//------------------------------// // Episode 10: What Flies Beneath // Story: Sarah's Adventure's in Equestria // by Zipp Storm //------------------------------// One night everything was calm in Ponyville. Not a creature was stirring except for the nocturnal creatures. Owl were calling in the night and wolves were howling into the night. Suddenly something was burrowing through the ground, near the home-ship. It passed it and moved deep into the forest. I was sleeping while Moonshine was awake and sensing something with his ear appendages. He was softly growling. Everybody has a past, even dragons and sometimes that past can come back to haunt them. "Moonshine go back to sleep." I said. The dragon was still on edge. The next morning, we all awoke and went to Ponyville to find a large hole in the ground in the center of town. Moonshine was with me and when he saw the hole he growled and roared. "Woah, easy boy, it's just a hole." I reassured. "No, it's not!" Rainbow cried. She flew into the hole. "It's like a tunnel down here!" Suddenly, Rainbow came flying out of the hole and crashed on the ground. "OW!" "Are you alright, Rainbow?" Ren asked. "Ugh. Yeah. Something pushed me out of that hole!" "Pushed you?!" Kaede asked. "Yeah." Suddenly the ground began to shake and quake. "What's that?" Jamie questioned in fear. Then, a familiar dragon burst from the hole, roaring. "Whispering Death?!" I cried. "Not these bobble head snakes!" Jack grunted, remembering the last encounter with them. The Whispering Death roared and looked around at area. It narrowed it's eyes at Moonshine while my Night Fury roared in anger at it. Everybody spread out as the Whispering Death lunged at Moonshine, who leaped and pounced on the dragons, tackling it to the ground. The Whisper broke free and Moonshine fired his plasma blasts at it, but with it's snake-like body, it easily avoid them. Moonshine roared and flew into the air and lunged at the Whisper. The dragon roared and launched it spines at Moonshine. One hit him in the back leg, he roared in pain. "Moonshine!" Moonshine was forced to land and the Whisper roared then burrowed underground again. We saw the ground come up as it moved away from Ponyville. Moonshine growled and hissed. I came to his side and saw the spine in his leg. "Oh no, your hurt." Moonshine hissed but then looked at me with his calm face. I carefully grabbed the spine and pulled it out. Moonshine flew near the boundaries on Ponyville, "Moonshine, wait!" I called but my Night Fury didn't listen. "What was that all about?" Twilight asked. "I have no idea." Ren replied. "Okay... so... anyone want to talk about what just happened?" Jamie asked nervously. "Uh, dragon fight. Just another day in Ponyville." Jack blunty replied. "Not really it looked like there way more to it than that." Ren pointed out. "Ren's right. That Whispering Death singled Moonshine out." I stated. "And Moonshine wanted that Whisper all to himself. " Rainbow added. "Yeah, he certainly did, but why?" I added. I saw my dragon looking out over the boundaries with an upset look on his face. I knew in my heart that something was going on. The question was what was it and why? That night, I took Moonshine back to the home-ship and bandaged his leg up. "I wish you could just tell me what was going on out there today." Winter came over and warbled cutely at him. Winter rubbed up against him, calming his tense muscles. My dad came into the room, "Hi honey, how's our wounded warrior?" "He's still on edge." I replied. "Don't worry, Moonshine. That Whispering Death won't be back." My dad said. "... I hope." "Yeah, you and me both dad." I said. I used my magic to magically change into my pajamas and I climbed into bed. My dad left the room and I climbed into my bed. Moonshine and Winter cuddled together in their corner while Storm layed down beside my bed. "Night." I said to my dragons and I fell asleep for the night. Third Person POV Moonshine peeked an eye opened and carefully maneuvered himself out of the cuddle and quietly walked over to Sarah's bed. Once he was sure she was sleep, he walked into the living room and quietly flew out the window and landed on the ground. He was about to move forward when he heard a warble. He turned and saw Winter looking at him with a confused look. Moonshine winced. He didn't expect her to follow him. Winter warbled at Moonshine and walked over to him. She started nudging him back towards the home-ship, but Moonshine refused. Winter could see Moonshine wasn't going to give up easily, so she had no choice but to go with him as support. Together, they both ran off into the forest. The next morning I woke up and rubbed my eyes. "Moonshine?" I looked in the corner and noticed that both he and Winter were missing! I rushed outside. "Moonshine! Winter!" I called. "... Oh no... they went after it... alone." I immediately woke up the others and rounded up the girls. "They both vanished in the middle of the night?!" Applejack exclaimed. "Yes, Moonshine must be looking for the Whispering Death." "But what about Winter?" Kaede asked. "She probably went with him as support." I suggested. "We find the Whispering Death then we find Moonshine and Winter." "W-What do we do if we find the Whispering Death first?" Jamie asked. "Well.... we train it, if possible." I mounted Storm along with Kaede. Jack and Ren mounted Silverspike. Jamie, Mason and Carrie mounted Firestorm and Nicole and Rantaro... haven't seen them this morning. "Don't worry Sarah, we'll find them." Kaede reassured. I nodded and we all exited the home-ship and took to the sky. We scanned the treetops but didn't see anything. Until.... "There!" Kaede spotted some holes in a clearing. We landed and dismounted the dragons. We approached the holes and I found a grayish spike with red shading. "Yep, Whispering Death spine." I said. "It made these holes." "Hey guys." Ren called. He showed something else next to the hole. It looked like a tooth. "He must have lost a tooth." I suggested. "Lost it?" Kaede asked. "Yep. Think about this hundreds of those spinning together digging up dirt and tree roots, discarding rocks like there aren't even there." Just then, the dragons then started to go crazy. Making loud noises and turning their heads from side to side as if looking for something. "Storm, what's wrong?" Kaede asked. "Firestorm, easy boy." Mason soothed. "Settle down, Silverpsike." Jack stated. "Wait.... listen." I called. Everybody stopped moving a listened closely. There was a slight rumble coming from the ground. "The whisper," Jamie whispered as the rumble got louder. The Whispering Death crashed out of the ground, rocks flying everywhere. It simply looked at the dragons, who were snarling at it, before it went straight back into the ground. "I hate it when it does that!" Jack stated. The Whispering Death came back from the ground and was slowly coming closer hugging the ground close to its body. It was coming at them slowly, slithering like a snake. I got in front of everyone and began to approach the Whispering Death. "Do you actually have a plan, or are you just trying to get yourself killed?" Kaede asked. "If I can train it, it'll leave Moonshine alone…" I said. "Right, so you are trying to get yourself killed?" Jack commented. The Whispering Death was coming closer with the last of Hiccup's strength before she ran in terror. She held up her hand and closed her eyes, turning her head away. "Sarah!" Ren shouted in worry, running up to me . However, the Whispering Death stopped…right in front of my stretched hand. I looked at the dragon. It…was…amazing. It is a fascinating dragon. Its spines were all at a perfect point, none were dull. It's bulging white eyes were almost, blind as it blinked up at me. It seemed to calm in front of me until I said it's nostrils move. It was sniffing at me. I jumped as it roared at me , then went straight down and burrowed itself away from the group. I leaped into the hole, much to my friends shock. "Sarah, what are you doing?!" Ren cried. "I wanna see if there's anything to tell me what's going on with the Whispering Death and Moonshine." I called out. "Y-You shouldn't be d-down there a-alone." Jamie stammered. "Good idea, nerd." Jack said and he pushed Jamie down the hole! Luckily I caught him. "Jack!" Kaede scolded. "What?" I set Jamie on the ground and he shook a little with fear. "Come on." I said. Jamie squeaked but he followed me through the main tunnel. There were holes to the side, which indicated more than one tunnel. Then the Whispering Death appears, and I pushed Jamie in a dividing tunnel following close behind. The Whispering Death passes right by us. We watched as the dragon goes down the tunnel but avoids the sunlight from the holes in the tunnel. "Let's just hope it keeps going," I whispered but then the dragon stopped moving. The dragons tail was in front of them. "How'd that work out for us?" Jamie asked nervously before noticing a spot and gets my attention and pointing to that spot. We both look at it and it seemed like it was a bite mark on the Whispering Death's tail. I reached out to touch it, but the dragon moved away. "Did you see that?" Jamie asked. "Was that a bite mark?" I asked. "Not just any bite mark. That's a Night Fury bite mark. I think I know why these two are looking for each other," Jamie said. "They have a history. That's what Moonshine didn't want me to know about," I responded. "A grudge," Jamie said. My eyes widened, knowing that dragons grudges... are to the death! "Let's get out of here before it comes back," I said as we started walking. "That is a really good idea," Jamie said. We both ran back to where they came out from but was stopped by the face of the Whispering Death. Jamie screamed. I quickly changed into a cougar and snarled at the dragon. It roared and slithered around us. I grabbed Jamie by his shirt and rushed over to the hole. I leaped out of the hole with the Whisper behind me. I snarled at the dragons along with Storm, Firestorm and Silverspike. Suddenly, Moonshine dove out of nowhere and tackled the boulder class dragon. "Moonshine!" I cried. Another soft warble was heard and we saw Winter coming towards us. "Winter." I changed back into myself quickly and hugged my Light Fury. "Ooh, I was so worried about you both." I cooed. Winter warbled as if saying, "I'm sorry." "It's alright girl, you just wanted to help Moonshine." I reassured. That when we all heard Moonshines' roar and looked at the battle. Moonshine was able to get the Whispering Death out of the air and it rolled on the ground some distance away. Moonshine stomped on all four legs roaring out. The Whispering Death flew back up growling but stopped as it saw the other dragons standing up to it with Moonshine. All the dragons were stomping on their feet, roaring out. The Whispering Death, outmatched, went back into the ground. Seeing that some of the danger had passed, I tried to get back on Moonshine, but she was growling low. "Hey, boy. It's me. I know what's going on with you and that other dragon," I said trying to console my best bud. "Let me help you." I said but Moonshine runs off. "Moonshine, come back!" I cried out chasing after my Night Fury but Moonshine fired a blast at my feet, stopping me in my tracks. Moonshine looked at me before running off into the forest. "... Awkward." Ren said, earning him a punch in the shoulder by Mason. "Ow!" Soon, we were back in the air with me riding Winter and Kaede riding Storm. "So Moonshine and the Whispering Death have a grudge?" Jack asked. "Yes and they won't stop until it's settled." I answered sadly. "But why won't Moonshine let me help?" "He's just trying to protect you." Ren answered. "That's not the reason why. Moonshine doesn't want newbie around cause this is between him and the Whispering Death. He doesn't want anyone else involved in his fight." Jack answered. "He's acting like a biker. We handle our business alone." That made me feel... mixed up. Worried, because this grudge could end up with one of the dragons being killed and I didn't want to lose my best friend. And... scared... I never seen Moonshine act this... angry before, not even when he's protecting me. This was so new to me. Winter suddenly roared out. "Winter, what is it?" I asked. Winter dove towards the ground and I saw Moonshine on a rocky cliff. There was a bridge that connected Moonshine to the mainland but the Whispering Death destroyed it. There was Moonshine near the edge with the Whispering Death cornering him. "Moonshine, no!" I leaped off of Winter and changed into a falcon in mid-air. "Sarah, don't!" Ren cried. Too Late. "Leave my dragon alone!" I cried. The Whispering Death and Moonshine turned and saw me. Moonshine looked horrified while the Whispering Death roared and fired at me. I folded my wings, actually flying through its rings of fire and I started to claw at it's face. The Whispering Death roared and actually bit me! Man did that hurt! "AGH!" It threw me into the forest and I changed back into myself seeing multiple puncture wounds on my legs and stomach from it's teeth. Good thing they aren't poisonous dragons. Moonshine roared in worry as the Whispering Death slithered over to me, preparing to blast me. "Sarah! No!" My friends cried. Winter roared and dove towards the dragons and blasted it with her plasma blast. The Whispering Death turned and launched it's spines at her. Luckily she dodged them and stood over me, snarling at the beast. The Whispering Death roared again but Moonshine grabbed it by it's tail and threw it away from us. "Moonshine!" My Night Fury growled at the Whispering Death. It roared at Moonshine and lunged towards him. "Lookout!" Moonshine blasted the dragons in the face and leaped over him, tackling it to the ground like in Ponyvile. Only this time he pinned it by it's face, holding it down on the ground. Moonshine gave on final roar at the Whispering Death and let it go. The Whispering Death got up and flew off low to the ground, hopefully to never be seen again. Ren and the others landed close by and they all rushed to my side. "Sarah! Are you alright?" Ren asked. Winter hovered over me, letting Keade get a look at my puncture wounds. "Her legs and stomach aren't good. We have to get her to the hospital." Winter warbled in concern as Kaede picked me up and mounted her. "Come on, girl. To Ponyville Hospital." Winter spread her wings and flew off with the others following. Soon I was laying in a hospital bed with gauze's over my punctures underneath bandages. Nurse Redheart said the puncture weren't severe and I should be out in about a day or two. Ren and my friends came in to see how I was doing. "Hey sugarcube, we heard what happened." Applejack started. "Are you feelin'?" "A little sore, but alright." I answered. "Well from what Ren and the others told us, you were really lucky to come away with just a few punctures." Twilight said. "That battle must have been so epic to see!" Rainbow exclaimed. I smiled and chuckled a little, earning me a small, sharp pain in my stomach. "Ow, laughing hurts." I groaned. "Easy there." Redheart said as she entered the room. "Don't want those stitches to come out now, do we?" "No." "Good. Now, shoo, all of you. Sarah needs her rest." Redheart kindly shooed my friends out of my room. I got myself comfortable in my bed, careful not to break any of the stitches and fell asleep. Ren's POV Three days later, Sarah was out of the hospital with her punctures fully healed. Today was Hearts and Hooves Day, the day where ponies get together and fall in love. It was like Valentines' Day on Earth. Me and the others were about to head out and see what was going on in Ponyville. "Sarah, are you coming?" I called out. Sarah came out into the living room with Moonshine by her side and a book in her hands. Strangely, she didn't reply. She just sat down on the couch. "... Um... Sarah, did you hear me?" This time she looked at me. "Yeah." "Well... aren't you going to come to the Hearts and Hooves Party?" "No." "NO?" We all exclaimed. "You're not coming, why not?" Carrie asked. "I see no point." Sarah replied. "No point?" "Yeah, why go out and celebrate and holiday featuring love when your never going to get it?" "Oh come on, Sarah, you don't mean that." Jamie said. Sarah shrugged. "At least come and see what's going on." I pleaded. Sarah sighed and put the book down. "Alright." She got up and we all exited the home-ship. Walking through the forest with Moonshine by our sides, I noticed Jamie rubbing Moonshine's head, making him purr. Now that I thought about it Jamie, Nicole and Rantaro were the only ones whom didn't have dragons of there own. "Jamie." I called. Jamie looked at me. "Yes Ren?" "Maybe it's time you, Nicole and Rantaro get a dragon of your own." Jamie, Nicole and Rantaro all looked at me with surprised faces. "Us gets a dragon? No way." Rantaro said. "Why not?" I asked. "Seems like a waste of time to me." Nicole stated. "Plus, we're not the dragon-type." "Oh, come on. Having a dragon will be good for you, especially you nerd." Jack said, pointing at Jamie. "Um.. I-I don't think I c-could handle a dragon." Jamie replied. "You won't know unless you try." Sarah said with a smile. "Besides a Strike Class and Fear Class dragon would be good for you guys." "Strike Class and Fear Class?" Nicole asked. "Fear Class Dragons and stealthy like you two and Strike Class dragons have extreme intelligence, like you Jamie." Sarah explained. "Those kinds of dragons would be good for you. Think about it." Jamie, Nicole and Rantaro didn't reply as we continued to Ponvyille. POV Ends We came into Ponyville and saw the entire town decked with heart shaped balloons, pink ribbons and banners and all other love related items. "Ugh... too much mushy!" Jack grunted. "Oh don't be like that, Jack." Ren said. "Today's a happy day." "Yeah, for the ponies probably." Jack replied. As we walked around the town we didn't notice three sets of eyes staring at us from afar. We found Twilight and the girls by Sugarcube Corner. "Hey Ren, Hi everyone." Pinkie greeted. "Hi." Ren replied. "So what are you doing for Hearts and Hooves Day?" Applejack asked us. "Nothing." "You need a boyfriend in your life." Rainbow said. "Hmm... Nah. dealt without it for sixteen years. So what's the difference?" I shrugged. "Besides, no one would want me." Now everyone gasped. "Sarah, that's not true!" Ren exclaimed. "There's someone out there for you." I shrugged. "I don't think so. Well I've seen enough I'm going back to the home-ship." "Already?!" Kaede exclaimed. "No point on being out in a love holiday you don't understand it or have celebrated it. Anyway, See ya." I gruffly walked away from the group with Moonshine by my side. Ren's POV Sarah walked away from us after she told us the saddest thing ever. "Wait, so she's leaving cause she sees no point in her being out here?" Rainbow questioned. "Yes." Mason replied. "That's so sad." Fluttershy said. "Everyone deserves to have a chance at love." "Well... newbie doesn't think so." Jack added. "Something tells me she's never been in love before." "Well who could blame her. She's been in a lab for years with only her fathers by her side." Ren stated. "So what so we do?" Kaede asked. "We can't just leave her alone." "I say leave her alone." Rantaro claimed. "She's a lost cause." "No she's not Rantaro!" Ren exclaimed. "She's our friend and she needs to experience Hearts and Hooves Day." Rantaro scoffed, "I'll be surprised if that girl celebrates Christmas with the past that she has." Applejack rolled her eyes, "Now Rantaro, there's a special somepony out there for everypony. We just have to get Sarah out here to celebrate." "Yeah... she just said she had no point in being out here, darling. So what can we do?" Rarity questioned. "Well she said that she has no point cause she doesn't understand it. Maybe we can start there?" Jamie suggested. "And there's someon we can go to for help." Home-Ship "Why do you need me to help you tell my daughter about love?" Sarah's father asked all of us. "Because she won't celebrate cause she doesn't understand it." Ren explained. "We were hoping you could help us explain to her how awesome love is." "Love is sensitive to talk about." Sarah's father stated. "It's not something that can be easily talked about. And beside she wants nothing to do with love." "How do you know?" Jack asked. "Because when I asked her about she said, and I quote 'I want nothing to do with love cause I don't need a male to support me'." All of us were a little shock. "Woah... that's... different of her." Rainbow said. "And this is a total bust." Spike said. "Maybe we just have to wait and she'll eventually change her mind?" I said sheepishly. Suddenly, we heard faint screams. Sarah came out of her room, "What's with the screams?" We all rushed outside and to Ponyville to see to our horror, two dragons were attacking. The first dragon was purple with blue spots. It had two heads, each with two horns and a split tail. It was 66 fet long with a 38 feet long wingspan. The other one was brownish-black with orange stripes and a yellow underbelly and had three tails; two were yellow and the other was brown. It stood on two legs and had a 48 feet long wingspan. It was 30 feet long. "What are those things?!" Spike cried. "A Hideous Zippleback and a Triple Stryke Dragon!" Sarah identified. The Zippleback was blasted anything in sight. The left head exhaled greenish gas and the right head ignited it with sparks from it's mouth. The Triple Stryke, wrapped all of it's tails together and wacked the small stands and decorations down. "They're wrecking the town! I'm gonna stop them!" Rainbow was about to fly over to them but I used my magic to halt her in the air. "What the hay, Sarah!" "Rainbow, the Triple Styrke is really dangerous. Each of its tails has a different venom. The first on numbs you, the second disorients them with mild hallucinogens, and the third creates the agonizing sensation of your blood burning." she explained to us. Rainbow felt a chill go up her spine. Nicole, Rantaro and Jamie looked closer at the two dragons. They were shaking their heads, like something was caught. They kept bashing stuff and blowing our fire. The three of them began to walk towards the two beasts. "What are you idiots doing?!" Jack cried. "Wait." I said. "Let them do it." The Zippleback and Triple Stryke noticed the three. Jamie went towards the Triple Stryke while Nicole and Rantaro went for the Zippleback. They both growled at them with narrowed eyes. "Hey... chill out, you two." Rantaro said. "We just wanna help ya, is that so wrong?" The Zippleback growled and began shaking it's head again. Nicole moved to the left side and saw what was causing the Zippleback pain. There was a metal hook in it the side of it's neck! Jamie approached the Triple Stryke and saw that it also had a metal hook jammed in the skin but this one was right in the face! "No wonder you two were on a rampage." Jamie whispered. The Triple Stryke growled and snapped its claws at Jamie like a warning. "Its alright, boy. I'm gonna help you." he cooed. The Triple Stryke growled softly and just stood there as Jamie got closer and closer. Jamie held out a hand to the dragon while Rantaro did the same with the right head. Both dragons stood there for a moment as the civilians of Ponyville and us watched with held breaths. Finally, the right head and Triple Stryke placed their heads into Jamie and Rantaro's heads. Trust had been established. Nicole quickly grabbed and pulled the metal hook out of the the neck of the left Zippleback head. Jamie grabbed the hook and pulled it out of the Triple Stryke's forehead. "There that's better." The two dragons purred and nuzzled Jamie, Nicole and Rantaro. Me and the others approached them. "Guys, are you alright?" I asked. "Yes, we're okay." Jamie stated and he showed us the metal hook. "I found this jammed in it's head." The hook was at leash two inches long. Something that small, was not easy for the Triple Stryke or Zippleback could get out easily. "Poor things." Fluttershy cooed. The Triple Stryke and Zippleback nuzzled the three. "Well, looks like you three have a dragon of your own." Sarah said with a smile. The Triple Stryke and Zippleback nuzzled Jamie, Nicole and Rantaro. The three rubbed their heads. "Yeah... I guess we do." Nicole said. "But what about Ponyville?" I said, referring to the mess the two dragons made when they were in pain. The two dragons winced at the destruction they caused. "Don't worry, you two." Sarah said and she used her magic to fix everything the dragons broke. The ponies cheered in joy. "So how about we enjoy this day?" I suggested. "... Sarah?" I turned but I didn't see her all that was there was a dotted outline of her. "Huh?" I turned around and saw her heading back to the home-ship! "Have fun!" she called. We all sighed, "That girl is one tough cookie." Mason commented. "Yep." We all said in unison. We will get Sarah to understand love... one day, but not today.