//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Awakening // Story: Beautiful Scales // by Obsidian Ink //------------------------------// Rarity pushed away from the green dragon with her forelegs, and then scrambled backwards across the cave till the curve of the cave wall came up and forced her to stop. The male stared at her in surprised as she hyperventilated. “Who are you? Where am I? What's going on!?” she babbled. “My lady, please! Calm yourself, you are safe. I am not your enemy.” the other dragon said, palm held up in a gesture of peace. “Not my...” She said, then blinked, then looked down at herself. Pale blue belly scales framed by digitigrade legs ending in scaly paws covered in white scales dominated her view. And she saw very plainly that her barrel got considerably wider and rounder down by the abdomen. She started giggling. “I'm dreaming... I have to be... there's no way I got this fat in one day... oh, and I’m a dragon... again... this dream doesn’t seem to want to end. Ha ha!” she babbled to herself. The male dragon raised one eyeridge. Rarity looked up and saw his perplexed expression and waved at him, giggling hysterically. “Oh, it's nothing, I just had this silly dream where I woke up stuck in a very small place, and had to push to break free, only I’d suddenly turned into a giant dragon and the thing I broke out of was my house, and then a friend of mine attacked me and I fell over, and now I’m suddenly here with you, and still a dragon. Ha ha! Oh, I’m sure I’ll wake up in a bit.” The green dragon cocked his head. She forced herself to stop giggling, and leaned forward, then came down on all fours... that at least felt natural to her, she looked herself over again. “Still fat... oh well. Anyway, it was very nice to meet you sir, but I really must be going. I have to ride this dream out, wake up and get back to reality.” she said, walking towards the mouth of the cave. The green dragon frowned. Then, as she came past, he reached out and grabbed her right foreleg without a word. Rarity stopped, and turned her head, looking him in the eye -Goodness that felt strange, looking a full grown dragon in the eye- and blinked at him. “I am sorry, sir, but I really must be going, now, as you're just part of a silly dream, I command you to release me.” “A dream, my lady? Then what is this?” he asked, then lifted a claw and dragged it across her foreleg. Rarity let out a draconic roar of shock and pain as she leapt aside, cradling her injured arm against her chest with the other, and stared down at it as a thin line of blood welled up from the superficial, but fiercely stinging injury. She looked up at him with horror dawning across her face. “That, my lady, was pain. Something one does not experience in dreams.” She looked back down at the cut, then blinked. The cut itself was sealing itself up. After a few seconds, she wiped away the lingering streak of blood, to reveal flawless white scaled hide. She boggled. “How did... what?” she said confused, looking back at him. “The effect of the potion I gave you, before you woke. It's likely still working within you.” “You gave me a potion?” She said, looking back at her foreleg, turning it this way and that. “You had a nasty crack on the head, my lady. If I hadn't, you'd not be awake now, and I doubt you'd have ever woken again.” “What? This.. this is... I...” Rarity tried to think, but was cut off as something hit her. In the past Rarity had, occasionally, stated that she was ravenous. She had said this to her parents, to her friends, to her business associates, typically after engaging in some demanding work, or saving the day with the other bearers. She'd never understood how utterly insignificant those bouts of hunger had truly been in relation to the use of that word. This was a primal, all encompassing need to feed. It robbed her of all reason, replacing it with the need to fill the empty void within her before she started gnawing on her own limbs. A loud growl came from her stomach, loud enough that even the male looked alarmed at her middle before she leapt at him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “I NEED FOOD!” * * * * * Spike awoke that morning to the sensations of a sore throat, puffy eyes, the feel of a warm furry body pressed against his back, and warm feathers draped over him. He opened his eyes, and everything was blurred, but a warm purple enveloped him. He blinked twice, to clear his vision, and he saw that he was laying in twilight's bed, curled up with his caretaker, sunlight just barely starting to brighten the room. That was when everythign came flooding back. Yelling at Twilight, at Discord, at Celestia, at every pony, breaking down in a fit of hysterics, smothered in a pile of pony hugs until he'd fallen asleep. He sniffled again, as the emotions surged over him once more. And then Twilight woke, she pulled him tight against her, and whispered words of comfort to him as he wept. * * * * * Twilight Sparkle, alicorn princess of Equestria, descended the steps from her room as quietly as she could, a near invisible spell around her hooves muffling the sound of them contacting a hard wood surface as she went. Her friends had camped out in the library the previous evening. All to the good, since Spike had gone inconsolable for hours after they'd come back, empty-hooved. Princess Celestia, having seen that things were as secure as she could make them for the time being, had teleported back to Canterlot to inform her sister of what was happening. The smell of cooking wafted out of the kitchen. A quick glance around showed that both Applejack's and Pinkie Pie's cots were empty. She supposed she should bring Spike some breakfast, or something. But he'd just fallen back to sleep. And she was starving. Sighing at how useless she felt, she plodded into her kitchen. * * * * * The dragon was practical. He hunted monsters and animals in the Everfree to keep the populations manageable and to keep himself fed, and dug in the soil near the border to Equestria proper to keep his sleeping hoard continually growing, as was what any smart dragon was supposed to. Hunting in the Everfree, while practical for keeping the area maintained, did not fill his belly particularly well. Monster meat was typically not very digestible, even to a dragon's stomach, and the tastier species of meat producing animals that lived outside the forest had all spontaneously grown brains. And who wanted to eat the flesh of something that could have been discussing the meaning of life with you? Dragons were predators, not monsters. The Everfree forest was excellent for keeping one well supplied with Fruits, gemstones and ore, but not so good for keeping one stocked with meat, so he often traded what he had with dragons from other realms to keep himself fed. Last night, as the female had nearly gone mad from hunger. The iron kettle, as wide around as his own hip and coming up nearly to his breastbone, had been filled to the brim with hematite and venison stew.. The white and purple dragoness had eaten every last drop, and then had gone on to raid his pantry of half his stores for the coming winter. By the time she'd finally been sated her middle bulged out tremendously, and she had then fallen into a stupor before passing out. He had watched, amazed, but also amused. He had a vague memory of the time he had done quite the same, when first he had achieved his maturity some centuries ago. Dawn arrived, and amazingly the dragoness' stomach had nearly regained it's original shape when the first rays of light entered the mouth of his cave, and began their journey across the central cavern. A beam fell upon her closed eye, and she began to fidget. * * * * * Rarity grumbled, shifting as she came to wakefulness because of a bright light. Where was her sleeping mask? If Opal had tugged it loose again... She brought her foreleg to her face to search, and felt a clawed, scaly paw in place of her hoof. Not to mention the sensations from both her appendage and her face were telling her things were not normal. Her heart sinking, she pulled the paw away from her face and opened her eyes. The glare of the sun framing it, she looked at the dragon's paw, then, carefully, experimentally, began to flex it. It was so strange, having a paw that could move individual digits where all her life she'd only had a hoof. The third time now she'd woken like this. This erased all doubt from her mind. “Properly awake now?” a familiar voice spoke in deep, resonant tones. Rarity raised her head on her now much longer and more flexible neck and looked over at the speaker. The same green dragon from earlier. “Ah...” she blinked, then blushing, attempted to nip a bit of scaly skin on her foreleg, wincing at the tiny bit of pain, she pulled back and spat out a flake of scale. “Yes, quite awake this time, thank you.” He flashed a grin at her. “That’s good, because I'm quite out of healing potion.” Rarity slowly pushed herself to all fours, then, feeling the kinks in her bones, stretched... then finding the normal way she'd have stretched as a pony seemed inadequate, stretched further, and further, like a cat, till her joints all popped and loosened. “Ah... that's better.” she said, then sat down on her haunches and looked at the male across from her. For a long moment, nothing was said. “So,” the green male finally spoke. “Introductions are in order I suppose. My name is Vaeron Thorntail, good lady.” he said, giving a gracious bow from where he sat on his haunches. “Oh! Well, good to meet you, mister Thorntail.” Rarity said, noting the tip of the green dragon's very spiky tail. “My name is Rarity.” “Rarity... Rarity...” he said, testing the name on his tongue. “A very refined name, I like it. Good to meet you, my lady. Very good indeed. I am sorry it has taken this long to find your own kind. No female should suffer being an orphan.” “Orphan?” Rarity said, blinking in confusion. “Why would you think I'm an orphan?” “Well, no wings, for one. I can't imagine any good mother dragon not ensuring that her child gets its wings.” he said, and Rarity glanced at the wings furled on Vaeron's back, then glanced at her own back (momentarily thinking how odd it was having a neck this long and flexible to be able to do that so easily) and the flat expanse of scaled hide back there, broken by her own purple spines, but no wings. “Is that all?” she asked, wondering at how that had been so easy to peg a dragon as 'orphaned', and what that meant for Spike. “That and the fact that I found you freshly grown in a pony village, of all places. Can't imagine what you were doing there.” he said. “Oh, that's simple good sir. I live there.” she explained. Vaeron snorted in surprise. “I do!” Rarity said sharply. Vaeron blinked at her. “One moment...” he said, then turned and padded into a side chamber of the cavern. Curious, Rarity rose to all fours and followed him... finding it strange how her new legs moved, but adapting quickly, much like when she'd gained wings through Twilight's spell so long ago. The chamber she wandered in to was, for lack of a better word, private library. The tomes were normal sized... to her eyes. A moment later she realized this meant they were actually enormous. Bindings as thick as a pony was tall, or more! The male dragon was looking at an open book, reading intently. “What are you reading?” She asked, padding closer. “Trying to see if that potion had any side effects.” he answered. “Side effects?” she asked, anxiety creeping into her voice. “What... what kind of side effects?” “Hallucinations, temporary insanity, that kind of thing.” he replied. Rarity jerked back slightly, her mouth falling open and trying to work out a response, but her mind had just gone into shock. “Ha... hallucinations?” “Indeed.” “You gave me a potion that causes hallucinations!?” she exclaimed, anger and a growl saturating her voice. “Not according to this book.” he said, causing her face to fall back into a confused expression. “And I trust the dragon who gave it to me implicitly, so I’m going to have to assume that, healed or not, your brains were rattled by your injury.” “My... Dear sir, I am not addled, I assure you.” Rarity said. “I'd argue otherwise.” he said, slapping the book shut between both his paws. “On what grounds?” Rarity asked. “My lady,” he said, turning around and fixing her with a stare. “Dragons and Ponies do not live together.” * * * * * Spike sat at the table in the library's tiny kitchen, leaning over and resting his head on one arm and idly moving his spoon through the bowl of mixed small gemstones and milk that sat before him. “Please Spike.” Fluttershy pleaded. “You should eat something.” “I'm not hungry...” came the flat reply. “Oh.... uhm...” Fluttershy mumbled. “Hey now!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing into the room. “Breakfast's the most important meal of the day! We all need to be in top shape today, you included. So eat something, ok?” Spike mumbled incoherently, but he obeyed and picked up a spoonful of wet gemstones and shoved them into his mouth, where he began to chew unenthusiastically. Out in the library's lobby, Twilight was circling the room, burning off nervous energy. “How much longer till my brother and Cadence arrive?” she asked. “Noon, like princess Celestia said.” Applejack confirmed. “And how long till then?” she demanded. “About ten minutes sooner than the last time ya asked me, which was... nine thirty or so. A couple hours.” she replied. Twilight groaned in frustration and went back to pacing. The door to the library opened and two pegasus guardsponies stepped in, then stepped to either side of the door as Celestia stepped into the library. “Apologies Twilight, my little ponies. My sister was upset at me and I needed to explain the situation to her before teleporting back from Canterlot.” “Is she coming?” Twilight asked. “She would have, were she not near dead on her hooves after being up all night worrying. I really should have left word.” Celestia sighed and shook her head. “We rushed so fast to get here.” Twilight snorted, tossing her head. “And we stopped that as soon as we arrived.” Celestia sighed. “Twilight, I'm sorry, but you know we can't simply charge into the Everfree..” “I know, I know... but what about just talking? We can handle that, surely?” Twilight pleaded. Celestia shook her head. “These two have extra reason to be defensive, the female was injured, and the other snatched it away from us in a bold attack on our soil. If the potion it had your zebra friend make is what I think it is, the female is now back to full strength, and has reason to fear us. That's two dragons, both on the defensive. We cannot rush into this half prepared, not with Ponyville so close.” * * * * * “You're kidding me.” Vaeron said flatly. “I am most certainly not.” Rarity said, her forelegs crossed and her paws resting on the inside of either elbow. “A dragon living in that pony village for four years.” he said, not convinced. “That is what I said.” “And that dragon was not you?” “Of course not, his name is Spike.” “Can you describe him?” he asked, challenging. Rarity sighed in exasperation, but answered. “Well, he's barely tall enough to have his shoulders crest the top of one of your... uh... claws, I guess, when it's flat on the ground, and that's him standing on his hind legs. He's purple with a pale green belly with darker green rounded spines on the back of his head and all the way down his back to the tip of his tail which ends in a spade. He has green eyes, and he breathes green fire.” Vaeron's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Green fire!?” Rarity nearly jumped at his exclamation. “The whelp that ate his own weight out of my hoard lives in that town!? GRAAH!” he roared, accompanying it with a gout of flame he aimed at the ceiling. “Wait, what?” Rarity “Gah! I should've known something was up! I heard another voice, and I SMELLED a unicorn! And then there was that blasted owl!” He snarled, reaching up and rubbing at a spot on his forehead where the scales were marred by a small round scar. “Owlicious?” Rarity asked, blinking. The green's head snapped in her direction. “You know that little monster?” “He's Twilight's pet, of course I know him.” “Twilight?” “She's the Uni-I mean, Alicorn that Spike lives with, Owlicious is her pet, but...” “You know all of them!?” he exclaimed, eyes widening. “Well I did tell you I live in Ponyville. Maybe now you'll believe me.” He snorted, deflating. “Well... if I did miss one dragon whelp, I suppose I could have missed two.” “Oh, but I wasn't.” Rearity assured him. “Excuse me?” he asked. “Hmm?” “What do you mean, you weren't?” he asked, perplexed. “Oh, that's simple, I was a Unicorn.” He stared at her for ten seconds straight. “What?” “Well, I suppose it is a bit much to swallow, given how I look and all I have is my word on the matter, but I promise you I was a unicorn yesterday morning... or was it the day before?” Rarity said, rubbing the bottom of her chin in thought with the back of a scaly knuckle. The big male snorted. “Ok, now I'm sure your brains are addled.” Rarity gave a dismissive “Humph!” and started padding towards the tunnel that had daylight spilling into the cave. “Well! The nerve!” The dragon's eyes shot open and he galloped over to block her path. “Where are you going?” “Home, I certainly don't need to stay here to get treated this way for speaking the truth.” “The truth?” The dragon said, tilting his head. “My lady, what you say is impossible. I know of no magic that can change one species into another anywhere on this world. I see a dragoness before me, a lovely, vulnerable dragoness who nearly died not a full day ago. I will not let you throw your life away on an impossible thought.” Rarity's expression softened. “My good sir... I thank you, deeply, for the concern. It's quite chivalrous of you honestly, not something one would expect from a dragon, but, I suppose if my young Spikey Wikey is anything to go by, there are good dragons in the world too.” The dragon snorted. “My lady, honor is very important amongst our kind, I assure you.” Rarity smiled. “That's wonderful to hear. But I hope you'll keep that in mind should your path cross with Spike's again someday.” He snorted. “I was protecting my territory against an invader, that was perfectly within honor's bounds.” “You were threatening a child, sir. Honor and territory have nothing to do with it!” “Well, what would you have done?” he asked. “If I found a lonely child sneaking a snack from my pantry? I'd ask him where his family was and escort him home, if possible.” Vaeron gazed at her with those imposing orange eyes for a long moment, rolling this in his mind. Eventually, he gave a faint smile. “You are aptly named, my lady. You have something I've not seen in many of our kind.” “What might that be?” she asked. “A generous soul.” Rarity smiled knowingly at him. “Why thank you Sir Vaeron.” Vaeron returned it with a grin. But then his face sank. “But still, I can't quite believe you when you say you were a pony not two days ago. It defies everything I know.” Rarity sighed. “Mister Thorntail, I have seen the return of a mad demigoddess, and seen her turned back to good. I have seen a race of insects that devour love, and I have seen, defeated, and then watched the avatar of chaos itself be reformed into -if not a model citizen- one who wishes to better himself. And inbetween that I have seen all sorts of magical 'impossibilities' with my own eyes. I do admit that this,” she gestured to her own body with a forepaw. “Is a bit more unusual than normal, but with the way my life has gone in the past few years, this isn't nearly as shocking to me as it should be.” Vaeron looked into her eyes for a long moment, and Rarity looked back with a stern expression. “If I insist that you stay here?” he asked. “Well then, I may be a lady, and normally averse to fighting, but I will return to my home, good sir, and I will engage you if need be.” With that, Vaeron seemed to deflate somewhat. “I thought so. You dragonesses are all alike, even the ones who think they're ponies.” Rarity tilted her head. “Beg pardon?” Vaeron turned and took a few steps out of the cave and into the morning light. “Independant, strong willed, and liable to do whatever they want, regardless of what we males say.” he sighed. “Besides, if I fought you, I might hurt you by accident, and then I'd never be able to live with myself.” Rarity cocked her head quizzically. “So... what are you going to do?” Vaeron sighed. “What else can I do? I'm not about to let a dragoness go back into danger, alone. Even if she might be crazy.” he said, which earned him a sour look from the white dragoness, but he simply looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on.” He said, then turned his head again and began moving east through the forest. Towards Ponyville. Rarity blinked, then smiled, then trotted forward, quickly getting used to the new form. “Mister Thorntail! Do wait up!” * * * * * The door to the library burst open and one of the guard came galloping in and screeching to a halt that shaved curls of wood out of the floor of the tree with his gilded hoof boots. “Princess Celestia! Princess Twilight! Your majesties, come quick!” Princess Celestia was there in a flash, Twilight trailing behind her. “What has happened?” “The dragons! Your majesty, they're... they're heading right for Ponyville!” * * * * * The Everfree forest normally abounded with sound. Birds, insects, and other small creatures that weren't quite as domesticated as those found in Equestria proper inhabiting it as they eked out their wild, uncontrolled lives. These sounds always fell quiet when one of the dominant predators, or large monsters went out on the prowl. Now, with two great dragons strolling through the forest, things went dead silent. At least until the dragons nearly came upon a pack of one creature or another, and sent them off in a flurry of motion and sound. Rarity giggled. It was so odd, seeing what would have otherwise been a fat oak tree seem like a bush that barely came up to level with her withers. And the trees further ahead looked even smaller. “What's so funny?” Vaeron asked. “Oh, just... it's so strange seeing these trees when I’m this big. I've walked this path several times before and usually the woods scare me so. But now? These trees look like topiary, and oh! That boulder right there! I use that boulder as a landmark. Now it's not even as big as my hoo-er... paw? What do you call these?” she said, pausing and lifting one of her forelegs and shaking the appendage. “You had it right my lady, those are paws.” “Ah, yes, well, that boulder's not even as big as one of the smallest parts of me. It's quite a drastic change.” Vaeron chuckled. “Yes, I felt quite the same when I grew out of whelphood. Where once was a world that towered over me, now I towered over it. It was... liberating.” “Whelphood?” Rarity asked, unfamiliar with the term. “A young dragon is called a whelp, my lady.” Vaeron replied. “Hmm. And we've just been calling him a baby dragon all this time.” “Calling who a 'baby' dragon?” “Spike of course.” Rarity said, glancing over at him. “Ah, yes. The one that raided my hoard.” “I'm not entirely sure why Spike was there in your hoard, good sir, but I would be glad to reimburse you the amount of gems he ate if it would help you forgive him.” Vaeron stopped walking and looked over at her. “You would give of your hoard to repay what another has stolen?” “Of course! I'm sure Spike had a good reason... or even if he didn't, he's not a malicious sort... usually... and I'm sure he didn't mean to intrude or to injure you by what he did. And I have an excess of gems at the moment. And even if he ate his own weight in gemstones, he's not that big.” Vaeron snorted. “You truly are an unusual dragoness, Lady Rarity.” “As I said before, I used to be a unicorn, not a dragon.” “If you were a unicorn, what were you doing with so many gems you could afford to 'repay' me what was taken from my hoard?” “I use them in dresses I design and make myself.” “Dresses? You are a clothier?” “I preferr Fashionista, but I suppose that's accurate.” “And where do you get all these gems?” “I have an arrangement with the diamond dogs, they get me gems, I get them other thigns they need.” “You have diamond dog thralls?” Vaeron asked, his face a picture in surprise. “What's a Thrall?” “I'm not sure... it's what a couple of other dragons I know call the diamond dogs they have working for them to swell their hoards.” “Well, they're certainly enterprising dragons then. I do believe I’m the first unicorn in Equestria to actually manage to arrange a mutually beneficial arrangement with the diamond dogs.” Vaeron chuckled. “You misunderstand. Diamond dogs never respond to anything other than brute force. If you want to bring them into line and get anything productive out of them, you need to be stronger. It's rather hard to imagine a little unicorn doing so to a bunch of those dumb canines.” Rarity snorted. “Mr. Vaeron, I am appalled! The diamond dogs I have been trading with have shown sense and appreciation for my efforts on their behalf, and have gotten more than their fair share back from the gems they have traded to me.” “So you say.” Vaeron said. Rarity snorted in exasperation. “I can see there will be no convincing you until I've proven I was a unicorn. Very well, let's go.” she said, picking her pace up to a trot which set the trees nearby to shaking. “Hey! Slow down!” Vaeron complained as he took a few galloping strides to catch up to her. * * * * * Spike looked around from his vantage point on Twilight's back. The feathers of her wings tickled his legs gently. The camp was frantic with activity, but for the moment, immediately around them, it was calm. Celestia was giving orders to the commanding officers of the guard, who sped on their way to see her will done. But here, atop his guardian, surrounded by her friends, everything seemed calm as they slowly walked through the camp towards the edge of the everfree. “Should I go for the 'knight in shining armor' motif, or maybe the 'barbarian warrior' getup?” Discord said, snapping his talons and lion claws and switching outfits back and forth while he floated alongside the group, large mirror keeping pace with him as he examined himself in a suit of gleaming full plate, and a rather barbaric outfit of furs and leathers, adorned with fangs, horns, and other such things. “What for? You're indestructible without armor anyway.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Well I’ve never done this sort of thing before! I'd like to be properly attired.” “Never done what before?” Applejack asked. “Why, slain a dragon of course!” Spike felt a chill run down his spine. “We don't want it slain Discord, we need them subdued.” “Oh, fine.” Discord said, waving his paw and banishing all his conjured objects and attire. “Very well. I'll keep it boring and just prevent any damage from being done. All very dull if you ask me.” Spike sniffled. “Discord, please. We're trying to find out what happened to Rarity, that dragon is the only one who may know.” Princess Celestia said. “Horrid bit of business, that.” Discord sighed. “Very well, just let me know when you need me to start flexing my magical muscles.” “Thank you Discord. The group neared the front of the ranks of the guard. Celestia looked up to the guard post where two pegasi were, one looking into the forest with a telescope. “Watchstallions, report!” she said. Immediately, the ponies looked down to see her, and the one that had been looking through the telescope stepped aside and let the other take over, and leapt off the cloud, flapping a few times as he came down to the ground. Once there, he bowed. “The dragons are approaching, your majesty, but they're only moving at a walk. And they keep pausing.” “Pausing? To do what?” Celestia asked. “Oh, I hope they're not eating innocent woodland creatures!” Fluttershy said, shivering. “Uh... no, Milady, they aren't hunting. They keep stopping and talking with each other.” “Talking? What're they talking about?” Applejack asked. “I don't know. We're not trained to lipread reptiles.” the guard answered. Pinkie giggled at this. “Well, what can you tell from their body language then?” Celestia inquired. “It's... confusing. The green seems to be hesitant, and anxious. The white seems very confidant... and a bit aggravated by the green's behavior... which seems to be setting the green even more on edge.” Celestia's brow furrowed. “Very strange. How long till they arrive?” “A couple of minutes, milady. Even at their rate, their size alone makes every step travel.” “That it does.” Discord said, having conjured a spyglass and peered into the forest for himself. * * * * * Their walk had been quiet for the past few minutes, Rarity had realized, only when Vaeron made a loud snort. “Well, I expected as much.” “Expected what?” She asked, turning her head on her long serpentine neck. “The ponies have gathered a veritable army at the edge of the forest. See for yourself.” he said, lifting his head as high as it would go. Blinking, Rarity did as he did, and saw a field of shining gold and white. Ranks upon ranks of Equestrian royal guard... and... oh goodness. Even at this distance, which must have been a couple miles, she could pick out detail on every single one of them! Even... oh dear, that was princess Celestia out in the front, she'd recognize that magically flowing multi-colored mane anywhere. “Oh dear... I do believe I've caused quite the fuss.” “Rather an understatement, my lady. Shall we turn back now?” Vaeron urged. “My good sir, I must repeat, this is all a misunderstanding. Once I explain the situation there shall be no trouble.” Vaeron snorted. “I hope you're right. Because if you're not, there's going to be a whole lot more.”