". . . The knight stood face to face with the dragon, a look of determination on his face."
Sea Breeze loved to tell stories, and with two foals, he was never lacking an audience. Vanity, a particular fan of her father's adventurous tales, sat wide-eyed before him, clinging to his every word. Trixie, on the other hand (or rather, on the other hoof), had her head buried beneath a pillow, her butt high in the air. "What happened next, Daddy?" inquired Vanity eagerly.
The pillow next to her rocked back and forth. "No, don't tell me," came a miserably frightened Trixie.
Sea Breeze took no notice of Trixie's discomfort and continued. "'My lady Arabella, I have come for you!' cried the knight.
"The golden dragon roared at this, its slitted blood-red eyes burning with hatred. It shifted its body to defend the captured mare who gazed on at the events unfolding before her with wide eyes, causing the brave knight to raise the lance in his mouth and charge at the beast. The two grew closer and closer until finally-"
"Stop!" This time Sea Breeze took notice of his youngest daughter. Trixie had thrown the pillow off her head and was trembling from head to hoof, tears stinging her eyes. "I don't wanna hear this story!" she cried before running off.
Vanity, after watching her sister take off, turned back to her father. "So, what happened next, Daddy?"
---
Trixie trudged wearily through the untamed wilderness. Trees loomed above her, blocking out most of the moon's brilliant rays. The air was frigid and nipped at her weary legs. She had no idea where she was, nor how far she was from the mansion. All she knew was that she must continue forward. But as the glowing moon rose higher and higher into the sky, this task proved more and more difficult. Her bruised body was tired, every muscle howling for her to rest until finally, she decided to give in.
Squinting through the shadows, Trixie spotted a cave not too far away and decided to rest there for the remainder of the evening. Her legs, pained as they were, urged her on with cries of joy at the aspect of finally relaxing.
The mouth of the cave was tall, much taller than Trixie had initially thought. Were caves supposed to be this big? No matter. Shelter was shelter.
Trixie trotted a bit inside of the cave, her hoofbeats reverberating on the stony walls, and plopped herself down, releasing a sigh as she did so. Finally.
Trixie took a moment to reflect. She had done it. She had actually done it. She had run away. Never again would anypony hurt her the way her aunt had. Never.
Her blue eyelids drooped heavily, violet irises half hidden.
Never. . .
Sniffle. . .sniffle. . .
Trixie's eyes flew open, her whole body tensed. "He-hello?" she called out shakily into the darkness, her newfound serenity obliterated by fear.
The sound stopped.
"Hello?" she called again, this time standing up, much to her leg's discontent. "Is somepony there?"
For the longest time, the cave responded with silence. Then. . . "Please. . . Help me. . ."
Trixie, alarmed, ran deeper into the cave, a growing sense of worry building inside of her. "Where are you?" she asked the darkness.
"Over here!" cried the desperation-filled voice. It sounded like a colt not too much older than her. "Please. . . hurry!"
Trixie's hooves pounded the stone floor as she made her way to the voice, all weariness forgotten. Abruptly, something caught her hoof, causing her to trip and go flying to the ground below. Her bruises wailed in agony as they were thrown against the mercilessly hard ground. She let out a cry of pain.
"Sorry. . ."
Trixie looked behind her. The thing she had tripped over was the colt who had cried out for her help. "It's okay," she lied to reassure him. "I'm alright." Shakily, she got to her hooves.
She trotted over to the place where the voice had come from. With virtually no light from the outside world being able to penetrate this deep into the cave, Trixie could only just make out his form, which was relatively small. "Are you okay?" she asked him with worry.
In the darkness, she could see the colt shake his head. "My tail's stuck," he told her, nodding his head in the direction of a rock the size of Trixie herself.
Trixie blinked. "Under this?" she asked in disbelief. He nodded. "How did that happen?"
"It fell on it," he responded plainly.
Trixie waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't, she turned to the rock. Gathering what little strength she had left, Trixie hurled herself at the large stone, instantly regretting it. She collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain, her bruises throbbing.
Trixie looked up. The rock hadn't budged an inch. "I'm sorry," she told him, her eyes teary. "I'm not strong enough. I'm so, so sorry."
The colt let out a sob. "I guess this is it then," he murmured miserably to nopony.
"What do you mean?" questioned a puzzled Trixie, getting back up.
"You should get out of here while you still can," he said vaguely, his voice eerily ominous.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
Suddenly, what little light filled the cave was snuffed out, sending Trixie's entire world into complete and utter darkness. She gasped in surprise as the ground beneath her shook with enough force to knock her from her wobbly legs once more. "What was that?"
"You need to get out of here, now," said the colt, his voice stern.
"Wha-? No, I'm not leaving without you," Trixie told him firmly as another tremor disrupted the hard ground. Despite having said this, she wanted to run away. She was terrified to the very core. But something kept her from doing so, a sense of personal responsibility. There was no way she could leave this colt alone, even if she couldn't see him.
Seriously, what was she thinking? She didn't know this colt. For all she knew, he could be a convict of some sort. After all, why else would he be all the way out here?
Then again, she was one to talk.
The colt shook his head in the darkness. "Then you better figure out a way to get this rock off my tail or else we're both goners."
Gulping, Trixie faced the rock once more. With all of her might, she pushed, willing the giant mass to move. But, try as she did, nothing came of her efforts. She groaned. "It's no use!" Trixie cried. "I can't move it!"
Silence. The tremors had stopped. Trixie froze in place, her violet eyes wide with fright. Steam hissed from above, sending beads of sweat trickling down her back. Slowly, she turned around, looked up, and let out a scream of pure terror.
Standing before her was a thirty-foot tall dragon. It roared, releasing a burst of fiery flames into the air that illuminated the cave in a shocking orange glow. In her fear, Trixie turned around to run away from the beast, only to find herself face-to-face with a second one. Trixie screamed again, collapsing to the ground.
"You're a pony?!" cried the second dragon in disbelief.
With a start, Trixie realized that he was the "colt" she had been trying to save, except he wasn't really a colt at all. She had nearly rescued a dragon. Instantly, Sea Breeze's old stories about the ferocious monsters of legend were called to her mind. And now, she was trapped in a cave with not one, but two of them. The dragon had been right. She was a goner.
The larger dragon grabbed her in its scaly vice and lifted her into the air, causing the unicorn to shriek even more. In response, its grip grew tighter. Trixie gasped for air as her entire body was crushed. The monster raised her to its face and let out a tremendous roar that shook the entire cave.
Trixie let out a whimper as its jagged white teeth grew ever closer. So this was it then. This was how she was going to die. She ran away from her aunt and uncle just to get eaten by a dragon. She probably deserved it anyways, after what she had done to Daisyjo. Trixie squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable to come.
"Hey!" Both the beast and Trixie looked down to the source of the voice--the second dragon. "Put her down, you big brute!" He hurled a rather large rock chunk at the scaly monster's head, bouncing off with a loud thud.
The monster itself didn't seem to be hurt by the assault as much as annoyed. Unceremoniously, it tossed Trixie to the floor and redirected its anger at the younger and smaller dragon.
Trixie shook her head, her mind dizzy. As she unsteadily got to her hooves, she prepared to make a run for it. But something stopped her. Her thoughts turned to the young dragon. He had just saved her. He, a dragon, a horrific beast, had actually saved her. And now, he was in danger because of it.
Trixie's eyes narrowed. Everything she had been taught screamed at her to save her own flank, but she ignored it. She would not let this dragon get hurt because of her.
The pony charged, her hooves pounding the ground full-force. Time seemed to slow down. The larger reptile was opening its mouth to spray another wave of fiery inferno, this time upon the trapped youngster. Trixie screwed her face in concentration as she ran, her gaze locked on the rock pinning the small dragon down.
And then, something, for the first time in Trixie's life, clicked. Her horn began to glow, and before her eyes, the boulder slowly rose from the ground. Skidding to a halt, Trixie flicked her head in the monster's direction. Instantly, the rock was sent hurtling up towards the beast, crashing against its skull.
It blinked once. . . twice. . . and collapsed to the ground below. Trixie managed to knock the stunned young dragon out of harm's way before the beast fell to the ground, landing where he had stood only a mere moment ago.
The two were now once more at the mouth of the cavern. For a few minutes, all they could do was lie in a collapsed heap, waiting for their rapid heartbeats to slow.
Finally, Trixie managed to gasp out, "You're. . . a dragon. . ."
He made a gesture as if to raise his eyebrows, that is, if he had eyebrows. "Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious."
"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm."
The dragon opened his eyes to look at her. "And you're. . . a pony," he observed aloud.
Trixie opened her eyes as well, sending a glare his way. "Yeah? What's wrong with being a pony, huh?" she snapped defensively.
He blinked in surprise. "Nothing, it's just. . ."
"Just what?"
His gaze wandered to the ground. "I've never met a pony before."
Trixie looked at him for the first time. He was small compared to the other dragon, only a bit smaller than her, in fact. His body was covered in scales that were a dark, near-black shade of grey, his belly coated with ebony scales. From the top of his head all the way down to his tail were small rounded ridges the color of a crow's wing that were barely noticable. He had wings, but they appeared to be far too small at this stage in his life to serve him any good. And then there were his eyes. They were slitted, just like the eyes Sea Breeze had described to her all those years ago. But instead of being a blood red, they were a soft blue, two twin aquamarine teardrops. They were actually rather beautiful, something she never would have expected.
"I've never met a dragon before either," she told him, causing him to look back up at her. Trixie went silent. "You saved my life."
The dragon nodded. "Yeah. . ."
Her eyes softened. "Thank you."
He seemed to be taken aback by this. "I should be thanking you," he replied her meekly. "You saved my life."
"I guess we're even then," said Trixie, the dragon nodding in response. She smiled weakly. "I'm Trixie."
The dragon looked at her, startled. "I'm. . . I'm Coal," he said numbly.
He blinked, seeming to come to his senses, and rose. "Come on, we should get out of here. I don't think that brute will be out for much longer."
Trixie nodded in agreement, slowly getting up as well.
As they emerged from the cave, Trixie spotted an enormous mound of gold, silver, and jewels. "What is this?" she asked in awe. She had never seen so many dazzling riches before.
Coal frowned. "My guess would be that that's part of that brute's hoard," he told her in a quiet tone.
"Part? Where's the rest?"
"I don't know." Coal turned away and continued walking, leaving a confused Trixie to follow.
The two continued to walk away from the cave. Suddenly, Coal stopped. "What is it?" Trixie asked him, concerned.
Coal gazed back at the cave, his eyes filled with sadness. "It's just. . . my family. . ."
"Are they still in there? We can go back for them, there's time."
Coal shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.
Realization struck Trixie hard, causing a wave of sorrow to wash over her. Hesitantly, she gently placed a hoof on the dragon's shoulder. He sniffled. Trixie wished she could say something to comfort him, to tell him that it would be alright, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. In the end, all she said was, "I lost my family too."
Coal reopened his eyes and turned to look at her. For a few moments, they just stood there like that, their gazes locked.
Finally, wiping his nose with his wrist, Coal turned away. "Come on. Let's go." With the briefest of nods, Trixie followed him deeper into the forest she had only so recently emerged from.
The odd pair trekked through the wild place for a while before finally stopping for the night.
Trixie shivered in the dark, causing Coal to look at her. "You're cold?"
She nodded. "Yeah, a little."
Frowning, Coal looked around him. With deft claws he snapped off a decent sized branch from a nearby tree and tossed it on the ground. "What are you doing?" inquired a curious Trixie. Ignoring her, Coal narrowed his eyes at the branch, took in a deep breath, and exhaled through his mouth. A burst of small flames were sent spiralling towards the branch, causing Trixie to squeak and leap back. A second later and a fire had been made.
Trixie looked at him, her violet eyes glowing in the light of the fire. Coal shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "What?"
Trixie smiled. "Thank you," she said warmly.
Coal just looked at her and, after a moment, nodded. He plopped down on the ground, Trixie copying him.
The two looked awkwardly around for a bit. Despite having been acquainted, an air of wariness and uncertainty surrounded them.
"You know," spoke Trixie in an attempt to break the tension, causing Coal to look up at her, "My father, he used to tell stories about dragons and other creatures."
"And what kind of stories were they?" he questioned, his blue eyes narrowed.
Trixie frowned. "Ones that didn't put your kind in a good light," she admitted. "He would go on about how evil and vicious dragons really were, how if we met one we'd be gobbled up in a heartbeat."
Coal made a face. "Ew, no. I'll take gems anyday. That other dragon, though, I don't know. But something tells me he was one who would find a pony appetizing."
Trixie nodded with a shudder, recalling just how close she had been to finding that out for herself. "It's just that, now that I've actually met you, a dragon, I don't feel like I should be afraid." She paused. "I shouldn't be. . . right?"
Coal's face grew serious. "No, you shouldn't. That monster you saw back there? That's not me, got it?" Trixie nodded. "I'm not a monster. I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, while you may have been told stories that made villains out of us dragons, I was told stories that made you ponies the bad guys."
"Really?" questioned Trixie in disbelief.
He nodded. "There were a bunch, the most infamous probably being the story of Ivan the Terrible."
"Ivan the Terrible? You mean Sir Ivan the Brave?" That had been one of Sea Breeze's favorites.
Coal shrugged. "I guess, seeing as you ponies would probably put him in a better light."
Trixie's eyes narrowed. "Well, maybe you dragons are just making him look bad," she countered.
Coal's face scrunched up. "Did your version of the story happen to mention that your beloved Ivan slaughtered an innocent mother dragon while she was trying to protect her hatchlings?"
Trixie blinked. No, in fact, it hadn't. She shook it off. "Did yours mention how the dragon burned down an entire village for no reason?"
Coal was standing up down, claws clenched into fists. "How do you know she didn't have a reason?"
"How do you know it did?" fought back Trixie who had risen as well.
The two glared at each other, hatred boiling at an alarming rate inside both of them.
Finally, after an interminable showdown, Trixie's face relaxed, her eyes widening. "Look at us," she murmured, stepping back. "We're no better than they were."
Coal blinked, coming to his senses as well. "You're right," he agreed softly. "For all we know, neither story could be true."
"Or both could be right."
They looked at each other for the longest time, the flickering fire being the only thing to separate them.
"I don't want to fight you," spoke Trixie at last.
Coal shook his head. "Me neither."
He opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted by an obnoxiously loud yawn from Trixie. A smirk played across his face. "Tired?"
Mid-yawn, Trixie nodded, causing Coal to chuckle. "It's been a long day for me," she replied when she could speak again.
"Yeah, you and I both," agreed Coal, plopping down once more. He settled his back against a nearby tree and closed his eyes.
Trixie gratefully settled down once more as well, remembering just how much her body ached. Her eyelids slowly fluttered shut. "Coal?"
"Hm?"
"I'm glad I met you."
Coal opened his eyes and looked at her. Trixie was curled up, a smile playing across her face. He grinned as well. "Me too."