In Equestria, it was a well guarded secret that dragons could eat meat. While the steady supply of gems that left for the mountains in clandestine caravans continued to flow, this fact had no impact on life. Of course, the errant dragon that did manage to find itself in Equestria was quickly and quietly dealt with. The rest of the dragons were content to live on the fiery mountaintops.
This relationship had worked well between the dragons and the princesses. However, each day, the ponies had to dig a little deeper, and each day, the quota was harder and harder to meet. The princesses knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable clash between them and the dragons.
Many of the dragons were proud and capricious. They thought nothing on the ponies. The influx of gems strengthened the status quo that ponies were beneath the dragons. To the dragons, it was as if they were lords, raking in tribute from the multitude of servants. Yet, some dragons doubted this. They knew that survival hinged on the delivery of gems, that to go to war would be next to suicidal. Some dragons were old enough to remember the great power that the princesses had. They knew that the princesses were not to be taken lightly. One such pair would leave an egg with the princesses to ensure that their son would have a brighter future, under the protection of the princesses.
So it was that when Rainbow Dash created the legend of the Sonic Rainboom, that very egg hatched for the soon to be prodigy of Princess Celestia. That filly would grow up to become an Element of Harmony and gain fame through dangerous adventures to vanquish mighty foes. It was like tales of knights of old, except more cheerful. That was the way Princess Celestia wanted it. She did not want her ponies living under the shadows of the past, when ponies lived in fear of being eaten by dragons. When ponies kept arms close at hands. When ponies were ready to be rallied for war. Princess Celestia was reluctant to let their sacrifice be in vain. The future they had worked for would come to fruition. While the fragile peace lasted, everyone was under the illusion that all was well. While the peace lasted, Princess Celestia knew that her favorite student would be safe from the true horrors of the world.
Just yesterday in fact, Twilight Sparkle had brought the most delicious looking confectionery out for a dessert contest. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie had eaten most of it. Princess Celestia couldn't help but laugh in the end due to the comic way in which the cake had been consumed. These moments were what gave her the energy she needed to provide rulings that would continue to keep the guise. No matter how much she knew that she was only delaying confrontation, she had to continue. If not for her ponies, then for her sister. She knew that her sister, recently ravaged by the Nightmare would not take well to taking up arms against the dragons. She was glad that her sister had forgotten the troubled times, when their disagreements over the treaty had almost torn them apart. The thousand years had given her time to delude everypony into thinking it was safe. As long as everypony was happy, Princess Celestia would delay.
Time passed. The dragons grew lazier and more complacent. They also bred more, since they had more than enough food. The demand for gems increased with the increasing number of mouths to feed. But the supply could not meet this demand, and some of the dragons found themselves a little more hungry than they were used to. Wiser dragons would have suspected something a long time ago. Most of them had already entered hibernation of sorts, and the problem was left to fester as the younger generation did not understand the true implications of such a shortage.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, a group of friends were having a discussion over some tea.
“If the prices keep going up like they have been, I'll be out of business. It doesn't help that gem finding has been taxed so heavily. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have gems for the dresses,” said Rarity.
It didn't help that Rarity had a sister to take care of, or that her parents were in retirement.
“I'm sure Princess Celestia would be more than happy to give you some sort of extension,” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Yeah!” piped Rainbow Dash.
“It's not that simple,” said Rarity.
Twilight Sparkle thought for a moment and realized the what Rarity was talking about. There were very few ponies that used gems on a day to day basis. This was partly due to the subtle machinations of Princess Celestia. Not many ponies knew about gems and more importantly, where the gems were going to. Only ponies heavily invested in the gem market had much information on gems. One such pony was Rarity, who used gems in most every clothing line.
The rest of the six friends stared at Rarity in confusion. They had no inkling of what she was going through, or what the consequences would be, and Rarity had no easy way to explain. But the friends knew something was wrong, and changed the topic accordingly. The mood brightened instantly again, and the friends resumed their friendly banter, leaving the problem for later. There was very little that they could do about it anyway.
As the dragons continued to starve, they grew more irritable. The tension did not go unnoticed by those that delivered the gems. Rumors started to spread through the chain. Fearful claims of ponies disappearing, of ponies being roasted alive, of ponies being eaten. Princess Celestia was upon one of those paths and she knew that deep in her heart that somehow, the situation had gone too far. But she continued to do nothing. She could not abandon the ideal that she had worked so hard to craft and maintain.
The problem was left to fester.
In a cave, in the lower parts of a steep mountain that resided in the land of the dragons, a fresh brood was hatched. Their father had been killed in a senseless raid for food. After that, the mother was powerless to stop the incursions that happened every shipment. It was lucky that she was even alive. Weak from hunger, the mother knew that something was wrong. The food used to be plentiful enough that no dragon would risk their necks raiding another dragon’s nest in order to satiate their stomach.
As time passed, the brood got hungrier and hungrier. The amount of food that the mother could hide was less and less as the raiders searched longer and harder. The cries from the hatchlings for food got louder and louder. In order to calm their cries, the mother sang.
Fin Yol Ag Laan
Faad Evenaar Krah
Drem Kiir Drem
Mahfaeraak Krin
It was an old dragoness’ lullaby. The mother had learned it from her mother, and her mother, from her mother’s mother and son on. It comforted the mother, and it comforted the hatchlings. This went on for a few days as the mother hoped for the better.
Soon, the mother realized the situation was not going to get better. She was not like the other dragons in a sense. The others had grown expectant and greedy, reliant on the constant shipments. She was not so naive and not so greedy; she loved her young very much. It was out of the question to abandon her hatchlings to die. Perhaps if the father had lived, she would be raiding as well but as it was, she had little choice. If there was a word that did not describe her, it was fool. Although she toyed with the idea of catching some ponies, she knew that Princess Celestia’s retribution would be swift and severe. Her hatchlings would never survive then. Celestia’s reach was long and wide. With this in mind, she sent an inquiry of sorts, hoping that Princess Celestia would have a solution in all her wisdom.
When Celestia finally read the letter, she frowned. There was little she could do to fix the problem. The sun princess could not so easily increase the tribute without destroying any semblance of the facade. However, Celestia knew how well Spike was doing in pony society. Maybe the hatchlings would adapt as well. She sent a reply at once, hoping that things would remain the same. Either way, the mother would not last much longer. She had already given up most of her food to the hatchlings.
The mother was on her deathbed when she received Princess Celestia’s letter. The dragon could not help but to stare in shock at the proposal. It was a naive individual that was not the princess that everyone knew so well. The idea was on the borderline of madness. Yet the dragon had little choice but to accept the scheme. There was no one else to turn to. She was too weak to go on the hunt. All she had was the energy to go on one last flight.
The guards were ready as the dragon landed in the clearing. Princess Celestia had sent orders to them days before. They would have been trembling with fear, but something about the dragon as she landed told their instincts that they had nothing to be panicked about. With a powerful beat of her wings, the dragon landed, softly to ensure the safety of the sleeping hatchlings. For a moment, the guards were stunned, confused as to the lack of roars. The guards quickly transported the brood into the chariots. As this was happening, the dragon slumped over, exhausted.
“Are y-you okay? “ a guard finally gathered the nerve to ask.
He had never seen a dragon look so tired before. They would always venture a snap at him, or breath fire that he swore had almost melted his armor. Drawn toward her difference, he glanced at her face. The slowly closing eyes reminded him of his mother, exhausted from the daily burden of having to raise five children. They were eyes tinged with regret, regret for the children, regret towards dying. It was much like looking in his mother’s eyes the day she left them at the orphanage, and turned away.
The guard drew closer, drawn by the image of his long lost mother, and nuzzled the dragon.
There was no response. The guards all looked to the dragon in shock. It was unusual for a dragon not to respond, let alone stay so still. An especially kind guard checked the dragons vitals. He could not feel through the thick, tough scales, and was left discouraged. No pony had the ability to know. The guard could only assume that she was dead, and left his sword in remembrance. Although she could’ve been his predator, he knew from what he had seen that she was different.
With nothing left to do, the guards prepared to take the chariots to Canterlot so that Princess Celestia could make a better judgement. It was another night until the princess had time to examine the information gathered, as well as the hatchlings. As she stared at the report, her mind wandered. She did not want to think about the inevitable, despite the numerous signs. It would be a while until the baby dragons arrived anyway.
How was Twilight doing?
Did she need help?
Princess Celestia knew that Twilight Sparkle had the habit of causing catastrophic events when stressed out. A visit from Twilight’s mentor was long overdue. The sun princess called for her secretary to make room in the schedule for a visit to Ponyville.
“No, I don’t need gu -”
“But Princess! What if -” said the panicked secretary.
She knew the military hated it when Princess Celestia left without escort. As far as she was concerned, the military was just as intimidating as Celestia herself.
“I’ll go in disguise,” offered Celestia.
“But I...”
The secretary saw the disappointment in Celestia’s eyes and quailed.
"Alright" came the subdued reply.
“Excellent”
Princess Celestia strode off to prepare an elaborate disguise. She didn’t want the guards to be able to track her. It would also be easy for Twilight Sparkle to see through any simple spell. It wouldn’t do for Twilight to be able to detect anything.
The door glowed yellow as Princess Celestia opened the door to a warded room. It was here that she performed her private duties. It was here that she had to make the disguise. Princess Celestia needed an intricate seal on her magic if she wanted to fool anypony.
The runes she had set up for that purpose started to hum as she fed them power. Tendrils snaked out and wrapped around her horn. They were caressing and intimate, reaching into the core of Celestia’s being. It was the only way a seal of that nature could ever function.
As the tendrils began to contract, less and less could be seen of Princess Celestia. After a moment, all that could be gleaned from the room was a glowing mass that slowly started to shrink. With a bright flash, the spell was finished, as most spells usually did. The door creaked open, as a pegasus pushed her way out. The pegasus was white, with a blue and purple mane. Her cutie mark was a clock that looked as if it was turning. No one paid her any attention as she exited the castle. The guards were paid to keep ponies out, not in.
The pegasus-turned alicorn sauntered down the streets. Despite the fact that she was not an alicorn, she still had to be somewhat dignified in the capital city, in order to blend into the nobles that were common in the upper districts. Her destination was the train station. It was hard work for most pegasi to fly their way to other towns and cities. As a result, the train network had become one of the most lucrative services, which is why Celestia had taken control of it to make sure no pony had to deal with exorbitant prices. As she arrived at the train station, she became progressively more giddy at the prospect of having actual time with her student, as well as the advantage of not being noticeably royal.
Meanwhile, the guards were having the time of their lives. The fact that the dragon had been so non-confrontational had lulled them into a false sense of security, as they were not used to handling dragons, due to the fact that there was a lack of experienced guards since dragons were so dangerous. Already, the two of the chariots had burned when the hatchlings had woken up and breathed fire in their panic. Each time, the guard were forced to land through the treetops, unable to fly over civilization. Each time, the guard grew more and more weary, as the young were hard to transfer.
It only took a few times before everything took a turn for the worse. The next time the guard took count to make sure they had all the hatchlings, one was missing. It was fortunate that none of the guards had been injured. Otherwise, they would not have the numbers to send out a search party. The rest of the guards moved on.
The search party, on the other hand, entered the Everfree forest.
