A wizard?!! A wizard dared to come near my mountain? No, he dared not for he sent these pitiful humans. He dared to think himself clever. Those cheaps conjurers hold not a candle to a dragon. Yet he dared to incur my wrath so openly? I will crush this wizard the next time I see him. The only reason I have not crushed these humans is because of how weak they are. It would be a waste of my strength.
It was not because of how Celestia smiled as she talked with them. How they made her feel warm and bubbly. I could hear it in her words, her mannerisms. It drove me mad thinking about it. Only I could make her smile. She was my jewel, not theirs. All the while I had to keep this pathetic little form.
I hate changing. It is only natural. I am the greatest of the great fire drakes. As well, I am the last. It is my duty to showcase to the world the magnificence of dragons. To show them how small they really are. They are all insects compared to me. Of course, I had to indulge my jewel just this once. The race of Men could not handle the presence of a dragon without shivering in fear. I would endure the form of a raven until this conversation was over. Never again would I give these humans the same courtesy.
Until that time, I was going to have to settle for sitting on Celestia’s head, glaring at them all the while. Oh how degrading this whole thing was. I’m actually glad I’m the last right now. No dragon should have to endure this. Being nestled in the mane of a horse? A beautiful horse, but a horse none the less. It was made even more degrading by how ‘relaxed’ I was here. This mane, it was something like I’d never felt before.
I knew it held some sort of magic within itself, but now I could feel it. Magic was woven into every strand. It flowed and weaved around everything in the air. It was there, but not. It was difficult to describe. Whenever I close my eyes, it gave me a little bit of comfort. Only a little bit, for I did not need much. I am Smaug! I can comfort myself.
“Hmm,” Celestia seemed to be chewing over the information. She took her time before acting, which was a flaw if one was to ask me. I would rather act with what I had right then then think on anything. It was the way of the dragons. “Thank you for telling me.”
The man known as Bard bowed his head. “I see no fault with telling you the truth.”
“And you’re sure this wizard won’t be upset with you if he finds out you told me of him?” Celestia asked.
“He won’t be,” Tilda smiled. “He’s a nice wizard. He gave me this after all.” She pointed to a small butterfly hair clip in her hair. There was something strange about it. A power swirled around inside. I didn’t like it. It reeked of the wizard.
“And it’s lovely,” Celestia smiled. “Well, I think my questions have been answered and I don’t want to waste any more of your time.”
Waste your time?!! You’re my jewel, Celestia. MINE! They are wasting your time and thus my own. My anger towards these humans was growing tenfold. I wanted to burn them to a crisp. I didn’t because that would bore me. Not because of how sad my jewel would be without her friends. I care not for such things.
“On the contrary,” Bard smiled. “It’s nice talking with someone in such a peaceful place.”
“Oh?” Celestia tilted her head in confusion. I squawked a bit as she had tilted me as well. I hated being this small. “Is something wrong with your village?”
Bain spoke up quickly. “Yes.”
“The mayor is a disgusting tyrant,” Sigrid spoke up, folding her arms. “He treats us like filth.”
“And he’s ugly too,” Tilda said.
“Don’t forget that assistant of his,” Bain spoke, snorting in anger. “He’s a snake, I tell you. I bet he sulks in the dark so much because of how often he sheds his skin.”
“Enough,” Bard put a stop to such talk. Good. I was growing bored of it.
“Is this true?” Celestia’s face hardened. I didn’t like where this was going. “Is he such a tyrant?”
Bard sighed and nodded. “Aye, but he’s not the smartest sort of man. I can deal with him well enough on my own.”
“But father,” Tilda spoke up. “Maybe Princess Celestia can help us.”
“Out of the question,” I snarled, grabbing the human’s attention. They had forgotten about me already? They should burn for this, but I am merciful. “Celestia is not to enter your village. She stays with me and none other.”
“What if you go with her?” Tilda asked. “You can change shape.”
“I will not sully myself with the race of man in such a way,” I snorted. “You are lucky I haven’t burned you all to a crisp. It is an ever tempting action.”
“And here I thought the great Smaug wasn’t afraid of anything,” Sigrid smirked.
“I am afraid of nothing! I am Smaug, the greatest of Calamaties. The races of Middle Earth quake in fear at the mere mention of my name. I am fear itself.” I proclaimed.
“Then prove it,” Sigrid said. “The Spring Festival is starting up in a few days. We were thinking of inviting you, but if you’re too scared-”
“I will be there, human.” I growled. How dare this human question my will? I know no fear. I make fear itself tremble beneath my claws. “I will show you how fearless I am. I will attend this festival and I shall be the greatest of all present.”
“Glad to hear that,” Sigrid smiled.
Why was she smiling? I was going to prove her wrong. I was going to shred whatever misconceptions she had about dragons and show her our might. She would….Why was Celestia chuckling? There was nothing funny about this.
“Anyways,” Celestia spoke. “I do believe I promised little Tilda a ride.”
The little girl made a strange ‘squee’ like sound which hurt my raven ears. Another accursed weakness in this form. That didn’t matter. What mattered is what my precious jewel just said. “Ride? You allow a human to ride you? I won’t allow this. You are mine, Celestia.”
“It’s my body, Smaug.” Celestia frowned. “I can do what I wish with it.”
“No, it is my body.” I retorted. “I own you. You are mine and I can do with it as I wish.”
“Please, Mister Smaug?” Tilda asked.
“No and that is-” I seemed to lose my voice when I looked upon that little human’s face. At this moment in time, I realized I have never seen a human’s face so up close. She wasn’t as ugly as I’d imagined. She was even, dare I say, cute. Too cute. I hated it. I wanted to keep going, to drive her to tears, or something to degrade this unholy cute abomination. Nothing came out of my mouth. Why couldn’t I say no to that pouting face? I just wanted her to stop pouting and tilting her head. “Fine, but make it quick.”
“Yes!” Tilda quickly climbed up onto Celestia’s back, with Celestia using a wing to keep her stable and help her on. With that, Celestia stood up and started trotting around. I glowered at the human girl. She would pay. One day, she would pay. To make matters worse, she actually had the gall to take me into her arms. I...was shocked by the motion. Too shocked to move. “Thank you, Smaug.”
There they go again. Thanking me. Hmph, I don’t need anyone’s thanks. Yet, now there were two females going around thanking me? I was growing soft and I had to tell myself not to hurt her. For my jewel’s sake of course. So I found myself now a raven, in the clutches of a young human girl, riding a winged unicorn with a mane like rainbows. They both will pay for this. Celestia especially because of that irritating smirk I could see on her face, reflected off of the lake’s surface.
____________________________________________________________________
The trip to the Shire should have been a long one. A few weeks time, if I recall correctly. Yes, it should have been a long trip. For most, that is. Not for a wizard and not certainly for a wizard riding Shadowfax. What should take weeks on end was mere days for the lord of all horses. I was glad to call him my friend at times like this. His speed could very well mean the difference between life and death. I needed to speak with the dwarves. They needed to know what was happening in their mountain.
What was happening there even I couldn’t fully understand. A winged unicorn and she could speak? Curious. Extremely curious. There were many creatures of Middle Earth that could talk. My favored were the eagles. Long has it been since I sat down to talk with the elders. I had to fight the urge to talk to this winged unicorn, Celestia, myself, but the dwarves needed me. Bilbo needed me. Of course, the little hobbit didn’t know that yet. He was to play some role in this I am sure.
There was a spark of greatness in him. Speaking of greatness, this ‘Celestia’ certainly troubled me greatly. She wasn’t a threat, yet. I had to keep myself wary regardless of what side she was on. She was an unknown. Unicorns were rare. A winged unicorn was unheard of. There was much research to be done. I’m glad I enjoy researching, or I would find my life so tedious nowadays.
Suddenly, I could feel another presence approach. The power they emitted was vast and the user was letting himself be known.I kept my surprise hidden. “Saruman, I didn’t expect to find you in such a place.”
The white wizard rode his horse up next to mine. Saruman, as ever, had a face etched in stone. I could barely think of a time he had smiled. Well I could, but it’s been such a long time. “Can’t a wizard ride out to meet his friend whenever he chooses?”
“He may,” I nodded and smiled. “It is good to see you again, my old friend.”
“As it is good to see you,” Saruman the White inclined his head in greeting. “You have travelled a great distance in such haste, Gandalf. What did you find that troubles you so?”
I furrowed my brow. There was something in Saruman’s eyes that told me he already knew. As to how he could know, well, wizard had many tricks up their sleeves. “In a way.”
“Be at peace, my old friend.” Saruman said. “I didn’t come here to stop your foolhardy journey to aid the dwarves. In fact, quite the opposite. I wish to join you on this quest.”
That surprised me and I couldn’t help but let it show. Saruman had a habit of interfering with my plans. He found them to be too soft or stupid. The same could be said of his opinions of myself. “Oh? What brought about this change of heart?”
Saruman frowned. “Durin’s Bane has left Moria.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe that the creature was on the move. It had been content to sit in it’s mountain. “Durin’s Bane walks amongst us once more?” Why wasn’t Saruman with the elves or gathering an army of men and dwarves?
“He was,” Saruman stated, confusing me. “The beast is dead. Slain in the mountain hold you wish to reclaim.”
I blinked a few times, unable to respond to that immediately. “Durin’s Bane is dead?”
“Most assuredly,” Saruman stated, nodding slightly. “Luckily for us, I was able to plant a small tracking spell on the beast.”
“When did you do this?” I asked.
Saruman gave me a small crooked smirk. He may have a face set in stone, but sometimes he’d let me see some cracks set in it. “I can be quite the master of stealth when I want to be.”
I could attest to that. He let me sense him walking up. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known. He was a better wizard than I. There was no doubt about that. “And you’re sure he died in the Lonely Mountain?”
“As sure as I can be,” Saruman frowned. “Which begs the question. Why would he leave Moria now? For what purpose?”
“I wish I could offer you the answers,” I said, pondering those same questions myself. This was most troubling. Most troubling indeed.
“Perhaps you already have them,” Saruman stated, causing me to raise an eyebrow. “What lurks in that mountain that would tempt a balrog? What trinket has Smaug that would tempt a beast of nothing but flame and darkness?”
“A winged unicorn,” I answered plainly.
Saruman stared at me in disbelief. “A winged unicorn?”
“There is much to discuss,” I lead my horse forward. “We can talk as we ride.”
Smaug...you are a terrible liar...especially to yourself.
Hmmmm... Interesting. Is Saruman too far down the road of Evil already? I am tempted to think this is still soon enough, but now everyone is growing aware of Celestia's presence. This could be either spectacularly good or spectacularly bad.
Also, can't help thinking that Smaug will be King of Laketown by the time this is over.Huh....
Smaug is not as threatening as I remember.
Also, I wonder if this is Saruman before or after being corrupted by Sauron.
6182617 6182646 I think that it was after the Battle of the Five Armies that he met with Sauron and was tempted. In the movie, Christopher Lee (May he rest in peace, that magnificent bastard) didn't really act very comfortable with the presence of Sauron. And then he said he'd 'chase after it'. He wasn't seen again until the first LoTR movie. I think when he chased after Sauron, he was made to go down the road of Evil. Which means that since events are drastically changing here, Saruman might never go evil to begin with. YAY FOR CHRISTOPHER LEE!
And anyways, I think Smaug is becoming the manliest example of Tsundere to ever exist:
… Okay, imagining Benedict Cumberpatch's Smaug saying that is freaking hilarious. For a reminder of Smaug the Mighty's voice, here it is:
Well things are getting interesting.
For the record, it's a credit to this story that I have no trouble hearing the characters in the voices of the actors and actresses who portray them. Well done.
The Nile is best river.
Oh?
OH?!
Hook, line and sinker.
BWAAHAHAHAHA! Celestia is making him go soft so fast!
Gandalf switched to 3rd person for a moment here.
It's a trap!
Can you imagine his face?
Lovely chapter, awaiting the next!
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img10.deviantart.net/a7a3/i/2014/031/b/b/shocked_pinkie_pie_by_magister39-d7219eh.png
I tried not to laugh.
Needless to say, I failed
Emitted, I think?
Also, I believe the Balrog's epithet was Durin's Bane.
Poor Smaug. For all his might, he's helpless before the power of adorableness.
6182926 I seem to have mixed up some of his names. Fixed.
That was fantastic. Smaug just keeps getting cuter and cuter and I cannot wait for the next chapter.
AWSOME!
6183179
Despising humans is easy, when you don't get to know any :P Also yes, Smug the greatest of the greatest of calamities is powerless before the power of Adorable! Also me thinks the wizards will find how the Balrog was killed most interesting, scourged by dragon fire then annihilated by holy fire?
I liked the different POVs. The intermingling of "present tense thinking" and "past tense narration", on the other hand, was a bit odd, but it didn't seem to hurt the story.
Nitpicks:
cheap
closed
then than
wizards
its
So all we need now are Radagast the Brown and the two lost Blue Wizards of the East along with Galadriel and Elrond and we'll have ourselves a nice big Council of White reunion! Oh, to see the look on everyone's faces when they see Celestia scolding Smaug! Someone needs to draw that. Or anything CelestiaxSmaug!
The image of a little "squeeing" girl, holding smaug the raven while riding a pretty prancing princess unicorn with rainbow hair will stay in my head forever now XD
Love how Tilda's cuteness overpowered Smaug's stubbornness.
I think I can understand a little of why Smaug is so helpless against Celestia, since his creation everyone has only tried to attack, trick, and use him. This is literally the first time anyone has been genuinely nice to him, can you blame him for being confused? It's like taking someone who grew up in the Sahara and dropping them in the middle of the arctic, they would have absolutely no reference for what's happening. In short, Tia is gonna love and tolerate the sh!t out of him!
I wonder if Smaug will show up to the festival in his glorious form or will he take another? Good of you to put Saruman in the story. (I can still hear Christopher Lee's voice while reading.)
Heh... this exchange is like straight out of the movie, voices and all. Love it.
Interesting chapter. I'm kind of disappointed in Bard though. Your mayor is a tyrannical jerk, so you let your kids invite a gigantic killer fire-breathing dragon with anger issues to your big festival? To quote Discworld "That's like beating a mouse to death with a rattlesnake." The mayor is too dumb to be intimidated by a talking Raven who says he is Smaug, and you know anyone who pisses Smaug off is going to have to face dragonfire in the middle of that tiny wooden, oh-so-flammable lake village. I'm going to say right now I hold Bard responsible for any resulting property damage.
Also, I really loved the character who played the mayor's assistant in the last movie, so I can't wait to see him in future chapters. And I also hope Celestia is able to inspire hope in Saruman, since it was despair at Sauron's power that made him give in to the dark side in the first place.
Nice! Certainly causing a LARGE butterfly effect, Celes. (Must be because of her large plot! )
6182963 FOCUS ON THIS MORE!
6185596 Well, that's Sigrid's, his eldest daughter's, fault. There wasn't much Bard could do once Smaug agreed. Happened a bit too fast for him to properly stop her.
Besides, Celestia was going to get Smaug to go whether or not they were invited once she heard about it. She needs to keep up the friendship lessons and what better way than to get him outside in a festival.
6186360 You're right, Bard did get kind of steamrolled there. But are you really saying Celestia would risk the wellbeing of an entire town just for the chance to reform one ancient and dangerously unstable draconic entity.... Nevermind, the answer is pretty obvious when you think about it.
As a huge LOTR fan I applaud this story. My only surprise was that Smaug and Celestia fought Durin's Bane... HOW THE HECK DOES A GIANT FLAMING DEMON SNEAK FROM THE MISTY MOUNTAINS TO THE LONELY MOUNTAIN????? From the way it read I thought Sauron woke one up that was sleeping beneath the Lonely Mountain and hadn't been unsealed by Dwarves since it didn't use the giant flaming sword or whip it used in Moria. Still, the interaction with Bard and his family is awesome, I can't wait to see how things go with Smaug promising to show up for the Festival. Will he be in Dragon form or beast form??? I can see a dragon winged alicorn with his normal head and claws as a suitable form.
6189719 Sauron used his magic to transport the beast. Of course, given his current strength, that sapped him of quite a bit of strength, so he's rellying on the orcs to finish them off.
As for the form he'll take. It's a surprise.
6190827 Could this mean Gandalf puts up a better fight against Sauron and maybe Escapes Dol Gradur to rally the White Council??? Or they find him still fighting Sauron????
I'd sooner trust Smaug than Saruman. At least Smaug honestly says he's gonna chew you into mushy blood paste.
But will Smaug show up as a raven/something else or as himself?
Smaug is adorable when he's grumpy and trying to hide his new conscience..
Aww who's a cute little raven? -scratches his chin- yes you are yes you a- OH DEAR MERCEY HE BIT MY WING OFF AGHHHHH!!
I'm really loving this story, the only niggling thing that caught me in this chapter was Shadowfax, Gandalf didn't get Shadowfax until the events of the Lord of the Rings, he didn't have him in the Hobbit, it was after Saruman captured him in the quest for the Ring that Gandalf tamed Shandowfax from the lords of Rohan.
Great story though, reading on.
Honora Imperator
oh Smaug
Cellys getting to you
ya big softy
:3
I was with you and enjoying the story up until this chapter. I just don't see the ground properly laid for the sort of abuse Smaug takes here, and even with Celestia's influence, it feels way out of character.
Being verbally outdone by a human child doesn't makes sense. His phrasing didn't indicate fear, it indicated disgust. And even if it did, why would the opinion of a human child be at all relevant? If he doesn't like her opinion, he could kill her. And her family. And then destroy their town.
And why does Smaug yield so easily over Celestia's threat? She's challenging his authority in front of lesser beings! There is not a threat she can level that he cannot top. If she threatens to leave, he could inform her that he'll spend a thousand years killing humans as punishment.
He shouldn't be the kind of thing that can be made into a damn butt monkey even temporarily, at least not so soon. Maybe after long association he could take some good natured teasing, but it isn't as though he has a lot of experience at dealing with delicate social situations in ways other than wanton murder.
For some reason I can't help but picture Smaug turning up at the festival and Celestia luring him into playing in the lake.
Maybe the two of them just superheat the water and enjoy the steam?
Again, you dare to beat the living Tartarus out of a story I treasured for years, And I LOVE IT!
Truly, a feat worthy of a favourite. Well done!
If the real Smaug seen this, he will say "Why the hell do you call this dragon me? He behaves nothing like me."
Tilda, The Innocent
The Doe-eyed Abyss
Hugger of Dragons
Rider of Gods
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I giggled like a schoolfilly
Smaug, you got played. HARD.
*Frame Freeze*
*Record Scratch*
"Yup that's me... You might be wondering how I've got into this situation."
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This is a necro reply. But anyways, I think when a dragon transforms into a small bird, something about him changes. You can never make such a huge transformation without it affecting you, even temporarily. That's why Smaug became so "tsundere" as a raven. As a dragon he would have killed the humans already.
Remember The Last Unicorn? When Amalthea said "Don't change me back into a unicorn. I wouldn't love you as a unicorn!"