Derpy Hooves: Dragon Slayer

by Yellowcardpony


Road of Ruins

CHAPTER 8: Road of Ruins


The flat grasslands were something new to all three ponies. None of them were used to the wide open space with nothing in the distance. As far as their eyes could see there was only sea of green and yellow grass all the way to the horizon.

The ponies walked into the late afternoon when Balefren noticed something. Looking across the empty fields he could make out strange black objects. They appeared to be only a few feet across and had verifying heights, he guess anywhere from ten to thirty feet.

“Are those some kind of monoliths?” he asked Derpy as he pointed at the closet one.

“No, just the remains of old homes and such,” she replied. “Mostly what are left are the chimneys.”

“Who lived out here?” Earren said as she started to look at the structures in the distance.

“They say this was an earth pony settlement a long long time ago, but now all that is left are a few ruins and this old
road,” Derpy explained. “They story goes something like the land became too weathered and infertile so they had to move on.”

“Looks plenty fertile to me,” Balefren commented as he looked at the green grass that was taller than him.

“Growing grass isn’t the problem, it's growing the better crops,” Derpy said.

“Maybe things are more fertile now since it’s been left alone for so long,” Earren thought out loud.

“Good enough for me, as long as we’re not going to have crazy earth ponies to hassle us,” Balefren commented.

“You elitist unicorn,” Derpy remarked as she nudged the white stallion.

“Hey!” Balefren exclaimed. “I’m not like that, it’s just… Farmer types tend to be stubborn and protective of their lands.”

“Sounds like something an elitist unicorn would say,” Derpy jested.

“Well I agree with Balefren,” Earren said. “But I also don’t really like pegasus or unicorns either.”

“Is there anypony you like?” Balefren asked.

“Well I like…” Earren paused with her eyes wide looking at something ahead on the road.

“Hold!” Derpy commanded as she crouched down. Balefren and Earren followed suit sitting down and looking ahead intently.

Up ahead there was the shape of someone, or something on the road. “I’ll check it out,” Earren said pointing to her horn.

“Ok,” Balefren whispered, before realizing that the mare couldn’t use her magic to turn invisible. As she moved forward Derpy stuck out a hoof and tripped her. With a squeak Earren fell to the ground.

“You can’t turn invisible, I’ll check it out,” she said as she slowly crept forward taking her dagger and placing it between her teeth.

“What?” Earren said confused as she picked herself up. Balefren moved in quickly placing his arms around the unicorn holding her back.

“Your magic doesn’t work,” he cautioned. “I’ll explain later.”

The pair watched with intrigue as the blonde Pegasus slowly made her way up the road. There was an intense moment when Derpy disappeared from sight for a moment and everything went quite.

“It’s safe,” Delphina called out breaking the silence. Balefren and Earren both got up and began to approach Derpy and the mystery figure.

Quickly they saw it was indeed a pony on the ground. The next thing they realized was that it was a dead pony. Earren squeaked again and jumped back, keeping her distance. Balefren continued to move closer trying to put the uneasy feeling of it, out of his mind.

His eyes went over the corpse looking for telltale signs of how the pony had died. It was a yellow earth pony with a black mane. It was a mare, and she had on a tunic of some sort that was torn in two. Where the shirt had been ripped there was a trail of gashes across her chest. Four gashes of equal length stretched across the front part of her body just below her neck.

Balefren looked at Derpy with concern in his eyes as he thought about what it looked like. “Claw marks,” he said.

Delphina nodded as she bent down and removed something from a bag lying alongside the yellow pony.

“Dragon?” Balefren asked.

“Yes,” Derpy replied.

“What dragon?” Earren said from a distance.

“Our dragon?” Balefren said ignoring Earren.

“The very same,” Delphina said as she opened a letter and spread it on the ground.

“What dragon?” Earren repeated louder.

“I thought dragon’s ate ponies?” Balefren pondered.

“Only when they’re hungry; this one was sending a message,” Delphina said as she held up the letter so Balefren could see it.

He looked at the letter, but it didn’t seem to make sense, none of the words were laid out in a coherent sentence. At the top, he recognized a symbol that was a black silhouette of two mare’s heads back to back. “She was a Dark Mare…” he said.

“Yes, her name was Conny Beal,” Delphina said. “She must have been sent out here to meet us, or for recon.”

“It’s a shame we got delayed,” Balefren said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright Vivid, it was her fate,” Delphina said coldly.

“What dragon!” Earren yelled as she paced around keeping her distance.

“You don’t care that she is dead?” Balefren said in disbelief.

“Of course I care, but there is nothing we could have done to save her,” Delphina explained. “We have to focus on finding the dragon and making sure this can never happen again.”

“What…” Earren started to say again but as soon as she opened her mouth Derpy leapt into the air and flew straight at her.

“We heard you!” she snarled as she stopped and hovered in front of the tan unicorn so quickly that it made her flinch in surprise.

Balefren turned around and walked over to the young mare. “I’ll handle it Derpy,” he offered. Derpy nodded as she spun around and flew back over in the direction of the deceased pony. Balefren came up alongside Earren before continuing. “The reason we are traveling so far south, is to confront a dragon.”

He watched as he girls eyes gleamed at his mention of a dragon. “Don’t be scared, I know the thought can be frightening,” he said. “But you are in good hands, Derpy Hooves over there is an expert dragon slayer.”

Earren’s mouth stammered as if she was about to say something a few times, but she didn’t. Slowly a grin started to wash across her face. “A dragon, that’s so cool,” she exclaimed.

Balefren took a step back in shock at the excitement on the girl’s face. He had thought the mare would be frightened by the thought of a dragon. “What? You are ok with this?”

“Not with the dead body, but a dragon? That’s so cool,” she said. “You know when I was a little filly my parents took me to see a dragon migration, I’ve always wanted to meet one ever since!”

“What?” Balefren exclaimed.

“What is his name? What kind of dragon is he?” Earren asked getting more excited.

“I don’t know,” Balefren thought for a moment, before redirecting himself. “Look, point is this is going to be really dangerous from here on out, this dragon is a pony killer and not to be taken lightly.”

“Oh I bet he has a great name,” Earren fantasized. “Like Stormkiller or Flameclaw.”

“No he doesn’t,” Balefren said dismissing the idea and trying to calm the mare down. “Derpy can you help me?” he said turning around.

“She’s your problem, remember?” Delphina reminded as she hid a smile.

“Look Earren if you want to meet the dragon, I need you to calm down and do as I say,” Balefren said. Immediately the tan unicorn stopped prancing in place and gave her full attention to him. “Ok, first thing we have to do is be careful not to catch his unwanted attention. Can you do this?”

Earren nodded agreeing. “Alright Vivy,” she said happily.

“You are far too excited to meet a dragon,” Balefren commented. “You have to be careful or you’ll end up like…” he pointed a hoof towards the yellow pony on the ground. He watched as Earren winched as she looked in the direction.

“Alright let’s get out of here,” Derpy said. “He could be scanning from above and I don’t want him to spot us.”
“Agreed,” Balefren said. “Should we bury Conny?” he added as she looked at the poor dead mare.

“No time,” Derpy said coldly as she started to run down the road ahead. Balefren opened his mouth to protest, but held his tongue. “Also if we move her, the dragon could be tipped off someone is out here, we can’t risk it.”

Logically it made sense, but Balefren still felt uneasy morally about leaving a pony’s remains to the elements. “We can come back after,” he said thinking out loud. Derpy said something in response but he couldn’t hear it from the distance she had pulled ahead. He hoped she was just agreeing with him.


Evening was starting to set in as the sun slowly began its descent. Balefren took note that the daylight was going to last longer than normal as there were no longer any mountains or forests in the distance to block the sun.

As the sun got lower, a cool breeze began to pick up as the pony trio walked along the worn road. In the distance they could make out the faint sound of rushing water. With their goal close, Derpy started to pick up the pace.

“The rivers close, we’re ahead of schedule,” she said.

“Great we can make camp and have time to scrounge up some food before nightfall,” Balefren commented.

“Food,” Earren said licking her lips.

“May I remind you the reason why we have to search for food?” Derpy said glancing back over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Earren said hanging her head low in shame.

“Not you,” Derpy corrected as she turned and pointed a hoof back at Balefren. “Him,” she accused.

“Me?” Balefren said baffled pointing a hoof at himself.

“You let a ghost talk you out of our food,” Derpy joked with a grin on her face.

“Ha, look at this Derpy Hooves showing a sense of humor,” he replied.

“I thought, you thought I was the ghost?” Earren said confused.

“Yes he did, there was no real ghost,” Derpy said as she caught a glimpse of the river up ahead.

“Ok then,” Earren smiled. “It is his fault.”

“What?!” Balefren exclaimed.

“And he should find us food to make up for it,” Derpy added.

“What?!” Balefren continued.

“And put up the tents,” Earren added grinning.

“What?” Balefren said more confused.

“We have tents right?” the tan unicorn questioned.

“Nope,” Derpy said.

“You know, I’m not going to let you two pick on me, either in jest or for real,” Balefren said sternly not finding it as amusing.

“He can make tents though right?” Earren asked then turned to face Balefren. “You can make tents right?”

“What makes you think I can make tents?” he asked, and continued speaking before she could respond. “What makes you think we even need tents?”

“Gaze your eyes upon the river Sticks,” Derpy said as she took the final few steps up to the riverbank. The water passed by swiftly a few feet below her vantage point.

“Did you say Styx?” Balefren asked not sure what he heard over the sound of the water.

“Sticks,” Derpy said again. Balefren slowly moved closer as he still was not sure what she said.

“Stick, sss?” he asked. “Not S-t-y-x.”

“What sticks? No trees around here,” Earren commented not sure what either of them were talking about.

“Vivid you’re not living up to your name again,” Derpy said.

“Hows that?” Earren asked looking very interested as she moved up alongside the pegasus.

“Nothing,” Balefren said quickly, but not quick enough.

“He’s not very bright,” Derpy said. Earren began to laugh at the pun uncontrollable as she sat down on the ground.

“I’ve never heard of the river Sticks before,” Balefren commented ignoring the laughter.

“Well River Styx is the river to the underworld. River Sticks is this river in the plains of Hayin.

“He’s not bright,” Earren said as she continued to laugh to herself.

“It’s not that funny,” Balefren muttered as his train of thought was interrupted.

“Easy there girl,” Derpy said to Earren, who was now rolling on the grass giggling to herself. After another moment the giggles turned into snickers before the unicorn got control of herself.

“Too funny,” she said as she got up off the ground.

“Glad you were entertained at my expense,” Balefren said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry, more to come I’m sure,” Derpy said grinning. Balefren couldn’t hide a grin anymore. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into Delphina, but she was almost acting like a normal happy pony.

Earren covered her mouth to stifle another quick laugh. “I didn’t know other ponies could be so amusing, do you two always squabble like this?”

“Not really,” Balefren responded. “Normally she just strikes somepony dead in one blow, or kicks you in the stomach.”

Derpy’s grin faded for a moment as she turned and glared at the white unicorn.

“You two are so funny,” Earren commented as she started into another fit of laughter.

“You have no idea,” Derpy said as she turned around to face the riverbank.

“Are we friends now?” Earren asked as she calmed back down.

Balefren faced the younger unicorn unable to hide a smile. “Being able to joke around is something friends do, but it’s really more of something you feel inside as you share experiences.”

“Back to matters at hand,” Derpy interrupted. “Let’s not get too chummy here.”

Balefren tossed his head up and looked around the area really quick as he was reminded of their goal. “Alright, let’s go see if we can find something good to eat growing around here,” he said as he unloaded the saddle bags that contained Delphina’s other things. “Derpy can set up camp,” he added as he watched the grey Pegasus already unloading things from her bag on a clear spot along the river bank.

“What about me?” Earren asked looking at Balefren for guidance.

“I said ‘we’ can look for food,” he replied pointing a hoof at her.

“Me?” she said unsure.

“Yes, you’ve spent plenty of time in the wilds and woods, you can spot food just as well or better than me,” he explained.

“Alright let’s find some food,” she said excitedly. With that the pair of unicorns turned and began to follow the edge of the riverbank scanning the area for edibles.

“Plus you ate all our food to start with,” Balefren added as they walked off.

Delphina paused her campsite preparation for a moment as she watched the two unicorns walking side by side into the distance. She smiled thinking about the outcast girl who was beginning to find she could fit in someplace. At the same time she couldn’t help but worry where things were going.

Always cautious there was a reason Delphina Ray worked alone, and knew she couldn’t afford to have friends herself.