//------------------------------// // Dare and challenge // Story: How Lily got her "creepy" super strength // by Hyper44 //------------------------------// The small red dragon teleported himself to the castle and flew inside. "I'll show that little filly who thinks she knows it all, who thinks she's so clever," He muttered to himself as he speedily weaved his way to the throne room. It never occurred to him that she might not be there when he got back. He was in a hurry to prove to her that he was right. Getting a piece of the old throne was an easy task. They were so worn that pieces had crumbled off. He picked up a small chunk of each throne and flew out a window. One of the odd quirks of mini dragon magic was that they had to be outside to teleport to another location. It was a fact that had made capturing them possible. He quickly teleported back to the same patch of forest when he had confronted Lily. He looked down on the log and snorted. "Stupid pony really is going to play hide and seek with me." He landed on the log and held up the two rocks that he clutched, one in either paw. "There's point in hiding! Here they are. Blue and yellow." No voice answered him. "Oh, come on. You’re just hiding because you know that you lost," He called but still received no answer. "Stop being so butthurt that you lost!" No response. "Fine! It's not going to be hard to find you." He set the stones down on the log and flew into the bushes. He weaved around the trees, scoured the shrubs and even flew up into the branches in case she was able to climb. All the while he muttered to himself about stupid ponies playing stupid games and demanding that she come out. He searched for a good fifteen minutes until he spotted the faint tracks of a little pony leading off into the forest. "Oh, you little trickster! You think your so clever," He roared and took flight to chase after her. "I'm going to show you whos clever! I'm going to win this game and set right all the times ponies made us go through this." * * * Lily was still following the scent of the berries. It was growing stronger and while she wanted to hurry she tread with more caution. The closer that she got to the berries the closer she got to the creatures of the Everfree. They would not be so keep to share their berries and probably would not care that she was just passing through. Another reason for her to be cautious was that she was walking along the edge of a cliff. This was a more dangerous roundabout way but it was necessary. She had heard something big moving in the forest ahead of her and had decided it would be wise to go around. She didn't know what it was and she didn't want to find out. A thick grove of vine covered trees grew right up next to the cliff making a narrow path along the drop off but for a filly of her size it was not a problem. She had almost forgotten about the little red dragon but then she heard the familiar flap of a set of wings. He swooped over her head making her duck again before landing in front of her. Lily looked up to see him standing there and glaring angrily at her. "You think you’re so cleaver don't you," He growled. "Uugg!" Lily groaned, "Why are you doing this to me?" "It’s because of your forefathers," The red dragons replied. Lily looked at him with confusion now. "You mean my great granddads? I didn't know you knew them? Do you hate enchanted creatures or something?" At first the dragon was confused then was enraged. "What kind of joke is that?! What is wrong with you?!" "What is wrong with you?!" Lily cried. "Both of my great grandfathers are famous for rescuing the breezies from the griffins. The griffins used to catch them and keep them as pets. My great grandfathers used to risk their lives to rescue them. Then they started an advocacy group to help all enchanted creatures against such-" "Shut up!" The dragon snapped. "It's time for the next challenge!" Lily groaned and rubbed her forehead. She did not understand this at all. "It's a game of dare," The dragon sneered. "Ok, but you do know that the rule of dare is that you can't dare somepony to do something that you wouldn’t dare to do yourself," Lily stated hoping that he would not think of something too dangerous. "Of course, I dare you to jump off this cliff!" The red dragons replied with a smirk. "It's something I would dare to do." The dragon said waggling his wings. "Oops, you don't dare. You lose. You have to turn around now." He mocked. Lily didn't even acknowledge his mocking. She looked down the cliff and then up at the vines hanging from the trees. She picked one and gave it a hard yank to test it. The she bit down on it, wrapped her forelimbs around it for good measure and jumped. She fell only a foot over the edge before she came to a stop and then climbed back up. "That doesn't count!" The mini dragon snapped. "Yes it does." The dragon started to argue but she cut him off. "You only said jump off the cliff. You didn't give any other requirements and now it's my turn." "Fine! Just try to pick something that you would dare to do that I would not!" He snapped crossing his forelimbs. "I dare you....to go away and leave me alone." Lily stated. "What?! What kind of dare is that!?" "The dare I give you," Lily replied crossing her forelimbs as well. "I would be happy to walk away and leave you alone. If you don't leave me alone, you lose." The mini dragon glared at her angry enough for steam to come out of his ears. "That's not fair!" "Is it less fair than daring me to jump to my death?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow. "Fine!" He finally yelled. "How about this!? A challenge game! Can you fly? No you can't! You lose!" "I can fly. In a hot air balloon," Lily stated. "What in the Everfree is that? Your making that up." The mini dragon accused. Lily stared at him. "You mean to tell me that you don't know what a hot air balloon is? Haven't you ever seen one of those large round floating things with a basket underneath passing over the forest?" "Ua..maybe." He replied. "I still think that your lying." He lied himself. "I'm not and anyway there are spells that can make me able to fly or I could do so if a pegasus would carry me." The mini dragon snarled. "Whatever! See if you can think of something that you can do that I can't! Go ahead! Just try! Anything you want to see me try!" "What I really want to see you try to do it get lost," Lily groaned. "Get lost?" The mini dragon snorted. "I can't get lost in the Everfree. I've lived here all my life and know it like the back of my paw. It's impossible for me to get lost. Pick something else." "I was being sar-serious," Lily replied with a grin. "You said pick anything that I wanted to see you try. If you don't try and accomplish it you loose and I win." "But that's a stupid one!" The dragon roared. "Well I guess that I won again." "No you didn't! I can get lost if I want to," The mini dragon retorted taking to the air. "I'll show you!” With that he was off soaring through the forest. Lily waited until the sound of his wing beats faded before taking off again. She tried going back to her pace of trying to move quickly but still silently and cautiously. It would have been a lot easier if she hadn’t been laughing so hard.