Inside the Everfree forest and forests like it there lived rare and elusive creatures, the mini dragons. Being very few in number and so prone to sticking to the shadows they had been all but forgotten by ponies, griffins and all manner of creatures. Only ancient ponies like the princess sisters or very studious ponies like Twilight would know about them anymore. Even the large sized dragons hardly remembered that they existed. Not that mini dragons noticed. They never spoke to anypony or outside creature anymore. Nor did they ever creep out of their forests. For them it was still the ancient times.
Though they were dragons they never grew to the huge size of the ones that the pony world knew about. They never got larger than the average stallion because they were not cursed with greed like the known dragons. What they had was strong magic. More magic than average unicorns. One of the special things they could do was grant wishes within limits. It was because of this that ponies of the ancient past began to hunt them. They sought to capture them like their own personal genie in a bottle. In turn the mini dragons had come up with a strategy to deal with such ponies. They convinced them that they had to answer riddles or compete tasks to make the wishes able to be granted. This gave the mini dragons time to escape. In the end all of it had made them more reclusive and caused them to harbor great distrust and even bitterness that passed down through generations.
In the Everfree there was one mini dragon in particular that couldn’t stand ponies though he had never met one. Had only seen a group of about six from a distance a couple times and a striped thing that he wasn’t sure if she was a pony or not. He, like all mini dragons had stories passed down and was more bitter than most. He hated ponies. He swore to himself that if he ever encountered a pony alone in the forest he would make them play those stupid games over and over and over. Today was his day.
* * *
A thorn bush was not obstacle to Lily. Just as she knew exactly how to hold a hedgehog she knew just how to press through. She never had to think about it. It was all instinct and second nature. Following her pet wasn’t too hard. Whenever she lost his track she just kept following in the sweet smell of the berries and sooner or later she would find them again.
Lily paused and looked up upon hearing something in the treetops. It sounded very much like something scurrying. She watched and waited a moment but neither heard nor saw anything else. She decided it was a squirrel and continued weaving through the bush.
Behind her the mini dragon peaked out from behind a tangle of branches. Finally, it was his chance for payback. She was alone unlike the others he had seen and she was not creepy like that striped thing. She would demand wishes to be given the moment she saw him of course. Typical ponies. Thought they were here to be served. It would be perfect though, once she demanded wishes he would send her on wild goose chases and stumbling over riddles.
He was clever. He knew that he was clever and he would show her. She would believe that she had to answer those riddles and complete tasks and he could use this make her know that ponies were stupid compared to mini dragons. It was time that ponies paid for all the trouble that they had given them. He just needed the right moment to jump out.
Lily exited the thorn bush and came to the edge of a deep crevice. Below water rushed by. It looked like a huge knife had cut through the forest. Further down was a log laying across the gap. Even from where she stood she could she the scratches left from her pet's claws.
"Prickles Priklebutt you are in so much trouble," She grumbled and walked over to the log. She kicked it a couple times to make sure it was sturdy and then hopped on. Making sure to stay in the center of the narrow log she inched her way across. Suddenly a huge shadow swooped over her head making her yelp and duck. She fell flat on the log and covered her head as it passed over. Then she heard a thump as a something landed on the log in front of her. It wasn’t as loud as sound as she expected. She looked up and stared in surprise. It was not some horrible huge monster that was before her. The thing stood only a head taller than her. It had dark red scales and black spines down it's back. It looked like a small dragon and while that was a fearsome color scheme he was not at all terrifying. It was not just his size but his overall design. He was cute similar to the way a tiny foal was adorable when he wore scary costume and tried to act fierce. The way he stood there glaring at her with a tough expression almost made her laugh.
Lily sat up trying to hide a smile.
"Well?" The little dragon asked.
"Well what?" Lily tipped her head confused.
"Aren't you going to ask me for something?"
"I would ask you to please move out of my way," Lily replied. "I'm on a serious mission to save a creature."
"Get out of your way!" The mini dragon angrily roared. "Who do you think you are ordering me to move?"
"Well you did just purposely leap out into my way," Lily replied, "And you have wings so you really don't need the log but if it will make you feel better I'll go back let you walk across first."
"No!" The little dragon snapped. "I know what you want from me and you have to complete the challenge first."
Lily looked at him with her face twisted in confusion. "Why would I ask you for anything? I don't even know you. Look, I'm just here to find my little hedgehog friend and save him. I'm not here to bother you or ask you for something so there is no need for me to complete the challenge. If you let me past, you will never have to look at my face again."
The dragon scratched his chin realizing that the filly was genuine. She really did not know what he was. "You must be a simpleton to not know what I am," He said thoughtfully.
"Well thanks," Lily replied flatly. "That is perfectly fine. Just please just let me past."
The mini dragon just grinned and was not about to let her slip by. He had waited a long time to take revenge the same way it was done in the past. "No, to gain permission to go to the other side you must complete the challenge."
Lily sighed and sat down. "Fine. what is the challenge?"
"Riddles," The dragon replied. "You must be able to answer my riddle." He couldn’t help but grin to himself. He had spent so long coming up with and gathering complicated riddles so there was no way this little filly could win. Especially when she was so simple as to not even know what he was. "My riddle is a scenario. You have two doors to choose from. One leads to freedom and the other to certain doom. There are no markings on either door. Next to them are two brothers. One is under an enchantment that makes him always tell the truth and the other is enchanted to always lie no matter what. They know which door is which but you can only ask them one question to which they both will answer. What question could you ask them to know which door is safe and none of this asking two questions in the same sentence. One question." With that the dragon crossed his forelimbs and smirked at the pony. There was no way she could answer that one because it was impossible. He had pondered it for so long and if a creature as smart as he was could not think of a way than this pony certainly couldn’t She would be stumped. Though why was she smiling back?
"That one is so easy," Lily said. "That riddle has been around forever. You ask them 'if you were your brother which would you say is the correct door?' They will both point to the same door. From there you will know that you should go out the other one."
"What! That's stupid! How do you reason that?"
"It's simple," Lily replied. "The one that always tells the truth knows that his brother will lie and point to the wrong door so if he was his brother that is the answer he would give. The other one always lies. So even though he knows that his brother would point to the right door he will still point to the wrong one." The mini dragon stood there blinking after she had finished trying to take that all in.
"UUAAAGGGHHH!!!" He roared. "That isn’t right!"
"Yes it is, now please let me pass. I won," Lily said.
"No...you didn't win yet. You still have to stump me with a riddle."
"What? That wasn’t part of the deal," Lily stated. "You said if I answer your riddle I could pass. You’re just making this up as you go."
"So what if I am," The mini dragon said with a haughty snort. "Your still not getting past till you stump me with a riddle like you possibly can."
Lily glared at him a moment then replied with her riddle. "A unicorn walks into a pitch black room with a box of matches. There is a candle and a lamp. Which will she light first?"
"The match of course. You lost," The dragon stated.
"No, she's a unicorn," Lily countered. "A unicorn will light up their horn first. I win."
The mini dragon snarled. "Well...now you have to beat me at trivia questions!"
Lily groaned and rubbed her forehead. She knew that no matter what he would keep going. He would not allow her to win in the end no matter how many games she won. It was like playing a game with a younger foal. She was contemplating trying to dart past him when an idea struck her.
"Alright but I go first." She stated stomping a hoof down. "What color are the thrones at the old castle of the two sisters?" She didn't know herself but that didn't matter.
"HA! I've been out here all my life and to the castle many times," The dragon laughed. "One is blue and one is yellow."
"Wrong their both pink," Lily stated sitting down and crossing her hoofs.
"Pink! Listen filly, I have actually been to the castle! Have you?"
"I read it in a history book. Their pink," Lily persisted.
"Well then you have stupid history books. I know what colors they are and they are not pink," The dragon snarled.
"Well prove it," Lily demanded. "Go to the castle and bring back a piece of each so you can show me that their not pink."
"Fine I will!" The dragon growled. "I can even teleport so it won’t take long and-"
"And I'll be hiding somewhere nearby when you get back." Lily stated.
"What? why? For what stupid reason would you do that?"
"Because I want too." Lily replied with her hoofs still crossed. "It's part of my challenge."
"Fine! Do what you want. I'll be back shortly to show you that your wrong and that I won!" The mini dragon snarled. With that he vanished.
The second he was gone Lily hurried across the log and raced away into the forest. "He's going to be looking for a long time." She laughed to herself as she ran. "Hopefully he doesn't figure it out too soon."