembering what she had said earlier I figured I might as well play along with her little ruse of us having a date planned. Besides, after that little show I was confused more than anything. “The dinner got cold while I waited for you!” I sent a little cloud of smoke out of my nostrils with these words, dragon, remember? “You promised to be on time!”

It took her a moment to follow my sudden change of mind, but when she understood I was playing along with her story, she quickly got into character. “Hey, it was not my fault, it was his!” She pointed at the griffon that had tried to back away earlier.

With my attention shifted to him the griffon squeaked and tried to run. 

A sudden breath of fire along the path he was taking had the gryphon jump back in shock, unwilling to tempt me to actually aim for him.

“Don’t you dare!” I growled, gesturing for him to immediately come back to the table.

Hesitantly, he followed my unspoken order, his eyes moving quickly around, looking for a way to escape.

“I… I... “ he gulped, “I have done nothing wrong,” he said.

I growled more deeply.

“Sir, I… I mean, Mr dragon, Sir.” He extended his wings and raised his paws. “No...no… I did nothing, I swear,” he stuttered.

“You stole my collar of fire!” the pegasus shouted. “Give it back!”

“I didn’t steal it!” Now the griffons voice was more confident. “I paid you to get it for me, it is mine!”

“Liar!” was her response. “You told me it was an easy job, get in, grab the collar and get out, no guards, no traps, a damn easy job!”

Oh I knew where this was going after this short wordfight already. This kind of stuff was nothing out of the ordinary around here. Best to cut it short and avoid the inevitable drama, easier for every creature, don’t you think? At least that was my thought process back then.

“Where is it now?” I interrupted them harshly.

Both of them looked at me, the griffon fearfully, the pegasus, mhh, concerned I guess, not sure if was due to my aggression or the thought that I might just steal the collar for myself.  

They exchanged a look.

“I said, where is it now!” I repeated, whipping  my tail impatiently on the ground.

The griffon winced at the sound and quickly replied, “In my pocket, it is in my pocket.”

“Give it to me!” I demanded and reached out with my claw.

“It is mine!” the pegasus protested and tried to get up while the griffon hecticly rummaged in his pocket.

This time I let her get up, though, I had no intention of giving the collar to her.

“There, there it is,” the griffon said and pulled the collar out of his pocket, showing it to me.

I must say I had expected something more… mh… something, just something more. All I could see was a silver collar, more of a bracelet if you think in dragon sizes. And besides some little engravings along its sides, there was not even enough details and embellishments to suggest the craftsman that made this possessed a great deal of skill.

It could have at least been out of gold, right?

Still, when the griffon hold it up, the little pegasus was fast in her attempt to grab it. Not fast enough though.

I closed my claw around the collar. “I’ll take this.”

“You can’t… “ she started, trying to open my claw.

Enough is enough, even though I adored her looks, there is a limit to the insolence I was willing to put up with in one day.

With a roar I grabbed her midsection with my free claw and smashed her back onto the table, forcing the air out of her lungs from the impact. Before she could recover, I had also opened my snout and placed my jaws on both sides of her throat, growling threatly. 

Finally, really, finally she showed some signs of real fear and respect to who I was. She closed her eyes and panted heavily. To my great pleasure, her heart beat like a drum too now. 

I stood there this way for a few second before I pulled back my head slowly. I kept my eyes on her during the process, looking out for any sign of her getting back to her confident self too quickly. Fortunately, everything was as it should be. Even with my teeth removed, she panted heavily and didn’t dare to move.

I let my claw clicking on the table for a while, thinking the situation through and comparing my options.

“You,” I looked down at the griffon who had thrown himself down when I had smashed the pegasus on the table, “come here!”

I realised now that reclaiming my reputation as a deadly dragon had backfired, this idiot was too fearful to even move anymore. All he could do was shiver in fear and… was he praying? Honestly, I never know what to think of this religion stuff, and now was not the time to do so either.

I tried again to shout at him to get him to move, but he only shivered more. 

Urg, if you want something done right you need to do it yourself!

I stepped over to him and grabbed him with my claw, lifting him up. Of course he screamed in fear and wet himself. 

Disgusting!

“Listen!” I shouted at him and when I had his attention I added, “you know where my cave is?”

He nodded so fast that I feared for a second his head would fall of. 

“Good, in one hour, she,” I pointed at the pegasus, “will be at my cave ready for our date. Understood?”

Again, quickly nodding.

“Second, she will be properly dressed, nothing toò complicated though.”

Nodding.

I placed him back on the ground. “See,” I stroked his chest feathers softly, bringing them back in order, “nothing a reasonable conversation can’t fix. Just keep in mind,“ I lifted his chin up with one of my sharp talons, “I will make you responsible if she is late, or anything else goes wrong,” I brought my head closer and looked him straight into the eyes, “understood?”

He only nodded. Hadn’t I already established the respect that I was to be treated with, I would not let this stand. I shook him for a moment until my point came across.

“Ye...Yes, sir.” 

“Very well,” I replied, turning around and moving towards the exit. “And you,” I spoke to the pegasus, “bring some food, then you can tell me more about this,” I waved with the collar,” artifact.” 

I moved on but stopped again when I reached the door. “One more thing,” I turned my head to face her. “What's your name fluffy?”

“Danger,” she said.

“Danger who?”

“Danger Do.”

I chuckled. “Well, I’ll call you Darling Do then.”

I pushed the door open and left. I knew it was common practise to give the barkeeper a few bits after one made a mess in the tavern, but I had a feeling that this time they would be willing to make an exception.
> Hunting for Dessert
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a quick hot shower, I looked into my mirror, a huge one with a golden frame. Of course I looked marvelous, but it was best to make sure, you know, with a date coming up. That little pegasus was still on my mind, and nothing clears my head better than a hot shower. I reached out for my scale polishing stone, bathed it in a little flame for a few seconds and ironed over my scales once more.

Keeping my claws occupied in this way, my thoughts returned to Fluffy. The desire to sink my head in her warm chest fluff quickly returned.

Urg, I had to distract myself better by paying more attention to the polishing.

The secret is, you need to iron against the natural lines the scales form on the body, this is really important, only then your scales get the proper reflective sheen. I was very picky about it at that moment.

What? It was not only for my vanity, it was hygienic too. You know this little pegasus would be dessert, right? Come on, I had made that much obvious at least, hadn’t I? Though, with the amount of influence she had on me, I was unsure what type of dessert she would become. Both seemed possible, gems do taste good, but not everyday… 

Anyway, with another look in the mirror, I felt I was ready. This was going to be interesting, that much was clear.

***

I waited for them near the entrance to my lair. A medium sized cave entrance, not to far from the treeline near the top of Mount Tail Tip. I didn’t know who had named it that, but if you looked at it, it vaguely resembled a tail indeed. Mostly due to how the snowy upper end was a bit crooked.

It was cold out here, it was one of the reasons I kept the entrance so small. The other being to prevent my bigger relatives from claiming the cave for themselves. Sure, I am strong, but that’s not of much use if your opponent is the size of a barn.

I moved around a bit and looked into the distance every now and then, watching for any sign of that pegasus and the griffon. Yes, my reputation implied that I would have been lurking inside the cave, waiting to scare them to death and all that fun stuff. But for some reason, I wasn’t in the mood and I felt I could use some fresh air.

By looking in the distance my mind began to formulate some questions about my date.

I still wondered how such a fluffy creature found itself out here? And how had she survived not only the town, but from what I overheard in their conversation, was able to best traps, guards, and the like to steal a magical artifact? It simply didn’t fit. I didn’t see any natural weapons on her. I mean hooves, hooves! Never had heard of a monster getting killed by  hooves of all things.

But, she was still alive. That raised a lot of questions in my head.

I brought my tail before my chest and looked at the ‘collar’ of fire. So many questions. My mother always told me my curiosity would be my death one day, that it was a weakness. Who knows, maybe she was right, it killed a lot of adventurers who came to my cave to plunder it, that was for sure.

I smiled, some of these adventurers had brought pretty nice stuff along with them. They tried to empty my cave but ended up filling it even more.

Before I lost myself too much in good old memories, a little dot appeared between the clouds in the distance. Shortly after that, a few more appeared. Strange, I had expected it to be only the two of them. 

I moved back into the shadow of my cave, waiting to find out how this would turn out. I highly doubted that the griffon, the pegasus or the townguard would have gathered a group to fight me.

Still, nothing wrong with being careful. 

When I could finally make out who was in the group it was clear that they weren’t a threat. Only four griffons with the pegasus in the center. 

Seems I had left quite the impression on that griffon. He took his duty to bring her here seriously. He and another griffin had taken the lead with the other two griffons flanking them and the pegasus. I chuckled when I saw that the griffon flying next to the griffon I had threatened had Fluffy on a leash.

I admit, I rather liked the sight, you know, a leash around her neck. I could think of a few things that would be useful for…later. 

Besides the leash, she wore a light red dress. It didn’t quite fit to her frame but it looked easy enough to rip… I mean undress her from. 

I approved, mostly due to the fact it was short enough to not be a hindrance to my view of most of her body. It stopped at her knees while leaving her belly and chest fluff visible. All in all, it looked quite appropriate for a date.

The griffon had done good, I should reward that.

No, not a quick death, what are you thinking.

With the minutes passing while they approached, I thought about what I should do next. Should I go out and take the pegasus from them, or would it be better to stay here and let them come inside first? I had something against allowing creatures into my lair in general, a dragon habit, but on the other claw…

I stepped back deeper into the shadows, merging with them. Being black has its benefits.

From my position, I watched as they landed. First the griffon I met in the tavern, then the two that had taken up the flank. Finally, the griffon holding Fluffy’s leash landed. He… no, she was kind of orange, like a tiger. This close, I saw it was a female griffon.

Overly careful this griffon, He might have thought I would get angry at seeing another male with my date on a leash. He worried too much, but remembering the reputation I had cultivated for myself, maybe not.

On second thought, bringing another female to my lair could be misinterpreted as an invitation to take both… I smirked.

“Quickly now,” the leader griffon ordered, “we don’t have much time left.” His voice was a strange mix of authority, paired with fear.

“I’ll stay here, you can’t pay me enough to actually go in there,” one of the flanking griffons said. 

His other comrade nodded. “No way I’m going in there either.”

“Cowards! What do I pay you for?” the leader griffon shouted angry.

“Get the pegasus-pony here, that was the deal. Nothing more, nothing less,” the griffon who spoke first, a gray one, pointed at the pegasus, “and here she is.”

This was the first time I actually heard her species name, despite me telling you this story as I address her as a pegasus. My old self didn’t know to differ between pegasus-ponies as part of a tribe and ponies in general though.

“We will be late.” This came from the female griffon. She had taken the initiative and interrupted the upcoming arguing before it really started. Pulling at the leash she added, “better keep moving. I don’t want to deal with an angry dragon.”

This one had guts, my thoughts about taking them both had grown more serious.

With a nervous glance at my cave, the leader agreed. “Fine! You two stay here, while we deliver miss Do. Don’t you dare try to leave without us!”

He walked over to Danger. “You have cost me a lot of money, miss Do, better you get that collar back. Otherwise, it won’t matter if he kills you or not.” He moved his talon over his throat, “if you know what I mean.”

I suppressed a growl. He was wrong if he thought he could play those types of games with my newest toy!

The griffon removed the jute strap tied around Fluffy’s snout. I hadn’t noticed it earlier since it had blended into her coat.

“You nasty, greedy, little… “ she started but got silenced by a slap from her female guard. 

“Shut up,” the female griffon added.

“Are you crazy!” now the leader griffon panicked. “Don’t scratch her! He will kill us all!”

This time  I quietly chuckled in my hiding spot. I didn’t mind two females fighting actually, it can be nice to watch.

“Sorry boss,” the female griffon said.

“Urg, Lucia, you will be our death one day!” He rubbed over his face, “just get her into the cave already.” 

“You will regret this Ludewig!” the pony said while she was dragged forward.

“I doubt that,” he replied and unfastened his saddlebags, only to throw them on Fluffy’s back. “Don’t forget the food,” he said before he followed them.

Lucia and Ludewig, seems these griffons where from Lustrous Palace. I always thought it was funny that griffon starts their names with the same letter of the town they come from.

Anyhow, now that things were starting to get into motion it was best to get prepared.

I moved closer to the wall, rolling my tail around me as I crouched. As long as I didn’t move, they shouldn’t be able to see me. 

I waited like this in preparation for them to actually enter my cave. There was just one problem.

“Can’t see much in there.” Lucia said and stopped before the entrance. She rolled up the leash around her paw, forcing Danger to stay closer to her. “I don’t like that”

“Why don’t you let me go and fly away then?” Danger said and tried to pull at the leash to get more space. “No need to risk your life here.”

“Nice try, Sweety.” Lucia said and grabbed Dangers jaw with her claw. “You’re going in there and getting the boss’s collar back. Besides,” she let go of Dangers jaw and patted her on the chin, “nothing to fear here at all, I just don’t like to going places where I can’t see my own beak.”

“I wonder where you get that courage from?” Ludewig asked stopping next to them. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“That has nothing to do with courage boss, dragons just have their own rules, we are perfectly safe at the moment,” she said.

“Why do you think so?” Ludewig asked, his gaze hanging on my lair. 

I could feel his fear from over here.

“Pacta sunt servanda, boss.” Lucia just said, thinking that would be explanation enough. When she saw the confused look on Ludewigs face, she shrugged. “Its a dragon saying, it means you must fulfil your part of a deal, or something along those lines.”

Now it was on me to raise an eyebrow, where in tarnation did this griffon hear that? More importantly, how did she know what it meant?

“You said he told you we should bring the pony to his cave and he would let us go safe and sound. Therefor, if we just do that,” she paused and pulled at the leash once more because Danger had started to step back again, “he can’t harm us. Dragon rules forbid it.”

Turning around to her, Ludewig asked, “Where did you hear such stuff?”

“This is not the only dragon in the world, boss, they had one living near Blueberry Springs, the town my aunt is from. The dragon told the townsfolk that, it was a golden dragon though.”

“A real dragon expert.” Danger mumbled sarcastically.

“Oh shut up!” Ludewig scolded Danger, while he unsure stepped from one paw on another. 

For those who don’t know, it may appear like he was still concerned about entering my lair, but I knew what was on his mind that moment. Should he tell Lucia the truth? 

Oh, she was absolutely right about our little pacta sunt servanda rule, but, I never promised to let any creature go afterwards. If it wouldn’t have spoiled my position, I would have laughed. Such delightful intrigue! I love it.

“Alright,” Ludewig had made a decision and stopped, “let’s get in then. I guess we will be able to see enough once our eyes adjust to the darkness.”

Well, well, he put his interests over the life of his loyal companion. He surely wouldn’t mind if I keep her then. I mean, a female griffon with a tendency to dominate, a fluffy pegasus on the leash, I can think of a few things they could do together for my entertainment…

Don’t think I prefered Lucia over Danger here, Fluffy still had most of my attention, but seriously, this griffon girl could spice things up. 

Still in my thoughts, I watched them proceed further into my den. Ludewig and Lucia took the lead while Danger followed, not that she had much of a choice though.

As I had planned, both griffons passed me, not even noticing I was there. They had gotten so close I need only stretch out a claw and I would be able to touch them.

Fluffy was a different case though. 

When she got near me, I noticed her gaze suddenly land on me, more accurately below me, on my tail to be exact. 

I was confident she couldn’t actually see me, there was no way here eyes had adjusted to the darkness already. She had stopped and was keeping her gaze on my tail though, only to get pulled forward by the leash shortly after.

“Oh come on! You can’t chicken out yet!” Lucia taunted her and pulled a bit harder.

“Stop pulling me stupid.” Fluffy said, her gaze still on my tail, though, now it wandered slowly up till our gazes met. Or more accurately, I looked into her eyes while hers still adjusted to the darkness. 

She moved closer, inch by inch, her face coming closer to my own. It was so close I could smell her, a mixture of hay and, well, it was autumnal if I had to make a guess.

The moment she realized that she was actually looking at me she flinched back and whinnied. Her wings springing open as she raised her forehooves, not in an attempt to flee but in preparation for a fight!

I moved away from the wall, unfurling my wings, rising to my full height, and, in my own time, stepping right between them and the only way out. 

The two griffons quickly stepped back, dragging Fluffy with them.

“My, my, what a pleasant surprise,” I started, moving into a more aggressive position. I lowered my head and stretched my wings to the side, giving a good display of the spikes at their ends. I knew, standing right in the light from outside, I would be very easy to see. 

“I asked you to bring my date here,” I threw a possessive glance at Fluffy, “and,” now I let it wander to Lucia, ”you bring me another female.” Eventually my gaze stopped at Ludewig, “how thoughtful of you.”

“Another one?” It was Lucia herself who found the braveness to speak first. “This must be an mistake, I am just here to bring Danger Do to you!” Hecticly she looked to Ludewig, “boss?”

He gulped, “Ri...right, just your date, mi… miss Do, as we agreed.”

“I don’t think so,” I smiled displaying my sharpened teeth, “I think I’ll be taking both.” I stepped forward and they stepped back.

“That is not right! You promised to let everyone else go if we bring you her,” Lucia said and pointed at Fluffy. “There she is!” With those words she unwrapped the end of the leash from her paw and threw it over to me. 

Or better she tried since my date had other plans and pulled the leash when the end was halfway in the air, causing it to fly to her instead of me.

“Oh did I?” I gave her my best innocent but lurking smile.

“You did!” she yelled.

“No, he didn’t,” now it was miss Do who spoke in a serious and low voice. Now that she was no longer bound to Lucia she wasn't forced to move back any further and could now stand her ground. “Ludewig lied to you, Lucia.”

“You did what?” panic crawled into Lucia’s voice when she turned her attention to Ludewig. 

Seems all her pluckiness just came from blind faith in a lie. How disappointing.

“I…” he started but I cut him off.

“I,” I shouted, “appreciate the gift.” I stepped a bit to the side. “You may leave now, Ludewig, your presence is no longer needed.” Now I put a little growl to it, “or welcome.”

“A… as y...you wish,” he stuttered and headed for the exit real quickly.

“Ludewig!” Lucia yelled, “you can’t leave me behind!”

“Sorry, Lucia!” he screamed, already running past me.

I stepped back in the middle of the way, “Well, Lucia, seems like you will be joining me and Fluffy tonight, don’t you think?” 

“No!” she shook her head, “no, I don’t want to!”

“Well, that's unfortunate, since you have to.” I smiled and moved towards her, “but don’t you worry, it will be my, I mean our, pleasure.”

My tone didn’t leave much room for interpretation about what I meant.

Falling back, she protested, “But I have a husband, I am married!”

That was the statement that saved her. Oh not that I really cared, but Fluffy did. No matter what these griffons did to her before, she wouldn’t let me have some fun with Lucia if she had something to say about this.

So when I stepped forward to grab Lucia, I heard a crack and something hit my side. 

I turned my head and guess what I saw, this brave little pegasus had used its leash to whip me! 

She still stood there swinging the leash in the air, ready for another strike.

I was baffled. Had she really…? I mean this little cuddly piece of fluff really had…

Another strike of the leash cracked right next to me on the ground. “Leave her alone!”

I wish I had a photo of my face that moment, priceless.

“Get out,” I said to Lucia and pointed behind me, not spending much attention on her anymore. 

It was not that I had suddenly lost my interest in some good naughty action with two females, but after what Fluffy had done, I wasn’t willing to share, my pegasus with anyone else anymore. I was aroused.

I growled, more lustful than aggressive, though, her pony ears weren’t able to differentiate obviously, since she cracked the improvised whip once more.

Or maybe she was able to tell the difference and had cracked the whip therefore?

Who knows?

With a playful roar at her, I started the hunt and stormed forward.

Her eyes widened when she realised what she had just provoked, before turning on the spot and flying as fast as she could down the tunnel. I was right on her fluffy tail.

She had a bit of an advantage with her small size, still able to fly while I had to run, though, she hadn’t been able to put any distance between us.

If anything, I was getting closer.

Luckily for her there were a few clever placed holes in the ceiling that allowed some sunlight to reach the deeper portion of my lair, otherwise she would have crashed into one of the walls already, considering how fast she took the turnes.

Oh such gracefulness in her movement whenever she took one. I never had thought that feathered wings would allow her to be so maneuverable.

I speeded up a bit.

I was well aware that she couldn’t escape, but the view she was giving me as she flew was quite enticing.I was considering snapping at that playful wagging tail of hers.

She may have called what she was doing escaping, I called it foreplay.

The chase proceeded this way for several minutes. Eventually she reached the center of my Lair and stopped mid air for a second, befuddled by what she was seeing. 

I knew how much of a surprise the view of my inner sanctum was, but that was for later, right now I had a pegasus to catch.

The short moment she hesitated was already enough for me to reach her and grab onto her tail with my right claw. 

She instantly tried to struggle free, of course without success. Her wings flapped like a hummingbird and she bucked at me with her rear-legs. 

I really had to be careful to not harm her by accident. With all her sweet kicking and adorable efforts to get free, it was a tricky thing to hold on, but I had to make sure she didn’t hurt herself on my claws at the same time.

I purred and pulled her closer to get a grip on her belly. Though, she was not willing to submit yet. 

Boy, she was good at playing the unwilling victim!

She turned upside down in the air and forcefully threw her saddlebags at me. 

Oh the joy of good foreplay!

I shook the saddlebags off my head and ignored the few hits she landed on my snout and throat with her legs. Of course, she was staying in character, therefore her heavy bucks did hurt a bit, sure, but I was far too horny to care.

Finally getting a claw around her belly, I let go of her tail and reached out for her wings, stopping her from buzzing them. It was easy for me to get the base of both her wings between my claw, I just had to be careful not damage her dress.

“Keep your claws at yourself!” She shouted, pretending to be angry.

I only purred louder. The softness of her belly and this velvety feeling of her wings…  incredible!

“Let me go!” She demanded, and with a quick and skilled move swung the ‘whip’ around my hind legs, pulling as hard as she could.

With her already struggling in my claws the sudden pull on my legs caused me to waver. Not enough to fall but I had to use my wings to keep steady.

“You tricky little pegasus,” I playfully scolded her.

“You call that tricky?” she asked. “Then watch out!” 

She curled herself up, only to forcefully buck at my snout with both hooves simultany. 

Ouch! That did hurt! I turned my head to the side and removed my claw from her soft belly to place it on my hurting snout.

That was all she needed. 

She swung her legs over her belly and used the momentum to roll from my claw. She was lucky that I had loosened my grip with the claw that had been holding her and had also moved it as she escaped. Otherwise, she would have spiked herself on them with that action.

“See you later!” she yelled as she started to fly off.

Not so fast, I thought, and stomped on the leash that still was before my feet. “You’re staying here!” 

Like a yoyo, she bounced back when she had reached the end of the leash. Landing rough before me.

This time, I didn’t waste time and jumped on her back when she spun around to get up. Pinning her down that way as I placed my teeth around her neck.

Of course she struggle to get free, but when I increased the pressure on her neck just a tiny bit and loudly growled, she stopped.

See, I can play a role too.

With her laying still  I dared to remove my teeth and licked along her neck once.

The taste of cinnamon flooded over my tongue.

This was going to be so much…

“Pacta sunt servanda!” She suddenly shouted.

Huh? I stopped my caress for a second, wondering what she meant. I had never agreed to not take her. I continued to rub my snout along her soft and good smelling fur.

“Pacta sunt servanda!” she repeated. “We have agreed to have a date!”

I had reached her wing joints with my snout and very, very softly nibbled on them. “Oh sure, we’re having it right now,” I confirmed. 

I was such an idiot, blindly stepping into her trap! 

“That means food first! A date means we have to eat first!” she proclaimed.

“Such a non… “ I stopped playing with her wings and lifted my snout. Thinking of it, she was right. 

Damn!

I unhappily whipped my tail on the ground, launching several small stoned into the air while I growled deeply.

“We had a deal!” she supported her standpoint.

I roared in disappointment and stepped back from her. “Yes, we did,” I grumbled, feeling betrayed that she had decided to end our fun here. I had been so close to fully enjoying the softness her body promised.

Quickly she stood up and placed some distance between us.

I didn’t follow her, I just kept my position. Still, I did follow her with my eyes. As far as I could see, her red dress had gotten a bit dirty, but her fur was as beauty as ever.

I really would prefer playing with it right now, I didn’t care for the food at the moment.

“So,” she said after a moment, when her heartbeat had calmed down a bit, “dragons do keep their pacts.”

I simple snorted, releasing a small cloud of steam.

“That mean you have to behave like a good host.” Suddenly it sounded like she was luring me into a trap. I didn’t like where this was going. “You must act like a real gentlecolt.”

I growled, “Don’t overdo it!”

She just smiled… I was so screwed! Darn little ball of sweet fluff she was!

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, calming my nerves. After a moment I reopened my eyes and scratched a long mark into the floor with my claw, releasing some steam.

Maybe it was a cultural thing and ponies prefered a proper order to how a date proceed? I sighed, alright, she played the escaping prey for me, I’ll play the good host for her. 

For the moment that is.

“Very well then, miss Do,” I said, picking up her saddlebag with my tail, “let me escort you to the table.”

“I will find the way,” she denied.

“I fear I must insist.” I walked over to her, slowly, for some reason she seemed to be usure if she should let me get near her. I extended my claw. “Miss Do?”

Hesitantly, she placed her hoof in my claw. 

I carefully pulled her hoof to my snout, placing a soft kiss on her pastern. 

“Welcome to my lair, miss Do.”

Now she was unsure how to act. This sudden show of good manners seems to have surprised her. 

She tilted her head, looking for any sign of what I was actually planning. 

So suspiciously, maybe there was a reason she was still alive.

“Let me take this from you,” I said and reached out for her neck.

“I’ll keep my dress on!” she shouted snubbed. “I know you have something unbefitting of a gentlecolt on your mind!” With these words she tried to pull her hoof out of my claw.

“In no way, miss Do,” I said in an faked hurted tone. “You only see the bad in dragons, how racist I must say.” 

Now it was on her to look insulted. “Racist, me? I tell you s…”

She stopped when my claw reached her neck and in a swift move broke the clasp of her collar, freeing her from the leash.

First she looked at the collar which had fallen to the ground, then rubbed over her neck.

“Hmm,” she made derogatory. “Seems I have to thank you for that,” she raised her hoof, “don’t think I’ll forget what you just tried to do though.”

“I hope you don’t,” now I brought my face close to hers. “I hope to continue just where we left off later tonight.” I gave her a bright smile, “don’t worry, we can find a rope or something else to substitute for your leash, if needed.”

Now her eyes widened and she ruffled her snout. A bit of this cute red colour rushed over her cheeks too.

I purred, but before she could say something to ruin the moment, I started to move forward, forcing her to come with me.

If we were going to play this ‘date’ thing out, I thought, it would perhaps a good idea to start a proper conversation.

“I am curious, how did you noticed my presence at the entrance? I could have sworn that I wasn’t visible.”

Obviously happy and surprised that my thoughts were no longer on bedding her, she quickly answered, “The collar. The collar of fire on your tail reflected some of the sunlight from outside.”

Well, my thoughts were on the the idea of playing with her soft fur, fondling her feathers, or nibbling on her neck… but I played it cool.

“Ahh, I see,” I commented neutrality, internally scolding myself for not remembering the collar. “Still you were the only one who noticed.”

“A lifetime experience as a treasure hunter,” she said proudly.

“You mean tomb raider?” I teased her.

“Archaeologist!” she corrected me, “if you want to know my profession. It’s kind of a family business.”

“I see.”

We felt silent for a while, walking down the path from the tunnel to the bottom of the giant cave I called my home. When we passed the little waterfall I had created so painstakingly, which blocked the view from the entrance to the small valley behind, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity about what she saw.

“What is this place?” she pointed down at the small valley on our left. “I wouldn’t had expected such, such… such a display of life and beauty down here, especially with how dilapidated and dirty the entrance was.

“That was unnecessary.” 

She opened her lips, maybe to apologize, but then closed it, waiting for an answer.

Ponies seemed to have a very odd idea of how a date works..

“It’s my home.”

“Your home? Since when do dragons live in a lovely place like this?” She shook her head. “Don’t you guys prefer blunt rocks, lava and a huge ‘stay out’ sign at the entrance?” 

“Maybe,” I lifted her hoof and cuddled along her pastern with my snout, “your lucky though that I make exceptions.”

“And why is that?” She tried to pull her hoof back.

I took another breath of her smell and let her hoof fall into its previous position. “Because, otherwise I would have sliced you in pieces in that tavern.”

I returned my gaze forward, letting her deal with the knowledge she got.

“I should tell you the main reason I didn’t though was because I am seriously interested in your body,” I confessed. “If you would let me, we could spend the whole night exploring it together.”

She blushed and I smiled when I noticed. 

“Don… Don’t you dare!” she shyly mumbled. 

It was always a pleasant surprise, to see the difference between how she acted in dangerous situation, when she kept a cool head and remained mostly calm, and how squeamish she would become when naughtier themes presented themselves. 

One reason more to adore her.

“We will see.” I said and gave her a nice smirk.

The rest of the trip was mostly spent in silence. Only interrupted by a comment by her every now and then about the surroundings, which seemed to impress her to a degree. 

It made me felt a little proud of myself at what I had accomplished.

We moved down into the valley, past the modest, well jungle isn’t quite right, let’s call it my overgrown garden, and headed towards the end of my lair. 

There, a little tunnel lead deeper into the mountain, and at its end was an fairly large cavern with several other caves connected to it. I like to imagine it as the floor of one of the houses on the surface with the connected caves being like rooms in the house.

On the threshold to my inner lair she stopped and gasped. She let her gaze wander around, taking a tiny step forward as her jaw dropped.

I let go of her hoof and let her take her time inspecting the interior of the caverns while I took my time inspecting her.

“How did you… Who…?” she asked.

“Dragons secret.” I purred, very pleasured with the impression my home had on her. 

As explained, I had a lot of time to think about what I really want down here, and, with all the treasures I had collected, it had been easy to accomplish my vision of a perfect home.

Of course it was not a empty cave with lava and rocks. 

Actually, it was inspired by some noble houses I had bur… visited back in the days.

The floors were covered with fine, thick carpets. Along the walls hung some pictures and trophies, most of which was armour and weapons from those that had tried to steal from me in the past. The furniture, mostly marble, was all made with the size of a dragon in mind, huge in the eyes of a pony, and designed to impress. 

A goal they had accomplished as it seems. However, what seemed to be drawing her eyes was the sheer number and variety that I had. Stools, tables, cupboards, a few bookshelves with books in them, in short, everything you would find in the mansion of a noble family.

Furthermore, there were some more modern conveniences, a oven, next to a functional sink and fridge. 

And of course, the thing I loved the most , or second most after my huge bed, styled in the same manner as the beds most of the other species used, a huge, equipped, bathroom. One can’t imagine how difficult it had been to establish a functional water supply down here, and of course the necessary electricity.

I gave Fluffy a moment to let this all sink in.

“Not bad for a collection of rocks and lava, hmm?” I teased.

A little startled by my voice, she quickly turned around to look at me. “Uhm, no, not at all.” She looked around once more. “Where does that door lead to?” She pointed at the only closed door along the farest wall.

“That, miss Do, is my treasure room, or more accurately, one of them.”

“Your treasure room?” she repeated slowly.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Huh? Oh, not me, surely not me,” she replied. Her gaze hung on the door still though, fixating on the lock. 

I could see the gears turning in her head.

“You wouldn’t be the first one to try,” I said stepping next to her. “Just know, that if you try, I would see my obligation to hold back vanish.”

I dropped the saddlebags and underlined that statement with a soft stroke of my tail over her flank, lifting her dress a bit.

She slapped my tail with her wing and gave me an reproachful stare.

“That’s all you ever think of, huh?”

“The dining room is over there,” I said, not stupid enough to answer that question. “The bathroom is this way,” I told her as I pointed at both rooms. “If you wish to refresh yourself first.”

I let her stand there as I picked up the saddlebags and moved to the kitchen.

Yes, I was well aware that I was taking a risk, she could get cold claws, I mean hooves and would try to flee, and I knew there was the chance she would make it. Though, if she tried and failed, well, I told her about the consequences.

I perked up my ears when I dropped the saddlebags next to the sink. 

One second passed, then a second one.

I was tempted to look over my shoulder to see if she was still there, but then I heard her hooves quietly clicking on the carpet in the direction of the bathroom, followed by the sound of a closing door.

So, a date it is. 

I smiled brightly. Thinking of it, I had been doing that more often in the past few hours then I had in the last month. I turned my gaze in the direction of the bathroom, unsure what I should think of this.

For a while I just stood there, clicking my claws on the marble worktop.

Mhh, I returned my thoughts to the dinner. I guess a bottle of wine wouldn’t hurt…


> Things are getting hot!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So far, our date had gone nicely, well, for someone who is into dating that is. I had set the table, prepared the food, set the wine in a bowl of ice, all before Fluffy came back from the bathroom.

At the moment, we were sitting at said table and had even been able to somehow start a civilised conversation. 

Like I said, so far, so good when it comes to our date.

I turned my attention to my plate, picking out the diamond sprinkles from my emerald salad. I was never a huge fan of diamonds, but on a salad it's even worse. Though, the host of the tavern had done his best, I guess. Or maybe it had been Ludewig, that could have been the reason he proclaimed Fluffy had cost him so much money, diamonds are expensive after all. 

And to crack them into sprinkles, heh, even more expensive.

Anyway, this was just a distraction. I was using a lull in our conversation to think about what Fluffy had just told me. Ponies, different tribes, a land called Equestria, the dragons who lived next to it, in short, a lot of things.

I placed another bunch of sprinkles aside.

Honestly, I had a hard time to believing her. I mean, if there were dragons where she came from, why didn’t they hunt Fluffy’s species? Even if the dragons didn’t see them as food, the ponies seemed to be perfect to have as slav… I mean pets, yeah pets. Fluffy little lairpets.

I chuckled to myself, thinking of Fluffy sitting on my legs, purring like a cat, all while I fondled her and read a book. Ok, maybe not as pets, since I guess it wouldn’t just be me who thought they were rather sexy too.

“What’s so funny?” She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at my chuckling.

“Oh, nothing.” I looked up. “Just thinking about this, Equestria, as you called it. Must be a nice place.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

I bit on an emerald and swallowed. “Why did you leave it then, I mean, if it’s such a lovely place?”

Instead of answering me, she grabbed her cup and took a sip of her raspberry juice, stalling.

I had offered her the wine, but she had rejected it. She told me, ponies don't typically drink that much alcohol, though, she encouraged me to drink it, saying it would be a waste to simply leave an open bottle of such a rare wine out without it being consumed.

Eventually, she placed her golden cup back on the table and wiped her snout.

“Would you believe me if I told you I was just sightseeing?” she asked.

I smiled. “No.”

She sighed and looked to the side. “Personal reasons.”

“Oh don’t worry.” I gave her a smirk. “The less we talk, the faster we can finish our meal. That means we can get to the best part of the evening sooner.”

She flinched, her ears flicking back and pressing into the sides of her head. With a quick look at her already half empty plate, her eyes widened. 

“Thinking about it,”she suddenly said and spread her hooves out, “I think I should give you the full explanation!”

“You don’t have too.” I waved her off with my claw and smiled. “I respect your privacy on this matter.”

“No, no, no! This is a date, you should know about my reasons for coming here!”

I lifted one of the bigger emeralds up and took a bite out of it to progress our dinner, encouraging her to do the same. “If you say so.” I flushed it down with a sip of the wine. “I however, simple can’t wait for tonight's dessert.”

“Please tell me its hayfries or something like that.” 

I laughed, “Oh no, not at all. It does smell a bit like hay though.”

My comment was followed by a very nervous laugh by her.

She was playing the unwilling female quite well, if I didn’t know better, I would have bought it.

I emptied my cup. “You’re really missing out, the wine is quite superb.”

She gave my empty cup a look. “If it’s so good I don't see why you shouldn’t be the one to enjoy it. It is your wine after all.” Flying up from her seat, she picked up the bottle and refilled my cup. 

“Oh, thank you,” I said and lifted the cup to my mouth.

“Your welcome,” she replied and hoovered next to the table, waiting for me to take a sip.

I had hardly taken the first sip when she flew back over and filled my cup again.

Yes, these pegasi, or ponies, were indeed nice to have around, so thoughtful and friendly. Maybe I should fly to this ‘Equestria’ one day and collect some?

Well, maybe in the future, for now, I had this one.

Seeing her still hoovering next to me, I assumed her hunger was taken cared of, “Well, if you’re not hungry anymore,” I said, reaching out for her, “we can make our way to the bedroom if you like.” When she evaded my claw, I added, “or I could swipe this table clean and we could stay here if you feel the bedroom is too far away. I wouldn’t mind either way.” 

She looked at the bottle in her hooves. “Not so fast. The wine will go to waste if you don’t empty the whole bottle!”

“Hmm, I’m not thirsty anymore, and I can afford to lose half a bottle. It’s a small price considering the alternative.” My lustful undertone returning as I told her this.

“Wait!” She lifted a hoof. “There’s more to a date then just eating! On a real date there’s dancing too.” She looked back at me. “You can dance, right?”

“I’m not in the mood for a dance,” I said, rejecting her suggestion. My interest lay elsewhere at the moment. Honestly, I had very little experience in dancing, none to be precise, so the proposition of starting with such a small partner didn’t appeal to me. And besides, from what I had seen on the few occasions I had seen others dance, it didn’t seemed to be so much fun either.

“Oh come on,” she begged, “a little dance wouldn’t hurt.”

I snorted, “I'm good.”

“Not even with a fluffy pegasus?” She gave me a cute look and stretched out her fluffy chest even more.

Well, she had a point…

“And, you know that we pegasi use our wings in a dance too, right? Stroking over our partner and such… ” She placed a hoof on the table to keep her balance while she gave me a good display of her fleecy, feathered wings.

“Maybe, a short dance wouldn’t hurt,” I said as I rose from my stool.

“I thought you would change your mind.” She smiled and placed the bottle back in the ice before she looked around. “Hmm, we still need music. You have a horn gramophone or something?”

“I sure do.” I moved over to what I called my living room, not without rubbing my head against her side, and opened one of the showcases, withdrawing said music device from it. 

“It is a bit smaller than the common version,” I explained, “but it will do the job.” I placed it on the nearest table and began preparing it. In a lair like mine, where most sounds tend to echo, it is better to play the music at a medium volume anyway, so it’s size wouldn’t be a problem. 

I finished the preparations and looked up at her. “What type of music would you prefer?” I pointed at the lower part of the showcase, “I have quite the selection.”

Curious, she hovered over to it and inspected what kind of music I had. She pulled out one vinyl record after another, sometimes surprised, but mostly displeased with what she was finding.

Finally, she pulled one record out, read the title, and smiled. 

“This seems good,” she said and clawed it over to me. Well hooved in her case. 

I read the title. “Seriously?” I lowered the record, “I think there’s better music for dancing with someone as fluffy as you. What about one of the more romantic songs, one that suggests to cuddle?” I blinked at her.

“I like country music,” she insisted, “and we plan to dance, not cuddle.”

“That's your weird plan… “ I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Ah, nothing.” I smiled and placed the record on the turntable. “Country music it is.”

I’ll still be able to cuddle her anyway.

Placing the needle on the disk, I turned to her, gave a short bow, and put on a requesting look.

Normally I would have taken the lead of course, but like I said, I didn’t have much experience when it came to dancing, and with her being so fragile... it would better if she lead and I just tried not to step on her hooves.

She took her time, waiting a moment, till the music started to play. Then she spread her wings, flew in front of me and began hoovering there.

Seeing her hovering this way, I appreciated her tail a lot more then I had before. It playfully waved from side to side every time she flapped her wings. I was tempted to pull at it and grab her right then, but the idea of having her wings on me during the dance held me back. At least for now.

Absorbed in my thoughts, it took me awhile to realize she had just gotten into the rhythm of the music with her movements. Now she was swinging her flank in a very sensual manner in front of my face, and my head followed every motion.

“My eyes are up here!” she waved her hoof right before my face, then pointed at her eyes.

I chuckled. “I know.” My gaze returned back to her flank. “But your flank is just so enticing, I can hardly resist.”

She shook her head, though this time, it seemed less reproachful, or perhaps that's just how I wanted to see it. 

“Just give me your claws,” she said and offered her front hooves to me. When our, well, when we touched each other, she began to relay the rhythm to me. Slowly, she pushed me back and forth, just a little at the beginning, but it got more and more forceful each time.

I was only moving my upper body at first, but soon, I began moving my feet back and forth too. 

It was a strange feeling. Though, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Had someone told me earlier that day I would dance this evening with a fluffy creature to country music, meh, I never would have believed them. But, here we were.

For a moment, I forgot about bedding her and just enjoyed the dance. Her hooves where soft, laying smoothy in my claws, her wings, flapping quietly to the rhythm, showing all her cuddly feathers, and her flank, oh boy, her flank… Yep there was the idea of bedding her again. 

I pushed it aside and took her smell in. The gentle scent of hay pleasured my nostrils, and the dash of raspberry from her drink just added the slightest hint of fruitiness. 

It was wonderful.

“Hey!” she protested.

“Huh?” I shook off the dizzy feeling that had begun to cloud my thoughts like a cozy blanket. I then pulled my head back from her chest fluff. I had unintentionally buried my snout into her warm fluff while I was enjoying her scent.  

“Dancing,” she repeated, poking my snout, “not cuddling!” 

Still a bit lost in my own head I growled. Not that it was my intention to do so, it was just far more natural for me to growl then to purr or apologize. Honestly, I had gotten so accused to responding with threats that it had become my default method for responding to a situation, and her poking my snout had caught me completely off guard.

Naturally, my reaction scared her a fair bit, as she tried to pull her hooves back and put some distance between us.

Good thing I came back to my senses at the right moment. I stopped growling and grabbed her hooves tighter while I started to turn in a circle, dragging her with me. 

When it was obvious I wouldn’t harm her, she relaxed a bit and supported our turn with her wings.

Showing my good will, we proceeded this way for a while, slowly turning around and moving to the rhythm. It was a bit tricky to keep the pace while slowing down enough to keep calming her, while also giving her a feeling of safety.

“Didn’t you say pegasi tend to use their wings on their dance partner?” I tried to push her thoughts onto something else to take her mind off of what had just happened.

Instead of an answer, she let go of my right claw and made a turn on her own, at which point she softly sunk down till she touched the ground with her back hooves.

Elegant, I must say. 

Now standing on her rear-legs again, she grabbed my free claw and stroked along both my claws with her feathers.

A shiver of joy crawled up my arms, I couldn’t resist, closing my eyes, I began to purr. Even if I had wanted to try, which I didn’t, I couldn’t curb the urge to do so.

Without some creature watching, well besides us, it was fine. Yes, I said black dragons don’t purr, but under the right circumstances, it was fine. I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to resist that level of fluffyness either!

Suddenly she stopped.

“Hey, why did you stop?” I wondered and reopened my eyes. When our gaze met, I saw she was worrying again. Maybe she was afraid if she did this too well I would take her right on the spot.

Clever pony.

I gathered what I had left of my self control and charm before I spoke again. “Dragons who purr won’t eat you, don’t you worry.” I whipped my tail impatiently. “Keep going… please.”

I closed my eyes again and waited, trying to look as harmless as I could. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, her wonderful feathers stroked my scales again.

Caught up in the music, the dance, and her warm tender touch, my purring got deeper.

We had started moving again, now, not only in circles, but dancing around the room. It was a bit difficult to cope with her new position on the ground, I had to duck a bit, but it was worth it.

Soon, when the music had become a bit faster, she started to make turns again. First, only whenever we reached a corner, then, in the middle of a series of steps. 

She seemed to like dancing a lot. 

Suddenly, Fluffy gave me a push, trying to force me to make a turn on my own. It was a bit much to ask for from an inexperienced dancer like me, but I tried. 

Quickly, Fluffy jumped up and pushed herself a step away from me with her wings. In my greenness, I had nearly knocked her out of the air with my wings and tail.

For some reason she found this to be rather funny, her little chuckling sounding nice and warm.

“Are you laughing at me?” I teased and tried to grab her, playfully of course.

“Look what a clumsy dragon we have here!” she mocked, while she easily evaded my attempt to grab her as she flew around me. 

“Darn little fluff-ball!” I chuckled as I tried to turn around as fast as I could as she made her circles around me. But without using my wings, or other, more lethal methods, it was a hopeless battle.

This funny little act lasted for a while till she eventually decided to land on my back. 

Normally, I wouldn’t allow any creature to stand on my back. I started to bare my fangs and growl, but Fluffy knew how to calm an angry dragon.

I sensed her gently feathers stroking along my spine.

My typical threat quickly turned into a comfortable purr at her soft touch. 

“What a big softy you are below these scales.” Now her hooves had joined in and were starting to put pressure on different spots on my back.

This was the first time she had called me a big softy, and I was in far too much bliss to even think about complaining. No one had ever done something like that for me. I didn’t even know that day it was called a massage.

I melted under her hooves and laid down on the ground, giving her as much space as possible to do whatever wonderful thing she was doing with her hooves and wings.

To my shame, I also began wagging my tail after a while.

“Who is a good dragon, huh?” she teased me further.

I growled, but my heart wasn’t in it, the end result coming out as more of a moan than a displeased rumble.

“I wonder what happens if I…” she said, before beginning to move down my spine. A few seconds later I scratched my good carpet with my claws and let loose a heavy, lustful moan.

“So sensitive.” she commented.

What had she done you ask? Well, imagine dozens of little fleecy feathers stroking softly and slowly over the most sensitive part of your body, tickling every nerve and covering the whole area in a cozy, electrifying feeling. That was what it was like, only far better, when she used her wings to caress my own.

So, there I lay, happily moaning and purring like a fool.

If any dragon were to have seen me in that position, ever, I would have died of shame instantly!

When I thought it couldn’t get any better, Fluffy turned around and began massaging my neck, proceeding down my spine and to my tail, continuing until she reached the tip of it.

I mumbled, “This feels awesome.” Though, my chuckling like a fool didn’t help with enunciating the words, nor at speaking clearly. She understood what I meant though.

With a swift move of her hooves up my spine, she asked, “Maybe good enough to let me go?”

I shook myself, just enough to get rid of the shivver her actions had caused all over my body. I yawned. “Hmm, it was good for sure! Thank you little miss Do.”

When I rose completely, she flew up and hoovered in the air. 

“So… was it good enough to let me go then?”

I brought my head before hers and looked her in her hazelnut brown eyes. Then I licked her snout. “Good enough to allow you to put the collar back around my tail without punishing you for your attempt to steal it from me,” I purred.

“Pony feathers!” she cursed.

Lifting my tail before her, I gave her an demanding look.

“Urg, fine,” she said and fetched the collar out off her feathers, placing it around my tail again.

“That's better, nice archaeologist skills though… thief.”

“I am not a thief! The collar is mine!” 

I only chuckled, and with a quick move, embraced her in my wings. She yelled in shock at first, but this wasn’t an attack, it was just me grabbing my treasure.

“Hey, let me go!” she demanded. But I ignored her protests and carefully grabbed her midsection with my claws. Holding her in place this way, I rubbed my head against hers, moving down to her neck, bathing in her scent and fur.

“You know, whatever it is called you just did, I love it, I should return the favor.”

“You don’t have too,” she said a bit hecticly, trying to push my wings and claws aside. 

I lifted her up a bit more and purred into her chest fluff, slowly sliding down deeper. 

So soft!

I thought about tickling her at this so called belly button some non hatching species had. I was curious if what I heard about it was true. If so, it should be very sensitive.

And who knows, maybe move lower from there…

“St-stop it!” she said blushing.

I placed one of my claws on her flank, reaching around with my talons… 

“Yikks!” she yelled, giving me a heavy kick in the chest with her hoof.

“Don’t you dare!” now her voice was a mix of anger and embarrassment.

“Oh I think I do dare.” I purred and, changing my mind, I moved my snout up to her throat, ready to nibble or lick it.

Pulling back her head as best as she could, she yelled,” Wait! There’s still the wine and the food! We haven’t finished our date yet!”

I gave her a long lick with the tip of my tongue along her throat. “I don’t mind,” I purred, “ I think it's time for the dessert, don’t you?”

“Pacta sunt servanda!”

I stopped my attempt to seduce her and released something between a deep, a very deep, sigh and a growl.

Seriously!?!

I let go of her and unprepared, she felt on the floor.

“Fine!” I growled. 

This was getting dangerous, in my inner lair there was nothing I could use to release my frustrations on by tearing it to pieces or by simply smashing it. Well, there was a pegasus to smash, but that was for later, and that was a different type of smashing of course. So the problem was, that everything I had around here held some kind of value for me, nothing I could focus my annoyance on right now, nothing to distract me from my naughty thoughts.

Carefully I removed the needle from the vinyl record and put the horn gramophone back in the showcase before I did something I would regret.

Standing there, I breathed in deeply, held it, and then exhaled slowly. I had to get my anger under control, otherwise a few very precious things would be destroyed. 

A dragon's rage is a wonderful thing in a fight, it was less useful, however, if you were in your own home.

A kind stroke of Fluffy’s wing along my tail suddenly helped me to calm down a bit more. 

On her way back to the table she must have noticed my great annoyance, and, forced by her pony nature, she tried to help.

This species was so confusing! I mean look at them, they are so defenceless, helpless in a fight, but still, there was an entire whole country full of them, surrounded by mean creatures like dragons and griffins! And all they do is be kind, cute, and from what she told me so far, spread friendship!

Friendship!

As if that had ever solved anything! Personally, I’ve only had one friend, and that was more for entertainment and some creature to talk to then anything else. 

Well, be it as it may, it seems that the two of us were going to be returning to the date.

I followed Fluffy back to the table and unenthusiastically poked at my meal. 

“Any more wine?” she asked suddenly.

I took the bottle, put the neck to my muzzle, and emptied the remnants in one go. “Yeah, good idea,” I agreed and wiped my snout.

For some reason, she smiled.

“I appreciate your intention to lift my mood, but dragons aren’t affected by alcohol.” I pointed at my chest. “Our body temperature is too high, the alcohol just vanishes from our system before it has a chance to affect us.”

The smile on her face froze. She really cared for my mood, how thoughtful of her. Though, her culturel opinion about what constitutes a proper date was what made me frustrated in the first place.

With a loud noise I placed the bottle back onto the table.

“Finish your meal,” I ordered grumpy and clicked inpatient with my claw on the table.

For some reason it made her nervous. And the impression only got worse the more empty her plate became.

“So,” she tried to start a conversation again, “I’ve told you a lot about my country, what about yours? Were you born here?”

I took a emerald from my salad and bit it in half, demonstratively loud. “I am not in the mood for small talk anymore.”

She placed her fork back on the table. “Well, then I should do the talking and you can just listen.” She clapped her hooves together and let her gaze wander around. 

“Family! Yeah, that's a good theme!” Fluffy took a sip from her cup and licked over her lips, ready to speak on.

“Not. In. The. Mood!” I harshly interrupted her. I let my gaze hang on her nearly empty plate, “eat up! I’m starting to get the impression you’re doing this on purpose!” I started to growl quietly... for now.

“Oh no, nononono,” she denied. “Me? Never!” She gave me a innocent smile. “I just love a good conversation.”

I stared at her, silently.

Feeling unpleasant, she rubbed her neck. “Well, you’re such a good listener… hehe-he-heee.” Quickly she took an another sip.

My growl got more serious.

“Uhm…” she placed the cup back on the table. “Well, you were so curious about why I came here, right?”

Silence.

“The reason is, well, it is quite funny actually. You’ll like it.”

Silence.

“I…” she started but I cut her off.

“Finish, your, meal!” I demanded and smashed my claw on the table. “Right now!”

“But I… “

I growled and rose from my stool. “If you’re not hungry anymore, fine!”

“Wait!” she begged but I didn’t listen anymore. I hastily made my way over to her. Ready to take my prey, I had waited long enough!

Fluffy jumped up and flew over the table. I chased her. The room was too small to fly in for me. I had to move around the table. When I had made it halfway to her, Fluffy crouched under it and quickly bursted out on the other side.

I roared, jumping on the table and sweeping a good portion of the dishes off of it. 

“Come here!” 

Now she wasn’t listening. Instead of coming back to me like a well-behaved pegasus, she increased her speed even more to get away.

I wasn’t in the mood for her playing the unwilling victim anymore. I wanted my dessert!

I pushed forward.

With a scream she headed for the exit, nearly stumbling over her own hooves and wings in her haste. 

She made it… almost.

Right on the doorstep I grabbed her tail and pulled her back in, throwing her at the middle of the floor.

Or that was my plan, she still had wings and caught her fall halfway, and was now hovering in the air. 

Her gaze passed over the weapons on my walls. I saw she calculate her chances in her head. As expected she discard that idea.

“We… we don’t want to rush something? Right?” she said, with raised hooves, trying to calm me down.

“Rush something? Oh we’re far from that my dear!” I took my time to get closer. “I’ve been waited for this the whole evening.”

She flew backwards, I stepped forward.

Slowly the distance melted between us, eventually she reached the wall and couldn’t go back any further.

Placing her hooves on the wall, her head turned swiftly from side to side, trying to figure out the best way to escape.

“Don’t even think about it! If I have to catch you only one more time, I won’t be gentle! That much I can promise you!”

Fearfully, she sunk down the wall, closing her wings and curling up. 

“Much better!” I approached her with new ignited lust and a desire for her softness. This would be my reward for being such a good dragon. Fluffy had strained my patience long enough!

I brought my head close to hers, snorting. I then took a deep breath, smelling her personal scent, mixed with the emotion of… fear. That was strange, I expected more lust then fear, but I am the Black Death after all. So fear was understandable.

I moved closer, rubbing my head slowly along her hoof, up her leg, and then towards her throat. 

She had closed her eyes. Good, a sign she was finally focusing on the pleasure to come.

I purred and started to lick over her throat, slow and playful. My claws reached out for her wings, softly pressing on her joints, forcing her to open them.

“P… p… please…” she quietly stuttered.

“I am right on it,” I assured her. “Don’t you worry.”

So impatient all of a sudden, I liked it.

I played with her feathers, starting at her marginal coverts before making my way down to her primaries. Playfully pulling at them, not enough to tear them off, but enough to open her wings even more.

“Who would have thought such a little collar would cause me to have such a wonderfully fluffy guest in my lair tonight?” I smiled and nibbled on her wing joint.

I realized I had said something very stupid when her eyes sprung open and she had this look that said, “Idea!”

“Right!” she yelled, “the collar, I had agreed to tell you about it!”

Oh please no! Not this again!

“Pacta sunt…”

“Servanda!” I shouted in frustration. 

Oh, how much she’s made me hate that phrase by now! Believe me, I was trying to lay her, really! I was as horny as can be, even more horny than you while reading this… and twice as frustrated that I still haven’t scored!

You think you have to wait so long? Imagine how I felt!

I brought my head back in front of hers, looking right into her eyes. “Pacta, sunt, servanda,” I more growled then said. I lifted her head with my talon, nearly piercing her jaw with it. 

“Listen well, Fluffy, this is the last time you delay our fun, or I swear by my tail, you regret the next time you dare to say that phrase!” I increased the pressure of my talon, causing a single drop of blood to run down on it. “I am not a dragon you can just mess with, understood?”

I don’t know where they had come from, but her guts had returned, now that she wasn’t about to be taken anymore. She held my gaze and said loud and clear, “Yes, I do.”

I lifted her up and walked to the bedroom.

“Hey, that’s not the dining room!” she complained.

“Clever pony.” I walked in and pulled a lever next to the door, causing the portcullis at the exit to my inner lair to come down, blocking the exit.

“Just in case, something, were to come between us again.” I closed the bedroom door behind us and placed her on the large bed.

I had barely let go of her when she rushed to the other side of the bed. 

“Just make yourself comfortable,” I said. “I am all ears for this story to your,” I lifted my tail and removed the collar from it, “artifact.”

I placed it on the nightstand.

“It better still be there the next time I look over there.” I had very well noticed her greedy eyes on it.

Cuddling myself into one of my many blankets and onto a few large pillows I was ready, but not willing, to listen to her story.

I tapped my pillow, disappointed, it wasn’t nearly as soft as her fur.

She still sat at the very edge of the bed, as far away as possible from me.

“If you are not in the mood for telling stories anymore…” I let the end of my sentence linger in the air, sure it would make the right impression.

Of course it did.

“Well,” she coughed, “well you know I acquired it for Ludewig.”

“Yes, yes, you stole this useless thing from somewhere and he didn’t paid you for it. I saw the result in the tavern.” 

Oh boy, I really would prefer to listen to her moaning by now! But here we go…

“That is only half of the story, this collar was buried deep in the ruins…”

“Of some long forgotten civilisation, perhaps, some native tribe of bush creatures?” I interrupted bored.

“Of Shakirin-La.”

I snorted, “Shakirin-La is a mythos! No creature had ever been there!” The answer came to me without having to think about it, though, I knew it was only half of the truth.

“Shakirin-La isn’t a mythos!” she protested. “The place is real!”

“And you try to tell me you have been there? Nonsense!”

“I wasn’t, but this collar was, before it was stolen and brought to the temple ruin I found it in.”

“Oh shut up!” I growled, “This thing has never been in Shakirin-La!”

For a moment, I forgot my plans to lay her. Shakirin-La, hah! I bet she didn’t even know what that place was supposed to be! Oh I had heard of it, all dragon had, or at least the dragons from around this country.

“It has!” she interrupted my thoughts, “this collar is full of magic, magic that only Shakirin-La was able to summon!”

“What do you know of Shakirin-La, huh?” I waved her off. “As if you could tell what is made in Shakirin-La and what isn’t.”

“I know it was a place of great power, wisdom, and peace. A place for all creatures.”

“A place for all creatures,” I repeated more to myself. Well she wasn’t wrong on that, technically, though, at the same time she was as far from the truth as one could get. Obviously, she and my kind had a very different story about Shakirin-La to tell.

I reached out for the collar, picking it up and turned it around in my claw.

“It’s nothing more than an average looking piece of jewellery.” I said pejoratively.

“It’s more than just a piece of jewellery!” Now ardor got the better of her, and she came a bit closer. “It is a magical artifact! It provides the carrier the ability to withstand fire and also spit it themselves!”

Now I laughed. “So it turns you into a dragon, heh?” 

Well at least that fits for what I know about Shakirin-La.

“You know what?” I asked. “Do it!” I threw the collar over to her. “Show me its great powers!”

She caught it with her mouth and then put it into her hoof. “I can’t.”

“Because it is just a piece of garbage?” I gave her my best ironic look.

“No!” now her voice had got an angry tone, “because the magic words from the temple wall doesn’t work! It should be activated by them, but nothing happened.”

“I see, you brought this ‘collar’ to Ludewig and because it didn’t work, he tried to cut the answer out of you as to where the original was, or what the real words were, right?”

“Well…”

“Yeah, the typical story of a thief trying to fool his customer.”

“It is nothing like that! I rescued this collar from the thieves who stole it from Shakirin-La. Even with all the extra dangerous traps, the murderous guards, and dangerous animals all over the place!” Now her voice was in a rage, but also filled with pride. She shook the hoof with the collar at me. “I did something worth the name Do!”

“Oh it gets even better,” I mocked, “now we have some family tragedy too.” I pointed at her. “Let me guess, trying to impress your parents, huh? Prove yourself worthy in their eyes?”

She bit her lip.

“I see. Listen, Fluffy, this collar was never in Shakirin-La and whatever you read on the temple wall was only the scribblings of a crazy shaman or priest.” I extended my tail to her. “Just give it back and forget about it.”

“No! That can’t be!” now sorrow had mixed its way into her voice. “For once, really for once, I did something great! It can’t be for nothing!”

I hold my tail up before her, saying no more.

She clasps the collar. “I simple can’t believe I did all this for nothing!” She put it around her neck and spoke in an old and rough tongue, “Der Macht bei der Vorfahren, meinem Blut bei, mit innerem Feuer meinem, schütze, mache stark mich!”

Where in tartarus had this pegasus learnt to speak old draconic? Even if her grammar and emphasis were terrible, there was no doubt it was old draconic! Though, the way she had spoken it, the incantation wouldn’t have worked.

With despair in her eyes, she placed a hoof on the collar and started to sob. “All this for nothing!”

I stayed silent, too confused to speak at the moment.

“I came here to make my own name! Make my cousin proud!”  She then covered her eyes with her hooves and wings. “And all I did was get nearly killed, betrayed, and now,” she started to cry, “I’m going to be raped by an overgrown Lizard!”

Ouch, that hurts! I am not an overgrow… wait, raped?! How could she imply that? 

“I think we have something to speak about, miss Do.” I walked around my bed and sat next to her. I pushed her wings aside and lowered her hooves. She halfway tried to hinder me, but her heart wasn’t in it anymore.

“Don’t worry, that part that’s making you afraid, we can speak about that later.” I placed a claw on the collar. “Now, let’s see if there is something to your idea of this collar’s origin’s being in Shakirin-La.”

I don’t know where this sudden surge of compassion came from, it really wasn’t natural for me, but something about Fluffy just seemed to bring this side of me to the surface.

“Wh-what are you doing?” 

“The scribbles on the temple wall, either you didn’t read it accurately or whoever wrote it was an idiot. I know that language, and if this collar is from Shakirin-La, it can’t work if the incantation is spoken incorrectly.”

Now her head sprung up and our gaze met, a spark of hope in her eye.

“You mean…?”

Instead of an answer, I spoke the incantation, or more accurately, the way I thought it should be spoken. “Bei der Macht der Vorfahren, bei meinem Blute, bei meinem inneren Feuer, erwache, beschütze mich, mache mich stark!”

We both waited with anticipation what would happen.

The seconds passed, then…

Nothing.

It really saddened me to see how Fluffy deflated like a balloon running out of air.

Her wings hung limply at her sides, her otherwise cuddly and lively looking body now looked only weak and dreary, her feathers, normally inviting to play with, where now rigid and murky.

If I saw her today in such a state, I would kill whoever was responsible for it!

“Try it again,” I demanded. I grabbed her hoof and placed on the collar. “Repeat after me!”
  
“Bei der Macht der Vorfahren…”

“Bei der Macht der Vorfahren…” she repeated.

“bei meinem Blute…”

“bei meinem Blute…” 

“bei meinem inneren Feuer…”

“bei meinem inneren Feuer…”

“erwache, beschütze mich…”

“erwache, beschütze mich…”

“mache mich stark!”

“mache... mich stark!”

The second she finished speaking the incantation, a ring of pure energy blasted out in all directions, with her at the center, blowing me across the room, destroying my bed and devastated the whole room.

‘Luckily’ one of the walls had stopped me from flying into space. Urg, that hurt!

I picked myself up from the ground, looking for Fluffy. What I saw however left me speechless.

There, on the remains on my bed, which was now on fire by the way, she stood. She was covered in flames, her hooves were now red flames, her mane had vanished and was replaced with a bushy ring of fire around her head, her back was now covered in scales, and her tail, her tail had become a whip of fire! 

It was damn sexy!

Oh and her eyebrows were now two strings of blue flames too, framing her closed eyes.

I had to struggle very hard to think of something else other than my desire to bed her here and now. But first things first. 

When I had shaken off my inability to act, I moved closer to her. “Are you alright?”

At my words, she opened her eyes and looked around, blinking a few times. I could see how she needed a few seconds to come to her senses too, just like me before.

“This… this… this is amazing!” she yelled and lifted her hooves to inspect them. “Absolutely awesome!” She spread her wings, now looking more like a harbinger of fire then anything else. Her feathers, now glowing from light yellow to deep orange, with her marginal coverts, actually on fire, shining a deep red.

It was so hot, metaphorically as well as literally!

“Can you believe it? It worked! It really worked!” She turned around on the spot several times, inspecting her body further. “I am legendarily kirin! I am a kirin!”

“Well, yeah… kind of,” I replied and looked at my burning bedroom. The fire wasn’t a problem, but my pillows and blankets…

Suddenly, she rushed over to me, and in that moment, allowed me to forget about my furniture.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she yelled as she grabbed my snout, placing a big kiss on my lips. “Thank you so much! Woohoo!” She screamed, dancing throughout the room.

I touched the spot she kissed me with my claw. She had really kissed me. I smiled. Even though she was on fire and all that, she still had such a soft to touch.

“That means Shakirin-La is real! It, is, real! And I, Danger Do have proven it!”

“With a little help, of course.” I threw in.

Her gaze sprung to me, “Oh, of course,” she rushed over to me, grabbing my claws. “How can I ever thank you for this?”

I looked around my bedroom, or what remained from it, and then back to her glowing white eyes, making it painfully obvious what I wanted.

She followed my look and then gave me her best apologetic smile.

Ouu, she had fangs now too! Beautiful!

“Well, I know something… “ I said, sending one of my free claws to stroke across her scales.

This time was perhaps the first time she laughed happily at my attempt to seduce her.

“How about you help me discover Shakirin-La instead, the actual city? The collar is only the first step on the road to it.”

I grabbed her neck, brought her face right before mine.

I purred, she purred back.

“Depends on the payment!” I said, letting my tail play with hers.

It seemed the collar also had an influence on her mind, since she only responded, “We can figure something out” before kissing me.”

What a lucky dragon I am, more so since I knew how to turn her back. This way I could have this firepony as well as my fluffy pegasus in my be… on my floor tonight.       
> Hot and Fluffy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My grip around her neck got stronger, I was ready to push her down and mount her, but she had other plans. I felt a soft and warm push against my lips, and then another. In my confusion, I opened my mouth slightly to ask about it, but the answer came when her tongue slipped into my mouth, and in a mix of caresses and struggles, the fight for dominance was waged in my mouth.

This was new to me, dragons don’t do this, but it was pleasurable. 

I opened my mouth wider to increase the room we had to play, when she used the opportunity to bite on my lip!

I hissed and struggled free, only to see a spark of amusement in her eyes.

A growl, full of lust and challenge, escaped her mouth, while she stroked over my chest with her burning hoof, supporting her actions by throwing a playful gaze my way.

Oh, this would be fun!

I put my other claw around her back, pushing her against me, bringing my snout before hers and tilted my head ever so slightly, returning the lustful growl.

She, in response, wrapped her burning wing around my arm, increasing the pressure my claw had on her back even more and presenting her fangs.

Challenge accepted!

I showed her my fangs and together we roared at each other, lustful, playful, naughty, all at the same time.

Of course, this kind of eroticism wasn’t without a response by my body. I now had a boner, and not with my wings.

I grabbed her midsection and lifted her up, ready to push her down onto my member. Releasing all of my pent up desire.

With a quick placement of her hooves on my belly she stopped my attempt. I feared her prudishness was back and growled, but she simply swung her bushy, burning tail, wrapping it around my member and fondled it.

She didn’t lose any time. Her tail rubbed up my shaft, the flames of it traveling up and around the sides, the motion and the heat bringing me a pleasure I hadn’t felt before. Her bushy tail tip began playing with the tip of my penis, squeezing my acorn while stroking along it rhythmical.

I purred and looked into her eyes, a hint of hazelnut had come back into them, revealing the fun she was having in teasing me.

“Oh you!” I purred, licking over her throat while occasionally nibbling it.

Her reaction was most evil, with a laugh, she placed her front hooves around my neck and her rear hooves on my knees to support herself. She then began moving her hips up and down rhythmically, all while keeping up the motions with her tail. This meant that the pleasure I had been receiving up to now was only made more intense.

I shivered and scratched lightly over her back scales.

“Oh, what a poor dragon you are, so sensitive,” she teased further.

I caught her gaze, moaning. “This is only the beginning my dear!” 

While she was distracted by my gaze, I brought my tail into position. On her next thrust down I pushed my tail up, I had placed it perfectly so it entered her hot, wet pussy in one go, brushing against her tail along the way.

A surprised gasp escaped her as her legs became shaky for a second. 

That was all I needed.

I turned her around and pressed her back against my chest. I then leaned back and slid from my standing position to more of a lying down one. Without pulling my tail out of course.

With my tail still inside her, she quickly tried to sit up, but I placed my arms under her elbows and folded my claws behind her head while pulling her back. This way, her front-legs would be helpless. And soon, the same was true for her rear-legs when I brought my own legs between them, spreading them further apart and exposing her most privates even more.

Having her this helpless, I purred and started to play with her labia, softly stroking up and down between the lips with my tail.

A heavy hiss or moan, it could have been both, was my reward.

“Who is the sensitive one now?” I whispered in her ear while nuzzling her burning mane.

Now it was clearly a hiss that she made. She struggled, flapped her wings while trying to turn her head to bite me.

“Oh no sweetie, not this time.” I closed my wings around her, pressing my carpals against her belly, keeping her wings in check. “You aren’t going anywhere now.”

Her struggling intensified.

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. “As you wish.” 

Moving my now hot and wet tail tip upwards, I stopped when I felt her clitoris, only to begin to make circles around it, playing with her feelings at her most sensitive area.

She gasped, tensing her hooves. “Please!”

A mischievous while mostly happy look began to form on my face, it was the look all males had when they were in such a situation.

“I wonder what would happen if I… “

A deep, lustful growl coursed all throughout her body when I carefully pushed her clitoris until the point it couldn’t go up anymore and then… realised it with a quick flick of my tail, letting it spring back.

The aftershock left her speechless for a few seconds, gasping sharply for air.

“Do, It, Again!” She demanded suddenly.

“As you wish.” I pulled my tail an inch back, then, pushed it wiggling between her labia, inch by inch, letting her shiver, before I aimed for her clitoris again, this time carefully squeezing and rubbing it.

My little firepony moaned and shivered, her legs twitched, her breathing became faster, her tail whipped uncontrollably behind her. 

Whatever this collar had done it hadn’t changed her self-control, she may be acting naughtier and more bold, but her sense of restraint was still the same as it had been since we had met. 

I loved it!

I proceeded this way for maybe a minute, till I removed my tail from her clitoris, pulling it back, just to push it into her vagina a second later.

Back and forth I thrust, spreading her lower lips with each motion in and out, stretching the sides of her lust tunnel as I buried the thicker parts of my tail into her.

This was my revenge, teasing her this way, playing with her most private parts and driving her slowly insane while she was helpless in my clasp. Minute after minute I drove her closer to surrender. I couldn't be happier.

My triumph over her body was within reach, she shivered strongly, when suddenly, she decided to strike back!

She grabbed my penis with her tail, doing her own form of magic with it. Stroking and rubbing it, moaning all the while, she was increasing my own already high lust with her actions.

“You darn little fireball!”

She panted heavily. “You didn’t think… *moan*... it would b-be *moan*.. so easy?” 

“It isn’t?” I whispered, gritting my teeth because of what she was doing to my member. “Well let’s just see about that. You might be surprised what I can do, every creature has its weak point.”

I used my tail tip to tickle the walls of her lust tunnel during each trust, there had to be a more sensitive spot somewhere in there.

She seemed to notice me trying to increase her pleasure because not too long after that she increased the speed that she was rubbing my penis with too.

Oh this was going to be a close call! I couldn’t hold back much longer and moaned, she was sooo good at what she was doing!

If I didn’t find a way to make her cum soon, I had to let her go and free myself. Otherwise I would cum without having even mounted her!

I extended my wings, stroking softly with my phalanges- for the no dragons, those are the bones at the ends of my wings- over her inner sides of thighs. 

It caused something, but it wasn’t enough!

I was so close already!

I brought my head right next to her snout, ignoring the danger of her bite, focusing completely on her little, panting breaths.

The next time I trusted into her, I held back, just slowing down enough to linger in her, checking for any telltale sign… there was none.

I moaned again, this was followed by a chuckle from her. I saw in her eyes that she was sure to win, but my growl was undermined by another one of my moans.

Suddenly, I had an idea, I bet everything on one play, instead of just pulling out, ready for the next trust, I slowly made my way out, tickling her lust tunnel as best as I could.

I was rewarded.

My tail tip had just touched a spot nearly at the end of her lust tunnel, when a barely noticeable extra pant betrayed her, telling me where I had to focus.

I was a gentle dragon and didn’t let the lady wait. With my full intensity I thrusted into her again, now making sure I rubbed over the spot on the way in, as well as on the way out.

“You evil… tartaric… Lizar…!”

Whatever she was going to say never reached my ear, her body tensed up completely, I was barely able to hold her anymore. Her wings became stiff, and with a heavy roar and a burst of flames from her mouth, she came!

While the aftershock of her orgasm still shook her body, and her mind was in the heavens as people say, I purred, savoring my victory. 

I let go of her limbs and was ready to rise in triumph, claiming my prize and mounting her after this glorious victory… but as soon as I had let go of her, she sat up on my belly and grabbed my member with her hooves, swinging her body around, so that she now sat between my legs, on top of my tail.

“What are you doing?” I wondered and tried to sit up myself, but I had overplayed my hand. She placed her hoof on my belly, pressing me down and hissed loudly.

It seemed she had not yet been beaten for good.

“Listen Fi… “I didn’t get far with my words. She placed her mouth on my acorn and presented her fangs, bringing them right on top of it, growling.

“Whoa!” I yelled. “Hey, this is just us having fun here, no need to…”

She pushed my belly once more, putting some pressure on my acorn.

I leaned back again.

Satisfied with my reaction, she snorted a little flame at me, took my acorn into her mouth and then began to bring more of my length into her. I felt her warm, wet tongue sliding around my member, moving together with her head as she bobbed up and down.

It was indescribably amazing, never before had someone done this for me, I didn't even knew what this was called, I only knew it was the best thing that had ever happened to me in the bedroom so far!

Her hot flames, her soft tongue, her seductive, pleasurable movements… 

I couldn’t last long under the treatment she was giving me. The succubus this little pony had become was just too much for me!

Once again I tried to sit up. 

Instantly she grabbed my member tight and placed her fangs right below my acorn, growling deeply.

“Listen, I… Ouch!”

She had bitten me! She had really bitten me! Not deep, it wasn’t even that painful, but she had made her point clear. I could read it in her eyes, I was now her slave to be played with, and she wouldn’t let me go till she had her revenge!

Helpless, I sunk back down. I didn’t dare try to argue with her when she had her teeth so close to my best part.

Soon, she started with her, whatever it was called, again. 

Unable to do something, I just laid there, moaning and purring like she had done before, when she had been my ‘slave’. 

I saw the signs of a smile on her cheeks when our gaze met, and we both knew she had me at her mercy for the time being. 

Underlining her dominance, she blinked before her hooves joined in, quickly rubbing up and down along my shaft.

I was already near my peak from when she had used her tail just moments before, so it was all too easy for her to drive me closer to my climax. Though, when I started to scratch my floor, gritting my teeth, just seconds away from giving in… she stopped!

“What?!” I looked at her face, confused at first, then it came to me what was going on.

She had removed her mouth from my member and was giving me her best mischievous smile, all while she slowly stroked my penis with only one hoof. Not letting me get out of the danger zone, but not allowing me to cum either.

This was so evil!

She made a circle with her other hoof around my acorn, causing me to shiver. “I’m not quite done with you yet!”

“Hey, you can’t do this!”

“Oh I can,” she tilted her head and licked over her fangs. “It seems only fair, you know, returning the favor.” 

I held her gaze, trying to cause her to back off, but it was useless.  All I achieved was getting her to smile again.

“Try to stop me.” She presented her fangs playfully once more, holding my gaze, before she took my cock into her mouth again.

This time she moved painfully slow, knowing exactly what she was doing to me.

I had no tricks left to save me, so I might as well play along. Or at least, that’s what I hoped she would think.

I moved my tail up her flank, and, when she gave me a warning growl, up her back, stroking over her scales.

She was so certain she had me at her mercy, she hadn’t noticed just what I was going to do, not until it was too late.

My tail had reached her neck, and in a swift move, I opened the collar.



******************************************************************************

In one moment, there was my fire pony, the next, there was my fluffy pegasus again.

She flinched back, baffled, confused, coughing slightly from the smoke in the room, and best of all, without fangs anymore.

“Well look at this, guess who’s back,” I said as I rose, my tone deceptively nice.

“What? How? Why?” she slid back and touched her neck, only when a glint of light hit the collar as it slid down my belly did she notice just where it had gone.

Quickly I grabbed it and threw it onto a shelf just out of her direct reach.

“You told me to try to stop you, right?” I returned my gaze to her and moved after her, pushing my snout against hers. “I think I know what you meant.”

“Hey…” she raised her hooves, “hey, I didn’t mean it that way,” I pushed her backward so she was forced to lay down, “that was just, just playing, really! It was the influence of the collar!”

“Good thing that it’s gone now, right?” I moved on top of her, laying my chest on her fluffy one, pressing her down, softly of course. 

“It would be a shame if you weren’t in your right mind when we got to the real fun.” I brought my member into position, poking her and pushing her a bit too, to get the angle right.

“Wait!” 

I growled.

She saw in my eyes that my patience was thin, my will to listen even thinner.

Fluffy gulped, “Ju-just be gentle, please.”

I raised an eyebrow. No more attempts to distract or stop me? My horniness fought with my suspicion. 

Fluffy opened her wings completely and stroked me along my sides. She blushed as her rear-legs rubbed across my hip, making more room for me to mount her.

My snout touched hers, our eyes met, she came closer with her mouth... and we kissed.

This was wholly different from the time before, her kirin self was tempestuous, wild, it held no qualms in challenging me. Her real self was… soft, gentle, and a lot less confident.

I was going to lick over her lips, requesting entrance, but, remembering where her tongue had been a moment before I decided against that. Instead, I lowered my hip, placing my acorn on her crotch, just above her opening.

Her breathing speed up.

Slowly, I moved down, leaving a small wet trail on her short coat on my way to her pussy.

When I eventually laid my penis on her labia, she twitched, unable to keep her composure anymore. 

Playfully I rubbed back and forth, just a small bit, not entering her, but driving her nerves crazy.

I proceeded to tease her, till she matched my own movements and finally grabbed my face. “Do… do it!… Please!”

She let her head sunk back and increased the pressure of her rear-legs on my hips.

“As you wish,” I said generously. Though, I gave her a wide smirk.

On the next rub, I didn’t stop, instead I carefully pushed forward into her vagina.

A series of low, feeble sounds of joy escaped her as I pushed farther in. I was interrupted by a sudden, high-pitched moan as my acorn passed her labia and the walls clamped down, encasing my acorn and grabbing my shaft.

I purred.

Deeper and deeper I went, her twitching, and the low-pitched, joyful sounds she made told me I was doing well at satisfying her.

Everything was going smoothly until I suddenly had to stop.

A begging moan came from Fluffy as she scratched over my scales, “Don’t stop! Please don’t stop yet!”

I looked down, then up to her eyes again. “It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose!”

She made the pony version of a frustrated growl, it was sweet but without her kirin anatomy it was anything but a real growl.

“You’re too tight!” I wiggled with my hip, still stuck. “I can’t go any deeper!”

Now she managed to make a real growl. I was impressed.

“Then stop being gently and push!” she demanded.

“Are you sure ab-”

“Push, you overgrown lizard!” she yelled, consumed by her lust.

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I placed my claws above her shoulder, keeping her in place and increased the pressure.

I felt her struggling with the pain it must be causing her, she twitched, moaned, and shivered, but soon I was nearly all the way in, stopped only by her cervix.

I stayed there for a moment, letting her recover. Eventually, our gazes met again, and she gave me a smile.

I smiled back, and she nodded.

We repeated this procedure a few times, each time, it was easier for her till the point it was no longer a problem.

I increased the speed of my thrusts, looking for any sign of pain on her face, but she only moaned, getting louder and louder each time I plunged back in. 

Encouraged by this, I sped up even more, till soon, I was banging her as fast as I could.

She didn’t mind, with each thrust she was moving with me, taking as much of me as she could inside herself, moaning and screaming in pure joy all the while! 

Damn, once she was sufficiently aroused, this pegasus was a volcano to ride!

Though, she didn’t have as much stamina her kirin self had.

Soon, she started to pant heavily, her wings flapped randomly and her tail whipped around like crazy.

I was sure I knew what that meant, and I was right. With a powerful neigh, she came.

This time, I didn’t have the time to let her recover first, I was so close myself, I just continued. 

She was still twitching and shivering when I came myself, with a loud, wall shaking roar.

“Scooooreeeee!” I screamed, satisfied with the events.

I looked down at her, she laid there panting, unable to move for the moment. Her wings stretched out on the ground, her limbs powerlessly laying on the ground as well.

For a moment I just enjoyed the view, proud of myself.

When she finally had the power to speak again, she lifted her head a bit and asked, “Really, score?” Her head sunk back, and she caught some air again. “Of all things, score?”

“Well,“ I chuckled, “any better ideas?”

She smirked, “some.”

“Good,” I gave her another thrust. “You tell me, and I’ll scream that at the end of round two.”

Her head sprung up, her eyes widened. “You can’t be serious!”

I blinked, “I’ll show you how serious I am.” And with those words, I mounted my pegasus again.

***
> Crossroads
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Soothing darkness still hung peacefully over my lair, only disturbed by the pale glint of moonlight coming from the cave before my inner lair. That was, if one did not count the loud snoring Danger made next to me of course, which seemed to be the reason that I had woken up.

Still a bit tired, I smiled and stretched out my claw, gently stroking over her back. The warmth of her pliable fur against my scales was causing me to release a small purr. The thought of having her in my lair for more nights to come was a pleasant one. Still, I wondered if her snoring was just something she did or something inherent to her entire species, honestly, even a full grown dragon could hardly snor that loud. 

Well, okay, I’m exaggerating, but not by much.

Time to do something about it. With a swift move of my tail I brought it up to her nose and began lightly flicking it back and forth across her nostrils. She released a little snort and lifted a hoof up, aimless waving it in front of herself in attempt to stop whatever was that was dancing across her nose.

The sight was just so sweet.

I did it again. This time she growled and rolled over, her snoring stopped, but she had yet to wake up.  

Much better.

With that out of the way, I let my gaze wander over my living room. When we had finished with our fun, I had collected whatever bedding had survived my little pegasus’s kirin transformation and the subsequent mating we had, and made a sort of improvised bed here. Luckily, the explosion of fire from the change of Fluffy to Danger-Kirin had done less damage than one would expect. Sure, a few pillows where beyond repair, and I had to seperate big parts of some blankets since large sections of them now only resembled charcoal, but it was still more than enough to make a bed for a dragon and a pony. 

It was fortunate that due to me being able to breath fire I had taken the precaution of having my bedsheets be mostly fire resistant. This simple safeguard had saved most of them and had allowed the two of us to sleep in relative comfort last night. 

Well, what I’m trying to say is, the fire had extinguished itself rather quickly, without any easily combustible fuel in the room the fire had petered out, preventing any serious damage. Mhh, well to be more accurate, the explosion had done most of the damage. The bed frame was in splinters and the mattress was now only scraps of her former self. 

So the living room floor it was. I found it to be the better option, considering the smoke and smell in my bedroom. Her kirin form hadn’t minded, but her pony self wasn’t to pleased with tasting the aftermath of the fire whenever she inhaled.

With another yawn, I removed the blankets from around me and rose up. Without the cover of our temporary bed, my body heat was slowly being sapped by the surrounding air.

As quietly as possible, I stretched my wings, twisted my neck around and yawned a third time. Last night had made me feel better than I had in a long time. I had eaten a rather nice dinner, discounting the crushed diamonds, and had just woken from a rather pleasant rest.

I looked back down at Fluffy, remembering the fun we had had last night as well. 

It really was good to be me for sure! 

With a smirk, I made my way over to the fridge and peaked inside.

Yeah, yeah, one shouldn’t eat late at night because it’s unhealthy, also, males… spare me your thoughts. I was a bit hungry so a little snack wouldn’t hurt.

I took a few rubies and a bottle of apple juice out and turned to exit the kitchen, flicking my tail against the door of the refrigerator as I did so to close it. With my loot in claw, I took a seat on my sofa in the next room. I had something to think about, and eating tended to help with that.

So, while I nibbled on a ruby, my thoughts turned back to the sexy pegasi in my living room. Shakirin-La… the ancient city of the kirin. What had she called it? Place of wisdom, place of peace. 

Mhh... I swallowed the ruby. I never had heard of that city in this context before. From what my parents had told me, it was a far darker place. Something dragons tried to forget about, not recover from the darkness it had faded into.

Truth is, in the stories my parents told me, the kirins were the bad guys. Oh surely, they had great wisdom, of course they had, but the story told that they used it to enslave other races. Yes, you heard right, slavery was a big part of their culture, nothing wrong with that of course, but they went too far. They also had a liking for war. I mean, nothing against a good fight, but war? War is a bit over the top, even for black dragons.   

I know, we dragons weren’t considered to be the most friendly race around, but we don’t come together to plunder and enslave our neighbours, at least not en masse. Barely more than a claw full of dragons are willing to work together, and even then, the mere suggestion of sharing the treasure often results in tempers rising and claws and teeth meeting flesh as only another fight broke out.

No, dragons didn’t have the right mentality to engage in a prolonged conflict. Even if we did have such a city as Shakirin-La or any form of civilisation, our neighbours would, besides the occasional loss of property and livestock, be mostly safe. We simply prefered to fight each other more than fighting others.

Heh, I chuckled and opened the bottle of apple juice, taking a sip.

What could I do to make her believe Shakirin-La was something other then the ruin of a beaten empire from the old age, failed in its attempt to dominate all of its neighbours. And for those reasons, it had been destroyed and now lay mostly forgotten. 

Oh, did I forget to mention the part we dragons played in this.

I snorted, quietly. There was probably nothing we dragons had done to help influence the “greater good” as so many called it. Not even the golden or white dragons, the most friendly of my kind, were immune to greed and the lust for dominance. Even I had to admit, if our species was only made of them, we might not have such a bad reputation. We might even have been able to build a civilisation of our own. Might…

Urg, anyway, we dragons had something to do with the kirins. Something bad, that much was for sure. Legends say, we had given them their power, the wisdom which they had used to beat their enemies. Other say, we had saved them from extinction, long before they rose to power, therefore we were responsible for their might and the damage they had been able to inflict. 

Whatever story was true, we dragons looked to be the reason for all the misery. It didn't exactly help us become more liked by the other races.

I rubbed my snout and placed the bottle on the table next to the sofa. None of these thoughts were of any use at the moment. I could deal with Danger’s attempt to find the city later, or more accurately, I had to deal with it later. She had paid me for helping her in a way after all. 

I rolled my eyes and frowned. I could already hear her voice in my head: “Pacta sunt servanda!”

Mhh, thinking about it, she wasn’t that bad. While her learning of the dragon code of honor had almost spoiled my enjoyment of last night, how it had ended more than made up for the frustration she had caused me. I could already feel my smile returning remembering what what we had done.

I made my way over to the doorway of my living room, leaning against the frame, I watched as Fluffy slept. Her cuddly body was enwrapped by most of the blankets, she must have cuddled into them in the short time I was out of the bed, while her head rested on three of the four pillows, which were already too big for her in the first place.

I chuckled, no matter what species, females always seemed to gather most of the bedsheets for themself when sleeping. Dragoness’ did it, griffins did it, at least that was what my only friend said whenever he was complaining about a new female he had managed to bed. I was sure it was true for most any other species out there. It must be some law of nature.

Oh, and she had started snoring again.

The thought of crawling back into our little makeshift nest crossed my mind, but I discarded it. There was something else I should do first. Thinking about the griffons had brought something back to my mind I hadn’t spend much attention to yet.

The griffons that had brought Danger here, the ones from the tavern, seemed Tartarus-bent to get their claws on the collar of fire. I remembered their conversation before they had entered my cave. 

I looked at the collar, peacefully hanging from one of the knobs of my many showcases.

As far as I remembered, they wanted it back, and it was Dangers task to get it and bring it to them. Otherwise… I growled, otherwise they would kill my pegasus.

Even without the feeling that I had to protect her because of our new deal, I wouldn’t allow some griffon to threaten what was mine in the first place. And this fluffy, soft, cuddly pegasus, well, I saw her as my cuddly, soft, fluffy pegasus.

Not to forget the sexy kirin she could now become whenever the time came for a more, active role…

I pushed myself off the frame. Fortunately, there was an easy solution to the problem these griffins were presenting me.

Placing the last ruby in my mouth, I made my way to the exit. There, I removed a certain stone on the wall and pressed a hidden button behind it. With a quiet click, the blockade that prevent someone from just lifting the portcullis snapped back into the wall. 

It was a clever system that protected my inner lair, it had cost me a lot though.

Anyway, I placed my claws on the lattice and pulled it up. The portcullis squealed as I lifted it. Not wanting to wake up my new guest I stopped halfway, throwing an unsure look at the living room.

I could still hear her powerful snoring despite my distance from her.

Good, no damage done. More carefully this time, I pushed the lattice further up until it locked back into its usual place, unfortunately, I had forgotten the loud click that signaled that the lattice had locked in place.

I closed my eyes and sighed innerly, listening. I heard her snoring stop for a moment and was worried I had awoken her, but after a few seconds it came back.

I had gotten lucky. I should oil the portcullis sometime though so raising it wasn't so loud.

Anyway, I stepped outside, and standing there in front of my home, took my time to look around. It was unlikely, but there could have been a creature that had snuck in while I was asleep. It was better to make sure, I wouldn’t let something hang around here when Fluffy was sleeping and couldn’t defend herself. Not to mention that I had my treasure to protect too.

So far, I couldn't see anything living that shouldn't be there. Well, there was only a very small amount of light in the cave, but for a dragon that wasn’t much of a problem. We may not have full night-vision, like some other creatures, but the habit dragons had of living in dark caves had allowed us to evolve better sight in the dark then griffons for example. In any case, there was more than enough light to see in this half darkness.

However, I saw no creature either trying to hide or out in the open. The idea of closing the portcullis came to my mind. It would be safer this way, but on the other claw it would result in waking Fluffy, and I was confident she wouldn’t be happy if I trapped her in my lair... again. 

Not that I would mind keeping her in it, but I had gotten a taste of what a happy pony was willing to do... and I wanted more of it.

So, instead of closing the entrance, I flew up and took another final look around. No one to see, neither behind the waterfall, in the bushes, or anywhere else that would serve as an good place to hide.

It had been unlikely in the first place though. I really doubt those griffons had the guts to come in here a second time anyway. In my opinion, they would lurk outside of my cave, waiting for Danger to come out, with or without the collar.
 
Well, they’re going to be in for a surprise when they expect her to come out only to then be facing me. 

I made my way to the tunnel, entering it and heading for the surface.

Before I reached the entrance to my cave that was being illuminated by the soft white glow of the moon, I stopped. I should at least think through what I was going to do before I acted. The last thing I needed was to make a mistake that would put me and Fluffy in danger.

From how they had acted when they had arrived, I assumed these griffons would be nearby. Otherwise, Fluffy might have had the chance to escape them during the night. If that was the case, I should probably count myself as fortunate, it meant I wouldn’t have to look too long before I found them. Furthermore, there would probably be the four from yesterday waiting outside, but maybe even more, they had more than enough time to fetch some reinforcements afterall. Though, if Ludewig had planned this, he would have brought more griffons in the first place, or would he have? Hmm, I wasn’t so sure, I hadn’t spent enough time around him to get a good read on how he responded to new circumstances.

Anyway, with them too fearful to come in, they couldn’t know for certain what exactly had happened to Fluffy. This meant, they either had to stay till I came out and assume I had killed Fluffy, or, she came out, at which point they catch her and depending on if she had the collar or not, decide her fate. Hmm, either way, they had to prepare to stay longer, possibly set up a camp or something. More so, if they weren’t completely stupid, they would have appointed someone, possibly in shifts, to watch the cave entrance incase one of us came out during the night. 

Though, what if they had just flown back and were waiting for her in the city, knowing she had no place else to go? I had to consider that too. I didn’t know enough about Fluffy’s social contacts around here yet, heck, I didn’t even know her species till yesterday, so I couldn’t be sure just how entangled she was in other creatures lives. 

Well, even in the worst case, I wouldn’t be wasting my time. The cool, fresh, night air was always a welcome experience, especially for clearing my head.

Be it as it may. I approached the exit carefully. Though, I was optimistic that the moonlight was enough to make the guard, if there was one at all, nearly blind to any movement in the darkness of my cave. On top of this, I was as black as the night anyway, so even if their eyes weren’t dilated, it would be a difficult task to find me. And unlike yesterday, I didn’t have something on me that could reflect light and give away my position.

Well, to be fair, the problem was on both sides. They might not be able to see into my cave with any detail, but I needed some time to adjust my eyes to the light outside too. Essentially, both of us were at a disadvantage in being the first to see the other.

So I stood there for a while, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light of the full moon. When they finally did though I was able to see a small portion of grey between the otherwise green bushes a good distance down the mountain.

Crap! That far, he could easily spot me on my way over to him. Not that it would save him, it would only take me a few moments to reach him, but he would be able to alert anyone around him that I was coming. There was just not enough cover around my lair to stay hidden the entire time I made my way over to him. I had to come up with something, or take the risk and blindly storm their position and hope I could eliminate his entire party before they could mount a response. Arg, that was too risky, if Ludewig escaped, Fluffy would live in permanent danger due to the constant threat of revenge.

Danger living in danger, I chuckled, like danger was her middle name. Heh, it was even worse, it was her first. Should ask her about her middle one though.

I turned my attention back to the actual problem. As it seems I had two good options, first, I fly off, letting them think I had killed Fluffy, and while they deliberate on whether or not they should dare to enter my lair, I come back, silently, invisible to them, and kill them all. 

It was a good plan actually, the only problem was that the plan was relying on them hesitating to enter my den. If they took the bait too readily, they might be able to make it to my inner sanctum before I realised what they had done, reaching Fluffy before I could return to protect her. Also, what if one escaped? It was the same problem as bolting strait at them. 

The second idea was to wait till a cloud crept over the moon, turning the side of the mountain an inky black. I would then be able to slip out of my den and proceed to their camp unseen, able to finish them off one by one while they sleep, none the wiser to my presence.

That sounded a lot better. 

Yeah, I know now I could have just returned inside, closed the portcullis, dealt with Fluffy getting angry with me, and then just execute plan A. But back then, this idea didn’t came to my mind. I had also been very eager to have a happy pegasus in my bed the next morning.

So I waited, and waited… and waited.

It must have taken upwards of fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. 

What, I am not the most patient of dragons, okay?

When a cloud finally had the courtesy to block the silvery light of the moon, I rushed outside. Like a shadow, I passed the exit and quickly turned left, hugging the edge of my cave’s entrance and… rushed directly into a second griffon keeping watch of my cave.

Well it was a surprise, I didn’t think Ludewig would be that careful, or competent when it came to keeping an eye on my den. I almost felt like commending him for what he had done, almost..

Anyway, there I was, looking right into the eyes of this grey griffon, and there he was, looking right back, not even paying much attention to my claw sticking out of his throat. Only his left eye twitched.

I must say it was a bit rude of him, ignoring what I had done with my claw, especially when it takes a great deal of skill to properly aim, but oh well…

I pulled my claw back, giving him time to think about his manners and went on. He however, just sunk down, making himself comfortable on the ground.

You see, I had to hurry now, it wouldn’t be long until the moon was shining brightly again and his comrate would be able to clearly see him taking an unscheduled nap. I rushed away from my lair and spread my wings, flying the short distance to the treeline. I am a predator after all, so my wings, while not exactly quiet, were far from loud.

It must have been just a few dozen steps from where the other griffon was positioned that I entered the forest. Fortunately, he hadn’t noticed me. And how could he? When I reached his position a few moments later, I saw he was looking in a different direction, hanging in a halfway comfortable position and covered in a full body blanket.

I shook my head innerly, what did he think waiting outside my lair was like, huh? A camping trip? As if I was just some slightly dangerous creature, like a bugbear or the like? Why wouldn’t he just made a fire and cook some tea while he was at it? He was already making himself such an easy target.

I felt anger rising in me. Anything less than his full attention and a deep fear was an insult to me! 

I held back a growl and approached him until I stood right behind him. There, I thought, would be the perfect position to enact my punishment on him. The gaul he had to not respect the fame I had earned made my blood boil, I had half a mind to kill him the same way I had killed his comrade. But no, that would be too easy, and wouldn’t be happening.

This fool hadn’t even noticed me, even while I was standing right behind him. Neither my footsteps nor my breath had caught his attention. He was still relaxed and cuddled in his blanket.

I swept my tail through the grass behind me.

Finally, he showed a sign of noticing my presence by tilting his head slightly.

“You see, Lawrence, as I told you, nothing’s happened.” He yawned. “I guess they had a lot of fun in there, and now they’re sleeping till daylight. We’re just wasting our time. I told Leonardo that too, but this fool wanted to show his bravery by going even closer to it.” He pointed at my lair, “I tell you, there is no bravery in going to a harmless lair entrance when the dragon is sleeping.” The griffon reached down and picked up a bottle of what seems to be beer, offering it to me, still without looking in my direction. “Here.” 

I took the beer, he then proceeded to use his now free claw to scratch over his forehead. 

“Or maybe he ate her and is sleeping anyway,” he added. “This bloodthirsty dragon is capable of anything. But know what? If that’s the case, I’m not going into that stinking, dirty hole he calls his lair, to get the collar for the boss back. No way.”

I reached around his neck and grabbed his beak, pressing it shut, dropping the beer in the process, pulling him against me so he couldn’t make much noise.

While he struggled in surprise and fear, I moved my head next to his, keeping my gaze on my lair. “Stinky, dirty, hole,” I repeated slowly, nodding a bit. With ease I kept his struggling under control while doing so. Now I tilted my head a bit too. “Hmm, could be because this bloodthirsty dragon decorades his lair with the dead bodies of those who are stupid enough to come here without invitation, don’t you think?”

Now I locked gaze with him. “You know, like Leonardo?”

His irises had shrunk to the size of pinpricks, he shivered and wasn’t really able to speak. More so with the pressure on his beak being increased.

So I shook him a bit. “But dirty, I wouldn’t call it dirty.” I let my tone shift to one of someone who had been hurt. “What an offence.”

“Mmpf! Mmh, Mmpf!”

I gave him an snubbed look. “Wow, now you are going too far. Calling it dirty is one thing, but say it is a dump is another.”

“Mmmpf! Mmhmhhmhpf!” He tried to shake his head but my grip was too strong.”

Now a deep, still quiet, growl was mixed into my next words. “What did you say about my ancestry?”

I ignored his following struggling and attempts to speak, placing my claw on his belly. “There can only be one answer to this, you know?”

I saw in his eyes that he knew, knew all too well what was coming next.

I’ll spare you the details, but let’s say dying can take some time, and for someone who had been so disrespectful, it took especially long. 

What? You didn’t think just one date with Fluffy would have turned me into a big softy all of the sudden, right? Black Death, remember? 

Anyway, I still had work to do. I dropped the body and followed the tracks from his position back to their camp. Though, thinking about it, there was already one griffon too many. There had been only four last evening, now I already know of five. Even though two of them had already been taken care of. This meant they had gotten reinforcements.

What a waste of life, bringing in more wouldn’t help them anyway. I mean, I don’t have a problem with killing them in a good fight, or hunting them down for a meal, but to kill them just because they have the wrong employer, heh, not my favorite way.

There is a line between a stupid, brutish killer, and somedragon with a bit more style, mind you. I have a bit more character then just kill, eat, mate, repeat. Though, that method of operation had a charm all its own for a few days a year.

Anyhow, this griffon had to die to ensure my pegasus’s safety.

So, when I reached their camp, which was more of a hasty build bivouac, with just one tent in it, I counted the sleeping bags. There were eight, two of them were empty, and I assumed there would be one more in the small tent with Ludewig in it.

More than enough to cope with Fluffy, far too few to deal with me.

I looked over the sleeping bags once more, assuring that the rest of them were gathered here. It seemed so.

Good, this meant no one could escape. 

Without further hesitation I went to work. Fast like a lightning bolt and quiet like the night itself, I rushed from sleeping bag to sleeping bag, ensuring no griffon would wake up to disturb me now, or ever…

Except for the last one, he had been a lighter sleep then the others. Maybe this was that Lawrence the other griffon had talked about, the one he had been expecting to take over the nightwatch. Who knows. However, when he woke up he was just in time to see me approaching him. At this sight, he sprung up with the intent to get away.

Unfortunately for him, one of his paws had gotten tangled up in his sleeping bag, preventing him from flying away. This however, didn’t stop him from screaming bloody murder though.

To be honest, the thought of letting him escape crossed my mind for a split second. I mean, someone had to bolster my fame by telling the story of what had happened here, but no, not yet. He could be of use still…

I aimed for his chest with my left wing spike, impaling him on it, not even attempting to avoid any vital organs or major arteries. I was successful, stabbing his sternum dead center.

Of course his screams intensified. He screamed like a manticore on fire now, just as I had wanted.

Natural, it didn’t take long for his screams to wake Ludewig, and in the very moment the tent was opened, I threw the griffon right past its entrance when it had been opened sufficiently. 

To my surprise it wasn’t Ludewig who had opened the tent, it was Lucia. So she was the one who received a good view of her dying comrade, a camp full of dead griffons, and my best intimidating pose. Bared fangs supported by a roar, the lowered chest and head, the wide spread wings, everything needed to haunt a creatures nightmares. 

There was surely no way anything but a dragon could look upon this scene and not be frightened.

I saw on her orange face, which became pale rather quickly, that the scene wasn’t wasted on her.

Mhh, I loved it when a creature appreciated all the effort I had put into something by standing paralyzed in fear.

Oh, and there was Ludewig too, right behind her, hiding behind her tail. That would explain a few things… married, my tail!

Seeing the perfect opportunity, I began approaching them. My claws wide open, like for a welcoming hug, only mine was a bit more threatening of course. 

With me coming closer, it was only a matter of seconds till one of them overcame their paralysis. It was Lucia. With a scream of terror, she stepped back, grabbed a dagger from somewhere inside the tent, and held it out before her. 

It was a useless weapon, we both knew it, but my guess was that it was the best she could do given the situation and how little time she felt she had.

I laughed and playfully let out a burst of fire. Not enough to burn down the tent but enough to impress upon them the idea that I could at any moment.

“Out!” Lucia screamed and pushed forward, dragging Ludewig with her. This fool tried to hold back, but Lucia’s fear gave her strength, and she pulled him out of the tent and into the open.

With the two of them helpless and in my reach, my liking for good manners came back. “It’s a nice night tonight wouldn’t you say, Ludewig,” I said, “what a pleasant surprise to find you still in my territory.”

When he didn’t respond, I continued on. “Seems you have lost your ability to speak,” I gave him a false look of compassion, “what a pity. I had some questions about the pegasus you brought me, you know?”

Now Lucia stepped between us, her dagger raised, her free claw open, ready to strike. It was as useless as her weapon, though she did the best she could. I knew there was a spear or two around, but they were behind me and out of her reach.

Her gaze quickly traveled from one dead griffon to the other, she gulped before she said, “You killed all of them just to ask us something? What kind of monster are you?”

I chuckled and ignored Lucia. “I told you to leave Ludewig, I gave you a chance.” I shook my head like if scolding a hatchling. “But you didn’t listen, it really is a shame.”

“Ple...pl… “ he started but I waved him off.

“Spare me your begging for mercy, it is useless.” I moved even closer and tried to push Lucia aside, but she swung her dagger at me.

“Keep your claws to yourself!” she yelled. “Ludewig, fly! I’ll keep him occupied”

He tried, but he hadn’t even really opened his wings when a lance of fire shot above his head, stopping him in his tracks. 

“You are going nowhere!” I made clear.

And now something happened that I wasn't able to fully understand that day. With a battlecry, Lucia stormed forward, charging at me to buy Ludewig some time. Must have been that love thing I had heard about, it was like friendship, but a few degree deeper I suppose. It makes you weak, making you lose your focus, and, like I was seeing here, drives you to suicide in an attempt to rescue some other being. 

It was all so senseless.

While she tried hard to throw her life away, Ludewig was too scared to make another attempt at escape. 

What a useless worm he was!

With ease, I grabbed the dagger mid air, its cutting edge of course too weak to penetrate my scales, and wrest it from Lucia. Sending her flying with a slap from my other claw. 

It was a backclaw slap, so she would survive.

Without any further distraction, I moved over to Ludewig, grabbing the little whimpering ball of feathers and lifting him up.

“Before I end you useless life,” I said, “I have a few questions.”

Sure, he started to beg for his life again, but it was as useless and annoying as the first time.

I shook him till he fell silent. “It’s over Ludewig, you just need to choose how you leave this world now.” I took a seat and held him in one claw. “Answer my questions and you may leave quickly, don’t, and it will take some time, during which you tell me what I want to know anyway.” I raised a talon, “First, I want to know where Danger got this collar from, and second,” I raised a second talon, “I want to know of any artifacts similar to the one she already retrieved.”

“I don’t know about any similar artifacts, the collar was the only one I know of!” Ludewig screamed and tried to struggle free. “And it was pure happenstance that I even heard rumours about it!”

“Rumours?” I lifted an eyebrow, “So then, where did you hear these rumours?”

“I can’t remember!” he quickly yelled.

“Hmm, I am sure you will remember after I rip your balls off, Ludewig.”

“No! Please no!” His struggle intensified. “I swear I can’t remember!”

I lowered my claw to do as I implied, making attempts to grab his best parts, when Lucia suddenly yelled, “Wait! I can remember!”

Slowly I turned my head to her. She was laying on the ground a few feet away, holding her ribs, coughing. Must have hit her harder than I thought.

“It was a drunken zebra,” she said and coughed again.

“A zebra?” I tilted my head. “Hmm,” I pulled back my claw, stopping my attempt to turn Ludewig into a eunuch. “I am listening.”

“She came to the ‘Endless Mug’,” Lucia continued. “the tavern in the weaver district. She had a few mugs too much and Ludewig tricked her in a game of 17&4.” Lucia placed a claw on the ground and pushed herself up a bit. “She hadn’t the money to pay all her debt, so she gave Ludewig an old scroll as payment, a scroll which guided Danger to the temple she got the collar from.” She released a sound of pain and pressed her claw to her chest once more before she spat on the ground. “There was a picture on the scroll which showed the collar, worshipped by a bunch of unknown creatures. It was clear it was worth something, the idea that it wasn’t well protected was something Ludewig came up with himself.”

A bit shaky, Lucia raised completely. “From there, it was a breeze to convince this adventure thirsty pony to give it a try.”

Yeah, adventure thirsty pony, that sounded like Danger.

“So,” I waved with Ludewig like he was a annoying cat in my grip, “he tricked Danger to risk her life in an attempt to get a maybe existent artifact, cheat her out of her payment afterwards, tried to torture the magic words out of her, and threatened her life once more in sending her to my lair to get the artifact back he hadn’t paid her for in the first place.”

I threw another look at Lucia. “Did I leave anything out?”

Before she responded, she returned to an offensive position, ready to attack me once more.

I must admit, her willpower and bravery was impressive, it was only her intelligence that was lacking.

She nodded. “No, that’s everything. But from the looks of it, you don't seem to be much better!” 

It was unnecessary for her to point at all the corpses that littered the ground, I got what she referred too anyway.

I shrugged. “It’s my territory after all, I told you to leave.

“And that gives you the right to kill everyone in their sleep!” It wasn’t really a question that she shouted at me. “These guys did you no harm!”

“Wrong place, wrong time,” I simple said. “Anyway, I’m get tired of this. I’ll tell you something, little griffon girl, I like your way of tackling things. Tell me the name of that Zebra and where it went, then, one of you shall leave here alive.”

“You…” it was clear she wanted to curse me again but she thought better of it. “Which one?”

I was sure I already knew the answer, but I asked anyways to get proof. “Who do you want me to let escape?”

“Him,” she directly said and pointed at Ludewig.

“Hmm,” I looked at him. “And you? Who do you thing I should let go?”

“M...Me,” he stuttered after a short pause.

Selfish till the end, as I had expected. The little appreciation I had for him for coming up with such a clever plan to get the artifact vanished as soon as it had risen.

“You know he is not worthy of your love, right? I asked Lucia. “It is really one sided. He’s been willing to sacrifice you, twice already, since I met you.”

Lucia looked to the ground for a moment. “I know… “ Her gaze found the way to my face again. “It doesn’t change a thing though!”

I nodded respectfully at her, before I turned my gaze back to the dishonorable, worthless griffon in my claw. “It is settled then, the info for a life, that is the deal.”

I must point out, Lucia hadn’t tried to beg for her own life, or even try to bargain. When I agreed to let one live for the info, she told me what I wanted to know right away. 

“The Zebra is called Am-nuta, she is grey with a tendency to go into blue. Her mane is orange though. She was on her way to Karishe, city of the two rivers, when we saw her the last time. Maybe two weeks ago.”

“And this is the truth?” I waved with Ludewig, making a point. “You didn’t ‘forget’ something?” 

“If I did you would kill Ludewig when you found out.” She spat on the ground again. “I am not that stupid.”

I took a moment to think about what she had said. It made sense to me, though, it would be hard for me to find that zebra under these conditions. Not her fault though.

“Now let him go!” she demanded.

Instead of doing so, I stepped closer to her till I stopped right in front of her She didn’t even made an attempt to move back.

“Close your eyes.”

Her breath got quicker and she started to shiver, nonetheless she held my gaze. “You promised!”

“I did,” I replied, “don’t worry. Pacta sunt servanda.”

She closed one claw, pressing it so hard together it became nearly white, and closed her eyes. “I love you, Ludewig, I always did.”

It seemed, for a second, Ludewig would say something too, but in the end he stayed silent.

“Ready?” I asked.

She nodded, shivering, heavy breathing, but still accepting her fate. 

I barely had seen such bravery and honour among my enemies. Even the hardest guys tend to beg and cry when they knew their end had come. I knew, I had seen enough of the so called ‘tough’ guys coming to my lair to plunder my treasures and take my head as a trophy. 

But not so with Lucia, she was ready to die for who she loved. Foolish griffon!

“Alright,” I said and started counting.

“Three.”

Her shivering intensified.

“Two”

A tear formed at her left eye.

“One”

Still no sign of her backing out. This one was worth something after all.

“Zero,” I said, crushing Ludewigs head in my claw. I wasn’t strong enough to actually turn it to paste, but his bones cracked, and by the time Lucia screamed out in pain and disbelief, alerted by the sound it made, I had broken his neck with a quick move.

“No!” She screamed from the top of her lungs, ignoring any possible danger I could pose to her, pushing forward and grabbing his dead body out of my claw. 

“Noooooo!” Her scream was drowned in her tears and sobbing. She shook Ludewigs dead body as if she would be able to bring him back to live.

“The info for a life, the pact is fulfilled.” I turned away. “You are free to go, Lucia.”

“You bloody monster! You betrayed me!” Pure hatred was her voice, grief and pain her echo. “My life for his! That was the deal!”

I stopped, looking back at her. “No, Lucia, I agreed to let one of you go, I only asked for your opinion about it. I never promised who I would let go.”

“Liar!” she let go of Ludwig's dead body and grabbed the dagger I had dropped without thinking about it. “Die your monster!” With those words she flapped her wings and jumped at me.

It was a suicide attack and we both knew it. I saw it in her eyes, she didn’t want to survive this attack.

I moved slightly, just enough to prevent the dagger from stabbing me, and instead let it just slide over my scales. It didn’t leave any damage. I then grabbed Lucia.

“Die! Die you monster and rot in tartarus!” She screamed and took another swing. Though, her battlecry was broken by her sobbing.

I took the dagger out of her claw and pressed her against my chest.

She scratched me, bite me, kicked and punched me, but since I was holding my head out of her reach, it was of no effect.

“You know he was worthless scum.”

“I loved him you stupid beast!” She punched my chest.

“And he didn’t love you in return, he used you and threw you away when it was of use for him. You are better without him.”

“Liar!” She wasn’t able to admit I was right this soon.

I said nothing more, I just stood there and took her hits.

“Heartless killer!”

Another wave of punches and kicks.

“Murder!”

Now she tried to bite me again.

Finally, after a long time of proceeding this way, she lost the enthusiasm and what remained was a powerless, dejected little griffon girl.

I placed her on the ground and threw the dagger a few steps away.

For a while, I just looked down on her. I saw what a great warrior or leader she could have become, if she wasn’t cursed by this love thing.

I sighed, and despite my nature, tried to help her.

“Mark my words girl,” I said, “love makes you weak, more so if you spend it on some creature like him.” I pointed at her dead love. “You are strong, he was not, don’t waste your life by feeling grief and regret about him, move on and live your life.”

I took her chin in my claw and lifted her head till she looked in my eyes.

“I barely say this, so listen carefully! You earned a bit of my respect today, your love may have blinded you, but you have a brave heart, pick yourself up and live another day, use it!” I dropped her chin and turned around. “One day you may thank me for opening your eyes.”

I left her to her thoughts and flew off, back into my lair. I admit I wasn’t good with words, but at least I had tried.

Well, whatever you think of me now, it is not that simple or easy. Yes, I left her heartbroken, with the dead body of her love surrounded by dead bodies. You may think that is cruel, well, you could be right, but wouldn’t it be a crueler fate to let her live in that state of hopeless hope for a love she would never get? 

I think not. 

Though, I am not the good guy here either, truth is, I could use somebody to spread my fame and fear before me, that careless griffon on the watch had made that much clear. But, also important, you remember Fluffy protecting Lucia before? I am sure she would be at least disappointed if she found out I killed her, and she would find out one day, one way or another. Nah, it was for the best to let her live and get away, the fact I had freed her from the influence of Ludewig was just a bonus.

Be it as it is, I had other things on my mind. While I walked through the tunnel to my inner lair, I became very much aware of the smell I had on me, as well as the blood on my claws and body. Yeah, before I wake up Fluffy I should take a bath. Unfortunately, if I do so in my bathroom I was sure to wake her. That meant I would have to explain why I was in the state I was. Considering my experience with Fluffy so far, it would stand in the way of my most desired outcome. 

Luckily I still had my little waterfall, it was a bit cold, but I am not that picky.

I hissed only one time when I went under it. Truth be told, after I got used to it, it did me good. Getting rid of all the stuff from tonight I left the stream of cool water feeling refreshed and clean. 

I stood there for a moment, shaking the water off and watched the little red coloured stream making its way from the waterfall down the rocks, into the small puddle, barely a pond and then slowly vanish with the rest of the water through the little hole in the wall.

I scratched over my back. What a night, It’s been a while since I last went out for that kind of hunt. It was a nice distraction, but in actuality, I prefered to return to some warm blankets and cuddle with something even warmer, and also much fluffier. 

I smiled. Perhaps engaging in more than just cuddling.

With a lively swing in my bones, I turned to my inner lair, past the entry and closed the portcullis.

No point in giving Lucia the chance to attack, despite how unlikely that was. Should the noise wake up my fluffy pegasus, I would make up for it.

My smile turned to a smirk.

It was that moment, I turned around from the portcullis to my floor, that I realised something was wrong.

I listened. Everything was quiet and peaceful.

Too quiet.

Where was the snoring? Or if she had woken up, where were the sounds of her moving around or breathing? 

And something else was wrong. The door to my treasure room… it was wide open.

I rushed over, throwing a look inside. Some of my golden bits where missing, a good portion!

I stormed to the living room, checking for Danger. 

She was gone.

Had somegriffon made they way in here while I was outside? What had happened? My thought overturned. 

I flipped over our provisionally bed, no sign of her, only a few feathers hovered to the ground… along with a little piece of paper.

I grabbed and unfolded it. On the one side was some kind of hastily scrawled map, on the other was written a letter.

“Hey my overgrown Lizard,
making my way to the next artifact already, 
took some of your bits to buy equipment.
Pay you back when I find Shakirin-La.


-Danger Do


This darn furball! I clenched my free claw and roared in anger. Well, at least she had only taken some bits… or had she? Surely she wasn’t able to find the hidden room that fast. 

No she hadn’t…

I couldn’t resist to check on it. I went to the kitchen and pulled the lever behind one of the wine bottles. A soft click confirmed that the hidden door was now open in my treasure room.

Quickly I moved over, turned on the light and peeked inside.

To my relief, on first look everything was as it was supposed to be. Calmed, I moved closer and opened the door completely.

And hished loudly when I saw the second letter on the pestral deeper in the room. On a pestral where once had stood my Candle of inspiration. A very rare and expensive artifact from my collection.

With a growl I took the letter.

“Oh and I took some of your cool stuff too, I am sure you don’t mind. Well, catch me if you can!”

Below the sentence was a imprint of a hoof and a little bit of lipstick in shape of a heart. My senses told me it was raspberry juice, but I was too angry to spend any time examining this though.

This was sooo on!
> From dust till fluff
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dust and decay, very well what I had expected. And what else should be here? If you were wondering, at the time, I was somewhere in the middle of in an old, mhh, I figured it was either a temple or fortress of the old Kirin empire. It was a bit hard to tell actually, there wasn’t much left of the outer walls which would have been an indicator for the building’s purpose, and whatever the interior had once been made of, it had crumbled to dust a long, long time ago.

Well, I really did wonder if anything valuable would still be here. This was the place Dangers hastily made map had guided me to, and considering the hoovesteps before me in the dust, she was either here, or had been not so long ago.

I let out a quick growl, I was still a little bit angry at her, even with the fact that it had been two weeks since she had robbed me. Although, by now, I was calm enough to prefer ‘reparation’ over revenge. If you know what I mean.

Anyway, as I said, this dusty relict of an old empire didn’t seem to have what she was looking for. I mean, if there had been some artifact of power, something beyond what it took to ignite a candle, it would have been taken by some lucky knight already. Or crumbled to dust like everything else here.

This didn’t count for me though, my ‘treasure’ could still be here, and it left hoofsteps for me to follow. I rubbed over my nostrils and swept off the tickling from the dust. Well, we will see.

While I followed the trail in the dust, I couldn’t help but notice how straight it moved forward. It seemed Danger hadn’t taken the time to inspect the surroundings or examine some of the remaining ruble or walls. She hadn’t even turned in the wrong direction it seems, at no time did the steps enter a room only to turn around and try again.

So much for her being an archaeologist. I knew she was only a thief! 

Still, I wondered why she knew which way she had to take. This thought kept me so distracted that I nearly missed the little light golden feather on the ground. Well, you may very well ask, what's wrong with that, it seems normal for a pegasus to lose some of these now and then, I had seen just that in my lair. But, it wasn't the fact it was laying on the ground that made me suspicious. It was the colour.

Fluffy was blessed with a cozy fur and cuddly wings in the colour of ocher. This feather, however, was in the colour of light gold.

I picked it up and turned it in my claw. Hmm, it was as soft and flexible as it should be for fluffy. Maybe these ponies change colours during seasons or get bleached by the sun? I saw something like this happen, though, not that fast. Two weeks was really quick, speaking from my limited experience on it.

I let go of the feather and proceeded to follow the trace. I would find out soon enough, though, if she had changed her colors, I had to make sure she was as fluffy and soft as before. You know, it totally wasn’t just as an excuse to cuddle her.  

Anyway, following these hoovesteps took much longer than expected. Room after room I passed, also some staircases, leading deeper into the ruin. If my senses hadn’t fooled me, I was already a few levels below the surface. 

And it started to get darker too. Like I told you before, this wasn’t much of a problem for me, but it would be for Fluffy. Good thing she had my Candle of Inspiration, it would mark her for me from miles away.

I smiled, not that I had forgiven her for the theft, but it could turn out to be in my favor now.

Still, I had to admit, she had a  skill in finding her way around, it didn’t look like she was affected by the darkness, or better said, the lesser light from her... my candle. She was still leaving a direct path of steps, that was, until I found a large area where the dust had been disturbed, along with a few more feathers laying around.

Looks like a fight had happened here, and I started to worry a bit, but only on the first glance. When I looked a bit closer, it was more of a quick scuffle than a real fight. If I had to guess, I would say Fluffy had woken up some bats or something like that and had to deal with their unhappy reaction. Nothing serious.

I chuckled. Somehow it amused me to imagine Fluffy fighting wild animals. I mean, big eyes and fluffiness aren’t the best weapons after all. And I really doubt she would use anything serious like kicks or bites against them. These pony species were too friendly for that.

Nonetheless, she had dealt with them and had continued on her way, as far as the tracks proved.  

I could bore you with more details about the ruin and the surroundings while I continued to follow the trail she had left. Like how nature had taken over again, or praise the architects skill with how perfect the stones lay on each other, even after all this time, but to make it short for you, eventually, around a corner, I saw a little spark of light after maybe half an hour or so of walking.

Strangely enough, it was not blueish white, like I expected from my candle, but a full yellow and reddish glow, like from a common lantern.

I hesitated and sniffed. Definitely lamp oil.

You stole a candle, that once ignited, would burn indefinitely, Danger Do, and you are so rude as to not even use it? 

Or was there a second player involved now? The idea that she could have sought additional help hadn’t even crossed my mind until now, or maybe…

I crouched and spread my wings a bit. What if someone else was here too? Someone who she hadn’t brought with her? I snuck towards the light, silent and careful. Step by step, slowly, I approached the corner, peaked around… and smiled.

There was Fluffy, standing next to what I expected was a stone staircase, looking into the deep darkness before her. For some reason, she had placed the lantern she had brought with her a good bit behind her and in a way that it wouldn’t send much light into the room below.

In fact, it barely lit her up. I saw her tail and flank, but the colours were a bit hard to tell apart in this light. If I didn’t know better, I would say her flank was now light golden, like the feather I had found, while her mane… yes, her mane was now black with some grey in it. So either her species was able to change colour for good, or I was being fooled by the twilight.

Either way, what had definitely changed was her dress. Well, now she was wearing some sort of jacket and a hat.

Not the worst choice, but I preferred her with as few clothes on as possible, none being ideal. Hmm, not a bad state of affairs, I could change them for the better quite quickly.

I slinked on, getting closer and closer while Fluffy kept her attention on the room below. I was already really close when the mishap happened. Right before I was able to pounce on her, grab and cuddle her, a purr escaped my snout.

Dammit! I can’t control it, the promise of fluff was too much to handle without purring!

Her head sprung up and turned around as I hastily bounced forward, her eyes widened when she noticed I had snuck up on her.

The distance I had been able to cover before I gave away my presence hadn’t helped me though. With incredible speed, she flapped her wings and pushed herself to the side, not without aiming a good kick at me with one of her hind legs though.

It must have been the surprise of seeing me coming at her that caused her to try to kick me. But as I knew from before, it was harmless.

I would simply take the hit and grab her, or that had been my plan, before her hoof struck me like a sledgehammer and sent my head forcefully towards the ground.

Ouch! That had hurt real bad! Pushed forward by my own momentum and unprepared for her kick to really have an impact, I face planted, while my body made an unwilling salto, causing me to land on my back.

So much for my surprise ‘attack’. I groaned and stood up, just to see she had grabbed her lantern and was on her escape run already.

Since when was she so fast? I shook my head to get rid of the stars I saw. And since when had she had such a good straight claw… hoof.

“Oh, you won’t get away this time,” I said as I chased after her. Though you will find it hard to believe, I could barely keep up with her! I couldn’t help but notice how fast and confidently she made her way through the ruin. 

I don’t know what happened in the last two weeks, but Fluffy surely had become a more skilled thief, that’s for sure. 

We hurried through the ruin, room after room, and surprisingly, not the way we came down here. If anything, we only went deeper below the surface. Whatever plan Fluffy had in mind, I wasn’t able to foresee it. 

I could have chased her this way till the end of time, though, she decided to play the clever one and try to trick me. 

After another turn around a corner, when I lost direct line of sight on her, she threw the lantern through the darkness of the next door and rushed to the side of the doorframe, hiding there.

It could have worked too, if I didn’t have the ability to see in such low light conditions, or at least good enough to spot a brightly coloured pony.

So when I ran around the corner, I immediately saw that nopony was holding the lantern anymore, and, with just a quick glance into the room, I saw Fluffy, crouching next to the door, and of course, she noticed I had spotted her.

It was a strange situation, us looking at each other while the light quickly began to vanish. With a loud ‘clong’, the light vanished for a moment as the lantern had hit the ground, only to come back and nearly vanish again at the next impact on the ground. When the lantern stopped bouncing it began to roll in a wide circle around the room.

“Thief!” I accused her, quickly blocking the door with my wing before she could escape. I wanted to play the angry dragon here and decided to growl, but my desire to cuddle her was too strong. After two weeks of following her and having my mind consumed by thoughts of what I would do when I found her, my growl turned out more playful than threatening.

Her reaction was still the same though. It seemed like she wasn’t in the mood to notice the difference. On top of that, while I was still able to see her, she seemed to be having trouble seeing me, not least because of my scale colour.

Though her reaction was not what I would have expected from her, instead of her normal hesitant or seductive behavior, she attacked me! She reared up and sent a quick buck at me, which I was fortunately able to avoid by pulling my head back due to my newfound respect for her strength. She noticed the space she had just given herself with that attack and decided to take advantage of it, turning around and sprinting towards an exit.

I tried to sweep her off her hooves with a flick of my tail, but by some miracle, she noticed it in time and jumped over it, doing a quick roll when she touched the ground, only to be on her hooves again and resuming her run.

What the heck!

We both knew that, despite her new skills, she didn’t have a change of escaping from me without some light source, therefore, we headed for the lantern together. She was faster, but the two seconds she needed to pick it up was enough for me to pounce at her again.

This time I would get her! My claws already nearly around her belly… when she did one of this roll things again and evaded at the last possible second.

This was crazy!

Well, she didn’t seem to complain, and while I grabbed at the empty space where she used to be, she started an attempt to escape again.

Effortney! As if I was just somedragon that she used to know! 

I spit a lance of fire at the door she was going to pass and straightened up. She fell back on her flank and slid a few meters before she stopped right in front of the fire. 

“That’s enough!” I commanded, “I am not going to chase you through this whole ruin all day!”

Unimpressed by my declaration, she just turned and headed for another exit. 

I had to block that one with fire too and rushed over to her. 

Still, she wasn’t in the mood to give up. Instead of letting me grab her, she slapped my claw and made a backflip over my head, only to land on the other side and get wiped off her hooves by my tail. Finally, I had hit her. Though, this darn little fluff ball just rotated in the air and avoided landing on her back by giving a flap of her wings, which also brought her a good distance away from me too. Only the lantern had left her grip and had slid into the next room.

I was about to give into despair!

Along with her new appearance, which now was clear to see in the light my fire had caused, she had gained a lot more skill in fighting, and who knows what else.

“Is that some kind of pony stuff?” I asked annoyed. “Acquiring a new colour and some skills for free? You really should have told me your species is able to do that, Fluffy!”

She stopped in the doorframe of the last exit and turned to face me. “I can’t say we have met before.” She tipped her head. “Wasn’t my pleasure.” And with those words, she ran away.

“You can run but you can’t hide Danger Do!” I yelled. “I will find you!”

I kicked some rubble through the air with my tail and made an attempt to follow Fluffy when she appeared in the door frame as quick as she had vanished.

“Did you just say, Danger Do?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

I growled at her. “Don’t try to fool me Fluffy! You are the only pony here, you can’t fool me with a new outfit and coat colour. I don’t know how you managed to paint your eyes dark pink, but be sure I…”

“Wait,” she interrupted me, “what coat colour did I have before?”

My growling intensified.

“Seriously,” she took a step towards me. “what was it?”

“You know very well what colour you had!”

“Just pretend I really forgot.”

Now I was confused, I held her gaze, looking for any signs of scoff. But I found none. She really seemed to not know. What kind of trick was this? I tried to find an answer, but besides some magic effect by another artifact, I couldn’t think of one, and the artifact answer seemed too unrealistic.

“Ocher,” I said. “and before you ask, hazelnut brown eyes.”

“Dammit!” she yelled and stomped a hoof, “I told you to stay at home Danger!” Obviously, she wasn’t speaking to me right now. “What were you thinking?”

“Speaking of yourself in the third person now?” I asked as I came a little bit closer.

“What?” She looked back at me. “No! I am not talking about me, I talk about Danger Do, my cousin!” She groaned. “Say, where did you see her?”

I tilted my head and gave her a suspicious look.

“Come on, tell me! I am not her!” She even moved to let me see her flank in detail, which had  a compass and not a campfire as the strange mark there now. I am not sure if it meant anything, to change ones tattoo, but I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Well,” I raised my head, smirking with pride. “Last time I saw her, she was laying in my bed, after we had a good night of fun.” 

My grin intensified a lot when I saw the astonished, or more likely disbelieving, expression on her face.

“That was before she stole some of my bits and a very precious artif…” I didn’t get any further in my story before Dangers cousin interrupted me with a yell.

“You slept with my younger cousin?” She added a nice growl to it.

“Uhm,” I shrugged, “well, yes,” I said a bit confused about her anger.

“How dare you!” 

Obviously that was a bad thing in her world, a very bad thing. Without further warning, she bounced at me now! This pony had gone crazy!

With a face twisted with rage, she pushed forward, jumping up, and just before she reached me, turned around in the air and used the momentum to send a kick at my head.

I was so perplexed by her reaction that I nearly forgot to evade. Only the memory of how hard she was able to kick saved me. At the last possible moment, I turned my head to the side and only received a glancing kick against the back of my skull as she passed me.

“Whoa lady!” I turned around. “No need to exaggerate things!” 

Unfortunately, she seemed to be of a different opinion, since she had already lined up for another attack on me. I admit, with the fire behind her, she did look really angry, and dangerous. 

Soon, I found myself covered in a series of kicks and punches. This little pony knew how to fight. While I would normally fight back with my full fury, I chose to hold back, mostly because I didn’t really want to harm her. I mean, it wasn’t really my intention previously, but if she really is Fluffy’s cousin, well, I am pretty sure she wouldn’t take it so well if I hurt her. 

On top of that, whatever luck had protected her before, was now with her again. More than just one punch slipped through my defenses and hit me. Not that it did much damage, but it was absurd! It was like Fortuna herself guided her attacks. Oh, and of course, her defence too!. Whatever I tried, I couldn’t manage to do more than give her a little scratch or what barely amounted to a bruise.

It felt like fighting one of those heroes from the adventure books! You know, when the villain never hits the hero, no matter what they try, even if they shoot a thousand arrows at once. If one would write a book about this fight, no one would believe it!

I couldn’t let this go on much longer, either she would get hurt, or, with her luck in mind, I would. This meant I would have to hurt her to prevent her from continuing her assault. I needed to calm her down, and I had to do it fast.

And I already had an idea.

The next time she jumped into the air to send a heavy kick in my direction, instead of blocking it, I let it slip through, which got her unprepared, taking the hit, which hurt a lot, I pushed forward and embraced her.

Well, I might not be able to hurt this ‘blessed by destiny’ pony, but her luck didn’t seem to mind me giving her a hug.

On the other claw, she did…

A wave of curses and invectives flew over me, together with her attempts to bite and punch me. Fortunately, without the required space to use her full force, it was harmless.

I pressed her closer to my chest and folded my wings around her, suppressing her struggling even more. Though, it didn’t seem she would calm down anytime soon.

So I decided to do something untypical for me… I stroked softly over her mane and whispered calming words.

Turned out, I wasn’t good at it, since she only got angrier.

“Keep your dirty claws at yourself!” she demanded.

“Could you please calm down for a second?” I asked politely.

“You perv! Tempter! Seducer!”

“Charming,” I acknowledged. “Listen, pegasus, I had some fun with your cousin, that's right, no need too…”

“You filthy dragon!” She interrupted me again. “How could you!”

By now I admit I was tempted to hurt her a little. Destiny's chosen or not, I couldn’t miss her now, right? So I extended my claw to scratch her, just a bit to show her who was in charge here, but without logical reason, a stone from the ceiling came loose and landed on my head.

Ouch! Destiny made her point very clear. Or Fortuna, didn’t matter, both are above my league, so hurting her was off the table.

So I had to bite into the sour apple and sit it out it seems. Literally. 

I took a seat and held this pegasus close, till it calmed down by itself. And let me tell you, it took some time!

Okay, it may have gone faster if I had resisted testing her cuddliness. But what did you expect? She was the second pegasus I saw in my life, and she was, despite her more adventures style, still fluffy to a degree.

Yes, sadly, her clothes hid her chest fluff, if she had those too, and of course, she wasn’t as soft or as fluffy with all her muscles. But if you have ever held a pegasus close yourself, you would know how soft they all are, no matter their physical fitness.

Needless to say,  my cuddling hadn’t changed her mind about me being a perv.

So, as I said, it took awhile for her to calm down. And I would like to add, I behaved quite well all thing considered, I didn’t play with her tail or wings for example.

When she did calm down, however, we finally started to have a civilized conversation.

She groaned and held still after a final attempt to kick me. “You can let me down now,” she said.

“If you promise to not run away or attack me again.”

She grumbled. “For the time being.”

“Fair enough.” I placed her on the ground, ready if she tried anything funny, but she stayed calm. More so, she took a very deep breath and rubbed her temples.

“Alright... alright,” another deep breath, “I will allow you to apologize and send me the invitation to your wedding.” She brought her face closer to mine, piercing me with her gaze. “Do that, and I won’t consider breaking every bone in your body!”

I gave her a flat look. So much for her effort to stay calm.

“No one said anything about a wedding.” I pointed out.

“What? Don’t you dare tell me it was just a one night stand!” Yep, there was the growl again.

“More or less… “

She cursed me again and was already halfway in the air, ready to attack me, when she remembered her promise. Very unwilling, she backed off.

“I swear, if you made her unhappy then…!” She left her sentence incomplete, but I got what she was saying anyway.

“I very well think that she was satisfied.” I lifted my claw to stop her from an angry reply. “But that is not the point. Look, I am here because I assume she would be here too, and I am sure she could clear this all up for you.”

“Danger is here?” She tapped on the ground, “in this ruin?”

“I think so.”

“Ponyfeathers!” She stomped the ground once more. “What should I do with you cousin?” she asked the ceiling, “I told you it’s too dangerous for you!”

“She didn’t give me the impression of making very clever decisions,” I commented, still with an upcoming smile on my face. I liked her decisions so far.

“Seems so,” the pegasus said and gave me a meaningful look.

“Hey!” I protested, “that’s not fair.”

She snorted and adjusted her hat. “If you say so.” Then she groaned and trotted past me.

“Hey wait, where are you going?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” she said without stopping, “rescuing my little cousin.”

I turned and followed her. “Rescuing from what?”

“From herself,” she stopped and raised a hoof to stop me too, “and from you, perv!”

“I am afraid that lay beyond your skills... sweety.” I knew this would make her angry, but that was my intention.

As expected, she growled, “Don’t you dare go near her, you ruffian salamander!”

I smiled. “Fluffy still owes me some things, I better accompany you.”

“I... work... alone…! “

Somehow I had the impression she had said this more than one time in her past.

“I… come… with… you…! Or I could carry you around in my claw. Your choice.”

She spread her wings and headed to escape. “Really? Bring it!” she yelled.

I chuckled. “You promised to not run away!”

She stopped mid air, hovering on the spot. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I heard another mumbled curse. Then she turned back, landing next to me. 

“Arg, fine,” She growled again. “You may come with me. But when we find her, I-” she pointed at her chest- “will do the talking!”

“We will see,” was all I was willing to admit.

“I mean it, she is my cousin!”

“And she stole from my lair!” I countered.

We both stepped closer till our snouts touched and growled at each other, neither of us were willing to back off.

I guess we could have stayed there for all eternity, considering her willpower. Though the worry about her cousin took over after a while. “We don’t have time for this now, we have to find her, quick.” She broke the stare and turned around. “We will clarify this when we’ve found her. This place is too unsafe for her to roam around on her own.”

“Unsafe?” I asked, straightening up again. “I haven’t seen anything dangerous since I came here.” I demonstratively pointed at the surrounding. “Only dust and silence, except for you that is.”

“Oh yes? Then let me show you something.”

Without further discussion, she moved over to her lantern, picked it up, and set it properly to light again. “Come on,” she said and trotted on, leaving it to me to follow her. 

Well, hard to accuse her of fleeing with the tempo she was walking at, even more so with the explicit request to follow her. So I did.

“And what is it you want to show me?”

“You’ll see when we are there.”

I sighed interraly. “This is the beginning of one of the best friendships,” I said ironically.

At least, it didn’t take too long to reach our destination, it was the same room we had met originally.

“And what do we do here?” I wondered aloud.

“Shhh!” she made and placed the lantern behind the door, where it wouldn’t illuminate the room in front of us. “Look,” she said, sneaked over to the staircase and pointed down.

I raised an eyebrow, but moved next to her. I had to suppress an whistle of astonishment when I reached the staircase. In fact, is was less of a staircase and more of a very long drop down into a huge cave. 

And at the far end, after hundreds of stairs and a little sea of silvery water, there was activity. A lot of small lizard like creatures were roaming around, holding some primitive ritual. They danced around a fire, and from what it looked like, where singing. It was too far away to really hear it though.

Confused, I looked back at Dangers cousin. “You consider them as dangerous?”

“Not all of us have fire breath and thick scales you know? Also, not for me, for Danger.” She shook her head. “Still, it's not them I’m worried about. I am more concerned about their leader.”

“And this is which one?” I looked back down.

“She isn’t there yet,” Dangers cousin said after she gave the scene a longer look, “but she was before. She is a Kirin, but one with wings. I saw her breath fire too.”

I hesitated and lifted my head. “A kirin?” I asked. “Was this kirin perhaps wearing a collar? A silver one?”

She lifted her head and gave me a suspicious look. “You’ve seen her before?”

I nodded. “If I am right, I very well have…” I turned my attention back to the dancing creatures and waited. It didn’t take long until my speculation was proven correct as the leader Danger’s cousin had referred to joined the ritual a short while later.

Carried by eight of the creatures, the kirin sat on a stone throne, waving generously to the crowd. 

I smirked, it was Fluffy, in her sexy kirin form.
> A Firey Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This ritual is going to request something from her, soon,” Dangers cousin explained, “and whatever it is, I am sure Danger won’t be able to fulfill it.” She gave me a suspicious look. “That is, if this kirin really is my cousin.”

I snorted at her suspicion. When I told her who this kirin was, she had made a real fuss about how this was not possible and that I was lying and all that. We have wasted a good amount of time with that, but in the end, she had accepted that I may be speaking the truth, and therefore, we had to act. 

Though, obviously, her suspicion was still there.

“It is Fluffy, end of story.” I shook my head, “but what did you mean by, it is going to end soon?”

Her eyes remained slits for a moment, not even being subtle with her deep seeded misgivings before she returned her gaze to the scene below us. “I mean that these creatures have nearly completed their dance. And from my experience with native tribes rituals and cultures, I’m assuming that at the end of it, the leader, Danger in this case, has to play their part.”

“And?” I was perplexed by her concerned tone. “Why couldn’t she be able to play her part?”

“Because she is not a real kirin? Duh?” She pointed at her. “She doesn’t have a horn, so she can’t cast any magic, and from what I know, the rituals from the ancient kirin empire always included some.” She looked back at me. “That means, even if she had a clue what these creatures would demand from her, which she doesn’t, she couldn’t do it. So, when these creatures have completed their ritual and Danger won’t be able to fulfill her role then, they will get angry, I mean, really angry!”

Now my eyebrows furrowed. “Then it may be the best to take them out first, right?”

I was already rising to make my way down there, ready to get rid of these primitive creatures, when Dangers cousin held me back. 

By the way, I obviously haven’t learned her name by this point in the tail. I overheard her name later when Fluffy began complaining, though after talking about her for so long it's getting rather tedious to not use it. You might know her already since she is quite famous from some books, her name is, Daring Do. Anyway, with that out of the way, I can use her name now to tell you who I mean or who was speaking.

So, Daring quickly rushed over to me and placed a hoof on my side, trying to pull me back down. Of course she failed, she simply was not strong enough, but I stopped myself.

“What?” I asked impatiently.

“You can’t simply go down there and kill every creature!” She looked appalled. “That is horrible!”

“As if you have any better ideas. Besides, it would prevent any future problems we would have with them.”

“Yeah, but don’t forget, Danger’s going to be getting a front row seat of how you slaughter some harmless creatures. I’m sure she would love to see that.” Daring said sarcastically.

I growled. I had to admit, she had a point, even if I didn’t like it. Pony sensibility in matters of good old violence was a hindrance sometimes. Though, their cuteness and cuddliness seemed to be worth it.

“Fine!” I grumbled. “What is your idea then?”

She rubbed her chin. “Let me think of something, I need a moment.”

“Alright… “ I said, deceptively calm… and when she turned around to walk around the room while thinking, I grabbed her and pressed her against my chest. I simply ignored the annoyed ‘Hey’ she half yelled. “Take your time,” I said when she started to struggle, “but keep in mind, that is your cousin down there that needs your help.”

Her struggling stopped. I, of course, took that as permission to cuddle her. It was a wonder how fast she came up with a plan all of the sudden.

***

The dancing got faster and faster as the screams of joy and happiness were progressively infused with an expectant undertone. The circle around the fire got closer, the rhythm more quick, and more than one fist or spear was shaken towards the ceiling.

Gradually, it came to Danger Do’s mind that she was possibly in trouble now. She still sat on her stone throne, observing the ritual from above, though, things were becoming more serious with every passing second. She should have flown away when she had the chance, but no, she had stayed. Surely, her transformation had offered a nice opportunity to get the next artifact, but she had had some trouble on her way before getting to that point. 

Danger threw a regretful look at her wing. Like her older cousin always wrote in her books, she had hurt it. Must be some kind of family curse she thought. Of course, these creatures had apologized after she had turned into a kirin, at least that was what she thought they did, since she didn’t speak their language, but that didn’t change the fact that her wing was now hurt.

Suddenly Danger was pulled out of her thoughts when all of the creature screamed at once, “Mar-gie! Zai-bear!” 

While doing so, they turned around to her and raised one open claw each, to praise her. No, not to praise her, to demand something.

Dangers first reaction however was to freeze in shock. With the seconds passing, the silence laid heavy on all of them, till one lizard like creature moved forward, speaking, or yelling, in their harsh voice.

“Zai-bear!” It demanded, moved another step forward and making the same gesture with its claw then before, repeating, “Zai-bear!”

Dangers ears flinched back, “I, I don’t know what you want from me,” she explained. But it only seemed to make the creature more angry.

“Zai-bear!” it screamed. “Zai-bear! Nun!” Soon, the other creatures followed, screaming the same words over and over again while coming closer to the throne.

Rising from her throne, Danger lifted her burning hooves to calm them down. “I am pretty sure you guys have a very good reason to demand something, but I have honestly no clue what that is.”

They came closer.

“Really,” a nervous giggle escaped her lips while she clambered over the backrest, “I am very thankful for your welcome, but I think I should go now!” She turned around, but instantly stopped  when she saw the group that had carried her here waiting behind her throne with raised spears.

“Or, not?” She quietly asked.

“Zai-bear!” The creatures had surrounded her and were still moving closer.

“He-hey,” another nervous giggle, “we can talk about this, right?”

It didn’t seemed so, the creatures were now right around her throne, pointing their spears at her, and then…

***

A mighty roar from me echoed through the cave, reaching even the farest corner and drawing all of the creatures attention towards me. The fear they showed when they heard the roar of a dragon was only increased when they actually saw me. Black as death, twice as tall as them and enveloped in fire. A little circumstance that was owed to the lamp oil that Daring had spilled all over me.

It was purrfect!

While they were still paralyzed in shock, I made my way down to them, leaving burning claw steps as I proceeded down the stairs. When I finally had the room to spread my wings I glided down the remaining distance, leaving a trail of burning oil behind me.

I can only imagine how scary I must have looked!

Mere seconds before I reached the group, they finally overcame their paralysis, spreading out in all directions. Quickly, spears were raised, ranks formed, though, I could see them shiver in fear, shrinking back.

And the cute little kirin? Almost forgotten.

I landed heavily right in front of the throne, kicking up some dust and roaring again at the crowd of fearful creatures, pushing them back even further. 

Only the little kirin, who was now hiding behind the backrest of the throne was still unable to move it seems, so I gave her another, very personal roar.

I could only hope that Daring’s plan worked and Danger was clever enough to understand the situation. Otherwise I may have to kill some of these creatures, even with her present.

Finally, Danger gulped and made an attempt to stand up.

I bared my fangs and growled, challenging her.

She threw a look at the fearful creatures behind her and then back to me. I saw she recognized me, despite the lamp oil and everything, though my entrance left her unsure about me. 

Come on, you can get this figured out!

She hesitated, and I quickly spread my wings, intimidating everyone by the sound and the  burning drops I splashed all over the place, leaving burned spots on the ground and also on some creatures. I supported the atmosphere of fear with a threatening hiss.

First, Danger ducked behind her throne once more, but then something clicked for her, and I saw in her eyes that she began to understand.

She gulped, then straightened up and jumped out from behind her throne, hissing back at me.

Now she was talking! 

I lowered my head and roared at her once more. This time without effect, besides her feathers and mane waving.

Like a brave hero, she stood her ground and even moved towards me, slowly, step by step. 

I added some fire to the mix, spitting it at her, but she just turned her face away and took it. She was fireproof after all.

Now I acted crazy, hissing, scratching the ground with my claws, even whipping the ground with my tail. The ring of creatures fearfully stepped back once more, but Danger was unimpressed.

Unwaveringly, she made her way over to me, only to stop a few steps aways from me when a fearful cry shouted for her from the back. One of the lizard like creatures, the same one that had stepped forward when she was unable to play her part, had raised its claw, obvious trying to hold her back, seeing the danger I presented.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this!” Fluffy said confidently and underlined it with the appropriate gestures. Though, he didn’t understand her words, he got what she was saying anyway. With awe, he knelt and looked at the event that was about to transpire.

Returning her gaze to me, she raised a hoof, holding it up and spoke in a loud clear voice. “Hey, my overgrown Lizard, I am sooo thankful that you showed up! These freaks were going to make a kirin shish kabob out of me!”

I hissed, loud and threatening.

“Woah!” Now she got a bit worried. “Easy there, you came to my aid, right?”

I couldn’t speak with her now, it had to look like she was using some sort of power or magic to calm me down, not a civilized discussion. Otherwise, these creatures wouldn’t buy it. Though they may not be able to understand us, it doesn’t mean they were completely stupid.

So I roared and scratched the floor once more, sending small pebbles flying towards her.

“You are my overgrown Lizard, right?” Doubt mixed into her voice. She lifted her other hoof too. “Right?”

This wasn’t the time for doubt Fluffy! I had to act before she really started to fear me and back off.

For a moment, a very short one, I added a purr into my growling. Not enough to make the creatures suspicious, but enough for Fluffy to understand.

With new confidence she took another step forward and kept only one hoof up.

“Come here,” she said.

I refused and repeated my threatening actions.

“Come here!” she now demanded in a strong and confident tone.

I lowered my hissing and folded my wings a bit, trying to appear less threatening, before I slowly moved forward. Like a wild creature, I lowered my head when I reached her and only hesitated right before I pressed it against her hoof, hissing once more, before I really touched it. Sounds of surprise and disbelief were heard from the creatures in the background when I allowed her hoof to wander from my nostrils, along my snout and finally come to rest on top of my head. 

And like a good dragon, once it was there, I rubbed my head against it, demanding more caresses from her.

She was so generous to give it. Softly her hoof scratched over my scales, while she whispered sweet little nonsense into my ear. I mean I was not a dog or something, but her calming sweet words did work somehow. Not for me, but for the creatures who were watching.

More than one lowered their weapon and stood there, watching us with open snouts. A little kirin, not only calming down an angry dragon, but now not more than a step away from cuddling with it.

Everything was going well, until I moved my head to her wing, wanting to play with, from what I remembered, her playfully acting feathers and enjoy the warmth of the fire on her marginal coverts. Only to see her flinch back and make a noise of pain when I touched it.

It took me a moment to realise what that meant. I tilted my head and made an requesting noise, demanding to be allowed to play with her wing, but she pulled it back even further. 

Then, it struck me what this had to mean.

With a mighty roar, I raised my head again, facing the creatures, which were now significantly startled. Oh no, I wasn’t playing the angry dragon anymore, now I was pissed! These fools had dared to hurt my pegasus! I would end them, right now!

My wings sprung open, my fangs bared. Only seconds until I would bounce, reach them, and tear them apart.

I didn’t know why my sudden anger was so strong, so overwhelming, but surely not a single one of them would survive… had it not been for Fluffy.

Quickly, she jumped between me and them, hissing loudly, demanding my attention to come back on her.

I ignored her mostly, just turning to a different direction and the creatures there, but she always jumped in between us, remaining between me and them.

With my blood still boiling, I was not in the mood to pay her any mind until I had taken care of the origin of my rage. In this case, it just so happened to be the lizard like creatures.

I gave her a hiss, which she only returned. More so, she lowered her head and chest, giving me a real roar. 

Even if I didn’t see her as a threat, the gesture was clear. I had to respond to it, one predator to the other.

I lowered my head again, bringing it to the same level as hers. She bared her fangs and hissed. I returned the favour, though I was a bit louder.

I didn’t want to fight with her, but she didn’t allow me to ignore her either. Though, in hindsight, I admit this show got her far more respect and attention then what I had in mind.

So we stood there, looking at each other, threatening each other, even though neither of us really mean it. This was until the point I remembered what had made me so angry in the first place and turned my attention back to our spectators.

Before I could do something they would regret though, Fluffy took the initiative and pushed forward. That caught me off guard, I wasn’t expecting an attack by her, and, it didn’t really count as one. She indeed bounced at me, which caused me to rise on my feet, but it was nothing dangerous, instead, she grabbed ahold of my neck and supported her stand with her rear hooves on my left claw and chest while she licked over my throat.

This hadn’t been an attack, it had been a form of flirting!

Clever little pony indeed. Surely I wasn’t listening to reasonable talk, but this, I was more than willing to listen too.

More so, I hoped her cousin Daring would have an excellent view of this from her position. I was fortunate Fluffy didn’t seem to know she was around too.

On the other claw, like I told you before, I was not the type of dragon to have this kind of action with spectators around. So I did purr a bit and grabbed her tighter, but I did not try anything funny myself. At least not now.

I enjoyed her tender caresses a bit more, but then I dropped her on the ground, softly. 

“You will not be able to solve every problem by licking over my throat in the future,” I informed her whispering, though, far calmer than a moment before.

She smiled and replied in the same volume, “It’s worked so far.”

I gave her a half approving, half warning growl and rubbed my head against hers. Soon my growl turned into a purr and I moved closer to her to rub my chest against hers too.

She let it happen and also moved herself to cuddle along my side. When she was finally standing next to me, she turned and jumped on my back.

That was a bit much, even for her. I turned my head to her and hissed, but she simply made herself comfortable on my back and used her softness against me. 

She was good, but I wasn’t going to let go of this so easily, I am no mount dammit, I am a dragon! I am… the rest of my thoughts got covered in a deep purr when her hooves started to do their magic on my back again.

I had forgotten about these massage things! Her secret Pony weapon! Now I was under its spell, I had fallen into her trap with open eyes, not knowing what hit me!

Like butter, I melted under her hooves, purring and moving my wings into the right position to allow her to reach the best spots.

I don’t know what this view must be like for the primitive creatures, but I didn’t care anyway. I sunk down on my belly and made myself comfortable on the ground, allowing Fluffy to proceed with her evil, unfair pony magic.

“Look who is a good dragon.” She mocked at me and scratched along my spine. “A really good dragon, huh?”

“I’m not going to fetch a stick for you.” I protested weak, still purring.

“We’ll see about that.”

I shivered a bit out of joy, before I responded. “I hope your cousin doesn’t see this.”

Fluffy’s massaging of my back stopped. “My cousin?” 

“Yeah,” I growled a bit at her suddenly stopping, but she quickly resumed her magic before I would stand up again. “I met her upstairs, in the ruin. Though, she is far less fluffy then you, more of a fighter. She also got kind of angry when I told her I slept with you.”

“You did what?!” Now she sprung up on my back and I could almost feel the panic that rose inside her.

I turned my head to her and explained, “Well, she asked me where I had seen you last…” I shrugged, smiled, and made a vague gesture at the primitives. “Also  she was the one who came up with the plan that I should rescue you this way instead of just slaughtering all of them. You know, grab you, get you out of here and she would use the distraction to get the artifact in the process.”

Now a mixture of emotions came and left her face. She was clearly ashamed that I told her cousin about our funtime, though, a bit of anger was with in the mix. Why? That became  clear after she had gathered some confidence again.

“I can’t believe you would do this to me, again!”

“I?” I wondered.

She turned to me. “No, not you! Daring! She tries to snatch the artifact from me!” Fluffy stomped with her hoof, sadly right on my back. “Oh no cousin, not this time!” Now she pointed her hoof at me. “You are not going to fly me out of here!”

“No?”

“No! You and I are going for the artifact ourselves!”

I rose from the ground and lifted her with me. “I am not sure, I am not so much in the mood for an artifact heist.” I gave her a smirk and rubbed my head against her side. “I can think of something far better to spend our time with.”

A angry hiss was her response.

“Oh come on,” I purred. But she didn’t listen.

“No way you get that,” she slapped my head, “while Daring is snatching my artifact! Directly before my snout!”

I lifted my tail to play with hers, stroking over her fluffy burning tail tip and purred even louer.

“No means no!” she yelled and whipped my tail with hers.

Now it was on me to growl.

“You’re already late with my ‘payment’!” I reminded her while my growling intensified. “And you stole my Candle of Inspiration too!”

Fluffy moved a step forward and grabbed my snout with her hoof, pushing it up on her level. “If you want your payment, you will help me to get the artifact!”

Well, I don’t take orders so well, and even though I admit that I like her, that was a step to far. After all, I was The Black Death! Now my growl turned into a hiss and my whole body language changed into a more aggressive stance.

Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by Fluffy, who just realized who she was giving orders to.

Quickly, she placed a kiss on my lips. Though, my anger stayed, a simple kiss wouldn’t do it this time. 

“I mean,” she rubbed her head against my snout, letting her cozy mane play with my scales, “I would really appreciate your help here.”

I caught her gaze. “And I would prefer to just get you outta here and get paid.”

“But our deal was that you help me get the other…” she stopped, then smiled. “Pacta su…”

I roared and threw her off. “Don’t you dare!” I screamed at her. “You ungrateful pony!”

My reaction had taken her by surprise and she now looked up to me with wide eyes.

I turned my body around and approached her. “Not only did I save your life three times already, I also spared you in the tavern! Not to mention you thanked me and my kindness by stealing from my lair. Nooo, none of that was enough, you also felt the need to demand my help by using a deal we made before you repaid my kindness with a theft!” Now my voice had become really loud and full of anger. My fangs were bared and my claws scratched over the ground in lack of something to fight with.

Well, that changed quickly when one of the creatures behind me stormed forward with a spear raised. Of course, they couldn’t understand our words, for them, the situation was quite clear though. Fluffy had made a mistake in the process of calming me down, and now, I was going to kill her.

Stupid fool! I was already pissed, looking for something to smash and this fool presented itself! Only a bowtie was missing from this present.

When it had gotten close enough, I whipped it with my tail, sending it flying back to where it came from. I was more than thankful for something to release my anger on, and a group of primitive was just the right thing.

I turned around, spread my wings and was about to attack them, when suddenly something fluffy rushed to my side and hugged me.

“I am sorry!” she yelled hecticly. “I am sorry, really I am sorry!” Her hug got tighter. “Don’t harm them, please!”

I was pissed enough to kick her off, and I already raised my feet to do so, when she continued. “Please, don’t hurt them, it was me who annoyed you, not them. I am sorry for stealing from you!”

I let my feet hang in the air, hesitating. I tell you, these ponies do have a weapon. Forget what I said before about cuteness and fluffiness being useless in a fight, despite how annoyed I still was,  she had managed to calm me down.

Though, I didn’t showed it completely, better let her keep trying. You know, see where this was going.

Oh but I underestimated the cleverness of her. Instead of begging for me to spare the creature, she approached the topic form a different angle.

She stroke over my side with her healthy wing and said, “You’ll get your payment, don’t worry.” She started to rub her head against me too. “Though, if we leave now, our little adventure is over. If Daring gets the artifact, she will find Shakirin-La, not us, which means you don’t get any further payment.”

I placed my feet on the ground again. I hadn’t thought about this before.

“We would leave,” she said and moved towards my front, caressing my side with her wing on the way, “and after you get your,” she touched my throat with her hoof, sliding upwards, “‘payment’ we would separate.” At the last words her voice had a regretful, almost sad tone.

My eyebrows furrowed, I didn’t like that line of thinking.

“On the other hoof, if you help me get the artifact… well,” she licked over my throat, “I’ll make sure to put a little extra on your ‘paycheck’. She moved her hoof to my neck and implied a little massage there. “And I am sure you would like it.” Now she gave me her best fluffy look. “Not to mention that it would mean our adventure could last a bit longer that way, resulting in more ‘paytimes’.”

She had a point, a really good point! My anger lowered and I slowly returned to a less aggressive stance. I hadn’t thought about it this way before. So funny it is to have a good fight, like the one that presented itself here to me, but I couldn’t argue with the idea that having her around for longer was going to be worth holding back for the moment.

I clicked my claw on the ground for a moment, until I made a decision. “Hop on,” I said.

She did as I told her, making sure she rubbed her fluffy body against me in the process. A clever choice given how angry I was a few seconds before.

When Fluffy had taken a seat, and extinguished the rest of the fire on my back with a swift move, I asked, “And where is this artifact?”

“From what I know, it is in a chamber at the side of this cave,” she pointed in a direction, I didn’t know which it was. “That way.”

Without further delay, I headed in said direction. The creatures didn’t bother us, actually they made a passage for us between them. The reason? Who knows, be it that they feared me, or had respect for their leader, who had not only calmed down a dragon right in front of them, but also was now riding said angry dragon. A few of them actually kneeled and bowed before Fluffy.

I mean, for them, without knowing what we talked about, it must have looked very impressive what she did, more so after I whipped away one of their comrades so easily.

Anyway, we made our way to said chamber, or better said, to the huge door that led to it. Once there, Fluffy hopped off.

“I came till this point, before the natives noticed me the first time,” she explained. “Whatever I had tried, the door didn’t open.”

I gave it a look, the door was made of some shimmering metal, not enough to shine, but kind of dull gloss. In the middle was a series of symbols, nearly faded away over time, but I thought I saw what they once represented. 

In the center was a golden horseshoe, above it some colorful curved lines. The colours had mostly vanished, but there was a hint of blue, green and red left. This was surrounded by a ring of several little four clover leaves.

Strangely I remembered this symbols from somewhere, though, I couldn’t remember where.

“You see, this door was all that stopped me from snatching the artifact and leaving safe and sound.” Fluffy said.

“Well, good thing someone had opened it for us already.”

“What?” Fluffy rushed next to me, giving the door a disbelieving look. Indeed, by a closer look, it was to see that the door was open a tiny gap.

“Daring…!” Fluffy mumbled.

“Mhh, we will know any moment.” I commented and placed my talon between the door and it’s frame, pushing it open.

Well, what we saw when the door was open was a picture of a lifetime. Behind the door was a medium sized cave, which had a little puddle of water in its center, right behind a stone panel. Growing from out of the puddle was a tree, or bush, from which the water ran down in streams. On the plant however, was a shiny, silver bracelet with some blue gemstones in it, right next to a light golden pegasus, tangled up in the branches.

“Daring!” Fluffy shouted and galloped forward. “Got you red hooved!”

Daring Do struggled, trying to get free, without success. “Danger!” she looked at her cousin, “What are you doing here?” Now her gaze wandered to me. “You were supposed to get her out of here!”

Before I could answer, Fluffy spoke up. “So you can steal my artifact, huh? I can’t believe you tried to do that to me!”

“I don’t steal your artifact, I recover an artifact for the public!  And I told you this would be to dangerous for you in the first place!”

“And how often have I told you, you are not my mom?”

“Urg!” Daring groaned, “just wait till I get off this bad behaving plant, then I tell you something, Threaty!

That must have been some insulting nickname from their childhood, since Fluffy’s head turned red and her voice got a good bit louder.

“Don’t call me that!” Fluffy stomped, “This time I am the heroic adventurer and you have to sit in the second line! This treasure belongs to me!”

“Not if I can get my hooves on it first!”

“I don’t like to interrupt your little family reunion,” I dropped in, “but I would suggest th…”

“You keep your snout shut!” Daring yelled at me. “I haven’t forget what you did to my little cousin!”

I couldn’t suppress a little smirk, though, Fluffy turned even more red, only this time from shame.

“That is none of your business, Daring!” she yelled.

“Oh, yes?” Daring gave her a angry look. “Wait till I tell your mom about it!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh I would!”

“Then I tell your father about your affair with Ahuizotl!” Fluffy shouted back.

That silenced Daring for a moment.

“Oh yes, cousin, I know about it! And if you tell my mom, I tell your dad!”

“Hmpf!” Daring said sulky. “How did you know?”

“I have eyes in my head, Daring, I saw you two hanging out at your cottage, with him cooking dinner while you cuddled against him!”

“You spied on me?”

“No, I was going to visit you, but after I saw you two, I turned around and returned home. I didn’t think that much about it, till I read your books and found out who he really was though.” Fluffy set up a angry face. “I am sure you fans will be highly disappointed if they find out you have an affair with who was supposedly your arch enemy from your books!”

“That was years ago! Long before the incident with the golden rings, we are no longer seeing each other!” Daring defended herself. “We are enemies now!”

“I won’t say anything, if you don’t say anything!” Fluffy suggested.

Thinking about it for a moment, and, with a final angry look at me, Daring agreed. “Fine.”

“Still, keep your hooves off my artifact.” Fluffy demanded.

“It is not your artifact.” Daring repeated.

This little banter continued for a while and I used the time to get closer and throw an eye on the panel. Not that I was uninterested in their little family fight, but my curiosity sprung in. I knew I had seen the symbols on the door somewhere and maybe the engraving here would bring light to my memory.

It did, and also put a big smile on my face. It was big enough that even Danger noticed it when I stepped next to her.

“You think this is funny?” she asked angry, assuming I was still grinning about their little fight. 

“Yes,” I gave her a warm rub with my head, “but that is not what I am grinning about.” I moved my snout next to her ear and whispered. “Let her have the bracelet, it is not what we came here for.”

Her head sprung around to me. “How do you think you know that?”

“Not so loud, or do you want your cousin to know either?”

“Why do you think it is not the bracelet? You know what is in stacks for you, this is not the time for joking,” she whispered.

“I know exactly what is in the stacks,” I said and tenderly stroked her flank with my tail.

“Keep your tail at yourself!” Daring shouted down to us. “I’ll break every bone in your body if you touch her in my presence again!”

I was more than willing to risk that, but Fluffy held me back. “What did you know about this bracelet that I don’t know?”

“Nothing, but this bracelet is not the treasure here, it is just some random bracelet, nothing more. The pond is the treasure.”

“The pond? You mean this paltry puddle?”

“Hmm hmm.”

“How do you know?” Fluffy asked curious, also a bit suspicious.

“Because…” a new voice echoed through the cave, “he is able to read what is engraved on the panel.”

Shocked, all three of us turned around to the origin of the voice, me ready to attack, Daring and Danger more ready to defend themselves. Though, Daring still was tangled up in the plant.

In the door stood now a glowing female dragon. Her scales were golden, her wings shimmering in all colours of the rainbow and her eyes were made of starlight, giving a glimpse into the void of the universe.

“Welcome to my temple,” the dragoness said. “It has been a long time since I last had visitors.”

“Who are you?” Danger asked, moving closer to her cousin, ready to protect her.

“Who I am?” The dragoness giggled. “Hmm, I guess you could call me a friend.”

“I am used to knowing who I call a friend.” Danger replied.

Another giggle. “Then just ask your friend here,” the dragoness pointed at me, “he knows who I am.”

“You do?” Danger asked with a confused look at me.

Oh yes, I did. At least I thought I did, though, I was right. The symbols on the door were a very good indicator, also, her appearance and the engravings on the stone was more than a good hint.

I made a deep respectful bow, something I very rarely did, but here it was appropriate. “Danger Do, Daring Do, may I introduce you to lady Fortuna, the goddess of luck.”

“The goddess of luck?!” they both shouted in disbelief.

They threw a look at her, between each other, back to her, and finally at me again.

“There is no goddess of luck.” Daring Do said.

“Effortney,” the dragoness shouted and the cave shook by the force behind her words. “you of all ponies should be very well aware that I do exist!”

“Whoa, Daring,” Fluffy thickly said while she moved closer to me, giving the ceiling a worried look “even if you don’t believe her, don’t make her angry, I don’t want this cave to collapse on us.”

“Don’t you worry filly,” Fortuna said, now in her normal voice again. “Luck protects the Do’s,” her voice turned a bit derogatory, “even if some still have doubts about it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

“How is that?” I asked curious. 

Honestly, Fortuna didn’t scared me, even though she had shown that she was easily offended. She was one of the gods you only hear good stuff from, not the ones who fly around and kill people or hatchnap their children. Yes, I did say I don’t care much for religion, but with Fortuna it was less religion, and more dealing with a very mighty magical creature. If she calls herself a goddess, I am not stupid enough to argue with her about it.

“Only those who carry my blessing are able to open the door to this inner sanctuary of my temple.” Fortuna explained while she made her way over to us. “And Daring here,” she made a gesture and the plant let go of the pegasus, causing Daring to fall on the ground, “is one of my favorites.” She now looked a bit displeased, “even if she doubts my existence.”

“I don’t doubt that luck exist,” Daring said and rubbed her back while she rose, “but I doubt that there is a goddess behind it.”

“Daring!” Fluffy whispered sharply, “don’t make her angry!”

“So, you think luck is like a force of nature? Randomly, driven by Happenstance, my brother?” Fortuna asked.

“Well…” 

“It is not! I am the goddess of luck, Daring Do, and without me, you would have died long time ago. You would be either crushed, impaled, drowned, eaten, or any other of the many many horrible ways to die. More so, you wouldn’t have made it even out of my temple in the forbidden jungle in the first place, back in, what you call, Equestria.”

“Your temple?” Daring asked. “What do you mean?”

“The temple, or now a ruin, you explored when you were not more than a young inexperienced filly, in the hoofsteps of your dad? The one with the giant tree in the central room, surrounded by statues of arlmaspis, with a little pond like this one here?” She pointed at the puddle at the bottom of the tree.

“How do you know?” Daring asked surprised. “That was years ago and no one besides me know how the inside of that ruin looked, it was sealed.”

“Oh, I did filly, I did.” She turned her back on Daring and made a requesting gesture with her wing at me and Fluffy. “Go ahead, tell them what you did then, Daring Do.”

“Well, I explored the ruin, I was cur…”

“Not that,” Fortuna interrupted, “what you did with the pond.”

“Uhm, I was thirsty and drank from it?”

Fortuna nodded. “Yes, you drank from the pond, my…” she turned around again and took a step towards Daring, “ blessed…” another step, “pond…” right in front of her she stopped. “And what happened then?”

Daring looked up to her, obviously a bit shy now. “The temple collapsed, burring me under it.”

“And who was excavated from it a few days later by some natives who had heard the collapse? Not only unharmed, but also with the spear of Archhooves, hero of the Royal  Legion? An artifact that set the way for you to become the adventurer you are today?”

Now Daring took a seat, astonished. “Me,” she said quietly.

“You…” Fortuna agreed, though, her voice had become a bit accusing. “You took the last bit of luck-magic from my temple and absorbed it, causing the temple to collapse.” She growled, but only for a second. “Anyway,” she sighed, “just let the past be the past, I had some fun watching you going on adventures from then on, it was a kind of... reparation.”

“Uhm, I am, uhm, I am sorry about your temple.” Daring said. “I didn’t know it would collapse just because I drank some water.” She turned to the pond behind her. “Then we better not drink from that.”

“Oh, don’t you worry filly, this pond is far less important for the integrity of this temple than the one you drank from, though, only one of you are allowed to drink it, and I am afraid that is not you this time, you are already blessed.”

Now Fortuna’s gaze wandered on me and Fluffy. “One of you will have the honour, just be aware, it is not a pond of pure luck, like Daring here drank from. This pond grands luck too, but since this was the kirin version of my temple, it also grants wisdom. Though, not necessary the wisdom you are looking for.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Not the one we are looking for?”

“My pond here, reveals three things to whoever drinks from it, one about what you desire, one about what could be, and one, well... one depends on your luck.” She giggled again, be careful what you want to know.

I exchanged a unsure look with Fluffy, we both were unsure what to do. In all honesty, this pond now kept causing a shiver to run down my spine.
> A Fluffy Question!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh please, not every creature at once,” Fortuna said facetiously. I think she would have rolled her eyes too, but that’s a little bit difficult with stars I guess. “You two want to stand there all day, or can one of you be so generous as to say something?”

“Uhm, well,” I started, clicking the ground with my talons, “it isn’t like I don’t want to drink from the… your pond, but… uhm...”

“Yes, yeah, totally!” Fluffy agreed and pointed at me. “What he said.”

“I see,” Fortuna said with a raised eyebrow before walking over to the pond. “Such a shame,” she playfully dipped her claw into the pond and lifted it, allowing the water she had collected to slowly drop back into the pond, “considering what some creature could do with a little... extra luck.”

Now it was on me to raise an eyebrow, it's not like I was opposed to having some more luck, the opposite is the case, but, uhm, I… I simply know too many stories where things go wrong when someone gets the chance to see into the future. Especially when some mighty magical being is involved. There is always a catch.

My thoughts must have been quite obvious to Fortuna, since she started to smile again and came closer.

“Oh look at you,” she purred and started to walk in a circle around me, “the mighty Black Death,” she softly stroked over my side with her wing, “hesitating, being afraid,” she gave me a pitying look, “of a simple pond.” 

She sighed and removed her wing from me, making her way over to Fluffy, who was even more worried than me, and wasn’t able to stand still when Fortuna moved around her, turning around herself, constantly keeping Fortuna in front of her.

“And you, my little adventurer,” Fortuna moved her head next to Fluffies and threw a meaningful gaze at Daring,”always one step behind your older cousin. Always, getting second place.” She smiled. “I am sure you could use a little help from luck,” now her voice became softer, nearly conspiratorially, “you know, to make the odds at least equal. Daring here already has a great amount of luck. And you want to be the one who will find Shakirin-La eventually, right?”

The mentioning of Shakirin-La seemed to trigger Fluffy a bit, since she did throw a look at the pond again. 

“Can you promise me that it will show me the location of Shakirin-La?” Fluffy asked interested, turning her head back to Fortuna. “I do want to find it, but…”

“If it is the thing you desire the most,” Fortuna said mysteriously, but placed a claw below Fluffies chin, lifting it up a bit. “It shows you anything that your heart desires the most, and, yes, Shakirin-La is indeed a possibility.” She let go of Fluffy and made an inviting gesture towards the pond. “Just go ahead, claim the knowledge.”

“I’m still not sure… “ Fluffy said hesitating. “You said it will show me more, depending on my luck, what is that supposed to mean?”

Now Fortuna snorted. “Mortals! Why do you have to make everything so complicated?” She turned away from Fluffy, leaving her question unanswered and instead addressed me again. “What about you, War…”

“Don’t!” I interrupted her. “Don’t use my actual name… “ And after I remembered to whom I was speaking, I added, “please.”

“Hmm,” Fortuna made and threw a look back at Fluffy. “I see, you don’t want her to know who you were, right?”

“Who you were?” Fluffy asked, tilting her head. “What is she talking about?” She switched her gaze between me and the goddess of luck. “Would one of you be so nice as to enlighten me? I’m curious about your real name though,” she added in my direction.

I felt my cheeks warming up a little, knowing they had turned red. “That's not what's important here.”

“Of course not,” Fortuna agreed, sadly with a mischievous smile. “So long as nopony drinks from my pond and finds that out by luck.” 

I would like to point out that she said by luck, not by happenstance. I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I was confident it made a huge difference.

“You sound quite eager to have someone drink from your pond, Fortuna, “ Daring spoke up all of the sudden. “Why’s so important to you that someone does it?”

Again, Fortuna just ignored the question and just quickly changed the topic. “What would you think about getting the attention of multiple females?” she asked me. “With a little luck, you could have quite a bit of fun.” She made a gesture with her wing, including both Do’s, “maybe even more than one fluffy pegasus at once. You know, doing the ‘Do’s’.”

“Hey!” both Do’s yelled at once. 

“Who do you think you are?” Daring yelled. “You can’t… “

“Goddess of luck!” Fortuna roared back, silencing Daring while making the cave shiver once more. “That is who I think I am, thank you!” She then stomped one of her front feet. “Could you stop acting like I am some salesmare, wandering door to door selling buttons or lemonade, Mortal?!”

Now Fluffy and her cousin both flinched back, wrinkling their noses.

“I offer you a great favor here!” Fortuna went on. “And you all act like I am some kind of creep, offering you some candy if you follow me home into my spooky mansion! Have you ever considered that we have rules, mortals? I am simply not allowed to tell you everything, even I have to follow some kind of protocol!” She made a frustrated sound before she mumbled, “I can’t remember the kirin ever being so annoying.”

“Well,” I rubbed my snout, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but from what you are allowed to tell us, it sounds a bit less like a favor, more like spinning the wheels of fortu... , uhm,” I looked in her face and stopped, “you know the rest.”

“I don’t see what is wrong with spinning my wheel,” Fortuna said in a flat tone but with a hint of annoyance in it. You know, like when a female says everything is alright and you know, in truth, you are toast.

I gulped. I had to do something to turn where this was going around, no way I walk out of here, leaving a pissed goddess of luck behind. Really, if you ever have the opportunity to deal with a mighty being like Fortuna, make sure you do your best to make friends with them. Yes, I know what I said about friendship, but back then, I really didn’t care about what I said, seriously, we’re speaking about the self-appointed goddess of luck, come on, use your common sense!

“Actually,” I started, “thinking of it, I could use some extra luck.” My gaze wandered to Fluffy, “and I like what you said what I could achive with it, Fortuna.”

“Oh really? All of a sudden a spark of intelligence from one of you.” Fortuna said, but I could tell from the way she swung her tail-tip that she was more than happy with my words. I know how a predator looks, and Fortuna here, was in full hunting mode.

“You can’t be serious,” Fluffy pushed in between. “You are willing to take the risk, just because you want to lay me?” Now her face became disgusted. “And my cousin too?”

The look I got from Daring due to those words was one I knew was reserved for the promise of death.

“Don’t you worry,” I said, knowing my following words would only increase Daring’s anger, “she is just the bonus, my interest lays with your sexy wings.”

“Really reassuring… “ Fluffy said, holding up a hoof to hinder Daring cursing at me, but now with an angry look too.

“I told you, I love your playful feathers and fluffy chest. No way you only get second place on my list.” And when I saw that this didn’t do the trick, I added, “come on, Fluffy, you know I like you. I wouldn’t add another female to our funtime if it meant I would have to share you with someone else.” I caught her gaze and held it. “Meins,” I formed with my lips, knowing she couldn’t speak old draconic, but she could figure out what I said anyway.

And I was right. Though, her reaction was not what I had in mind.

“I will drink from the pond,” Fluffy declared.

“You?” Daring asked, for a moment her anger at me was forgotten. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Danger?” She placed a hoof on her younger cousins shoulder. “You don’t have to do this just to beat me, you know?”

“Yeah I do, but,” Now Fluffy pointed at me, “I don’t want this opportunity to be wasted on some erotic adventure. You,” she said, addressing me, “have very simple desires and therefore it would be a waste to let you drink this.”

I shrugged. Fluffy was right, couldn’t argue with that, though, some funtime sounded good to me.

“Alright, Fortuna, I’ll do it,” Fluffy said and stepped forward.

The goddess of luck shook her head. “First no one wants my gift, now everyone wants it.” She placed a claw on her head like she had a headache. “Mortals… “

“So you want me to drink from the pond or not?” Fluffy asked.

“Alright, filly, alright,” Fortuna agreed and stepped next to the little pond, extending her wing to invite Danger to drink. “Be my guest.”

Without further hesitation, Fluffy approached the pond, threw another quick look at Fortuna, took a deep breath, and then lowered her head, taking a sip.

I saw Fortuna’s smile while Fluffy drank, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not.

However, that thought had to be placed on the backburner, because as soon as Fluffy had taken a few sips she stopped her drinking and whipped her head back up. She turned around to face us, her eyes wide open, and I saw that her pupils were suddenly as big as the moon.

It looked kind of weird, till the point she, without warning, started to speak in old draconic, and began looking around addressing people none of us could see. The impression me and Daring had of the situation became even more unsettling as she started to move around as her voice began to echo in an unnatural way, until she spoke with more than one voice at the same time.

“Danger, are… are you okay?” Daring asked. She moved over to her cousin and lifted a hoof to touch her, but was held back by Fortuna who blocked her hoof with a wing.

“Don’t disturb her vision,” Fortuna said while keeping her gaze on Fluffy.

“I… “ Daring started but Fortuna silenced her with a sharp ‘Shh! Look, she is speaking with the Kirins from the past.”

Indeed, after this hint from Fortuna, I was able to understand a bit of what Fluffy was saying. Not much since her voices, yes, voices, plural, got faster and faster, but it seemed like she was talking with somekirins from the past about their… mhh, empire? Not quite, more like their territory. 

I was still wondering what this could mean as Fluffy’s face became one of contemplation, only for that to be quickly replaced by one of abject terror, her eyes, already wide open, started to spun around, like she was facing the pure horror, her fiery tail fearfully pulled back between her legs, her ears flinched back to the side of her head, and the bushy ring of fire around her head was all but a stiff fuzz right now.

It was at this point that she started to scream.

Her screams became louder and louder, her wings striking at invisible enemies, her hooves randomly swinging through the air, her rear-legs kicking wildly; whatever she was thinking to fight, it became so intense that she eventually spat flames! It was only Fortuna’s quick reaction, grabbing Daring and pulling her behind her, that prevented things from getting worse when one of the lances of flame engulfed them.

This all took me by surprise, so much so that I needed a moment to realize I should do something about this. I pushed forward, ready to grab Fluffy, snatching her out of the vision, but Fortuna screamed out for me, telling me to stop.

“She is seeing the end of the Kirin-Empire! It will be over in a second!”

I was torn between rescuing Fluffy from this situation, while at the same time knowing she had the worst part nearly behind her and would see what she needed, or better, wanted, to know.

But with every passing second, it got harder for me to not do anything. Fortuna was holding Daring back, who had started to fight with her to get to Danger, both too occupied to care about what I was doing. I knew it was on me to decide now. I looked at the horror on Fluffies face and made a decision, I reached out for her and… stopped when she calmed down by herself.

Whatever she had seen, it was over. I watched as the horror vanished from her face as well as her heartbeat beginning to slow down. I could only hope that this had all been worth it.

I expected her to wake up from her vision very soon, but that was not the case. Instead, it seemed like a new part of the vision was beginning to take place, as Fluffy now looked surprised, but not in a fearful way.

It was more like she was seeing something she never expected to see. For a moment she even lifted a hoof, stretching it out to something, or someone, before she pulled it back and placed it on her belly, leaving it there for a moment. Then I could see from her body-language that the scene had changed again, though the wondering, soft gaze stayed on her face for a moment.

Whatever the new part of the vision was, I wasn’t able to guess from her expression at first, but not too long after it started she screamed out in shock. “Daring!” It was just this name that she screamed, but it was clear that something horrible must have happened in her vision, since it was not a simple scream for attention or a warning, it was like the scream of the minotaur in the tavern, full of loos and disbelieving.

Anyhow, it only took a few seconds and then it was over. Fluffy’s pupils shrunk back and it was clear to see that she had come back to her senses. Though, she was weak on her hooves and drifted to the side, only prevented from falling when I caught her.

Without caring for Daring’s disapproval, which I was sure would follow, I picked Fluffy up and turned her around so she was resting on my arms with her belly up, while I used my wings to make a warm, protective ring around her.

“Is she alright?” Daring yelled, struggled free from Fortuna and heading over to us. Only to be held back by my wing. I was aware that she had the right to investigate here, since she and Fluffy were related, but I was going to check on her first.

You do remember what I told you about valuable things, right? Fluffy counted as one of those, therefore, she was my fluffy pegasus at the moment. That meant her cousin took second place in terms of importance here.

Uninterested in Daring’s loud protest and attempts to push my wing aside, I looked down at Fluffy and poked her with my snout.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

For a second, it seemed like she wasn’t understanding my question, but then her eyes focused on me and she nodded.

“I… I’m fine.” She shook her head and a shiver ran down her spine. “Or I will be in a moment.”

“Just take you… Ouch!” I yelled when I felt a bite on my lower wing, followed by an angry growl by the little pegasus who had bitten me.

My first instinct was to give Daring a slap with my wing, teaching her how to behave. But again, I didn’t think that line of action would be met with Fluffy’s approval. So I just opened my wing and let her cousin have a look for herself.

Daring quickly moved to her cousin and placed her hooves on my arm to have a better look.

“You alright, Tricky? You had me worried for a moment!”

“Daring!” Fluffy yelled and embraced her cousin instantly, who let out a loud “Ouch!” as the flames of Fluffy burned her coat. “You can’t seek Shakirin-La, you simply can’t do that!”

“Whoa, Danger, don’t be getting ahead of yourself,” Daring said while she struggled free, “just because you might know were Shakirin-La…”

“It is not about that!” Fluffy interrupted her, “I saw you die, Daring! You will die if you go there!”

“Die?” Daring asked confused. “Come on cousin, you…”

“No!” Fluffy yelled and tried to grab Daring’s face, who quickly evaded the burning hooves “I saw it Daring, I saw how you are gonna die if you go to Shakirin-La! Promise me you will never set a hoof even near it!”

“You’re exaggerating, I… “

“Promise me!” Fluffies unsuccessfully tried again to grab Daring’s head. “Promise me, right now!”

Daring hesitated, but when she looked into Danger’s eyes, she saw that her little cousin was serious about it. 

“You really saw my death, Danger? Not just a possibly deadly situation? It was definitely my death?” She tilted her head. “And this is not just an attempt to stop me from claiming the fame from finding the mysterious lost city first?”

“I saw your dead body, Daring,” now some hot tears showed up on Fluffies face when the memory of her vision came back to the surface. “I saw your dead body… “ The rest of the sentence was swallowed when Fluffy started to sob.

“Shh, shh,” Daring made an attempt to calm her down and tried to wipe a tear off Fluffies face, only to quickly pull her hoof back when she touched the little flames on it. “I am fine, don’t worry about me.”

“You have to promise, Daring!”

With another look at her cousin’s face, Daring sighed and lifted her hoof. “I promise.”

The relief on Fluffies face was clear to see.

“Finding Shakirin-La wasn’t so tempting anyway.” Daring waved off. “Just some old ruins with nothing in them.”

It was clear to me that she only said that to find an excuse that would calm down her pride, but since it made Fluffy happy I didn’t say anything about it.

For a moment none of us said anything, but of course, that couldn’t last forever. Eventually, Daring spoke up. “Besides… well besides some unpleasant events concerning me, what else did you see?”

“I…” now Fluffy unintentional shot a very quick gaze at me, before she returned her gaze to Daring. “I saw the old Kirin-kingdom, the one before it felt, during its heydays. Before they started the wars to expand their territory and build an empire,” now she looked away, “and also their fall.” 

I felt her shivering in my claws and pressed her tighter against my chest. I didn’t get bothered by slaughter or war, but I did know that these ponies would, and I was able to guess that that was what she must have seen in her visions.

“You don’t need to tell us about that part,” I said and cradled her softly in my claws. “We were able to get a glimpse of your visions were when we saw your reaction to it. Why don’t you just skip that part and tell us what kind of important news you got?”

She simply nodded a bit and took a second to gather herself. “I was able to speak with them, I don’t know how, since it was in a language I don’t know, but somehow it was possible.”

“Who were they?” Daring asked.

“The people, random kirins from various points in time. Peasants, knights, scholars, all social classes. It was weird, they all spoke to me at once, but, while at the same time, each talk was its own thing.” She looked up to me. “It was very confusing.”

I stroked over her burning head. “I can imagine that, don’t worry about it too much.”

“Well, “she returned to her story, “it wasn’t really like conversations, I had no control about what I said. It was like someone else was controlling me to ask the right questions, to push the conversation in the right direction. This way, I got a lot of information about how the kingdom and the later empire looked like, mostly about the landscape and spots that wouldn’t have changed over time, and of course, how they would be placed in relation to their capital and the last vestiges of their empire before it vanished completely.”

“That means you’re able to locate Shakirin-La, right?” Daring said enthusiastically. “Being able to tell where it is because you know what the surroundings must look like.” It was clear how excited the adventuress in her was.

“You promised me to not go even near to it!” Danger reminded her.

The spark of excitement vanished from Daring’s eyes. “Well, yeah… but if it is too dangerous for me, you shouldn’t go there either, Danger.”

“It wouldn’t be of much use anyway.”

“Why not?”

“They sealed the entrance. Shakirin-La, or more accurately the majority of it, is built into a mountain, that is the reason no one was able to discover it. What was built on top of the mountain or around it had crumbled to dust in the last thousand years. Only the underground part has survived to a degree, and that’s why nopony’s been able to find it so far.”

“And you assume that you wouldn’t be able to break the seal?” Daring wondered. “If I was able to make it that far in your vision, especially since you said I would die there, I’m guessing you would be able to do so too… even it would take you far longer.”

Ignoring the last provocation, Danger just shook her head. “I don’t know how you got in there, or if you died outside of it in my vision, but the vision was in one point clear as glass, you will die if you go there!”

“Alright, alright, I got it, and I made my promise, I won’t go there. There are enough other things for me to discover anyway.” Daring reassured her cousin.

“Did the vision show you anything about us if we go there?” I asked.

As you may remember, Fluffy told me that our time together was over as soon as she had no reason to hunt for Shakirin-La anymore, for example, if Daring here made it there ahead of us. I was not interested in letting her vanish out of my life so quickly after all.

Obviously, Fluffy’s thoughts hadn’t gotten that far yet, since she just looked at me and said, “No, but I don’t think we should go there either for the time being, whatever is able to kill Daring, despite her luck, would more than likely be able to kill us. Yes, even you.” She pointed at my chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

I raised an eyebrow. Oh, it wasn’t because of her suddenly worrying about my health that I was surprised, it did catch me off guard, sure, but what surprised me the most was the fact that she wasn’t so eager to find Shakirin-La anymore. Even if I didn’t know it at first, everything she had done so far was for the purpose of finding that forsaken city, and now, she simply stopped her attempt to find it because it could be a little bit dangerous? I didn’t buy it.

“There must be something more you saw in your vision, right?” I asked suspiciously. 

Her sudden ‘caught’ face expression told me I was right.

“Something about Shakirin-La you haven’t told us yet. Something that would explain why your desire to get there has cooled down for the moment.”

Surprisingly, her ‘caught’ face vanished, and was replaced by one of relief, even a little smile. 

“Oh, yeah, about that… I simply think we can take our time with it for now. The city is sealed, there is no risk that somecreature’s going to be faster than us.”

“And you are sure that is all you want to tell me?” I inquired.

“Of course.”

“I’m not convinced. There must be something else that Fortuna’s pond showed you, something you don’t want to tell me.” I looked over to Fortuna. “What did your po… Fortuna?” I turned around, looking in every direction, but the goddess of luck had vanished like the ground had opened up and swallowed her.

***

“I simply don’t believe that you want to give up on Shakirin-La so easily,” I said and turned towards the jungle that lay in the dale before us. After we had noticed that Fortuna had vanished, we had decided to spare the discussion for later and leave her temple, returning to the surface the same way Fluffy had entered the ruin. So now we stood on top of a nearby hill, or cliff, depending on your viewpoint, and had a great view of the jungle below.

“I didn’t give up on it, I just think we can take our time with it,” Fluffy protested. For the moment it was only me and her, Daring had, according to Fluffies request, taken the lead and had walked ahead, waiting for us at the nearby river, more accurately in the boat that she had brought with her.

“And what about our little adventure? You and me finding Shakirin-La?” Of course, that was not was I was worried about, but I couldn’t tell her that I was simply upset that I wouldn’t have the chance to cuddle and lay her as often as I wanted in the near future.

“That can wait, it won’t be running away. Shakirin-La will still be there in a few years.”

“Years?” I turned back to her and growled. “You mean you simply pay me and then you leave, never coming back, or if you do, you just secretly go there and grab the artifact?”

“Who said I would leave?” Fluffy asked surprised.

“Isn’t that what is going to happen? You and your cousin heading back to this, Equestria, you told me about?”

Now she rubbed over her head, ruffling up her mane. She had taken off the amulet and was now a fluffy pegasus again. “Well… “

“I knew it!” I accused her and snorted unhappily.

“It’s not what you think,” she said and avoided my gaze.

“Oh of course not, you just suddenly remembered you let the stove on back at home or you have another obligation all of the sudden that requires your attention for the next few years.”

“Actually… that’s pretty accurate,” she said quietly, turning away from me.

“And I thought we would go on an adventure together, that you would be honest with me, after all I did for you, saving your life and everything.” I crossed my arms and looked away too. “I thought that we would have some fun together in the future.” I wasn’t able to cover my annoyance about this fact completely.

She stayed silent.

“You know what?” I continued, “I was beginning to like you, Danger, I really thought us two could become friends, like friends with benefits or so. You just turning your back on me now feels like a betrayal.” 

This honest statement may seem a little out of character for me, but I was really unhappy with the possibility of losing my fluffy pegasus so soon after I had gotten her back. And what I said was true, even I try not to show it too much, I liked her by now, as I told you, and maybe even a bit more than just like her, even I wasn’t fully aware of that at the moment.

She still stayed silent.

“Would you like to say something about this?” I returned my gaze to her. “Anything on your mind, huh?”

“I… “ she started, “I…”

“Yes?”

“I think there is some adventure waiting for us.” She finally said and turned around to me, moving closer. “An adventure made especially for the two of us.”

I raised an eyebrow. Was it really that easy? I just complained about her leaving me and she changes her mind? What was the catch?

“Wait a second,” I said suspiciously, “you just change your mind all of the sudden? A second ago you said you had some kind of obligation, and now you tell me we can go on an adventure as planned?”

“Oh, not as planned,” she said in her quiet voice, “definitely not as planned, but yes.”

My suspicion wasn’t fully gone, so I asked further. “And what kind of adventure would that be?”

“Say, do you like foals?” She changed the subject suddenly.

“Huh? What is a foal?”

“Pony babies.”

“Uhm, where did that question come from?” I was confused and shrugged with my wings. “I didn’t know about your species up until a few weeks ago, so I have no clue about what to think about one of your hatchlings.”

“Do you like bab… hatchlings?”

“Why are you asking me this? Do you want to hatchnap some? Is this the kind of adventure you are looking for?” My confusion raised. “I can’t imagine ponies eating them.”

“No, we don’t! Urg!” She facehoofed. “Would you like to raise some?”

“Why should I steal some hatchlings just to raise them? How would that be any fun?”

“No you stupid lizard! I’m asking if you like to have some of your own!”

“Don’t tell me you want to pair me off with some dragoness!”

“No, I want to pair you up with me!”

That hit me by surprise. I mean, I know I like her and I assumed she likes me, but this… that was quite a push forward.

“Uhm, ahh,” I took a step back, “you do know that we are from different species, right? We can’t make hatchlings together?”

I thought that was a clever way to buy me some time here.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” she replied catching up, “that part’s already covered.”

“What do you mean?” I cold shiver ran down my spine for some reason.

“I mean… “ she inhaled deeply, “that I am already pregnant.” Now she locked onto my gaze and hold it. “From you!”

I exhaled calmly. Well at least she wasn’t going to lay an egg. She really had me worried for a moment! I don’t know what pregnant meant, but at first it had given me the impression that she was going to tell me that she was going to lay an egg. Must be my lucky day!

“Whatever that is, I’m sure it will vanish and you will be alright again.”

She gave me a look like I had told her the moon was made out of cheese. “You want to tell me you don’t know what ‘pregnant’ means?”

“I don’t know, but for a second you really had me worried there! Fluffy, you made it sound like you were going to lay an egg, you should be a bit more careful with the words you use.”

“Pegasi don’t lay eggs, they give birth to their babies,” she explained to me slowly.

“Well, good to know, but…”

“and that means, they get pregnant by a male, the baby grows in their belly, and then, it comes out as a newborn foal after nearly a year.”

“Okay, nice to know about your sp.... wait!” I looked into her eyes, and while the knowledge of what this meant slowly seeped into my mind, she slowly started to nod.

“Mhh-mhh.”

“But we… you… I… Dragon… you know…?” I stuttered.

“Mhh-mhh.”

“I mean… we… different species and the like… “

“Mhh-mhh.”

“How… ?”

The look she gave me now was priceless while accusing at the same time.

“No, I know how that works normally, but… are you sure about it?”

“I saw it in my vision from the pond.”

That was a little bit too much for me, so I took a seat. “That… but we are different species!”

“I know,” she said and took a seat next to me, “but that is what I saw.”

I confess, at this moment I was overwhelmed by the news, I hadn’t spent a single thought on this, since everycreature knows that species who are that different couldn’t mate successfully. But here we are!

For a while, both of us stayed in silence. She gave me time to deal with the situation, I was just too befuddled to do anything.

Finally, it was her who decided to break the silence. “So… do you want to go on this adventure with me? Raising a foal?” She looked at me, then away again, scraping the ground with her hoof. “You don’t have too, I could return to Equestria of course.”

“I… I am not sure. I hadn’t expected to be a father so soon, I am not nearly as old I thought I would be.”

“Neither am I.”

Another moment of silence followed.

“So, your answer?” Fluffy asked.

I hesitated. “I… “

“Oh come on!” a new voice yelled at us from behind. “Just kiss her already!”

Fluffy and I turned around. Out of a bush, maybe a dozen steps behind us, peaked a red dragon head, looking at us with clearly visible impatience. “What are you waiting for? An extra invitation? Do it!”

“Aphrodite!” Now a second, golden, head peaked out of the bush. It was Fortuna! “Aphrodite! I told you to let them figure it out by their own!”

“Urg, Fortuna, you do see what they do! Wasting the whole day with bubbling nonsense! And not even sweet nonsense! It’s a shame what the young races do today!”

Fluffy and I rose from our places.

“Back in the good old days, these two would already be mating!” Aphrodite continued. “But no, they just keep bubbling!”

“That is not how courtship rituals work these days,” Fortuna explained. “They just need a little bit more time.”

“What do need more time for, heh? He loves her, for quite a while already to be exact, even though he plays the rude but cool guy.” She made an imitation of a big bad dragon as she said this. “And her,” now she pointed at Danger, “she’s thought about his warm touch almost every day for the last two weeks. Not to mention that she hasn’t forgotten that he’s saved her life a few times already. That always works on a female's mind, I should know! There’s a reason I am the goddess of Love and physical pleasures!”

Both Danger and I blushed at this blunt description of our relationship, mumbling some kind of excuse while also complaining about the rude behavior of the two goddesses.

“Aphrodite, don’t push it so hard,” Fortuna suggested. “They would have figured that out eventually.”

“Or they would have split up and he would return to his lonely lair, while she would return to Equestria and raise a… “ Fortuna quickly covered Aphrodites snout.

“Enough, let them figure it out for themselves. And they don’t have to mate by the way, this one,” she pointed at Danger, “is already pregnant as you know.”

Now Fluffy’s mind worked a little bit faster than mine since she spoke up first. “That is your work, right? You used your luck tricks on me! You’re the reason I was able to get pregnant from a dragon!”

Fortuna shrugged with a smile. “Seems luck was on your side.”

“You call that luck?” Fluffy half screamed, half asked.

“Having a family was your secret desire, my pond told the truth. You saw it yourself. I only helped things get moving in the right direction, that’s all.”

“And you two do love each other anyway,” Aphrodite added. “You cover it below your rude behavior, lust and prudish pony ways of life, but it is true after all. From the moment your gazes met in the tavern, you two were attracted to each other, don’t deny it. And it only got stronger from there.”

“That’s a lie!” Fluffy yelled. “I thought he was going to rape me back then! And he was only looking for some fun!”

“Yeah,” I supported her weakly, knowing there was something right at what they, the goddesses, said, “it wasn’t romantic!”

“Mhh-mhh,” Aphrodite made sarcastically. “So you always let females steal from your lair and get away with it unpunished? Follow them for weeks, only to risk your own life to rescue them from some natives,  cuddle them and allow yourself to become butter in their claws when they give you a massage?”

“Well… “ I rubbed over my head.

“I am not done yet,” Aphrodite said. “Do you also get angry at creatures who hurt them for no reason, get worried about them when they’re in danger, and, also do everything possible to keep them at your side, even if that means going to Shakirin-La, despite the fact you know that is no place for a pony like her.”

“Hey, that… “ Fluffy started but Aphrodite cut her off.

“And you, little miss Do!” Aphrodite pointed at her. “You fell in love with him after you two had your ‘funtime’! Spare me your complaints about this cliche,” she waved off with her tail, “fact is, you not only drew him a map that would allow him to find you, no, you also added a little heart to it.”

“That was meant as a teaser,” Fluffy mumbled.

“Sure, sweety,” Aphrodite agreed generously, “like the whole ‘thank you for helping me to be a kirin’ thing and his reward for it. Also, you had him on your mind for nearly every hour of the last two weeks, also, your very naughty thoughts that you try to deny, even to yourself… Oh, and don’t forget that he gave you the feeling of being something special, following you around half the continent, fighting various creatures, leaving his lair and treasure behind, also that he doesn’t even really care for the artifact you have stolen… surely nothing for a lady like you to love.”

Now both of us, Fluffy as well as myself, were more than a little bit embarrassed. 

“What my colleague here is trying to say,” Fortuna helped us out, “is that you two know that you love each other, and have just been holding back to much to properly show it. So we would be highly pleased if you two could skip all the drama and not ruin everything with your weird social norms and standards of these days and simply kiss each other and live happily ever after.”

I looked at Fluffy and she looked at me.

“You really thought that way about me, all those weeks?” 

She blushed even more.

“And you really see more in me than a few one night stands? You care for me?” She asked.

I looked to the ground ashamed to confess my feeling to her. “Mhh-mhh.”

“Wonder…” Aphrodite started but Fortuna covered her snout with a claw.

“We’ll let you two figure out the rest for yourselves,” Fortuna said, “we should take our leave now.” 

“Not so fast!” Fluffy quickly yelled.

“Huh?” Fortuna made.

“If you are to blame for this,” Fluffy pointed at her belly, “then you should take your share of the responsibility!”

“Technically, you and…”

“Don’t you dare!” Fluffy shouted and raised a hoof. “You arranged this, and therefore. you’re going to help us with it!”

“What do you mean?” Now it was the goddess of luck who was showing signs of having a bad feeling about the very near future.

“You are going to be the godmother, literally!”

“I… I am the godmother of a mortal?” The surprise and disbelieve on Fortuna's face was a nice new view. “But I am the… “

“No more talking! This is your doing, and you’re going to take responsibility for it!”

“She gladly accepts,”  Aphrodite purred and shot a very mischievous smile at the other goddess who looked at her with wide eyes.

“I…” Fortuna started but Aphrodite just made an ‘Eh-eh’ while shaking her head before she snapped with her claw and both her and Fortuna vanished.

*

“Well, that was something, right?” I nodded towards the now empty bush.

“Mhh yeah,” Fluffy agreed, now with a little smile.

“So…” I waved my tail to overplay my nervousness, “do you know if it will be a male or a female hatch… uhh… foal?”

“Yes.”

“And…?”

“Let yourself be surprised.”

While I gave her a look, she simply kissed me. 

“Wait till I tell Daring about the good news! I am sure she will love to congratulate you!” Fluffy said after she disengaged from my lips.

***


The end?


No!


Your question on how I could let this all happen should be answered by now. You saw it wasn’t really my fault, two goddesses, a lot of fluffiness, and cute charm played a role in this! How could I have not fallen in love with Fluffy?

Anyway, while our story has just begun, the part about how this all started is over, and the very adventurous part of us becoming parents began. I can tell you, this, was an adventure no dragon could be prepared for… but it was worth it.

Though, of course, the story as a whole doesn’t end here, we will see Shakirin-La, we will see some old and new friends, we will… well, let yourself be surprised like I was. But this is enough story for one day, let me continue on tomorrow. Or maybe my wife will be the one to tell you the tail, or our child, if you ask them nicely, after all, they played a big role in it of course. 

I told you, there is always, ALWAYS a catch when you deal with self-declared goddesses!





The Black Death


Also known as my big softy <3


Danger Do