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// Night Furies' Arrival 
// Story: Night Furies in Equestria 
// by Princess OtakuGeek 
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The day started out just like any other day. I woke up first and immediately ran to the bathroom to answer the call of nature. When I was done, the next order of business was getting ready for the day. First item on the list was showering so after getting ready, I stepped in. Five minutes later, I was joined by my wife.

We had been married for almost five years, yet there were some times when we would act like newlyweds. Part of this reason was because we were trying to have kids. Now before any of you start thinking anything dirty, get your head out of the gutter. We did nothing like that in the shower, all we did was help clean each other. There may have been massages while we were rubbing soap onto each other's back but nothing more. Moving on...

After our shower came the smaller hygiene care. Brushing our hair and teeth, shaving, etc etc. Basic standard stuff. We got dressed and went downstairs to make and eat our breakfast. Pretty much a normal morning, but right off the bat it wasn't just any normal day. Today was the first day of our first convention and let me tell you, we were pumped. We'd both been preparing for this for the past few months. I'd gotten passes a few months prior and we'd been setting aside money for merch since then (we had friends who went to cons who told us how expensive merchandise could get).

We had even made ourselves costumes. My wife, Saskia is very good with needle and thread so once we decided what we wanted to dress as, she designed and sewed our costumes. As for what we were going as, it was a bit of a no brainer for anyone who knew us. We decided to go as Night Furies. How to Train Your Dragon has a very special place in both of our hearts. We had read the books and when the movies came out we watched them at the theater. Matter of fact, that was where I met the love of my life.

When the first movie came out, I went to the theater as soon as I possibly could. I'd read and enjoyed the books and I was looking forward to the movie. The way I saw it, it could be a really great movie or a really bad movie. And considering how at times movies don't always measure up to the book or books, there was a possibility that this movie would suck. But it didn't. It totally rocked! It was all so glorious! Story, characters, environment, animation, everything! Afterwards, I was just so pumped I turned to the person next to me and began talking about it.

That is how I met Saskia.

She shared my enthusiasm and we struck up a conversation as we left the theater and walked to a nearby frozen yogurt place. Our conversation had moved from the movie to ourselves and by the time we parted, we had exchanged phone numbers. Several phone calls and texts later, we went out on our first date and then two years later, I popped the question. We got married, and we've been happily wedded ever since.

Fast forward a little ways. When the second HTTYD movie came out, we were almost literally the first people in line when it came to our theater. We made a date of it, getting frozen yogurt afterwards and everything. Now if you thought book adaptions have a reputation, sequels have an even bigger one. I was no stranger to this fact and there was a chance that the sequel would be terrible in comparison to the first movie. When we walked into that theater, we didn't have very high expectations. And then they blew it out of the water.

Not only did they pull off a decent sequel, but they also made a sequel more awesome than the first. It was like Kung Fu Panda where the sequel opened up more of the world than what was seen in the first movie. Plus it answered one question that had been nagging at me since the first movies. Namely the Red Death and his relationship with the other dragons. Like how he controlled the other dragons to bring him food. My theory, the Red Death was the Alpha of this group of dragons.

I mean think about it, the battle between the two Bewilderbeasts wasn't just a battle to protect territory. It was a fight for dominance. When Drago's Bewilderbeast won, that made him the Alpha and my head cannon is that it made this so clear and forceful that it was practically mind control. How Drago got his hands on a Bewilderbeast is anyone's guess, but my money's on him having it since it was little (how else is he going to 'train' such a huge powerful dragon). Looking back on the first movie, it made me think that maybe it was a similar situation with the Red Death. Of course this is all head cannon, but it fits for me.

Moving on. Now by this point, your probably curious about my wife's name. After all, Saskia isn't exactly a common American name. And you'd be right. Saskia is a Russian and Germanic name. My wife has told me that when she was born, her father wanted to name Sassa, an Old Norse name that means 'divine beauty'. Her mom vetoed that because she didn't like the sound of that, so they named their daughter Saskia. She was born in Trondheim Norway and when Saskia was about four years old, her family moved to America.

This is another similarity we share. While I was born and grew up here in America, I am of Scandinavian descent. My great grandparents on my mom's side were from Sweden. We do of course visit Norway and Sweden when we can but I'm getting off track. Today was the big day and after we ate our breakfast, we started to get ready. We pulled on our costumes which were basically modified black hoodies and pants then we began to add make-up to our faces. And for the final touches, contact lenses and teeth.

With our preparations complete, we hopped into the car and hit the road. We arrived at the convention center and to be honest, I was practically vibrating with excitement. Here we were at our first convention and I just couldn't wait. Time flew by practically in a blur. We spent the whole morning visiting panels, talking to other con goers and more. Before we knew it, lunch was nearing. But before we could break for lunch, there was one place we had to check out. The vendors hall.

First word that came to mind when I stepped into that room was 'diverse'. Second word was awesome. Diversely awesome! At first we thought we'd walk around and scope out the place before coming to a decision on what we wanted to get. We checked out merch and compared prices. When we reached the back of the room, we ran into a strange vendor.

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"Welcome to my stall." A man greeted as we approached. He wore a long black coat with a hood and had a piece of purple fabric to cover the bottom half of his face. On his back was a sandy backpack and as he spoke, I realized he had a cockney accent.

"What lovely costumes." He said and I smiled proudly.

"Thank you. My wife here made them." I said as I pulled Saskia closer in a hug.

"And she's done such a good job." He replied. "I almost doubt that I have anything that you'd be interested in."

"Well, never say never." I said. "So what do you sell?"

"Costume props." He replied. "Many a con attendee have come to my humble stand and I ... complete their look."

"Really?" I asked as I looked over all the various items that he had. Many of them looking very realistic. "I've got to say, you do good work my friend."

"Thank you." He said. As I browsed over the various items, nothing really caught my eye until I reached a far corner. There sitting on a stand was an egg. It was definitely bigger than any egg I'd ever seen, about the size of a melon, and black as night. I reached out and set my hand on it, it was smooth and cool to the touch.

"Hey, what's this?" I asked and the man turned to me.

"That my friend is a Night Fury egg." He said. "A very good match for your costumes, wouldn't you say?"

I turned to my wife who'd joined me and we nodded. "We'll take it. How much for it?"

"Normally such a piece is a little more expensive, but considering how well done your costumes are and how this is your first convention, I'm willing to give you a discount."

"Sold." I agreed and paid the man. As well walked away with our purchase, I almost didn't question how he knew this was our first con.

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We hung out some more and soon, lunch rolled around. We decided that I would go out to get lunch while Saskia would stay and wait for me. After we'd purchased the egg, she'd taken to carrying it around most of the time though that didn't mean I was exempt from our 'child'. I usually held it when she got tired or needed to use the bathroom. Anyways, for lunch we chose to get some stuff from Dickey's Barbecue Pit.

Then as I was leaving with my order in my bag, I could practically taste the pulled pork and brisket, I was suddenly hit by a wave of vertigo that stopped me in my tracks. It felt and looked like the world was spinning and my vision was filled with bright colors that gave me a headache. I screwed my eyes shut to ease my headache and wait out whatever was going on. The next sensation to hit me was pain. Pain filled my entire body and made my surroundings even more of a muddled mess.

I didn't even notice when the ground dropped out from beneath my feet. Heck, I wasn't even certain if I was lying on the ground or standing. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, the pain eased and the vertigo ceased leaving a strong wind blasting me in the face. At first I didn't want to open my eyes, but some part of me nagged me into resignation. Plus, I wanted to know where this wind was coming from. Last I checked, there wasn't even a strong breeze in the air.

I cracked open my eyes and once I registered what I was seeing, they flew wide open. I was falling from a high up in the air. I didn't even wonder what I was doing in the sky, I just panicked. I screamed and flailed about not even noticing the change in my voice. I did however notice how my fall seemed to slow or change direction when I flailed certain unfamiliar limbs. Before I could examine this however, I crashed into a forest.

Once again, pain filled my body as I was violently introduced to every tree in my path before finally bouncing and grinding into the ground for another violent series of introductions, this time with every rock in my path. Finally as I was slowing down, my head slammed into something (most likely a rock) and like that I was out cold in the middle of some random forest.