//------------------------------// // Terror in the Everfree // Story: Night Fury's Lament // by JumpingShinyFrogs //------------------------------// I must have fallen asleep at some point. I soon wake up, and less than a minute later, Spike comes into the basement carrying some flat white thing. A plate, I believe the humans call them, though I don't know the purpose. "I came earlier but you were asleep," he says, laying the plate down in front of me. "Thank Thor for friendly purple dragons," I attempt at a joke, pulling my famous leering act. "I'm starving." Thor only knows what he's trying to feed me. It's thin, crisp and oily. I can't figure out how to eat it. I try swallowing it like I would a fish, but I start choking. I try shredding it like I would a deer, but it just gets stuck between my teeth. Finally, I resort to desperate measures. I try to do something herbivores do, chewing. The strange food is brittle, tastes of nothing, and I can literally feel it wearing down my teeth. Not ok. I spit it out and complain, "What is this? It's horrible." "Hay fries," he answers. "I'm surprised you don't like them. Everypony likes hay fries. I like them too, and I'm a dragon." Hay? Yeah, no. "Hay is something horses, cows and sheep eat. Not what most dragons eat and certainly not what Night Furies eat. See these?" -I bare my retractable teeth- "These are meant to kill and then eat what they killed," I say. I can't be certain, but I'm fairly certain he wets himself at that moment. If he doesn't, he comes pretty close to it. "K-kill?" he stammers. "You don't eat ponies, do you?" "Ponies? As in small horses? No. I eat fish and deer mostly. I'll eat sheep if I'm hungry, cows if I'm desperate. But never horse. Horses are smarter than your average creature. They can actually hold a conversation. That's a rule of mine- if it can answer back, it's not prey," I explain. He breathes a sigh of relief, I'm guessing he was concerned for the well being of Twilight. "Got any meat?" I ask. He shakes his head. "Fish?" He shakes his head again. "Great." He looks torn. I wonder if my comments upset him? Too bad if they did. It's not my fault he seems to have forgotten the thrill of the hunt. He suddenly walks into a corner of the room and begins rooting around for something. He opens a box, and briefly I can see sparkles hanging in the air. He closes the box again, and approaches me. He's holding two gemstones, a ruby and an amethyst. He holds out the amethyst, "Here." He must hold me in higher regard than I thought. Sharing one's hoard is an even higher honour than sharing one's kill! "Thank you," I say, more sincere than I've ever been in my life. I take the amethyst and admire myself in its crystalline depths. I love being vain! To my immense surprise, he begins to eat the ruby, crunching it into dust. His face acquires a look of dreamy contentment. He looks at me expectantly. I try to explain that where I come from, gems are a way of showing how powerful you are, since gems are hard to come by unless you rob other dragons or human villages. They are not for eating. "Using gems for beauty is what Rarity does! Come on, try it!" Eventually I give in. I'm terrified that this is going to break my teeth. Gems are just a little bit harder than fish. Just a little bit. I gingerly take a bite. It's softer than I thought it would be. And the taste! Even the freshest river salmon can't compare to this heavenly flavour! I quickly finish it. It doesn't satisfy my hunger, but the taste is so magical that I don't care. "That was amazing!" I say, completely in awe. He grins, "Told you." "How did you figure out that gems were good for eating? It's unheard of where I come from," I ask. Aw, now I'm sad I never tried eating my hoard. Could have helped me all those times I was comfort eating river salmon after failing to protect human children. He chuckles sheepishly and explains, "Actually, most Equestrian dragons don't do that either. I found out how good they were by accident. When I was first hatched and given to Twilight, she used to try to teach me to behave. Whenever I did something good, I'd get a gem. She knew that dragons like to collect gems, so she thought it would be perfect. The first time she gave me a gem, I thought it was some kind of food. So I tried to eat it. It was delicious! And I've kinda sorta eaten gems ever since." "Interesting," I say. Now I know why he lives with Twilight. "By the way, what time is it now?" I ask. "Oh! I forgot. It's about 10 at night. It's dark out now, so if you want you can leave," he says. Is it just me, or does he sound a bit sad while he says that? "Lead the way," I say, gesturing. He climbs the stairs and opens the door. I follow him, wincing every few steps as muscles that are stiff from being curled up in a corner all day begin to stretch out. The place beyond the door seems to be some kind of library. Bookshelves aplenty, balls of crumpled paper, and for some reason, birds' feathers lie scattered around. Teetering stacks of books on the floor threaten to fall over at any minute. I pad along silently, my claws not scratching or clicking on the wood floor. Spike is less subtle, but that probably doesn't matter considering he lives here. On an indoor balcony, Twilight is asleep on some strange object. I can't really describe it, and I have no idea what it is. It's a frame of wood, covered with a flat piece of stuff called 'fabric'. I ask Spike what it is. He tells me it's called a 'bed', then looks at me as if I'm stupid. I tell him that I spent my whole life living wild in a forest. As far as I can remember, this is my first time ever being inside a building. We exit through the door, and I turn around to look at the structure we just emerged from. I can't believe what I see. It's not a building, it's a massive tree. I've never seen a tree so huge. The diameter tells me it's at least several thousand years old. Amazingly, despite the fact that it's been hollowed out, the tree appears to still be alive. The leaves are green, and I can see acorns scattered on the ground at the base. As soon as I'm out in the open, I spread out my wings and beat them a few times. I'm trying to stretch them out and get them warmed up for flight. Spike looks in amazement. "I didn't realise you had wings!" he says excitedly. He seems to be scrutinising my physique very closely. I don't blame him, I am just so irresistible! He looks at my opposable horns, which I have raised straight up. He seems particularly fascinated by all of my flight sails, particularly the ones on my tail. The spines running down my back have him interested too. I open my mouth to say something, but Spike interrupts before I have the chance. "What happened to your teeth?" he asks, pointing at my gums. I answer by pushing them out. "Ah." I stretch my wings. "Thank you for covering for me today, helping me get out of the basement and most importantly, for sharing your hoard with me," I say. Draconic code again, though I would have thanked him anyway. I ready myself to leap. Right before I jump, Spike calls out, "Wait!" It must be urgent for him, because he doesn't even bother fumbling with Dragontongue. He rubs his knuckles together and stares at the ground, an awkward expression on his face. "Umm, could you maybe come back and visit sometimes? See, the thing is, I only really have pony friends. I've met dragons before, but they were always really mean. You're the only dragon I've ever met whose been nice to me. So, maybe you could think about it?" he asks, both tearfully and awkwardly, if that's possible. I'm shocked honestly. I never really had any friends before, dragon or not, other than my brothers. I've spent most of my life trying and failing to protect humans, and getting mocked and outcasted by other dragons as a result. So there's really no other answer is there? "Of course," I say. "Really?" asks Spike. "Really," I answer, pulling him closer to me with a wing. "For now though, I need to get settled somewhere. I'd there somewhere secluded nearby?" Spike thinks for a moment. "There's probably a place somewhere in the Everfree Forest, but I don't think you want to go there. It's full of all sorts of horrible monsters," he warns. "Forest? That's right up my alley!" I exclaim with glee. "And the whole monsters thing? Surely nothing is as terrifying or dangerous as a large Monstrous Nightmare who thinks you stole from his hoard,"- I shiver at the memory -"Now that's scary," I continue. "Are you sure?" he asks nervously. "Yeah!" "Whoa, what are you doing?" he asks as I bend down. "I'll need a guide, and it's safer, faster and funner to go by air. So come on, hop on!" I order. "Faster, yes. Funner and safer? I don't think so." Unfortunately for him, I'm not asking him, I'm telling him. I coil my tail around him and drop him at the base of my neck. I barely give him a second to think before I take of straight up, in the heat of the moment I forget I have a passenger. The first thing he does is try to find something to hold onto. He grips my horns, a bit tighter than is necessary, but it's justified, so I'll let it slide. Once I reach a suitable altitude, I change my angle to a more horizontal one, to Spike's obvious relief. From there it's easy flying, a lack of wind and weather makes the trip simple. Spike shouts directions and I follow accordingly. As I fly, I observe the world below. Not much is happening this late at night, but the buildings bear a resemblance to the human villages. The only inhabitants I can see all appear to be equine in nature. There's an aquamarine unicorn playing a lyre in the park. An apple orchard with strange, rainbow coloured fruit hanging from a cluster of trees. The trees crackle with electricity. Two ponies, one orange, one red, kick the trees furiously, harvesting the strange fruit in buckets. A little yellow filly with a bow in her mane helps catch the apples. She's so adorable, I can't help but like her. A strange sight awaits a little further on. A cyan Pegasus with all the colours of the rainbow in her mane snoozes on a cloud. I've by now got fairly used to seeing the strange inhabitants of this world, but the problem is that she sleeping on a cloud as if it's solid ground. Clouds are irritating things, cold and damp, and they obscure your vision too. But normally you pass right through them. Standing on clouds doesn't end well, believe me, I've tried it. A few more ponies are hanging around, though not as interesting as the ones I've already pointed out. I see a cute little cottage at the edge of a forest, I'm guessing it's the one we're heading to. Various animals run around the place. Two fillies wearing red capes are chasing the animals, a butter yellow Pegasus is shouting, if you could call it that, at them to stop. I laugh a little at the sight. The Pegasus just needs to assert herself. She's telling them to calm down because someone named Applebloom isn't there yet. I have an excellent memory, so once I know where the forest is, I take Spike back to the library. I bid him goodbye, and take off toward my new home. So far, I'm pleased with the sorcerer's spell. I've found a new home, discovered the wonders of gemstones as a food source and most importantly, I've made a friend. All of this is more than I had on the Isle of Berk. But the situation that awaits me in the Everfree Forest is not one I had hoped to see for a while. ~~~ Sweetie Belle was nervous at the thought of doing this again, but Scootaloo had assured her that it would be fine this time. Applebloom was now arguing with Scootaloo, again. "For the last time, there's no such thing as a cutie mark for arguing!" Sweetie Belle said loudly. "Be quiet. You don't want to let the monsters know there's dinner here, do you?" Scootaloo scolded her. "Hey! You guys were the ones arguing," Sweetie huffed. "Both of y'all, shut it. Ah think ah heard somethin' over yonder," said Applebloom, pointing at a bush. "There! Is that the iguana?" asked Scootaloo, pointing at a green reptilian tail. "No, the iguana has black stripes on his tail," pointed out Applebloom. "Girls, haven't we seen that tail somewhere before?" asked Sweetie Belle nervously. "Yeah...we have," said Scootaloo, realising what she was getting at. "It's a cockatrice!" yelled Sweetie Belle. The three fillies tripped over one another and landed in a heap as the creature of past experiences emerged from the bush. Instinctively, they closed their eyes tight. The cockatrice wasn't satisfied. It began to peck and scratch at their eyelids, trying to get them to open their eyes. It had forced Applebloom's eyes open and was about to turn her to stone... Suddenly there was the sound of a ballistic whistle and a ball of blue fire struck the ground right next to the fillies. Startled, the cockatrice fled, only for another fireball to hit it directly. It collapsed to the ground, dead. The three terrified fillies braced themselves for the next attack. When it did not come, they opened their eyes. The charred body of the cockatrice lay smouldering. There was no sign of their saviour. They searched all around the area. Applebloom suggested scanning the sky, she stated that she saw the fire come from above. For a brief moment, they thought they saw a dark shadow in the sky. But, continuing to look at the sky, there was no sign if it. They dismissed it as their imaginations. Applebloom called the other Crusaders into a huddle. The topic was how to thank their saviour. "Ah have an idea. Ah know it was meant for Fluttershy, but..." ~~~ I'm so pleased with myself! I saved someone. I actually wasn't too late! Well, one of them may have permanent damage to her eyes, and there's a chance that they're scarred for life, but that's much better than having to create three graves on my first day here. I had been looking for a cave or a place where I could dig a cavern when I had happened across three young ponies wandering through the forest. The two fillies I'd seen at the cottage, still wearing their capes. A proper unicorn, white, with no wings and an orange Pegasus. I admit that that's quite weird but after seeing Spike and Twilight I'd say it's normal around here. The little yellow filly from the farm was there too, wearing a similar cape. I thought these little ones were being a tad reckless. They were talking about finding an iguana that escaped from someone named Fluttershy's house. I decided to follow them and make sure they didn't get lost and/or killed. And it's a good thing I did. Cockatrices are nasty creatures. I hated them at home, thank Thor they were rare. You'd see petrified dragons and animals scattered throughout the woods. Disgusting. But as usual, when danger came, I hesitated. Thank Thor they had the sense to close their eyes, or else my delay might have been fatal. I very nearly hit them with my fire too. But at least they're alive and that particular cockatrice won't be bothering anyone since I fried it to a crisp. Roast cockatrice is one of the most delicious things you can eat, I can't wait to harvest the corpse. It'll make a nice first meal in Equestria. Now the little fillies are huddling. They may have seen me landing in this tree, I hope not. The yellow one calls, in her strange accent, "If y'all are still out there, we wanna say thanks!" "You can come out and show yourself!" offers the orange Pegasus. "You're a Crusader now!" adds the unicorn. "We ain't gonna hurt ya. We wanna thank ya properly," assures the filly from the farm. "I don't think they're going to come out," says the unicorn to her friends, clearly disappointed. "The offer is still there, we're going to leave this here. Take it if you want," calls the orange Pegasus. "If y'all decide to come to Ponyville, show it ta us so we can thank ya properly!" The farm filly seems determined to thank me properly. The three begin to leave. As soon as I'm certain they're gone, I go and see what they gave me. It's a red cape with a gold underside, just like the ones they'd been wearing. The emblem is a blue patch with a golden image of a rearing filly. It's way too small for me, but the gesture is appreciated. I have an idea of what to do with it. I tie it around my neck, not as a cape, but as a neckerchief. I'm a Crusader now. I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it.