//------------------------------//
// Moonlight 
// Story: My Little Skyrim 
// by Pippington Britishhooves 
//------------------------------//

His hooves thudded below him as he sprinted across the plain, his sword and armour clanging against each other. The grass whipped softly at his legs as he ran, doing nothing to bar his progress as he hurried towards his objective.

"Dawnfire, slow down!"

The orange stallion pattered to a halt, turning to see Grace struggling to catch up. All this running was no problem for him, but it was unreasonable to expect somepony who had never set hoof out of a city to be able to sprint for a prolonged period of time across uneven terrain with exceedingly poor visibility. The mare finally caught up to him, panting lightly.

"We'll never make it to Cloudsdale like this!" he groaned in frustration, stomping a rear hoof. Grace looked up at the floating city, still several miles ahead and above, and then back to him.

"We can't get up there anyway, even if we do manage to run directly underneath it," she told him. "And even if we could, we have no means of helping anypony."

"Then what do we do, just leave them to die?" the earth pony responded frantically.

"We've just come from Canterlot," she reminded him. "There's the Canterlot Guard, we can call them and-"

"It'd take too long," he interrupted. "We need to act now, and we're closer to Cloudsdale than we are Canterlot. We are probably the only hope they have!" Grace gave a grimace and sighed, and Dawnfire stepped closer to her. "Please, if you know anything that can get us up there, tell me now!"

With another look up at the sky and the burning clouds above, she shook her head in resignation. "I know a cloud walking spell," she informed him reluctantly. "That and teleportation should enable us to reach the city."

"Good! Let's do it!"

She closed her eyes and focused, a small glow appearing around her horn. Dawnfire felt her magic seeping into him, exploring his body, probing at his frame. He felt it fill him, and when it gradually faded away, he felt strangely light. He wondered if he would float away if he tried jumping. Grace kept her eyes closed for a few more seconds, apparently applying the spell to herself. When she finished, he looked at her expectantly, but she looked back up at Cloudsdale.

"We need to get there now, we don't have time for awe!"

"I know, I'm trying to gauge the distance!"

"What?"

She gave him an impatient sigh. "If I'm going to teleport us up to Cloudsdale, I need to know exactly where to put us. I don't want to end up appearing midair with nothing to support me."

"Okay," the stallion replied, suddenly feeling a lot more anxious about the plan. "How long will it take you to do that?"

"Just a minute, let me focus. It was your idea to go up there, and if you want it to happen, you'll need to let me work this out." With that she lapsed into a focused silence, and Dawnfire decided to follow suit. He got the general feeling that she was a mare that you didn't argue with.

The screams from above filled the night now that the duo weren't talking. The sounds were still distant, but they were clear enough to Dawnfire to agitate him. He tried not to look up, but the screams and the occasional roar from the dragon, as well as the dirty pale orange glow caused by the light from the moon and the fires mingling together, made it hard to not. He couldn't ignore the large scale carnage being wrought, no matter how hard he tried.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Grace announced. Dawnfire looked at her, his heart pounding in apprehension. "Just relax and don't panic. Stay safe until I get up there." Without another word, she closed her eyes and leaned forwards, lowering her horn towards Dawnfire. It lit up again, magic wrapping itself around the appendage. When it came into contact with the stallion, he felt, for the second time in less than five minutes, the curious sensation of magic flowing through him, although this time it didn't seem to be prodding at him. This time it felt different. It was almost as if it were trying to pull him apart, although he didn't feel any pain. A ringing rose in his ears, and with a bright blue flash, the ground dropped from beneath his feet.

The blue flash of the spell faded away, and chaotic sounds of the violence in Cloudsdale rushed back in, amplified. The roars of fire were now audible, and the screams were constant and almost deafening. Physical shapes appeared in his vision; the blinding light of the fires, teetering houses and other buildings, and even the odd silhouette of a pony. The fluffy white of the cloud below him was duller in the presence of the flame, but it still stood out. A little too far below.

The rushing of wind in his ears told him he was falling.

Although the drop would normally have caused him serious injury, the softness of the clouds absorbed his impact, leaving him sprawled out from the crash and slightly dazed, but capable of jumping immediately back to his hooves. He looked up and stepped quickly to the side, seeing the flash above him which heralded Grace's arrival. She flailed about as she fell, screaming for the five seconds it took her to drop down to the street. When she thumped into the ground, he offered her a hoof and quickly helped her back up to a standing position, glancing hurriedly around for any danger.

The city was in a state of utter disarray. The heat of the fires seemed to be evapourating the clouds, leaving buildings and other structures to fade away into the night as steam, or else collapse as the support gave way under the blaze. Although the flames seemed to be rather short lived, the damage they inflicted on the city was disastrous; great portions of the city were missing chunks or undergoing a collapse, weakening and falling away under the intense heat.

It reminded him far too much of Hopesmeade.

Dawnfire motioned for Grace to follow him and set off through the streets. A mist was settling, rolling down the street like a lethargic stream of floodwater, parting when the two of them passed through. It felt horribly like a ghost town in the making, and it probably would be soon. They needed to find a way to stop the dragon, but with the smoke and glaring light of the fires, even finding it was proving to be its very own challenge.

They skidded to a halt as a gust of wind cleared the mist from the street and a gigantic figure appeared in the sky above them. The light from the flames cast colour onto its body, showing a grey scaly hide. It flapped its great wings to keep itself airborne, causing an updraft on the street.

"Hey!" Grace shouted up at it. Dawnfire gave her a look of shock. Was she trying to get them killed? "Down here!" She stepped forwards, and the orange stallion looked around. They were standing next to a house which, at the moment, seemed to be sturdily standing against the dragon's onslaught. The door was open too, presumably because the residents had fled when they'd first found that they were under attack.

Looking back to Grace, Dawnfire discovered that she was now trying to get its attention by flashing magic along her horn. The orange stallion stepped beside her and uttered warnings to her, keeping his eyes nervously on the behemoth directly above them.

"I don't think we should be trying to get its attention," he told her in an urgent tone.

"We have to try diplomacy. From what I know, dragons are intelligent sentient creatures, and they can reason."

"It's attacking a city, I don't think-"

At this point, the flashing light grabbed the attention of the great beast, and it looked down at them, eyes narrow and piercing. Dawnfire tried not to think about how predatory it looked, nor how giant it was compared to him. He gulped and took a slow step backwards. It leaned in closer, its lengthy snout edging towards them. Dawnfire could feel its breath as it breathed out, warm and acrid.

"What are you doing?" Grace asked demandingly. "This city is home to innocent pegasi ponies who pose no threat to you. You have no reason to attack it, and I ask that you stop immediately." The grey creature gazed intently at the unicorn for a long while, flapping its wings lazily behind itself. Grace waited for it to make some form of response, an indication of its intent, but it remained staring at her with what Dawnfire thought to be vague interest...or perhaps hunger.

"Grace," Dawnfire whispered urgently. "It's not reacting. Back away slowly." She waved him of with a subtle shake of her head.

"Just give it time," she replied confidently. "It will do something eventually."

"Like eating us?"

The dragon pulled its head back from the street, and seemed to form a sneer. The earth pony gulped as he saw the set of razor sharp teeth lining the inside of its mouth, glinting menacingly in the fires. It opened its jaw wider, expanding its chest as it took a deep breath in.

"Yol..."

Dawnfire grabbed the unicorn beside him with a foreleg and dragged her forcefully to the right, pushing her in the direction of the house he had seen before.

"Toor..."

He threw her roughly through the open doorway and into the front room of the house, leaping forwards himself immediately after, heart pounding ferociously.

"SHUL!"

Dawnfire wasn't looking up at the dragon to see the spout of flame which accompanied whatever sound it was that he exhaled. Instead, he saw the vivacious orange glow in the room in front of him and felt the scorch as the fire passed perilously close to his hind legs. He hit the floor and rolled, wincing at the searing pain that shot through his rear hooves. The roar of the inferno persisted for several seconds as the beast screamed flame, finally stopping after it apparently decided that it had incinerated them.

"Dawnfire! Are you okay?"

The stallion pushed himself to his hooves, hissing through his teeth as he put pressure onto his rear legs. He gave them a quick look over, not seeing any damage except that they were smoldering slightly. He looked up at Grace. She was wide-eyed, staring intently at him to try and gauge whether he was injured or not.

"I'm fine," he told her. "My legs sting a little, but there's no damage. It'll all fade in a few hours." He looked back to the doorway, noting that the walls were starting to sag and fade away into steam. The fire on the street had gone out, doused by the vapour that had been throw up by the extreme heat. "You should stay here."

"What?"

"Stay here. Hide under a something sturdy and don't come out until it is completely safe."

"We can't stop that dragon while we're hidden."

"No, but you can't get killed either."

"You keep saying 'you'. Please tell me you aren't thinking of running out there and trying to sort this out."

"Like I said, stay safe." He slid his saddlebags off his back and onto the floor, the thump muffled by the cloud. "I'm getting us out of here safely, and to do that, I'm going to need to stop that dragon."

"Dawnfire-"

He turned and moved swiftly to the door, peeking outside. Mist obfuscated his vision, as did the smoke and flame, and the cacophony of noise from around the city assaulted his ears. There was no sign of the dragon, however.

"Dawnfire, this isn't wise."

The orange pony stepped outside. The air was thicker, clogged with moisture and smoke, and the cloud felt squidgy and more sickly underneath his hooves.

"Dawnfire!"

The stallion spun around to see Grace's panicked face looking out at him from the doorway, feeling the tell-tale sign of the gust of wind against his coat as the mist cleared. The remnants of the fires fluttered slightly, stoked by the sudden wind, barely reflecting off the dark dragon's hide as it swooped back in to glare down at the stallion. He gulped, not looking away from the scaly beast staring from high up above him. He took a step backwards.

The dragon snarled, smoke rolling from its nostrils, making the orange stallion whimper slightly. With a slow, almost lethargic motion, it turned its head to look at the house. Dawnfire's eyes widened.

"Grace, get inside," he called as calmly as he could muster, his voice cracking with strain. "Slowly back away."

The mare took a shaky step backwards, keeping firm eye contact with the dragon. The dragon didn't react, just watching her sidle backwards into the house. A few steps later, she had disappeared from Dawnfire's view, and he remembered that he too was at risk of being burned to a crisp by this enormous creature, and so continued his own steady retreat.

"Yol, toor shul!"

The dragon sank its head down low and belched fire into the house, the flare burning Dawnfire's eyes and forcing him to turn away. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the sharp pain, and looked back to the home. It was slanting away from the source of the flame, alight and slowly dissipating away into steam.

"Grace!" he screamed, hoping against all odds for a response. "Grace!" He'd promised to get them out. He'd promised...

Satisfied with its work on the building, and attracted by the noise from the street, the dragon looked over at the distressed earth pony. Dawnfire contemplated running into the house to find Grace, but the roar from the dragon made up his mind for him. He turned and ran, taking one last glance behind him at the ruined building.

The cloud slid easily under his hooves as he thundered down the street, nearly causing him to slip. The moisture clung to his coat, clammy and cooled by the night air. His heart pounded mercilessly inside his chest, almost threatening to break open his rib cage as though it were unsatisfied with his pace and was trying to power ahead. The earth pony took heed and sprinted faster.

"Yol, toor shul!"

Dawnfire slid as he attempted a quick turn into a side street, narrowly missing the gush of fire that scorched the cloud he'd been occupying seconds previously. Ignoring the roar and the influx of heat, he pounded down the side street, weaving in between the buildings. The flapping of wings directly above him encouraged him to make another sharp detour, slipping down a narrow alleyway and out into a wide open area. He cursed himself as he sprinted across the open cloud, heart thudding wildly against his rib cage. It was too open here, and he wouldn't last long unless he found some way to hide, or otherwise even the playing field. The cloud was more soft and plump, lacking any fire damage from the dragon. It also made it easy to run.

So much so, that Dawnfire nearly tumbled off the edge of Cloudsdale. Luckily, the clouds provided enough friction to bring him to a swift halt. He leaned over the edge, looking down at the ground below. It was pitch black, like looking into an abyss. His breathing sped up and his throat tightened. This was it. He was going to die.

The taunting caress of wind caught his attention. He snapped his head around, unable to take his eyes off the dragon as it hovered slightly in front of him. It had him trapped. The great beast looked at him intently, its beady eyes looking him up and down. Finally, its maw twisted into a smirk.

"I don't see any wings on you, jul."

Dawnfire didn't say anything, but widened his eyes in surprise.

"You look like a groundwalker rather than a flier. Then again, you have the armour of a kendov, but the actions of a kiir." It paused for a moment, looking at him more closely, leaning in slightly. Eventually, it cocked its head and spoke again in its deep, malevolent voice. "But maybe that is simply the way of your kind. Maybe I must give you more opportunity to prove yourself, more of a chance to kod your true mulaag."

"Y-y-you c-can talk?" Dawnfire asked breathlessly. The words took some effort to force out of his mouth, his larynx closed tightly as though trying to quarantine the inside of his body, and they came as nervous pants and gulps. The dragon's eyes narrowed dangerously as it regarded the orange pony.

"Of course I can talk!" it spat angrily, it's guttural voice rattling the stallion's bones. "What do you think I am? Some mere beast? An animal with no conscious? No sense of being, or thought process? The dov are mighty, our race has powers you couldn't even dream of. We live centuries longer than any pony, and we have endured the harshest of conditions over the eons. What claim do you have to dominance? To flaunt your might? Such arrogance, so typical of the races of jul. Now, draw your weapon, and face me like a kendov."

Dawnfire gulped and whimpered slightly, making no move for his sword. If he attempted to draw his sword, the dragon would attack. He couldn't be seen to be acting aggressively. After several seconds of stillness, the dragon grunted angrily, and Dawnfire realised with dread that he had just agitated him more.

"Coward." Its words dripped with contempt. "You make no effort to defend yourself. No attempt to prevent the inevitable. Your race seems weaker than I thought. Even if you are incompetent, unable, lacking in strength and ability, you should make an effort to resist. You haven't, and this disappoints me. Even a beast will fight to survive against all odds, struggling with its last breath to cling onto life, but you are too weak even for that. I had hoped to find at least one worthy opponent amongst you, but I see I was mistaken in presuming that you would have a warrior's code. There will be no honour in killing you, but there will be no shame in wiping your pathetic race from existence either."

There was no other way out of  this. He was going to have to fight the monster, or stand here and be killed by it. With trembling hooves, Dawnfire reached behind himself and drew the blade from its sheath, standing upright and grasping the handle firmly between both forehooves. The dragon watched his efforts and seemed to grin.

"So you choose to die with some honour. Excellent. This will be a more fun kill."

Its mouth sprang open as the beast lurched forwards, a row of razor sharp teeth driving towards the earth pony. He struck out on instinct, bouncing off a couple of the teeth. The dragon turned its head and tried again, attacking while Dawnfire was off balance. The earth pony slashed lower, managing to catch some softer flesh just inside the dragon's mouth. The beast grunted and pulled back, eyeing the orange pony venomously, flicking his tongue around to assess the damage. With a snarl, it edged forwards, creeping gradually towards the bi-pedal earth pony. Dawnfire's breathing increased, his hooves sore from the intensity of gripping the sword.

The dragon flapped lazily to one side, keeping his eyes glued firmly on the pony before him. Dawnfire mirrored its motions, stepping tensely and unsteadily the other way, wobbling as he did so. The beast slinked forwards again, snapping sporadically at the air. Dawnfire swiped ahead of him, trying to keep the snapping maw away, but the dragon merely smirked, edging forward in spite of the flailing blade.

One of Dawnfire's slashes caught the dragon's nostril, and it grunted, baring its teeth as it turned its head slightly to the right out of instinct. Dawnfire brought the blade back, slicing across its upper gum. With small yelp, it drew back, turning to look at the earth pony with no small amount of surprise. Apparently, it didn't expect Dawnfire to be able to land a hit. With a snap, it made to launch forward again.

Instead, it let out a howling snort.

A group of pegasi flashed overhead, raking blades along the dragon's back whilst it had its attention fixed firmly on the orange earth pony. The fliers arched back overhead, splitting and zooming towards the dragon from different angles, the beast snarling angrily at the multiple attackers. One pegasus looked over at Dawnfire as he passed.

"Fly away, you idiot!" he shouted as he flew underneath the dragon, dragging a sword along the scales of its underbelly. The earth pony watched in amazement as the pegasi darted around, nimbly flapping out of the way of the snapping jaws and slashing claws even as they struck blow after ineffectual blow.

With a final roar, the dragon flared its wings out, batting away the flying attackers, and dove straight down, passing through the cloud as though it were smoke. Its tail swung round as did so, whacking a pegasus who was unlucky enough to be trailing it too closely, sending him sprawling onto the cloud. It also passed close enough to Dawnfire to knock him backwards, leaving him flailing his forehooves uselessly in a vain attempt to regain his balance, able to do nothing as he tipped backwards.

There was nothing behind him to break his fall.

He tumbled over the edge of the floating city.

The clouds above accelerated swiftly away from him, their silvery whiteness silhouetted brightly against the clear, dark night sky as they shrunk in size, the moon beaming down brilliant white light, as though acting as a model for the city to imitate. Then he rotated away from the luminescence of above and towards the black abyss of the ground. From here, he could only hear the whistling of the air rushing past him, feel it lashing wildly at his body as he plummeted deeper and deeper into the darkness. He had clutched instinctively at the sword, the only solid and tangible object left as he hurtled seamlessly in an unspecified direction, thrashing aimlessly about in a futile attempt to stop his uncontrollable fall.

No, not now! Not like this! Don't let me die like this!

His heart had either stopped completely or was thundering so fast and hard inside his chest that he could no longer feel it. Cold had permeated every organ and tissue of his body, both from the chilling effect of the night air and the iron clasp of fear. His stomach churned horribly.

THWACK

The impact was sudden and jolting, although not nearly as violent or painful as he would have imagined. Instead, he seemed to bounce, the surface of whatever he had hit flexing and absorbing his impact. It felt more like leather than soil and dirt. Before he had much time to register this, he was thrown sideways, skidding across a much rougher surface. Maybe this was rock? But, it felt like he was still moving; the air was passing by and tickling his face and mane, and he had to cling on whatever surface was beneath him to avoid slipping and sliding.

"Still alive, are you?" growled a deep voice somewhere ahead of him. "You are persistent and durable for a jul."

Dawnfire's throat tightened immeasurably as he realised that he'd landed on the dragon.

"You survived up there for much longer than I could have anticipated, but your luck has just run out. You will have no winged walkers to save you this time. No distraction to keep me from ending your pathetic life. You are in my domain now, ground walker."

The winged beast slanted to the left, arching round in a shallow turn and causing the orange pony to slide across its back. Scrambling to maintain his hold, the sword clattered against the tough scales, still held firmly by his right forehoof. Attempting to strengthen his hold, Dawnfire let the blade slip from his aching forehoof and pressed firmly against the scales, catching the sword in his mouth as it passed him by.  The dragon leveled out, relieving the strain on Dawnfire's limbs and allowing him to push himself into a squatting position. Clenching the sword firmly between his teeth, he swung it downwards at the dragon's back, furiously swiping in the hope that he would be able to strike something critical, the blade doing nothing but bouncing harmlessly off of the thick scales. A throaty laughed was carried back to him by the wind, although the reverberations along the its back would have conveyed everything he needed to know even if he hadn't heard.

"Such desperation, little one," it crooned maliciously. "Your weaponry cannot hurt me, for the dovah have long since gained natural armour against the feeble attacks of the feeble races. Iron?" It chuckled, a resonant, sonorous tone bubbling humourlessly from its maw. "Iron cannot penetrate the hide of a dov. Scales provide too much resistance."

It fanned its wings out, facing forwards, decelerating dramatically. Caught unprepared, Dawnfire was thrown forward harshly, smashing into the spines atop the dragon's head. He grunted as the air was knocked out of him, the momentum carrying him from the first one, flipping him into the second, and then cartwheeling him front-first into the third. He briefly thanked the fact that he had some form of armour on, as it had undoubtedly saved him from being sliced in half, or at least suffering a deep gash along his back and stomach. If he'd hit the spine higher up where it was much sharper, and hadn't bounced off at an oblique angle, he might have been missing most of his organs by now. Even so, he thought, grimacing from the stinging in his chest as he swung his forelegs desperately around the final spine, the impact would leave a bruise; the hide did little to protect from the collision, offering only a barrier against the coarseness of the dragon's exterior.

"This is the end for you," came the low, malevolent voice from below Dawnfire. "You've got nowhere to run. I'm sure you'll make a satisfying dinner, or at least an appetizing first course. Your flying friends will serve as an excellent main course, and for desert...there's always your mountainside castle."

Dawnfire's eyes shot open in shock. His parents, Mira, the entire town...NO! It couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it! Ignoring the throbbing ache in his chest, he heaved himself forward, drawing in long gasps around his sword, looking for spot to attack on the beast below. All he could see were scales, nothing which offered any vulnerability. Unless...

He took several deep breaths, each one soothing the tightness in his chest a little. Dragons may have tough hide, scales which acted as a natural armour against other creatures, and maybe iron couldn't penetrate it. However, that advantage only extended to the parts of a dragon that were actually covered in scales.

The earth pony dropped onto his stomach, wincing as pain lanced up his front from the abrupt landing. Hurriedly wrapping his hind hooves around one of the dragon's spines, he shimmied forwards to the edge of the dragon's head, maneuvering the sword with his tongue and mouth so that the point faced left. Heaving a final deep breath, Dawnfire twisted his head, pulled it back, and ferociously thrust the sword downwards.

Straight into the dragon's right eye.

Dawnfire was nearly deafened by the thunderous below of the dragon as it thrashed about, almost dislodging him from his place on its head. His legs were being strained, clinging desperately to the spine jutting from its head as he was tossed in every direction by the dragon's uncontrollable spasms, struggling to maintain a grip with both his legs and his mouth. Opening its maw wide, the dragon let out a sudden bout of fire, stinging Dawnfire's eyes and causing him to look away, shutting them tightly against the searing light and heat. The movement shifted the sword deeper into its eye, drawing even more flame and sharper, jerkier spasms. With a flick of its head, Dawnfire's legs were snatched away from the spine, leaving him hanging desperately to the sword. He wondered why he wasn't feeling much motion, given that he should be being tossed about. His heart skipped as he realised that the dragon was free falling down to the ground. The different forces were cancelling each other out, giving him a sense of weightlessness. If the dragon stopped spinning, and flinging its head about, or tumbling downwards...

Reaching upwards with a new found sense of urgency, Dawnfire tried to heave himself back on top of the beast. Swinging his hind legs to the right, he managed to gain some leverage on its snout, heaving down with the sword to gain momentum. Sinking up to the hilt, the blade of the sword finally dug into the dragon's brain. It gave a weak gurgle, barely able to keep itself airborne as it struggled against the pain and the lack of energy it had left. Dawnfire let go of the sword, flinging all of his limbs across the beast's face in a determined effort to stay in place. Glancing behind him, he saw what he thought to be the ground rising up quickly to meet them both. Gulping at the sight, he dug his hooves tighter into the dragon's face, hoping that the creature would live long enough to at least land. That didn't look likely; its head was drooping, and its wing beats were becoming increasingly weak and infrequent. The only reason that Dawnfire even knew that it was still alive was the low, guttural whimpering that it was giving sporadically.

With a final, strong flap that slowed their descent enough bring them parallel to the ground, the dragon gave a wet cough, and his clawed feet touched the plain. For the first few steps he managed to stagger, but then he faltered, tripping and falling forward. Hitting the ground, he rolled, his body bouncing slightly as the momentum carried him forwards. Dawnfire was jolted around, being sent flying from the dragon's face and landing on its stomach, narrowly missing being crushed as it span haphazardly. Thrown on the ground after another rotation, he felt the impact knock the wind out of him again, and let his eyes close, shutting off all sound and sight. The world ceased to exist for him.


*******************************************************


Sky Bolt scanned the ground astutely, her sharp eyes seeking out any shape that could resemble either a pony or a dragon. Circling down to a lower altitude, she listened against the stillness of the night for any immediate sounds. It had been quiet since that dragon had gone down, as if the hills and mountains themselves were holding their breaths. Right now, she really needed to find out if that dragon was well and truly gone, because if it wasn't, then it was still very much a threat, and it was her job to take care of threats. She shook her head in dissatisfaction as she still failed to sight any defined shapes, and, gathering that they wouldn't achieve anything up in the sky, descended steadily towards the ground, landing softly. Her partner landed beside her a few seconds later.

"We're not going to achieve anything up there," she stated, scanning the environment even as she spoke. "We need to spread out down here and look up close. It's the only way we'll find anything."

"Got it," a masculine voice intoned from behind her. "Find the dragon, make sure it's dead."

"Dead or incapacitated. As long as it poses no threat to Cloudsdale, it's not an issue."

"Right." The other voice paused. "Uh, Sky?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think it's actually dead?"

"It bellowed, spouted flame, spun wildly out of control, and crashed. That's sure how it looks to me."

"But do you really believe that it's dead?"

"That's what we're here to find out." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Let's hope so. I want you two to stay together and search south bearing east. I'll search south bearing west. If there's anything of interest, or you need help, shout. Understood?" The two figures behind her nodded. "Good. Get going. We want this solved as quickly as possible."

Her two companions turned and trotted away, leaving her to search her own designated zone. With a brief look around, which turned up nothing, she set off, walking along the plains in search of some indication that the threat had been neutralised. There was no wind and no noise to distract her, and she used this to her advantage, pricking her ears up to catch any hint of sound. Up in Cloudsdale, there was almost always wind, ranging from light and cooling to blustering blizzards, but down here there was nothing. She ignored its absence, instead focusing on the space around her, eyes flicking methodically across the landscape.

There could be anything down here.

The grass went unnoticed as it brushed softly against her hooves. She trotted onward, the blackness ceding no shapes or sight which could potentially help her, casting her gaze left and right, keeping her breaths as light as possible to avoid missing any sounds. There was still nothing. Visibility was immensely limited, and even with her focus and her eyes adjusting to the lack of light, seeing far enough ahead to even walk in a straight line was a challenge. She'd been down here before, all of the Cloudsdalian Militia had, but that was during the day, when there was life and light, and when you could see for miles, your view interrupted only by the mountains.

Sky stopped as her watchful gaze caught sight of a large shape off to the right. It was currently an dark amorphous blob, but she had no doubt that it would become something more meaningful once she closed the distance. Bending her legs, she sprung silently into the air, spreading her wings and giving them a single powerful thrust that sent her gliding stealthily towards her target. As she drew closer, she began to make out features; scales, a long tail, and claws. Bringing her wings up to halt herself, she floated down to the ground, landing beside the static figure and glancing a gleam. A closer inspection revealed it to be moonlight glinting off one of its vicious teeth, confirming what she had strongly suspected- this was, without a doubt, the dragon they were looking for, and it was most certainly dead, if the handle of the sticking out of the bloodied remains of its eye was anything to go by. Sky Bolt blanched, turning away from scene and covering her mouth with her forehoof. She'd been expecting something like this, but that didn't prepare her for it at all. Through the eye? She shuddered as she thought about it, refusing to turn and look at the torn and sliced remains of its most vulnerable organ, the blood having dried against the cold scales of its face. She wouldn't get that image out of her head for weeks.

She shook herself and refocused her mind on the current task. She'd located the dragon, and confirmed it to be dead. The threat was neutralised. The next thing she had to do was to find the pony who'd killed it, and if the description she'd received was to be believed, it was an earth pony. She didn't understand how that was possible, given that earth ponies had no way of reaching Cloudsdale or fighting a dragon, but she also didn't understand how somepony could manage to kill a dragon at all, so perhaps she wasn't in a position to ask these questions. Whatever the case, the sword was still embedded in the beast's eye- she gave another small shudder at this thought- so the pony must be somewhere close. She jumped into the air once more and hovered, looking around the fallen form of the dragon. Somewhere close, surely? She ascended slightly higher, scanning for a smaller shape this time. Maybe he was further out? Maybe-

There.

Sky spotted his body laying about thirty metres away, and rushed towards him. Landing with a thump, she hurried over to his side, kneeling down as she checked him over. An orange pony, eyes closed, brown mane, no wings. It really was an earth pony then, this mysterious saviour. She'd have to save her surprise for later though. He was wearing some hide armour with some iron studs embedded into the leather strips at the bottom, and a scabbard around his torso. The sword was missing from it, although she already knew where it was. She stood up raised her head up to the sky.

"I've found him! Over here!"

She turned back to the pony at her hooves. He was quite young, she thought. He couldn't be any older than herself. Kneeling down once more, she put her ear to his chest, relieved to her a faint but steady breath and a regular thumping from his heart. He was alive, against all the odds.

A thump heralded the arrival of a second pegasus, but she didn't look round. The other pegasus walked forwards, coming to a stop beside Sky Bolt. He looked down at the unconcious earth pony, an uncertain expression on his face.

"Is he okay?"

"He's unconscious, that's all."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"I hope so. I've heard some good things about earth pony endurance."

The statement drew the second pegasi's attention, and he gawked in surprise. "An earth pony? Did he actually take down the dragon?"

"Yes. It's over there." She pointed with a hoof, and the second pony followed, whistling when he saw the bulky shape. "Sword straight through the eye." She winced as the image flashed through her head once again.

"I have no idea how he did this, or why," the male pegasus uttered, both shocked and impressed. "But whatever his reasons or methods, that pony just saved Cloudsdale."


*******************************************************


"Did he actually take down the dragon?"

Fog. Confusion. Hurt.

What was going on?

"...that pony just saved Cloudsdale."

Cloudsdale. Saved...Cloudsdale. That was a city. A city under attack from a great beast. He had seen the attack, ran to help. He had found his way up to the floating city, fought off the evil creature. It was tough, incredibly tough. It had knocked him down. There was a fight, some falling, a blur which he couldn't make sense of. It had bellowed in pain, tried to shake him off, crashed. He was...laying on grass.

His physical senses started to come back to him, and he felt the muffled and distant voices become clearer, closer. The pain increased with it, making him grit his teeth. He tried to stretch his legs and body out, but found them heavy and phlegmatic. He was definitely laying on grass though, cool and an agonising relief against the pain in his body.

The voices were talking among themselves, just above him. A third voice, inquisitive, asked what sounded like a question, and the two figures above him turned to answer. A sound of soft and dull hoofsteps approached him rapidly, followed by thudding vibrations as the figure fell to their hocks.

"Dawnfire!"

The voice was painfully close, and he winced, but it also brought with it recognition. He was Dawnfire, an earth pony. He couldn't fly, and he had no way of walking on clouds. He couldn't have gotten up to Cloudsdale on his own. But he wasn't alone, was he? He had been travelling with somepony else, a mare. Who was it? Mira? No, that name was familiar, but it didn't sound right. Somepony else. Grace? That was right, Grace. Grace Bloom. A unicorn. She was the one who had helped them get up to Cloudsdale, who had taken refuge in the house before it had been burned...

Grace...

"...Grace?" he muttered, opening his eyes. His vision was blurry, offering little more than distorted, disjointed images and odd shapes. He tried to breathe, hissing at the sting it brought him. One of the blurry shapes moved closer, forming into something resembling a pony, the light hue registering in his brain. "Did...I kill it?"

"He's alive," a relieved voice sighed happily, and the form in front of him drew back slightly.

"Dragon," he sputtered, coughing as he tried to gasp out the words. "I think I...killed the dragon. Is Grace okay? Is she-" A shuddering coughing fit cut him off, and he sluggishly raised a foreleg to his mouth. The blurry figure knelt down by his side again, offering soft utterings of reassurance. The fit subsided, leaving a thumping ache in his head. Ignoring it, he shifted his body around, moving his legs into a position so he could push himself up. The movement made him dizzy and queasy.

"No, stop," the figure commanded. "You're in no position to move." A blue glow silhouetted the figure, amalgamating the colours into different shades of blue. A soft force probed at his body, running gently along his battered limbs. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished, the blackness rushing in again. "You've got concussion, sprained fetlocks, at least one fractured bone, and it's a miracle that you don't have even more serious injuries. You can't move."

"Yes I can," he gasped, coercing his muscles to respond to his efforts to push himself up. "I'm...capable...of movement." He cried out suddenly as he reached a kneeling position and pain lanced across his chest. The figure caught him before he toppled over, and righted him. Taking quick breaths through clenched teeth, he dragged a hoof forward. "Need my sword. There's still danger."

"There is no danger, Dawnfire," the figure assured him, holding onto him as he tried to move forwards. "You killed it, you don't need to worry anymore."

"Then help me...get my sword. I need to be sure. I want...to feel...like everything is...okay."

A deeper voice whistled in what sounded like appreciation. "That pony is tough. Beyond tough. I can't get up out of bed that quickly in the morning, and all I'm trying to recover from is sleep."

A feminine voice, lacking the bark of a firm authoritative tone, and awe struck itself. "Be respectful, Skimmer. He's barely concious."

"Exactly. How is he doing that?"

"Shouldn't you be asking what we can do to help him?"

"Oh, yeah." The voice gave an apologetic cough and called out to the figure supporting Dawnfire. "Can we help him in any way?"

"If you could hold him up from the other side, that would be very helpful," came the response. A few seconds later, Dawnfire felt the two other figures approach him and offer their mass as support, taking the effort from his legs. He was thankful for the help, grunting out a sound that he hoped resembled 'thank you'. He tried to shake the fuzziness from his head, but his head felt heavy and the movement merely made his ears ring. He choose to stop, letting his head slump forwards. A blue radiance emanated suddenly from the first figure.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to clear some of his concussion. He can't see, hear, or think straight, and that doesn't help us at all."

Dawnfire was about to ask what was going on when a cool, airy lightness swept across him like a pleasant summer's breeze. The fog that had been clogging his thoughts and clouding his mind was gradually pushed aside, his senses sharpening and refocusing. The pain across his body started to increase and he let out a groan as the pressure on his weakened legs became too much, leaving him to collapse against the figures supporting him.

"It's okay, we've got you."

That voice.

Dawnfire looked up at the face of the figure supporting him, the one who had emitted the light. A brown mane and a kindly, concerned look greeted him, and he was torn between collapsing in relief and hitting himself upside the head for not realising sooner. The blue light, the voice, the familiarity with his name. He blamed the obfuscation of his mind for not recognizing her earlier.

"Grace," he sighed happily, a smile breaking onto his face. "You're alive."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow at his statement. "Given what you've just done, I think we should reserve the bewilderment for you."

"Right, okay," he agreed, wincing as he put some weight back onto his limbs. "How-" A pained grunt. "-did you you make it?"

"I managed to back into the house and threw myself into the kitchen before the dragon burned the house. A quick freezing spell kept the worst of it away from me, as well as the saddlebags. When I crawled out of there, I heard fighting coming from the edge of the city, but by the time I got there, you were gone and some pegasi were looking down towards the ground. I asked what they were looking at, and they explained that an orange pony had been knocked off the side of the city by the dragon, and then there was a gout of flame and a roaring, echoing bellow, and then...well, you know the rest. I spent some time explaining who we were and what we were doing, and after a while I managed to convince these two to come down and search for you." She nodded to his other side, and he turned obediently.

The first face he saw was that of a stallion, immediately beside him, who gave him a friendly smile. His verdant eyes shone brightly with a childlike mixture of curiosity, awe, and caution, seeming to capture the shine of the stars above and the hue of the grass below into two vibrant spheres. His orange mane was swept back over his head, leaving his eyes free from distraction and accentuating his solid blue coat.

"Hey," the stallion offered in a cheerful but slightly reserved voice. "The name's Cloud Skimmer. Amazing work you did with that dragon."

"Just did what needed to be done," Dawnfire grimaced back, taking in a ragged breath. "Thanks for finding me." Cloud Skimmer chuckled briefly.

"It wasn't anything, really. Besides, if you want to thank anypony, you should thank your friend over here, and Sky Bolt. I just sort of towed along." Dawnfire turned his head the other way, straining his neck back as he remembered that there was in fact have a third pony that he hadn't paid any attention to up util this point, something which he should probably amend immediately considering that she was helping to hold him up. Finally managing to look far enough behind him, he caught a glimpse of the final pony.

It was a mare, her pale, straw coloured mane shaped into a formal and neat cropping, allowing her a short fringe against her beige coat. He had to look down slightly to see her, and found her dark brown eyes gazing up at him cautiously. In stark contrast to Cloud Skimmer and his chirpy, outward attitude, her demeanour was more guarded and formal. After he turned to look at her, she gave him a succinct nod.

"My name is Sky Bolt." Her tone was firm, her speech clipped and concise. He could tell she was a mare who took things seriously, not necessarily rude, but not somepony who you didn't treat with a certain level of respect and sincerity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dawnfire replied, shifting his gaze back to Grace. "About my sword-"

"No," she cut him off disapprovingly, instantly figuring out where he was going. "You're too injured to get over there on your own, and I won't help you move unnecessarily for the sake of a cheap iron sword. If you have an internal injury that I didn't pick up, the move could kill you."

"We're going to have to move in order to get back to Canterlot," Dawnfire pointed out. "We're going to have get going at some point, and it doesn't matter which direction we go if I have some internal injury that will kill me if stretch too far." Grace paused as she considered his point, her mouth staying open slightly as she started to form a counter argument. "I've just taken down a dragon, and I'm not giving up because I have a few bruises."

"You've got much worse than bruising! It's a miracle you can even stand!"

"He has a point," Cloud Skimmer spoke up suggestively from Dawnfire's right. Grace looked over at him as he spoke. "If he killed a dragon and survived the fall, he can probably handle walking a few metres to get his sword back."

"Please, Grace," the orange stallion begged her. "It's for my own peace of mind as much as anything else." The mare looked down at him, keeping silent as she considered his request with a pensive look on her face. Finally, she relented.

"Fine. You get the sword, then we get you straight to Canterlot, understand?" The orange stallion nodded readily, and she looked over to the two pegasi almost apologetically. "Are you okay to guide him over to the dragon?"

"Sure, it shouldn't be an issue," Cloud Skimmer replied readily. Giving a nod and a final disapproving look at Dawnfire, Grace motioned for them to start forwards. They began a careful pace, half leading and half supporting the injured stallion as he tenderly lifted one hoof after the other, wincing and gasping with each tentative step. Grace moved her head a little under his neck, trying to keep him from stumbling forwards onto the ground. Gritting his teeth with effort, he forced himself onward, the arduous movement straining his already battered muscles. He was getting closer though, and he held on to that thought. He had started thirty or so metres away, and now he was finding his way closer to it. Twenty metres, then ten metres. His body started to cry, and then scream, in protest, but he pushed the sensations away, trying to detach his will from the pain pounding at his muscles and bones. Less than ten metres. Five, then three, then reaching distance. He let out a groan and leaned quickly against the rough scales of the dragon's snout, letting some of the weight off his abused legs. Taking a few moments to calm his breathing, he looked up, eyes rapidly seeking out the hilt of his sword jutting proudly out of the beast's right eye. Thankfully, the dragon had come to rest on its stomach with its head drooping down, giving him an easier reach up to it. With a repressed grunt, he heaved himself back onto his hooves and staggered forward a little more, stopping next to the beast's lacerated eye in which his sword was embedded. Grasping it between his teeth, and ignoring the pang of pain this sent through his jaw, he tugged it sideways, the blade coming free with a sickly sucking sound. He did his best to ignore it and turned back to his companions.

"Now that you've got your sword, can you please let us take you somewhere where you can be treated?" Grace asked him pointedly. He gave a slow, exaggerated nod. "Good. I doubt that this could have done any good to your injuries nor helped you in any way. I think you-" She stopped suddenly, staring in Dawnfire with her mouth hanging half open. He looked across to the two pegasi only to find them looking at him in the same way, either shocked or awestruck, he couldn't tell. All three of them started to back away slowly, keeping their gazes fixed firmly on Dawnfire- no, they were looking behind him, where they dragon lay. He turned around in confusion, belatedly noticing a rustling sound not unlike the noise of flames starting to catch.

"Dawnfire, get back," Grace called anxiously from a little way behind him. He tried to comply, back-stepping as much as his legs would let him, his sword clasped firmly in his mouth and his gaze locked disbelievingly on the dragon's corpse.

It had started to smolder, spouting glowing orange spots as though reacting to an internal fire. Flakes of skin or scale were drifting upwards like paper caught in an updraft, spiraling skywards like smoke before vanishing as though they had dissolved into the air itself. The glowing spots started shedding skin, large dark layers floating upwards and engulfing themselves in a quick bout of flame, like ash from a fire. The orange glow spread from the patches of shed skin, colouring the beast a bright orange. Suddenly, the hide seemed to combust, the flame spreading quickly to cover the entire dragon and the gentle rustle increasing in volume to a veritable roar. Dawnfire could see the flesh burning away under the intensity of the fire, although it only produced a gentle warmth and didn't seem to be igniting the grass or burning the ground.

An abrupt wind caught him unexpectedly, whistling shrilly past him. He gasped as eldritch light swirled around him, the translucent rays seeming to carry over to him from the flaming corpse of the dragon, which at this point had burned away to its skeleton. The flames diminished, leaving the bones glowing a bright white, still emitting the flow of misty light that was seething around Dawnfire. The stallion felt it pass through his body, simultaneously warming and cooling him, although he felt nothing physical from the mysterious energy itself. His eyes shot open even wider as he felt his fractured rib click, the discomfort taken away immediately, his head clear entirely, and his fetlocks soothe themselves. His muscles relaxed, warmth spreading through them, and his body settled. The flow of energy from the dragon bones stopped, the swirling remnants whirling around him as though he were saturated and it were struggling to find room to fit in. Slowly, all of it disappeared somewhere into his body, and everything fell silent.  The skeleton's bright white luminescence faded until it was dull, the bones cold and motionless, as lifeless as the mighty beast which they had once given strength and structure to.

Dawnfire swallowed, turning around slowly to look at his companions. They were staring at him in shock, none of them uttering a word or making a sound as he looked to each of them in turn. He raised a shaking forehoof to his mouth and took ahold of his sword, bringing it in front of his eyes to take a look at it. The blade was clean. It had no blood or gore on it, no remnants of the eye which it had cut into. Breathing quicker than he would have liked, he sheathed the blade, realising as he did so that he could turn without any difficulty. In fact, he didn't feel any pain at all. He lifted and lowered each leg in turn, finding them all to be perfectly comfortable and with a full range of movement. Taking deep breaths to try and calm his breathing, he looked up again, finding that the others hadn't moved.

He needed answers. A lot of them.


*******************************************************


The flight, although awkward and rather surreal, was speedy and allowed them to arrive by the city gates much more quickly than they could have traveled by hoof. Flying up the mountain alone shaved at least half an hour off of their journey, and getting into the city itself took very little time once the guards realised who they were. Galloping past the Hopesmeade refugee area, they sped through the city streets towards the castle, bounding up the steps and hurling the doors open. Dawnfire gave the corridor a quick look over, spotting a lone guard walking across at the other end. He turned to look as the four ponies hurried towards him.

"Do you know where Princess Celestia is?" the orange stallion asked hurriedly. The guard raised an eyebrow at him and looked over to the other three ponies, all of them panting slightly. Apparently deciding they had reason enough to be in the castle, he nodded and pointed a hoof down the corridor to the left, where he had just came from.

"In the meeting room with Captain Hammerfell. I wouldn't disturb them if I were you."

"Thanks," Dawnfire replied, immediately galloping in that direction. The other three took off after him, following his twists and turns until they finally reached a door where the earth pony stopped. Grace pulled up beside him, panting, followed by the two pegasi, who looked less out of breath than the unicorn.

"Dawnfire, please stop running," Grace said breathlessly. "Your injuries are still-"

"My injuries have healed," the stallion interrupted. "Thank you for your concern, but there's nothing wrong with me anymore. Besides, this takes precedence I think."

"You can't tell me that you've healed completely from what you suffered in a few seconds."

"That's what we're here to ask her about." He pushed open the door and walked into the room, leaving Grace and the two pegasi standing in the hallway. She looked at them, receiving a non-committal shrug from Cloud Skimmer.

"Stupid, stubborn stallion," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she stepped through the doors.

There had been two occupants in the room before Dawnfire's entry, and both had looked up from a large map sprawled across the table when the doors opened. The large, white alicorn looked surprised to see them, while Captain Hammerfell maintained a stony expression upon seeing the newcomers. His helmet lay on the map, leaving his steely features on display to the room, his red mane swept back and his sharp eyes following the ponies at the door suspiciously.

"Dawnfire, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon," Celestia commented. "Is everything okay?" She looked up at Grace, and across to the two pegasi. Noting the look on their faces, she turned back to Dawnfire. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

The earth pony told her everything; the attack on Cloudsdale, how Grace had allowed them to reach the city, his fight with the dragon, waking up and taking his sword back, the spontaneous combustion of the dragon's corpse, how he'd been healed by it, and their flight to Canterlot. The unicorn and pegasi embellished his story, filling in the details he had missed or what other information they had from their perspective. Throughout it all, the princess had listened intently, turning to each pony as they spoke, clearly not missing a word they said. Hammerfell remained stoically by the table, his eyes flicking to each of the ponies, but otherwise not moving. After everypony had finished, Celestia remained silent for a moment.

"Thank you all, you have done Equestria a great service, and it shall not be forgotten," the great white mare spoke at last. "This dire event brings to light a serious issue, however, and I hope you can forgive me for delaying your appropriate rewards."

"Princess, do you have any idea what happened to me?" Dawnfire asked. Celestia looked at him with a hint of curiosity, and a pensive expression played across her face.

"I have a theory, but I may well be wrong." She looked around, then, spotting what she was looking for, hovered over a quill and a slip of paper. Scribbling a quick note, she put the quill aside and looked at Dawnfire. Taking a quick breath, she closed her eyes, the paper vapourising into a swirl of smoke. She waited, looking expectantly at Dawnfire. Seconds passed, everypony in the room remaining silent, wondering what was going to happen.

Nothing.

After a minute had gone by, she nodded. "I apologise for not giving you any explanation there. I was wondering if you would be able to make the note reappear."

The stallion' mouth twitched in confusion and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I was supposed to do anything."

"You wouldn't have. If my theory had been correct, you would have made the paper reappear without consciously trying to."

"Could that work?" Grace asked, quickly inspecting Dawnfire. "I didn't realise that earth ponies had any magic ability."

"Earth ponies don't have magic ability," Celestia replied, "but my theory didn't necessarily require an earth pony. It could apply to any race of pony, including Dawnfire here."

"But how-" Dawnfire began before being cut off by a sudden warm expansion in his stomach. He raised a forehoof to his mouth and dropped his head, fearing he might be sick, feeling the warmth rising into his throat. Oh no, not here, not now. The last thing he needed was to vomit in front of Princess Celestia, and for no discernible reason. He tried holding it in, forcing the sensation back down, but it persisted, pushing its way upwards until it had reached his mouth. Eyes bulging, he felt the pressure build, forcing his mouth open and-

He belched smoke. The smoke solidified into a slip of paper, which was immediately ensconced in a golden glow and lifted up. Dawnfire turned to look at the other ponies in the room, noticing their disgusted looks. Grace was shaking her head at him in disapproval.

"I assure you all, Dawnfire was not being rude." They all turned to face Celestia, who was holding the note in her magic, smiling slightly. "He actually fulfilled my test, and I expected it to turn out this way, although much sooner than this. He did manage to make my note reappear, and I am now certain that I can explain your experience with the dragon." She turned her attention to the two pegasi and Grace. "You told me that you saw an energy flow from the dragon into Dawnfire?" The three ponies nodded their confirmation, and she refocused her kindly gaze on the orange earth pony. "You told me that the dragon combusted, that it burned away down to its skeleton, and that nothing was left but bone, and that you felt healed by the experience?"

"Yes," he agreed. "There was nothing else left." No blood on my sword. The princess nodded as though expecting this answer.

"When you slew the dragon and stood close to its body, you absorbed its soul, Dawnfire." A thick silence fell across the room. Dawnfire's eyes widened in surprise, and his mouth worked uselessly as he tried to find words. At last, he managed to break the silence.

"But...how? And why?"

"I didn't know if it were true until you managed to make the note reappear, but now I am certain. This is a clear sign of dragon magic, an ability that was awakened in you after you absorbed the dragon soul and ingested its knowledge. I believe that you are the Dragonborn."

"What's a Dragonborn?" came Cloud Skimmer's voice from behind Dawnfire. Celestia looked over the overwhelmed orange stallion to make her reply.

"They are rare and powerful beings, and it seems that Dawnfire is the Dragonborn of this era. There hasn't been one for thousands of years, and they'll likely not be one for thousands of years after him. Born with the body of a mortal and the soul of a dragon, they have the innate abilities of dragonkind. Nopony know their true purpose, although it has been said that they usually appear in times of great peril. I think that the last recorded Dragonborn was Galmar Stone-Claw, who unified the Griffons into a cohesive force, and it was because of him the the Griffon Kingdom exists today."

"And if we have a Dragonborn now, it means we're in a dire situation," Hammerfell grunted from across the table. His gravelly voice drew Dawnfire's attention, and he turned to look at the unicorn, who was fixing Dawnfire with an iron gaze. "He's not just a Dragonborn, he's THE Dragonborn, the one destined to pull us through this situation. He's meant to be able to take control of dragons, strike fear into the hearts of armies by shouting at them, and to turn the tide of battle just by showing up." His jaw tightened. "Up until he came to me, he hadn't even handled a sword. If he really is the Dragonborn, we really are in a dire situation."

"He's already taken down a dragon," Cloud Skimmer spoke up. Hammerfell flicked his eyes over to the pegasus, and Dawnfire looked around to face him. "He's saved Cloudsdale, absorbed a dragon's soul, and healed miraculously," the blue stallion continued, looking to Dawnfire and offering an encouraging smile. "I believe he can pull us through whatever's going on."

Dawnfire weakly returned Cloud's smile, trying to take the positivity from his support. I'm glad you believe in me, he thought to himself, groaning internally, because I have no idea what to do.

His quest had just become a lot harder.