> Ambassador
>  by THOSEideas
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A young earth pony sat in the middle of Canterlot's road contemplating life. He wasn't stupid or anything, he just wanted somepony to notice him. So, he sat where everypony could see him, and ignore him. Mockin sighed as he realized that no matter what he tried no one was going to pay attention to a "blank flank". Heck he had already moved out of his parents home and he still didn't have a mark. Feeling bad for himself once again that day he got up to go but found that he couldn't.

"That's odd, I'm not sitting on anything sticky." Mockin stated as he once again tried to sit up, and once again found he couldn't. On his third try he looked down and saw that his body was in a soft, glowing, golden, magical field. Mockin started to panic as he realized that somepony was picking him up to move him and there was nothing he could do. 

"HEY!! Who the buck picks up another pony to move them without their consent!!!" 

"I do"

Mockin was suddenly spun around to face his kidnapper and he gasped. He suddenly regretted yelling what he did, because standing in front of him was none other then Celestia herself.

"Aaagggbbbhaa!!!" Mockin stammered really hoping he didn't offend the princess of day. 

"Strange... You don't have a Cutie Mark yet you are old enough to move away from your parents."

(Gulp)

"Are you frightened by my presence my little pony?"

"Well... frightened would by undermining it a little." Mockin squeaked as he finally managed to find his voice. Then he looked around as best he could while stuck in Celestias grasp and realized he finally got somepony's attention, and realized he didn't want it.

"Please, your majesty I didn...!" Mockin was cut off as Celestia spoke over him 

"Come with me." As she said this she released Mockin from her grasp and started to walk off towards Canterlot Castle.

Ohhh boy, i'm in for it now. Mockin thought to himself as he reluctantly followed Celestia. As he followed her he thought of the best way to get out of there before he was surely punished for what he said. Celestia being Celestia seemed to have read his thoughts and said:

"Do not worry if you think you have offended me, i'm actually slightly relieved that someone has actually said something 'unsophisticated' around me, intentional or not." 

Mockin who was expecting to be scolded and teleported to someplace terrible nearly fainted with relief.

~30 minutes later~ 

"Fetch my sister, now." Celestia commanded to one of her guards and he scampered away quickly. She then turned to Mockin and he shuddered.

"Tell me, what was a handsome young pony such as yourself sitting in one of the busiest roads in Canterlot?"

"Oh, well um, I was... Lost?" He's a terrible liar

"Mmmhmm" Mockin was saved by the guard who Celestia sent off, when he returned with Princess Luna walking behind him rather grumpily. Not good for Mockin's sake. 

"What do you want sis?"

"Well, we have a guest here that um, fits your description perfectly." This got both Luna's and Mockin's attention and they stared each other for a couple of seconds before Mockin realized he was being rude and bowed his head to the Princess of the Night. 

"Oh this just got interesting" Luna whispered to herself. "What is your name young colt?" Now speaking out loud.

"It's Mockin Sage Ma'am, but most people... Well actually nopony calls me anything." Mockin said sadly. Luna now studying the colt in front of her was wondering if maybe... Just maybe this was the pony she was looking for. Princess Luna had been having vivid dreams of a gray pelted, black maned, earth pony but none of her dreams showed her It's Cutie Mark so how could she find the Pony? Looked like she didn't need to find the pony, the pony found her.. so to speak. Plus, she didn't even know the importance of the pony in her dreams. Usually she would get a clue that she could work with, but not these ones.

"So um, when can I leave?" Asked Mockin tentatively.

"Not until we figure out why you are so much important." Stated Celestia, thinking that that could take a loooong time to happen, but if her sister was having dreams about this pony, then she was willing to commit to the task.

Mockin groaned as he came to this same conclusion and thought about how NOW he just wanted to be left alone. Funny how sometimes you think you want something, and when you get it, you don't want it anymore.

"Look, why would the two most powerful ponies in Equestria want an earth pony who has no Cutie Mark, nothing special, and no magic? I think you have the wrong pony." Mockin stated as he started to back away.

"Oh that's what we intend to find out, and your not going anywhere until we do. Celestia we still have a quest room open right?"

"I believe so"

"Good, then Mockin can stay here until we know what to do with him.

Sigh. This is going to be a very, very, very long...day? Week? Month? Who knows because Mockin sure doesn't. The two Princesses didn't either, but they were very curious as to what was going to happen. So the Lunar Princess showed Mockin his room and went to bed herself, leaving one very confused guard as to what he had just witnessed. 

"Just another day at Canterlot Castle." He muttered to himself.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin had a very troubling night, he had had a dream that didn't make any sense and he remembered it when he woke up which never happens to him. In the dream he had been in a black world, pitch black. He couldn't see anything. Then there was fire everywhere and a terrible roar split the air like a cold stinging knife. Mockin screamed as well but no one would be able to hear it over the noise. As if it couldn't get any worse he heard screaming as well, pony screams. Then a disembodied voice spoke over all the noise, the voice of wasn't loud or angry either. 

"This is what you are destined for young colt, if only you would choose to follow what was right in front of your nose."

Mockin was totally NOT freaked out of his mind. As Mockin begged for the noise to stop he woke up in a strange room with a cold sweat, wouldn't you panic? Mockin ran out of the room screaming a manly scream, but he didn't get very far because he bumped into a certain Princess of the Night. 

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Surprisingly she didn't sound angry, maybe just a little peeved, but not angry. Mockin just sat there trembling and trying to calm down as what he had seen settled over him.

"T-T-Terrible d-dream" 


"That's odd... I would have known if you had a bad dream are you sure?"

Mockin started to shiver because if the Princess of the Night herself couldn't tell he had a nightmare then something was extremely wrong. 

"W-W-WHAT!!! YOU COULDN'T EVEN HELP ME WHEN YOU'RE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT??!!" 

Mockin's panic was completely forgotten and was replaced with fear and confusion. Two things that don't go well together. Princess Luna now seeing how disturbed Mockin was immediately regretted saying what she had.

"I'm sorry Mockin, forgive me, no pony can hide their dreams from me so whatever scared you was either a vision or somepony contacting your mind. What did you see?"

"I...I saw fire, fire everywhere, then I heard the most terrifying roar... Then, everypony started to scream, it was horrible."

"I promise we will figure out what you saw, but was that it? Any more details?"

Mockin thought he remembered a voice but couldn't be sure. Naw, it was just another screaming voice.

"That was it. Wait. What time is it?"

"Its 2:30 am, you probably woke up half the castle with your screaming."

"Oh..."

Mockin's gray pelt went slightly red as he blushed, realizing how loud he must have been.

"Sorry, I woke up in a strange place and I had a cold sweat, which didn't help me calm down. I'll just go back to sleep, if I can..."

Mockin walked back to his room and for the first time studied it. It was a cozy space not too big to be an apartment, not too small to be a hotel room. There weren't any decorations besides the blinds for the windows and the lamb shades. He also noticed that there was a writing desk, a wardrobe, and average sized table for eating or whatever. He liked the simplicity, it reminded him of how his life was like that...Until yesterday. These thoughts gave him a sense of security as he layed on his bed and slowly fell asleep once again.

As Mockin woke up he felt refreshed despite his troubling dream. As he walked out of his room he realized that he was going to be in front of royalty. So, he went back inside and made sure he looked presentable. Now sure that he was publicly acceptable he once again walked out. Half way down the hall he realized that he didn't know where he was going, but as he looked around he didn't see anypony to ask. He was in trouble. After sitting there slightly panicky he chose to go down the hall and look around at the intersection.

"Well I guess I should trust my earth pony sense of direction."

So he went left, which led deeper into the castle. Mockin realized that he was terribly lost and whichever way he turned just made it worse. Why did the castle have to be symmetrical? But, as he trotted around the castle panicking he heard voices around a corner, thankful, Mockin trotted around the corner to find two guards talking to each other.

"Hey crash, did you hear about that earth pony colt that Celestia brought in?"

"Yeah I did, I also heard that he doesn't have a cutie mark."

"How is that possible? My younger brother looks his age and he has his."

Right when they said that, Mockin decided to sneeze, for no apparent reason. Both guards turned towards Mockin noticing him for the first time. Crash was the first one to realize who it was.

"Hey, speak of Sombra and look who shows up."

"So it is true! Look crash, he doesn't have a cutie mark!!"

All of the color drained from Mockin's face, not that there was much to begin with. Mockin stammered and spluttered and completely forgot that he was lost and needed help and he was rooted in place by fear.

"Wow, he's socially awkward isn't he? Can't even be recognized without turning white. Which I Have to admit is pretty impressive."

Mockin, slightly annoyed with himself for going stiff with fear, tried to regain his composure.

"Y-Yes well, whenever somepony mentions my lack of a cutie mark they then proceed to make fun of me."

Both guards looked slightly revolted with what Mockin said and both felt sorry for the pony.

"Well now that we know who you are let me Introduce us. This is crash, he's very dull-minded and is very clumsy.

"Hey!!!"

"And I'm Arrow, nuthin' too special about me."

Mockin, who was very releaved and less nervous now, could speak clearly; and remember why he wanted to talk to them.

"I'm Mockin, and I'm lost."

Both guards looked at each other and then turned back to Mockin.

"Where were you headed?"

"Umm..."

That's when he remembered that he didn't know where he was headed, and why he set off in the first place.

"Too...the court room"

"Oh! Well then you weren't far off, it's right down that hall and take your first left at the big doors."

"Thank you so much! No other pony has ever helped me before!"

As Mockin trotted down the hall Arrow and Crash returned to talking to each other. When Mockin reached the door he wasn't sure if he should knock or just walk in. He decided that this was the place where all ponies were accepted and welcome so he just went in. But when he was inside he didn't see either Celestia or Luna anywhere, he also didn't see any guards. Wasn't there guards posted outside these doors 24/7?

Little did he know that Princess Celestia was panicking because Mockin was not in his room when she went to check on him, he should have stayed there until somepony came.





> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where is he!!!" 

Celestia shouted in panic at her sister as she ran around the castle. Luna who had not seen her sister act like this in a very longtime, wasn't worried about Mockin. But, after a minute or two watching her sister run around Mockin's room looking in the dumbest places for him, she finnaly spoke up.

"Celestia calm down you are acting like a teenage filly on her first date with her secret crush. Also, why do you suddenly take so much interest in where he is? Is he your secret crush?"

Princess Luna said that last line with a smirk she couldn't hope to hide. Celestia who wasn't paying much attention, stopped in front of Luna and practicaly shouted:

"We need to find him because I think Equestria's fate rests in his hooves, or maybe just Canterlot's, But still!!"

"Wait slow down, how did you come to that conclusion? After one night of knowing him? He really is your secret crush..."

"Luna!! This is no time for joking around!! We need to find him because I recieved a warning from somepony that we needed to trust him!!"

Princess Luna, now completely caught off guard, ran off to find ponies to look for Mockin. While Celestia tried to calm down and think more carefuly about the situation. She, Celestia, co-ruler of all of Equestria had her mind infiltrated and had a warning planted there. That was a lot to take in for one day.


Meanwhile Mockin who was completely oblivious to the panic he caused was roaming around the court room looking at all the stain glass windows. He was completely engrossed in his studying of the beutiful artworks that he didn't hear the hoof steps come up behind him.

"Hello"

"Ididntouchanythingiswear!!"

Mockin shouted as he wipped around expecting a guard but was completely confused when he came face to face with a very unusual mare. She was older then him by what seemed like 10 years and she ha some deep looking scars, but he tried not to stare. She had a goldish brown mane and tail with a brown pelt. She, however, had a cutie mark which was a griffon with a scroll in it's beak. It was not usual for a pony to have another animal as thier cutie mark, but there are stranger things.

"Excuse me, but I don't think we have been introduced, I am Candy Plum but most just call me Plum. And you Are?"

"Oh um, I'm Mockin Sage but you can call me Mockin."

He didn't know why but this pony seemed very important for some reason, not just to Canterlot but to Equestria as a whole. Just then a guard poked it's head through the door and immediately shouted back the way it came in.

"He's in here!!"

Mockin heard a rush of hooves and two very flustered Princesses came barging in. Celestia was the first to speak.

"WHY DID YOU WANDER AROUND THE CASTLE WITHOUT TELLING US??!!!!!"

"Princess Celestia, please do not get angry at Mockin for I am the one who pursuaded him to walk around the castle showing him the splendor of the place."

Mockin who was not expecting this from a person who he just met but was quick to catch on as he tried to make himself look releaved. Celestia, who had calmed down a little at the explanation and the compliment to her castle, didn't shout as she talked this time.

"That's alright Mrs. Plum, but I wish you would tell us these things before you do them to save us the trouble of having a heart attack."

"I apologize, however can you tell me why you care so much about this colt?"

"We care because he has a purpose much like yours except not for the Griffins, Mockin judging by your expression you do not know that Mrs. Plum is the ambassador for the Griffins."

Mockin, who had heard about this ambassador, had never dreamed of actually meeting the pony. He also wasn't expecting the ambassador to be female. No he's not sexist.

"You're the ambassador?!! I..I'm...sweet Celestia! I actually got to meet you! What I meant to say was, It's an honor meeting you... Wait... Princess Celestia, you said I had a purpose much like hers but how is that possible? I don't even have a cutie mark."

Mockin wasn't the only one confused, Luna, Plum and the guard were confused as well. They were all staring intently at the Princess of the Day. 

"Yes I did say that and I... What are you still doing here? Don't you have a post to attend?"

"OH! Yes Ma'am, Right away Ma'am!"

The guard tried to hide his disappointment as he left not knowing what was going on. Just another day of being a guard, you do what you're told and shut up.

"Anyway, I was told by the pony in my vision that he needed to go to the mountains and get in youch with the Dragons."

"WHAT!!!"

Shouted three ponies simultaneously as they all looked at Princess Celestia with utter shock and disbelief written all over their faces.

"Please tell me your joking..."

"Wow, I thought I had it hard with the Griffins."

No one heard Mockin because he was now white and his mane a vague gray. He did not look like he was going to walk anytime soon. In fact if Mockin didn't have the little self control that he did, then he would have fainted right then and there. Thankfuly Celestia realised that she must have tromitized the colt and tried to soften the blow a little.

"Of course the pony who told me this didn't specify the name of the pony that was going to help us. She just described you perfectly so..."

She trailed off as she realised that no other pony would fit the description that she had recieved. Also, this didn't help ease Mockin's mind as he tried to grasp what Celestia had just said. 

"Y-Y-You w-w-want me to g-go t-to the m-mountains and speak t-to the DRAGONS??!!"

Finally finding his voice, Mockin yelled in utter disbelief and shock. Why would Celestia and I recieve similar messages from the same pony when I am a no-pony? Why would they care or even recognize me? This was a question he had been asking himself for five years. Which is one of the reasons he wanted to be noticed because then they could tell him why they noticed him or why he had purpose. He had a purpose now and he didn't like it, not one bit.

"What if I say no?"

"We don't know, but do you really want to find out? Maybe your vision might come true."

"Alright fine i'll do it, but if this will come true if I don't then what makes you think that they are going to listen to a pony now?"

"Hmmm... Well I had to prove myself to the griffins by wrestling they're biggest male. Which is how I got these scars."

Mockin did not like the sound of wrestling the biggest male Dragon.

"There has to be another way! I can't wrestle a Dragon! I would be stepped on and thats it!"

"Well..."

No one had an answer to his question, how could they? Very little was known about how Dragons acted. Mockin just sat in silence as he pondered what he should do, when he was compeled by an invisible force to speak, he didn't even know what he was going to say.

"I guess i'll wing it and see what happens."

"Thats the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

"You have a better one?"

"Well, do we know how soon he needs to leave?"

"Um, unfortunately it needs to be today, because thats the only way he will reach the mountains in a week which is when the dragons prepare to attack."

Everypony looked at Celestia in shock once again. Then Plum had an idea.

"Well thats good because he can come up with an idea on the way to the mountains."

"He will need somepony to protect him as he makes the journey which will unfortunately be on hoof. There are no trains that go to the mountains because of the Dragons."

"I might have a suggestion for who might want to tag along. They are both guards and they're names are Crash and Arrow."

Mockin only suggested them because he had met them and they looked bored out of their mind standing around in the castle all day. Celestia seemed to agree.

"That's a good idea, they've been dying to do a special job or something to spice up thier life again. They seem nice enough ponies too, have you met them?"

"Briefly" 

"Well that's settled then Crash and Arrow will escort you to the mountains and you will leave tonight!"

yipee
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin and his two guards had set off on their journey a couple hours earlier but not without some fussing. Crash and Arrow who had wanted to get out of the castle for some adventure never expected to go on what they thought was a suicide run. However, when faced with the potential death from dragons and Celestia's wrath, most would pick the first option. So after eating a very light dinner they set off on their journey. Crash being a Pegasus flew over top of them and scouted the area as Mockin and Arrow walked on the ground. They had traveled for two hours when they all decided that they should get some sleep and travel during daytime so they could see where they were going. The Problem with Dragons this time of year is that they go to the colder climates so they can cool off and hibernate. Which meant that the trio had to go all the way up north past the Crystal Empire, but they couldn't stop at the Crystal Empire either because that was to the northwest and they were going northeast. They didn't have to make a fire since it was warm enough for them to just huddle against each other and be warm enough. That was not going to be the case the further north they went however. Mockin was the first to wake up in the morning and he had a moment of confusion as he was staring at another pony's  flank while lying in the grass.

"Gaaah!"

"Wha...I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE!!"

Mockin's surprised exclamation had woken up Crash who immediately got into a fighting stance with his wings spread and his teeth bared. At least he wasn't a coward.

"Crash? Why are you so high strung?"

"Sorry that was my fault, for a second I forgot where I was and I panicked a little."

Crash now calming down but still casting anxious glances around them, went over to the saddle bags and looked for some dry apple slices to eat while they continued on thier journey. They traveled on in relative silence until Mockin couldn't handle the deafening silence.

"Soo, Arrow, what compelled you to join the Canterlot guard?"

"Well I wanted to follow in my Grandfather's hoof steps, I would have followed in my father's but he died when I was eight."

"Oh! I'm so sorry I di..."

"Don't worry about it my mother was a kind and caring pony and she treated my siblings and me well. Do you have any siblings?"

"No.. I was an only child. Don't get me wrong my parents love foals, It's just that something went wrong when I was born and my mom couldn't have any more foals. But I was always looked after by them."

"I see. Not sure where to take this conversation now, so tell me about where you grew up."

"Well I was born in Canterlot and We moved to Ponyville where I spent my foalhood learning how to act as an earth pony. Canterlot isn't a good place to teach earth ponies for some reason. But as I started getting older and more responsible we moved back to Canterlot so I could hopefully find my special talent, which didn't go as well as we all hoped. How did you get your cutie mark by the way?"

Arrow's cutie mark was a leaf blowing in the wind.

"I was really bored in my house with no one to pick on because my one brother was gone. So I decided to go and sneak up on my father who was always scaring the snot out of me whenever he got the chance. I had a chance at revenge so I took it, It was fall so there were dried leaves outside and he was trimming the hedge. Every time he closed the shears I took a step so that the *snip* would hide the *crackle*. I couldn't believe that I pulled it off as I Roared as load as I could in his ear, You should have seen how far he flew, my dad wasn't a very strong flier either. As I was laughing I felt a tingle on my flank and saw my cutie mark, I laughed even harder at the thought of how I got it from scaring my dad. It's a nice memory to have of him."

He ended the story with a chuckle as he looked up at Crash flying in the sky.

"So how did you and Crash meet up?"

"We have been friends since foalhood, always stuck together."

"Well i'm glad I can consider somepony my friend now, I didn't have any as a foal."

The two earth ponies walked on through the day, occasionally stopping for some food and a break. Crash, Mockin realized, didn't speak much which fit well with his cutie mark, his cutie mark is a rock. Yes, a rock. Mockin figured he was the strong silent type right away. However, Crash came down early one time because after flying all day, his wings were cramped. So Mockin figured that this was the best chance to talk to him.

"So...Crash, how did you get you your cutie mark?"

"I got it by standing up for all the younger fillies and foals at my school, which was how I met Arrow. I was one of the first students to get a cutie mark and then whenever a bully saw me approaching they would stop immediately."

"Wow, I wish I went to your school then. I never had anypony stand up for me, I had to learn to fight for myself."

"I am standing up for you now, that is the least I can do."

"Thank you"

The trio decided to stop for the night at a small clearing and build a fire. They needed to keep warmer now that they were getting into the north lands. Also, they were now in the danger zone for wandering ponies, only the brave or stupid live out here. 

"We probably won't need a big fire, and there aren't any life threatening creatures this close to the outer edge of the forest. So we will be safe."

"If you say so"

~~~

Mockin woke up to find that the sun was up, but not very high in the sky. As he looked around he noticed that Crash and Arrow were gone, he panicked a little because he was worried about his friends. However he calmed down when he saw Crash walk out of the bushes nearby and a couple seconds later Arrow came out of the woods on the other side.

"Where were you guys"

"Taking a leak, I had to have a little privacy from you two. We may be friends but we are not that close."

"I was scouting the area."

"Oh cool, which reminds me that I need to go too."

As Mockin got up he saw the other two ponies go to the saddle bags looking for food. Once again they set off with Crash above the two earth ponies and Arrow slightly in front of Mockin. Suddenly Crash dove downwards and shouted at them.

"Wolves are up ahead and they are coming right for us! Quick get back to back."

"Ok what do we do when they attack us?" 

"You buck um in the jaw and you headbutt them senseless."

"Here they come!"

Six wolves surrounded the trio and barred their teeth while growling at them. Slowly the wolves crept inwards and started yelping at the ponies.

"Don't attack unless provoked. Got it?"

"Yeah"

Just then a wolf leaped forward at Crash who met him half way with his hoof to the wolf's jaw. The wolf reeled and yelped loudly which provoked all the other wolves to attack. Two came at Arrow together, Arrow turned, bucked and caught one right in the nose. However, the second one bit down on Arrow's left hind leg making him cry out in pain. Mockin would have helped but he had two wolves of his own to deal with. One wolf came at him from the side and caught in the ribs, winding him and making him loose his hoofing. The second wolf took the opportunity to go for Mockin's throat. Mockin who had noticed this took Crash's words literally and headbutted the wolf, sending it whimpering and yowling through the woods. Crash who had already taken care of his remaining wolf turned towards the wolf that was biting Arrows leg and bucked it in the jaw, breaking it. The wolf that was now crippled couldn't make a yowling sound but ran out of the clearing into the woods. The remaining wolf noticed that it was the only one left and turned tail and ran.

"Everyone ok?"

"I'm winded but will be fine, Arrow may not be though." 

"No i'm fine I just need to stop the bleeding and keep off of it for a little bit."

They sat there regaining their breath and Crash treated Arrows wound, making sure it wouldn't get infected from wolf saliva. Eventually Arrow got up and announced that he was ready to head out again, at a slower pace.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Mockin and the others traveled along, they encountered a cottage. They all decided decided to take a look to see if there was anypony inside, and if there was, then they would ask for food and warmer clothing for the colder part of the trip. As they approached they looked for any signs of a pony living there and Arrow saw that there was a wild flower garden which was weeded. There was definitely somepony living here. Not wanting to scare the pony or ponies inside they walked up to the fence that surrounded the cottage.

"Hello? Anypony in there?!"

"We just need some food and help for my friend here! We mean you no harm."

As nopony responded they started to wonder what they should do. If there was a pony inside and wasn't responding, that could mean that they want them to go away. But, how could they know that? They weren't responding to tell them they were there. So they decided to calmly walk forward and announce they were doing so. Hey, they didn't want to be magicked away if the potential pony inside was a unicorn. When they got to the steps leading up to the door they paused, then Mockin spoke.

"Well I guess I'll go first, wish me luck."

Mockin walked up to the door and knocked, then when nothing happened he decided to slowly open the door. Mockin took one carefully placed step inside, then another, and another. He started to calm down but decided to say hello once more just for good measure. Positive that nopony was inside, he turned around to the others.

"Nopony is inside, should we just wait here until somepony does arrive?"

"Ok, but we shouldn't touch any of their stuff and make it obvious that we are here, so we don't wake up to a knife at our throats."

So, Mockin and the others settled down on the wood floor and looked around trying to find out more about their "host". What they didn't see were photos, but they did see lots of food and various plants. That might mean there were more then one pony. Crash was getting antsy.

"I'm going to check the perimeter and see whats out back."

Mockin and Arrow just nodded and continued their search of the cottage. Arrow found some potions and medical equipment and started to work on his leg, he figured the host wouldn't mind it if he did. Mockin however, looked in the room branching off of the main room and found ONE bed. With the sheets made. Another sign that the pony was still around. 

"Hey guys? Come out and look at this for a second."

Mockin and Arrow scrambled out of the cottage over to Crash who was staring at a well. 

"This is definitely somepony's HOME not just a quiet place to stay at for a week or so. However, I don't see a garden to grow food, do you think they just eat wild stuff?"

"They could if they wanted too I guess, how long should we stay here? Judging by the map we have one night that we can spend, do you want to spend it here?"

"It's the only place from Canterlot to the mountains so I vote yes."

"Yea"

"Agreed, then we are staying here for the night."


For the rest of the day they set down their saddle bags and put up a fire in the fire pit for the night. For safety reasons they agreed that they should keep one pony as a sentry then rotate. However, as the night dragged on and no pony came to the cottage-home they all decided to fall asleep and get as much rest as possible, the door opened. And a split second later a blackish blue blur pinned Crash and Arrow down while holding a knife to the throat of Mockin.

"Sweet Celestia!"

"Agh, my leg!"

"I'm going to kill you if I get the chance!"

The blackish blue form just kept on staring at Mockin with the knife at his throat, completely unfazed by the struggles of Crash and Arrow. As Mockin stared at the figure in front of him he realized it was a Lunar Pegasus! What was a Lunar Pegasus doing in the middle of nowhere?

"State your business before I slit your throat!"

"We were just looking for food and some warm clothing before we traveled to the mountains! We didn't take anything I swear!"

The Lunar Pegasus still looked critically at Mockin before spitting out the knife and letting Arrow up. He didn't let Crash up until he calmed down a little. 

"Let me up!"

"No. What are you three doing in my home? And what gives you the right to trespass on my property?!"

"As I said before we were looking for food and clothing and a warm place to sleep."

"Hmm, what business do you have with the mountains?"

"Can I get up now?"

"Yes"

"We have been sent by Princess Celestia and Luna to talk to the dragons and persuade them not to go to war with the ponies in Equestria."

"So you say, do you have any proof?"

"Uh, no... No we don't"

"Then why should I give you my resources for a cause that I don't even know exists?"

"Well bec...you... I don't know how to prove it to you."

"Hmph, there is warm clothing over there in the cellar and plenty of dried and salted food over there, take whatever."

"Thank you very much, what is your name?"

"Something I keep a secret on purpose, and I won't tell you the purpose either so don't ask."

Mockin and Crash both went over to where the Lunar Pegasus pointed for clothing while Arrow went over to the food to fill up their saddlebags. The Lunar Pegasus just sat there staring at them all as the trio wandered around his home. What Mockin saw in front of him was jackets and fur coats made out of animal pelts, there was wolf, cougar, bear, deer, reindeer, fox, and others he couldn't name. Mockin just sat there looking at the coats, Crash sat there too, staring, open mouthed at the animals on the wall. Mockin couldn't fathom why a pony would kill all these animals and use their pelts as coats. The Lunar Pegasus came over and stopped behind the two ponies.

"I kill them because I need to eat, I kill them because I need to keep warm. I do not kill them for sport or because I want to, do not think me a monster for what I need to do to survive."

Both ponies thought about the position that the Lunar Pegasus was in, and he was right, because he had to eat meat didn't make him a terrible pony for killing to survive. So Mockin looked at the pelts with a new eye and saw life lines and warm bodies instead of dead creatures, he sighed and went over to a wolf pelt that was made into a coat. He saw that the fur was facing inwards to keep the heat in better and so that the rough skin didn't chaff anything. He also saw the wolf skull which was made into a hat/helmet, it had fur lining the inside the skull. The scariest part was that it was big enough for him to stick his head in it, he looked at the Lunar Pegasus with a new eye and respect, if he could kill a bear or a wolf that was bigger then him, then he shouldn't have to live out in the wilderness.

"Why do you live out here and not in a village or city?"

"I like the quiet and the freedom, I do sometimes visit the neighboring villages and towns but i'm mostly feared. They think I will eat their foals if I had the chance."

Arrow who had finished packing the saddlebags came over to pick out a coat himself. When he came down the steps into the cellar he stopped when he saw the pelts, he just stared at them wide-eyed and shuddered. Eventually he came down the remaining steps and scowled at the wolf pelts, instead he got a cougar coat, which didn't have a hat. Crash who was larger then the other two ponies got a Black bear pelt, with a hat. The coats all had front sleeves with the coat hanging over their back and extending slightly past the base of their tails. No they weren't like dresses, in fact they looked like a force to be reckoned with.

"As much as I hate to admit it, these coats are really warm."

The trio followed Arrow as he walked up the steps into the living room and layed down for the night. The lunar Pegasus just walked out the door and tended to his flower garden.

~~~

In the morning the Lunar Pegasus was yawning and looking bleary eyed at the trio as they woke up. They all said good morning to the Lunar Pegasus as they got up and ate their meager breakfast. After breakfast the trio got their saddlebags and walked to the door. 

"Wait."

The trio turned around and stared at the Lunar Pegasus.

"My name is Watching Fangs, please do not tell anypony this and take care of yourselves when you reach the dragons."

"Thank you for everything, we don't have much money but you can have this."

Mockin threw down the bits that they had, which was 100 in total. Fangs just sat there and stared at the bag of bits then thanked them but said he would give it to the ponies in the neighboring villages that needed it the most. As everypony said their goodbyes the trio head out and walked northeast drawing closer to the mountains and the Dragons with every step they took.
> Chapter 6 (Gore in this chapter)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why couldn't Dragons live on a tropical beach with coconuts and palm trees?"

Everypony silently agreed as the trio trudged through the knee deep snow and the wind whipping their faces. No pony was happy about the weather that they were in the coats helped a lot but it didn't keep the snow from freezing their legs off in the snow. The Worst part was at night, they couldn't find anything to burn to start a fire so they had to pile themselves in a tight group with their coats covering all of them and the saddle bags on top. The day wasn't bad unless it was windy like it was now, the worst part about a flat expanse was that there wasn't any cover of any sort. The trio thought of an idea to take the edge of the wind off a bit, they would take turns hiding behind the pony who was closest to the wind so they wouldn't get hit by the worst of it. This went on for a day and night, non stop wind and snow in their faces. They couldn't even stop to get some rest because if they did then they would freeze. This was hell frozen over.

"Does anypony else see that jutting up white thing, or am I hallucinating?!!

"No I See it too, come on we better hurry or else we might freeze." 

The ponies traveled on with new motivation as they thought of shelter from the wind, as they got there they found a rock jutting up out of the snow and it had created a snow drift to hide behind. The ponies huddled up behind the rock thankful for the cover from the wind. Silently they all agreed to get some sleep while they could because they might not get another chance like this. 

~~~

When they woke up they found themselves encased in a wall of snow on three sides and a rock on the other. The snow walls weren't deep though so they were able to get up to the surface and look where they were going. There wasn't any wind now so they could talk normally to each other.

"Hey, which way are we headed?"

"To the right, because we came in from the left."

"Lets eat first because I think this is going to be the only time that we get the chance."

After eating their usual rashions of dried fruits and veggies they set out in the now belly deep snow. At least it wasn't windy. The problem with belly deep snow was going through it, it's very dense and you need a lot of strength to do it. So instead of walking side by side to block out the wind, they walked in single file and rotated so they could regain their strength to do it again. They only had a day's worth of traveling until they reached the mountains, and the dragons. That left them about two days to talk to the dragons and persuade them to not kill everypony in Equestria, that's not a lot of time. Mockin's only wish was that they actually got to talk to the dragons instead of being killed on sight. The best way Mockin had come up with to gain the dragons trust was to approach their leader directly, he figured the dragon must have some sense if he was the leader.

"Hey, did anyone come up with an idea for talking to the dragons?"

"I've heard they like Phoenix eggs, but we would need to find a nest first."

"I have read that the younger dragons will approach first and inflict minor wounds to a newcomer, if the run away or beg for it to stop they see it as weakness and cast you out. So, if we approached directly then we would be injured and tested before we are able to talk to the older dragons."

Mockin and Arrow just stared at Crash as he shoveled these facts right onto their brains, they couldn't comprehend that Crash had said that many words in one go.

"What?"

"That's brilliant! We may actually have a chance of gaining their trust now. Also, why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"I dunno, I just remembered now."

Crash seemed very confused so they just let it slide. However, this news brought good news and bad, the good was that they had an actual plan, the bad was that they would have to be injured and wounded to prove their worth. Mockin shuddered as he thought of dragon claws cutting his flesh and tearing away at his pelt, worse, he thought of what would happen if they breathed fire at the ponies. He just hoped they didn't. The mountains were very large as the ponies trudged on through the snow towards their target. They had only come in sight a day ago, but now they were VERY hard to miss. He mountains were covered in snow with a few patches of exposed rock sticking up here and there, no tree was dumb enough to grow out here. In fact they couldn't find any sign of life, was it because of the Dragons? Or was that the reason why the Dragons settled here in the first place? They had a lot of questions that needed to be answered soon before their heads exploded with the vastness of them.

"Well, here is the base of the first mountain."

They had arrived, at long last they had reached the mountains. Now they just needed to find the dragons, which should be easy, right? Wrong, these dragons knew who to hide their young from the small animals that snuck into unsupervised dragon nests and kill the baby dragons. Usually snakes but out here in the cold it was a snow fox that would even attempt at trying to get a Dragon egg or baby. 

"Where should we start looking first?"

"They probably already know we are here."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we came across an open field of snow with no cover, and Dragons are would be able to smell us a mile away. Heck I don't know who couldn't smell us right know."

"So, what should we do?"

"I say we travel deeper into that ring of mountains and find what's inside."

The trio head out for a cluster of five mountains connected to each other except for a gap big enough to fit a small town in. It took the trio two hours to reach the gap and when they did they saw an amazing sight. The mountains stretched upwards on both sides creating a bottle neck. The mountains stretched up higher then what most pegasi could reach so it was a perfect place to hide an entire species. However, they didn't go unnoticed, one of the scary things about dragons is that they can be extremely silent for their massive bulk. Arrow was the first to figure out that they were being watched, so he turned around and was staring at the fangs of a twenty foot long Dragon. As he screamed for his life the Dragon roared drowning out Arrow completely and making the other two ponies nearly die of surprise. Mockin and Crash turned around and saw what had roared and immediately wished they hadn't. The Dragons roar didn't only warn the two ponies but the entire Dragon fleet, which were now surrounding the trio. It was an amazing sight to behold, as well as one that would clean out a constipated ponies bowels. The trio were too frightened to speak first but the dragons weren't.

"Well well, looks like we have a snack for our young. How generous of them."

"WAIT! We are here to speak to your leader!!"

"Oh! It speaks! What a surprise, but if what you say is true then we will just have to test that now won't we?"

The other Dragons just laughed as they backed up to let the teenage dragons come towards their prey. When the teen Dragons all lined up Mockin counted 12 in total, this was going to be the best day of their lives.

"Try not to cut too deep mind you I want to see what they want, IF they can make it."

"No promises"

Replied one of the teenage Dragons as he stepped forward to Mockin. To be honest Mockin, was more scared of how the other Dragons seemed to enjoy this, then the Dragon approaching him. The Dragon walked up to him with his claws out stretched and ran his claw down the side of Mockin's face. Blood seeped out of the cuts on the side of his face and ran down his neck. Mockin shook with the effort to not scream. The Dragon just laughed and went to Arrow and Crash doing the same thing to each pony. The next Dragon walked up and did the same thing as the first Dragon but on the other side. Three more Dragons came up and inflicted wounds on the ponies on various parts of their bodies. Mockin would be surprised if he would be alive at the end of this with all the blood they had lost. The next Dragon had the longest claws and knew it. He walked up and went to Mockin's hip, where his cutie mark should have been. He sat there and then stabbed Mockin's side just below the spine and in between the ribs, he had some practice with this move because he missed every single vital organ. Every Dragon gasped as the Dragon did this, they hadn't known a pony to get this far in the test but to pass the most agonizing of all the tests with only a whimper and unconsciousness was a first. The twenty foot dragon stepped forward after this dragon had done his damage and spoke.

"Enough, these ponies will need medical attention after what you just did to them Needle. You could have killed them."

"I knew what I was doing, besides why should I care if they die? They are the ones who drove is to such drastic measures in the first place."

"I know, but to come here is a suicide mission, and we nearly proved that. We must come to terms with these ponies."

After the twenty foot Dragon had spoke he looked at Crash who was still sitting there with blood-shot eyes and blood covering his pelt.

"How do you stand here and look at us with such determination after you have lost at least three pints of blood?"

"I stand here because I will protect my friends with my life before any of you threaten there exsistence any further than you have. If you don't miiind I... I will beee....."

And with that, Crash passed out as well.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin woke up on a pile of soft, warm squishy stuff. He didn't care what it was he was just happy that he was in a proper bed for once. Or was he? Mockin opened his eyes and immediately closed them because the light blinded him and he tried to get the after image out of his vision. Mockin slowly cracked one eye open and got used to the blinding light, but as he looked around he saw that he was in the mouth of a cave next to a roaring fire and sleeping lumps of leather. Mockin tried to remember what happened but couldn't because he had the worst headache of his life. Instead he tried to get up and look more closely at the sleeping lumps but as soon as he tried to get up he almost blacked out again from his headache flaring. He felt like this is what a hangover was like, however, he never touched any alcohol in his life. That's when he remembered that they had reached the mountains and...did something....what was it? Speaking of which, Mockin looked around but didn't see either of his two friends. As Mockin tried to get up the second time he was forced back down by a force that was behind him. Mockin looked up (he was on his back) and saw the weirdest thing ever, it looked like a reptile of some sort, but it had eyes on the bottom of it's head and its mouth was at the top. 

"Your finally conscious, that's good, but you still have a lot of blood missing from before. I'm surprised you woke up as fast as you did because you had at least a sixth of your blood missing."

Mockin just stared at this strange creature with an upside down face and pondered what it told him. He was wounded? When? Why was he here in this cave and not in a hospital? Something was very wrong.

"Where am I?"

"Oh...that's not good, It seems that because you lost a lot of blood it will be a while before you remember everything that happened. Tell me, what do you think of dragons?"

"Dragons? Why would you want to know?"

"Just curious."

"Well I think that they are misunderstood and little is know about them."

"Hmm interesting, what would you do if you came face to face with one?"

"I would probably run and scream for my life. Or maybe I would ask it how its day was. By the way what are you? I haven't seen your species before, i'm sorry if that offends you."

"Oh you have met my species before, you may not like us for it when you remember but hopefully you will understand."

Mockin was totally confused now, the creature said he had met its kind before and that he had memory loss. 

"By the way where are my friends?" 

"They are in good cl-hoofs. So don't worry about them."

Mockin's brain started running properly when his body created more blood that slowly filled his brain back to full. However, with it came an even worse headache and the pain that his body was in. He also remembered the trial yesterday and the creatures species type: Dragon.

"How long was I out?"

"Almost a day."

"SWEET CELESTIA!! Ooowww...."

Mockin sat bolt upright as he heard how much time had passed and regretted it instantly as his headache flared again. 

"Look, your going to kill yourself if you keep worrying about another pony when you should be worried about yourself. I'll go look at your friends and tell you how they are, OK? Stay put."

Mockin sat their looking at the bodies that he now realized were Dragon bodies and all of them were still asleep. Mockin couldn't judge what time it was because he couldn't see the sun, but he guessed it was around afternoon. Which got him more anxious because the trio was running out of time as the Dragon siege was approaching. Come to think of it, why was he being cares for when the Dragons hated ponies? This made no sense at all. Soon the Dragon came back and informed him that his friends were faring better then he was. A slightly releaved Mockin felt like he could be more open about himself now.

"My name is Mockin, what is yours?"

"My name is Jewel, and yes I am female before you ask, I know it can be hard for others to tell Dragon genders apart but I am a girl."

"Why are you taking care of me?"

"Because our races don't understand each other very well and we would like to learn more about you."

"Funny you should mention that, the whole point of us getting here was so that I could learn more about you guys."

One of the Dragons that was sleeping stirred and got up after stretching like a dog or cat. The dragon walked over to Jewel and brushed its side against her as it walked past. Jewel didn't seem to notice.

"Why did that Dragon do that."

"Do what?"

"He brushed past you like he was annoyed with you."

"Oh! That's our way of saying hello or good morning to each other. You don't do the same?"

"No...we just say hello or good morning."

Both creatures looked at each other as if the other was crazy, they had already found out something new about the differing cultures.

"So how do you say goodbye?"

"We rub our cheek against theirs as we walk away. If you do both at the same time then that means you want to talk in private."

"Huh, that kinda makes sense I guess, we talk with words not actions. Do you have an action for saying thank you or your welcome?"

"Yup, thank you is clawing the ground in front of you and your welcome is scratching the ground with your tail."

"Isn't this hard to remember? Cause I mean couldn't you misinterpret something and get the wrong idea?"

"So your saying you never misinterpreted something another pony said?"

"Well...no bu-"

"So then I don't see why that would matter much if every language does it."

Mockin shut his mouth at that last remark, there wasn't a single language that hadn't had a misinterpretation in it to his knowledge. 

Mockin and jewel continued to talk about their differing cultures. After Mockin had asked most of his questions he let Jewel ask her's. As they continued to talk, more and more Dragons woke up, some noticing Mockin and others not so much. One even brushed up against his side as he went past, that was a start at least.

"Who dominates in a family?"

The question was so out of place it caught Mockin off guard and he drew a blank.

"Sorry?"

"When two ponies get married who dominates the family? Who's on top?"

"Oh...well that depends really, because the married couple usually share all the responsibilities of being the head of the family."

"There isn't a clear ruler?! Wow! How do you make decisions then? Here, the females dominate and only if the female is killed or exiled will the male become in charge of the family."

Mockin couldn't believe his ears, the female ruled the family indefinitely? Unless of an extreme case? How did the coupe with that? Mockin wasn't sexist he just couldn't believe that there was a designated leader in a family. 

"Um...how...oh boy, how often do you breed?"

"..."

"You don't have to tell me! I was just wanted to know more about Dragons in general!"

"Its fine...obviously in your culture that is a less personal question, because here it is a question that you only ask your mate when you want to...um..."

Mockin's face went red with embarrassment as he realized how awkward that must have been for her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Thats fine, one of the reasons why it is only asked between couples is because it varies between dragon, for instance a female dragon could mate every year but only have 2-3 eggs where as another dragon could only mate every two years would have 6-7 eggs."

"I see...so how does that work? Do you mate for life?"

"Yes, although things can happen and the two will split up."

"That's just like us! We mate for life but sometimes the marriage could be compromised. So to speak."

Mockin and Jewel were both happy that they found something in common between they're cultures. A dragon walked into the cave and stopped by Jewel to lick the side of her face before staring at Mockin intently.

"And who is this? What is your name?"

The dragon had a brief and gruff voice but he didn't seem upset about Mockin's presence.

"I'm Mockin..."

Mockin was still confused why the dragon had licked Jewel, but decided to hold his question until later.

"This very rude and handsome dragon is my mate, Razor."

Razor just stared at me and didn't blink, he was sizing him up and wondering why he was so important all of a sudden.

"Well fir, I am going to out hunting see around OK?"

"Yeah sure whatever, have a good time!"

Jewel looked back at Mockin and guessed he had more questions.

"When he licked me that was a more closer way of saying hello, only used for family and mates. Also, fir is short for 'Fire in my Heart' which is another way of addressing a mate."

"Oooooh, we say, honey or babe, or something like that. And instead of licking we kiss each other.

"What's a kiss?"

Mockin stared at the dragon in front of her and wondered how she hadn't heard of a kiss.

"A kiss is when two ponies lock their lips to each others, more intimate ones are when you stick your tongue in the other ponies mouth. You only do the second part to a mate.

"Hmmm, interesting, very interesting."

Mockin was thinking the same and was about to voice his thoughts when he felt a tingle and pulse on his flank. He turned his body to get a better look and found what his whole life had led up to. His Cutie Mark.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin couldn't believe what he was staring at. His cutie mark! He was speechless, he couldn't think about anything else. His cutie mark was a black, gray, sleeping, dragon. But what was just as interesting was the mark on the dragons flank, it was a spitting image of himself! He had a cutie mark with himself in it, this was unheard of. Finnaly Mockin regained control of his body and jumped in the air whooping his delight for the whole world to hear, completely ignoring the pain in his head.

"I AM COMPLETE!!!!"

Jewel winced at the noise that Mockin made even though dragons were used to loud noises this was a little too loud.

"I don't understand. Why are you so happy? Uh oh...you just woke everybody up."

Mockin was baffled at what jewel said about how she doesn't understand why he is so happy. He completely missed what Jewel said about the other dragons.

"What? You don't have cutie marks? Hmm that makes my cutie mark even weirder, then how do yo..."

"WHO'S MAKING ALL THAT NOISE!!"

Mockin flinched and clutched his head as the pain from his headache kicked in and the dragon's roar pounded through his skull. After covering his ears for a couple seconds he took his hooves away and slowly shifted himself so he was facing the scourge of the roar. Before him stood the leader of the dragons whose name he still didn't know, he looked annoyed but not angry, thank Celestia.

"You could have woken up the little ones! Are all ponies this rude?"

"No, i'm sorry I was just happy that I got my cutie mark, I didn't want to wake anypon...dragon up."

"Hmph...Jewel get the others, we have something to discuss."

"Yes Granite."

"Follow me pony, I will show you your new home."

Mockin followed Granite out into the clearing in the mountains and was greeted with something he didn't expect. The clearing had no snow on the ground and there were dragons taking naps outside of caves. As Mockin looked closer he saw a name scratched above each cave mouth. A family name? Mockin was so intrigued by his surroundings that he didn't notice Crash and Arrow walk up next to him. Arrow was leaning on Crash's shoulder and limping. 

"Yo Mockin, yoo-hoo! Wake up dude!"

"Huh! Oh sorry it's good to see you guys. Are you two ok?"

Both ponies were staring at Mockin's flank with wide eyes. Mockin got his cutie mark!

"Dude! You got your cutie mark! Do you know what its for?"

"No, not really, but I think It's got something to do with dragons."

Mockin then jumped as he realized something that Granite had said to him as they walked out of the cave. His new home! He couldn't stay here! He had plans back in Canterlot!

"Granite? What did you mean when you said 'my new home'?"

"You are a part of the tribe now, so there for you are going to live with us. Isn't that one of the reasons you came here?"

"We-Well...you see...oh no."

"What is the reason you came to see us if it is not to live with us and learn our ways?"

"we came to persuade you to not attack our kind and destroy Canterlot."

Mockin and Arrow stared at Crash in dismay as he straight up told this 20 foot dragon that they came here for political reasons and not because they wanted to be one of them.

"What? We have had troubles with your kind before but not enough to go to war. Why would we do that?"

"We received a warning that you were going to burn down Canterlot. Are you not going to war?"

"No! We are a peaceful race! Whatever you might have been told or taught about dragons I encourage you to forget it now, before you judge us!"

Granite had gotten mad by the accusation that these ponies had made against the dragons, he was considering eating them (not really, he was still mad though). The trio of ponies realized their mistake and were glad that they weren't banished or worse.

"You are right, we shouldn't have come into a culture that we know little about and think we knew everything. That's how wars get started."

The realization hit them that this conversation could have gone a lot differently if they said something ruder then what they had, or if somepony else was sent. 

"Hmm interesting. I can see that you have come here with good intentions, but to have the full effect you will need to learn our ways. And for that to happen you will need to live with us so we both benefit from this exchange."

"Ok...I will stay but Crash and Arrow came here to protect me so do not force them to stay against their will for only doing what they were told."

"Wouldn't dream of it, they can leave if they would like."

"Uh we wouldn't like to, you see we got this far saving Mockin's arse so it would be just plain rude if we left right after."

"Fine we will all stay then, but how will Celestia find out? We can't leave, and we can't have a dragon go back so how will we notify them?"

Arrow grinned and looked at Granite.

"I have an idea."

12 hours later, in Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle was walking down the streets of Canterlot towards the castle. It had been a while since she had walked down the streets of Canterlot without somepony following her to keep her safe. However, now she had a mob following her to meet her and talk to her about getting her to appear on this or that. She didn't want this attention just because she was the newest princess, she wanted it for who she was. But she didn't get to choose how society thought of her. Twilight was only in Canterlot because Celestia had requested her presence, and told her to enjoy the city before coming to see her. Now Twilight wished she wore a cloak to hide herself. With a sigh she walked up to the doors to Canterlot Castle and the guards opened them for her. As soon as the doors closed behind her she sprinted into the court room and found Celestia sitting on her throne.

"Princess! It's so good to see you!"

Twilight ran up to her and hugged Celestia's neck.

"It's good to see you too Twilight, but do you remember  when I told you about Mockin? The pony I sent to talk to the Dragons? Well I want you to get your friends with the elements to make sure that there won't be an attack on Canterlot of he fails."

"Oh, yes Princess I can do that."

"If you are wondering why I didn't ask your friends to come it is because I just wanted you to know. They will find out when the time is right."

A guard burst through the doors panting and gasping for breath.

"Princesses! Dragons...dragons are approaching...must be thirty..."

And with that the guard passed out leaving Celestia and Twilight stunned and confused. 

"No! It is too early! How is this possible!"

"Celestia I will teleport to Ponyville and back right away."

And with that Twilight disappeared just as Luna burst through a pair of side doors.

"Celestia! We must get the city evacuated! Now! You warn the citizens and I will organize the guards."

"Alright Luna, we have only minutes to spare though."

Approaching dragons

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Positive! The guard couldn't even hurt one scale on a Dragons back!"

Mockin was still concerned because Celestia could get the Elements of Harmony. Although the Elements wouldn't work would they, the Dragons weren't going to threaten anyponies life so the Elements would have no effect on them. The plan was that the Dragons would surround the Castle but only Granite would land, dropping Mockin, Crash, and Arrow off his back as he did so. The trio of ponies were wearing their animal coats to protect themselves from the icy wind as the Dragons were much faster then any Pegasus. The trio figured as soon as the crowd saw ponies on the Dragons back they would calm down, made sense right? Oh boy. As the dragons approached the trio could see the royal guard panicking and running around trying to get organized. Also what looked like Princess Luna rallying her lunar pegasi to take on the dragons if needed.

Canterlot Castle 

All Celestia could do was hope that Twilight got back from Ponyville very soon or else the guard would break formation and run. They weren't trained to go up against dragons, just the odd pony who wanted trouble. Celestia heard a sparkle and zap and turned around to see Twilight and the other Elements running towards the incoming dragons.

"Quickly Twilight! You need to stop these dragons immediately!"

Twilight and the Elements got in there usual positions and charged the Elements, the dragons just kept on coming. Then Twilight opened her eyes to reveal them as pure white, ready to strike the dragons with the Elements of harmony. But nothing happened. Twilight slowly blinked away the white eyes and looked at the dragons with fear in her now normal eyes. 

"I-It didn't work! The dragons have resisted it somehow!"

The surrounding guards all looked at the dragons that had now circled Canterlot Castle with fear in their eyes instead of panic. Then a very large dragon descended and landed in front of Luna and Celestia who were staring defiantly at the dragon, but then three figures jumped off the back of the dragon. One bear, one Cougar, one wolf, but they all had bodies of ponies. The one with the Cougar pelt stepped forward and let out a cackling laugh.

Trio POV

"Cough! Cough!"

"Hey Arrow are you ok?"

"Yeah i'm good, its just been a while since I've laughed, Cough!"

"Why is everypony still staring at us?"

Crash who was completely against this idea snorted.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you scared the crap out of an entire city with a hoard of dragons and then expect three ponies dressed in animal skins jumping off the back of the largest dragon to calm them down!"

Crash's voice got steadily louder and didn't stop to take a breath with his explanation, he was pissed to say the least.

"Oh...right, maybe we should've done this differently."

"W-W-Who are you and what do you mean by threatening our entire city with this offense?!"

Mockin looked at Luna with confusion, couldn't she tell it was him? 

"Luna...its us...here let me take this off."

Everypony stared at the figure in horror as it peeled it's skin off to reveal...a pony? That's not right, and it looked just like Mockin...wait a minute.

"YOU CAME HERE ON THE BACK OF A DRAGON TO TELL US THAT YOU MADE IT?!!! I'm impressed, didn't think you would be the show off type."

Even Granite stared at Celestia as she shouted then went to a calm and collected voice in an instant. She wasn't mad? Or even worried in the slightest? That's kind of an insult to a dragon's ego. However, everypony else who didn't know who Mockin was just thought he was a very powerful sorcerer that had tamed a dragon hoard. Also, when Mockin took off his coat it revealed the cuts and scratches from his trial which only worsened someponies fears.

"Well, we made it..."

"You should have warned US at least."

"How?"

Celestia and Luna just looked at each other and couldn't come up with an answer. Arrow and Crash both took off their cloaks and stood next to Mockin as Luna came up to Granite to introduce herself and make amends. The trio wasn't out of the spot light yet though, they had made thousands of ponies run from their homes and traumatized many ponies. Twilight walked up to Mockin and looked him up and down trying to avoid his wounds.

"Hey Celestia? You told me he didn't have a cutie mark, why does he have one then?"

"He doesn't...sweet (Celestia?)! How did you get yourself as part of your cutie mark? Is it because your full of yourself?"

"Um, no. Although I can see why you would think that. I got it when I was talking to the dragons in the tribe I have been adopted into. I think it means that I am a good relation to them and I can connect with them."

"Mockin? Mockin is that you?"

Mockin turned towards the source of the noise and saw a VERY familiar pony in the crowd approaching the trio slowly.

"Mom? Mom!"

Mockin ran towards her and jumped towards her to hug her, she didn't move away. She caught her son in a very passionate hug which made her tear up a bit. When the crowd saw what had taken place they all relaxed a little and started to  tentatively approach Granite and the other dragons who had gotten bored and were just as curious in the opposite species as the ponies were to the dragons. One very young colt who was bolder then the others ran up to Granite, who was laying down, and climbed up onto his neck with a, whoop! Granite who was a father himself snorted and just payed attention to the ponies who were looking at Granite as if he was going to eat the colt. The species were going to have a Long and hard time getting used to each other.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dragons stayed in Canterlot for the rest of the day and the next day too. During that time the Ponies that had made their escape returned and some had the courage to go and meet the dragons that had scared them off. Princess Celestia and Luna held a court for the majority of Canterlot to attend so they can proclaim globally that the dragons were going to have equal rights in Equestria. This was met with mixed results, some ponies hated the idea and others accepted it as it was. This new union of two species created infinite possibilities for the future of Equestria. The ponies would finally learn the true nature of the dragons and vice versa, also dragons were given the opportunity to live in villages and cities around Equestria. The dragons gracefully declined the offer because they needed space to store their hordes, also the way that dragons live makes them moving in with ponies very awkward. Although Celestia came up with a great idea that the younger dragons who were not as large and territorial could live in the pony cities to learn about the ponies. Then after a year or two they would go back home to create a family. Things were looking up for the two clashing species, however there was always going to be loose ends that needed to be met eventually. Mockin was looking forward to going back with the dragons to their clearing. He was officially announced as the ambassador for the dragons and ponies of Equestria, so his job was to keep peace and security between the two species. Just like Candy Plum's job was to keep peace and security between ponies and griffons. All in all, the "attack" went much better then expected in everybodies eyes. Only, not everyPONY saw it as a good thing. Someponies who hated the idea of living with dragons in harmony took action against it. The four hundred or so ponies who hated the idea all met outside of Canterlot to form a plan to kill all the dragons and any pony who stood by the dragons. War was coming to Equestria for the first time in a millennium. However, the rest of the world remained oblivious to the ponies plan. So, life carried on normally (ish) and the Ambassadors traveled back to the mountains to live and coerce with the dragons. The trio were given a very small cave near the entrance to the clearing for them to live in; and when I say very small I mean house sized. The trio built a fire place near the middle of the cave and layed out places for them to sleep. The dragons didn't have beds, they just had moss for the elderly and young to sleep on. The middle aged dragons just breathed on the ground where they were going to sleep to warm it up and layed down. 

"This place feels really empty...and not like home."

"I agree, we need to get at least one dragon to live with us if only to make this place feel more...full."

"What about Jewel?"

"I guess that could work, but I don't know if that would offend her or not."

"Razor would have to come as well, wouldn't be right without him."

"Well duh! Hey Crash! What do you think?"

"Don't care."

"Alright well then i'll go look around for Jewel or Razor, why don't you guys make yourselves known to the dragons here?"

With that Mockin walked out into the dry and cool clearing, he looked around to see if he could find either Jewel or Razor but he couldn't see them. So he decided to just ask around. Mockin walked up to a two dragons outside of a cave mouth, one was sitting on the back of the other as it slept in the sun. Mockin decided to talk to the dragon who was awake, not wanting to wake up the sleeping dragon. 

"Hello! I'm sorry but I don't believe we've met. I'm Mockin."

"Hmm. Funny I've heard that there were ponies living among us but I didn't really believe it."

"I told you I wasn't lying!"

The dragon who was in the sun suddenly burst out as if he was settling a long argument. The one on top made a sound like a wheezing cough and bounced on the other dragon.

"Hush! Sorry about my husband, he's very rude, my name is Ruby...original I know but I likeeEEEKKK!!"

Suddenly the male dragon arched his back and bucked his wife off his back, causing her to fall backwards into the cave mouth. The male dragon just laughed and snickered at his wife's embarrassment. Mockin just quietly smiled at the pair, they obviously knew just how to push each others buttons.

"Heh heh, my name is Chunk but everyone calls me Frost, me and Rub...AAAAW Fir! You woke up the little ones!"

Frost sounded half joking and half concerned with the situation that he had put himself in. Then he heard Ruby's voice from inside.

"I'll attend to that nice pony while you deal with the mess you started."

"Yes Fir..."

"Now, Mockin was it? Do you want to come in? We have some fox cooking if you want any."

Mockin almost puked at the idea of eating another animal, he just wanted to know where Jewel and Razor were.

"N-No that's ok, although maybe you can help me-"

"AAH, where are my manners? Come in before you freeze standing up. No excuses!"

Mockin laughed quietly to himself as he was mothered by a 15 foot dragon as if he was part of her brood. As Mockin walked in he could feel the temperature change dramatically and he instantly felt his muscles soften and relax, he felt as if he was in a nursery. In fact, he was. He saw four tiny dragons who couldn't have been older then three crawling and jumping on Frost as he laughed at his fate. It was heart warming to say the least. But what surprised him the most was when one of the baby dragons  walked up to him (he was the same height as Mockin already) and jumped onto his back while wrapping his tail around Mockin's belly. Mockin panicked and started to jump around trying to shake off his attacker while trying to not hurt it. It seemed to enjoy itself too much because it then let go of Mockins back with all legs and grabbed hold of it's mother. This made it stretch out and look like a monkey stuck between the decision of two branches. The other baby dragons seeing Mockin for the first time all got off Frost immediately and jumped on Mockin, almost smothering him. Mockin started to laugh as the baby dragons tried to claw him and bite him playfully but couldn't because they didn't have them yet. 

"Ha, it seems you will be staying here longer than you thought."

"It seems he will, if he doesn't want to  disappoint the little ones."

The dragons on top of Mockin crawled away from his face and focused on his back and stomach, giving him time to speak.

"It seems I will..."

Mockin was happy though, he has a chance to learn more about families for dragons and how they work. Now was the best chance he had to ask questions that he wanted answered.

"Do you guys know where Jewel and Razor went? I was looking for them when I found you guys."

"Hmm the last I saw of them was when they went out hunting...I doubt that they will be back until sun-down."

"Ok...Can you tell me about how you guys organize who lives with who? I need to know."

"Certainly! Obviously young dragons live with their parents and don't move away until they find a mate."

"Wait. You could be very old and still live with your parents because you didn't find a mate?"

"Well yes, it's not uncommon and there is nothing wrong with that, it is your decision to start a family."

"I kinda get that I guess. What about friends wanting to live away from their parents but don't have a mate?"

"That's never happened before so I don't know."

"Do you know if Razor and Jewel have a cave of their own? I only ask because I was going to ask them to share the our cave. Its kinda empty with only three small ponies."

"As far as I know they hadn't moved out of Granite's cave because they didn't want to, but they might reconsider if you asked them that."

"Why are they living in Granite's cave?"

"Granite is Razor's sire, or father."

"Oh, duh."

The little dragons had grown tired of Mockin and turned towards Ruby with devilish grins. Ruby saw them and feigned being scared. The little dragons all jumped happily at thier evident ferocity, which completely ruined their previous action. Mockin, sensing that this was a good time to make his escape, said his good-byes and left the cave happier than before. As Mockin walked out of the cave he saw Granite in the middle of the clearing talking to the teenage dragons. Mockin slowly walked up to the group so that he didn't disturb the dragons. As he got closer he started to pick up what Granite was saying. 

"...However, you need to remember that pegasi cannot fly as high as you can or as fast, that said exploiting that weakness can be dangerous in a fight. So make sure that if you are fighting the Pegasus or working with it you take care to not kill. Now earth ponies are special, it would be better if we had...Ah! Mockin! Good to see you!"

All the teenage dragons looked at Mockin with interest as Mockin walked all the way up to Granite and sat by him. He also noticed that one teenage dragon in particular ignored him and avoided eye contact. 

"How would you like to be part of this next demonstration?"

"Huh? Oh, well that depends on what I would be doing."

"I will be telling the dragons about the weaknesses and strengths of a pony so that we can work together better or...fight with an advantage but that's not the point of this meeting."

"Well I guess I could, but you don't know all of them I'm sure so I'll tell you the ones miss."

"Great! Then I will do the same about dragons. Well first of all and most obviously is that you have no armor or skin that could protect you from cutting, slashing, crushing, bruising or anything that could harm you."

"Um well if you put it that way..."

"Next is with earth ponies you don't have any means of defending yourself besides your immense strength which is one of your...um strengths."

"Correct."

"Am I missing anything?"

"Yeah, quite an important one as well. Its our fight or flight reflex. When we get surprised or cornered our body shoots adrenaline into our blood stream making everything we do much easier and fluid. Also the adrenaline helps with pain relief, but if it's not enough then our brain can shut down our nerves in places that are hurting so that we can concentrate on something more important."

All the dragons, including Granite, were staring at Mockin as if he was crazy or lying. 

"What? Is this news? I thought it would have been dumb to mention it because everyone has it. Right?"

"...No! That's crazy! How does that work, I mean you just explained it but how is it possible?"


"I don't know, I only know that it's their and isn't any form of magic."

"Well that makes ponies even more special. I wonder what else we ca-"

"GRANITE!! We have about three hundred ponies coming, and they don't look like they want to talk!"

Jewel burst through the clearing entrance and flew directly towards the center of the clearing so all dragons could hear.

"What! How is that possible! They wouldn't have enough time to get here in just one day!"

"It looked like they had a lot of unicorns with them, so they could have teleported here, which also gives us the disadvantage of not having magic."

"Well we could start by bottle-necking them at the entrance."

"That's a good idea Mockin, lets do that, however we wont engage first in case they only do want to talk. Which I highly doubt."

Faster than Mockin could believe, all the dragons old enough or fit enough to defend themselves went out into the entrance and blocked it from ground to sky with their massive bodies. It was a truly amazing sight to both sides of the entrance. However the ponies had a solution to the problem by teleporting block sized (city block) nets above the dragons and trapping them. Once most of the dragons were occupied with the nets the other ponies ran in with various weapons and started to stab and slash at the dragons, hitting them in the stomach and chest where they are weakest. The dragons retaliated by breathing fire on the ponies but they had prepared for this as well. The unicorns had cast a fire proofing spell on all the ponies beforehand. Some Dragons got out of the nets but were immediately subdued by enchanted iron shackles and muzzles. The remaining dragons grouped together at the cave mouths that were occupied by the babies and elderly. Mockin, Arrow, and Crash watched in horror as the dragons fought to defend their young and weak. Mockin felt something very hot boil in his stomach, he then felt all his muscles condense and stretch. He felt his eyes expand and focus while his mane and tail grow hard and stiff. He felt as if his back was being split open and cauterized and his hooves gave him a shearing pain as they split in four places. he felt the segments of his hooves grow softer and elongate while he felt his limbs grow longer and his bones grow lighter. He felt his blood burn and grow thick which made his snout grow longer and his teeth sharper with points. The pain in his back worsened as new muscles grew and two new limbs replaced where his shoulder blades should have stopped. All of this happened in about thirty seconds and those thirty seconds were the worst and best of Mockin's life. Then he felt everything stop and his brain flooded with a new thought process, he looked down at his new body, a dragons body. He could feel his powerful legs as he stood up on two feet and towered over his oblivious friends. He let out a jet of fire and sprinted on all fours towards the back of the ponies

"YOU WILL BURN!!"

> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin ran into two poines and sent them flying into the backs of the other ponies, he then turned around and broke the shackles on the nearest dragon with one swipe of his claw. The rest of the ponies turned towards Mockin now and sneered at him. One unicorn summoned an enchanted net to capture him but Mockin just looked up at the falling net and set it ablaze with his breath. Everypony was stunned that the net had burned but Mockin wasn't. He ran forward and picked up a pony and threw him at the others, some dodged out of the way of the pony but others were hit by the speeding projectile. Mockin was then surrounded by earth ponies which did little to impede him as he just flew up into the air where some dragons were still brawling with pegasi and went to help them out. He flew up to the nearest Pegasus, grabbed his tail and swung his body like a club at another Pegasus, causing both ponies to fall to the ground. Mockin took a break by looking down at what was going on in the cave mouths. Most of the caves were still protected and holding steady but one was quickly falling to the hooves of the ponies. Mockin flew as fast as he could to the cave and slammed his body on top of five ponies, crushing them but not killing them. The other ponies were shocked at what happened to their comrades and looked in fear at Mockin as he walked forward and stared at the twenty or so ponies there.

"Run..."

With that the ponies ran out of the clearing and would never return to face the dragons again. Mockin looked at the very old dragon who was the last line of defense until the ponies got to the babies and she sighed with relief and slumped down. Mockin backed out of the cave and went to the next and instead of dive bombing them he breathed fire over their heads which was hot enough to burn their manes. The ponies looked at each other in confusion as their fire proofing spell didn't work, but then some screamed as they faced the source of the fire. Mockin was standing on his hind legs and was looking down on the ponies as they ran forward to attack. Mockin waited until he was surrounded then spun in a circle with his tail extended and knocked the legs out of ten or so ponies. The dragons who had been protecting the cave ran forward to help the lone, stranger dragon. They ran forward and grabbed the ponies who hadn't been knocked over and threw them to the ground or started to beat them with their fists. Mockin was satisfied that the dragons had these ponies covered and flew back into the sky to help the airborne dragons fight back. Now that eighty or so ponies were dealt with the dragons felt that they might actually defend against the invasion of angry ponies. Mockin flew up to a couple of pegasi who were harassing a dragon from both sides. Mockin blew a jet of fire at one pony and caught its mane and tail on fire, which made it scream and fly towards the entrance to put it out. The other pony was grabbed by the dragon and slammed against the ground. This was a very bloody and gruesome battle, and Mockin was unsettled with the death that had occured already and wanted it to stop. Thier was a very bright flash and Celestia and the elements of harmony appeared in the middle of the clearing and everything stopped as the elements worked thier magic by blowing all the ponies outwards from the center.

"STOP!!"

Celestia cast a spell and eveyone froze including the elements of harmony. But Mockin was still able to fly, he wasn't affected. Celestia turned towards the strange, still flying dragon that had approached her slowly, why hadn't he been effected by her spell?

"Who or what are you?"

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me."

Celestia looked at the bipedal dragon in front of her with utter confusion, what was it talking about?

"What is your name?"

"I think it was Mockin."

"Pardon?"

"Yeah it was Mockin...but I was a pony...is this a dream?"

"You are making no sense, how could you have been a pony? And for that matter, Mockin?"

"Oh! I was the ambassador for the dragons! I was watching the battle take place and I felt something change inside of me...and that's when I-I..."

Mockin bent over and heaved, throwing up a black and very hot liquid onto the ground. Hos conscious caught up to him as he realized what he did to the other ponies.

"Sweet Celestia what have I done?!! What am I?"

Celestia looked at the puking dragon and saw that it had a cutie mark, It was Mockin sleeping. This was clear proof that the dragon in front of her was Mockin but a different form of him. Celestia had never seen this before, a pony changing into a dragon? Or even another species? Unheard of.

"Mockin if that is really you then explain how we first met."

"I was sitting in the middle of a road and you grabbed me with your magic. Wow, things have changed haven't they?"

"Do you feel different besides physically? Do you have different thoughts or instincts?"

"Well what I think triggered this transformation was seeing all the dragons being hurt and hunted and the last thought I had was that they were my kin."

Celestia cast a spell on Mockin's new body and found something very frightening. This was the REAL Mockin, apparently he was blessed as a little colt and granted a special gift. He was able to become a highly magical being, he was incredibly strong, smart, resistant and fast. He was blessed with the gift to protect. The question was, who blessed him? And how were they powerful enough to give a pony such an incredible power? Mockin was lost as he thought about what he had done to the ponies and almost threw up again. Celestia brought herself back to the world and brought all the attacking ponies towards her and surveyed them. 

"Why would you wish harm against another species? Tell me."

A unicorn who looked like he was the leader of the group.

"Because they are fowl and unclean, they should never have been born."

"Shame that you think that, because I think you just earned yourselves a one way ticket to Tarturas."

The ponies stared at Celestia with pleading puppy dog eyes, to bad Celestia was a cat person. With a poof they disappeared and all the dragons were given control over their bodies once again. Celestia then turned towards the recovering dragons. 

"Is Granite here?"

"Yes...I am here, thank you for helping us. Same to you stranger, you are welcome here anytime."

"Ha! I already am! Its me, Mockin."

Granite turned from Celestia and Mockin trying to figure out what was going on.

"What is going on?"

"You cannot tell anyone that Mockin can change, you hear? Not until we figure this out. Twilight? We are going back to the castle so prepare the girls again. Mockin you are to come with us to Canterlot so we can figure out how to help you."

Mockin just nodded, but a small voice in the back of his head said good job Mockin, you are finally following what is in front of your nose. Who was that? It sounded familiar but Mockin couldn't quite put his hoo...claw on it. Also how the heck was he going to get out of this body? He liked it but he liked his pony body more. As Mockin was looking himself over more carefully because he didn't have much time before he heard a flash and looked up. 

"How did we get here?"

"We teleported, duh."

"Oh...wait what about the dragons that were harmed and killed? What about Crash and Arrow?"

"Crash and Arrow have been told where you are going and will help out the dragons at the clearing do not worry about them. Now I will go and get Luna while you settle into your new room, and yes it is only temporary. We will get you back to the tribe as soon as we figure out whats going on here."

Celestia walked out of the room leaving Mockin alone in a familiar position. He had major déjà-vo as he looked around the room he had thought was moderately sized before, now it was barely enough room for his enlarged body. He couldn't sleep on the bed out of fear for breaking it and he had to be careful where he stepped, in case his claws scratched anything. This was very awkward. After trying to find a comfortable place to sleep for half an hour he grumbled and flew out his door and out into Canterlot's streets. He was confused and depressed, was he going to be like this forever? How were things back at the clearing? He sighed and just enjoyed the feeling of flying. Which was something that he liked about his new body, he could fly, almost instinctively too. All good things have to come to an end though as his wings grew tired and soared down to the road where he first met Celestia. As he landed some ponies flinched at his presence but recovered by smiling nervously at him. He didn't notice any of it, he just walked into the middle of the street and did something instinctively, he blew on the ground beneath him until it was very hot and laid down on the hot spot and fell asleep. In te middle of the road, oh how things have changed for Mockin.

~~~

Mockin woke up to a small voice and a jabbing pain in his side. 

"Go awayyy.."

"But  mister your in the middle of the road and you are blocking the traffic of the ponies."

Mockin looked up at a young unicorn filly with bleary eyes, he blinked away the fuzziness and looked at his surroundings. There were ponies surrounding him and the filly and all of them were staring at him in bewilderment. That's when Mockin remembered that he was a dragon and laying in the road completely blocking it.

"Oh...right, you're brave or very stupid to walk up to a dragon you don't know and wake him up. What's your name?"

"My name is Sweet Juniper but I go by Juniper."

"Where are your parents?"

"Um well I don't have any, I'm an orphan!"

This filly sounded WAY too happy about that.

"Riiight...do you want to go for a ride then? I won't drop you."

"You mean it? Cool!"

Juniper jumped up his side and scrambled up his back until she was sitting at the base of his neck where his spine wasn't sticking up.

"You good? Well then lets go."

Mockin jumped vertically, spread his wings and took off at a medium speed.

"Whee! This is fun! I wish I could fly."

"Heh I wish I could too."

"What do you mean? You're doing it right now."

"Oh nothin', just a joke..."

Mockin kept on flying around making Juniper squeal with delight, until he decided to surprise her by taking her to Canterlot Castle. As he flew closer he heard her gasp on his back.


"Wow! I never thought I would get to see Canterlot Castle up close like this, this is awesome!"

"Want to see something even cooler? Cover your ears."

Mockin waited for her to do what he asked and let out the biggest roar he could, which surprised even himself.

"Wow! That was awesome but I heard it I didn't see it."

"Just wait."

Mockin landed in front of the guards outside of the doors leading into the Castle and soon after the doors burst open revealing Princess Celestia with 10 guards behind her all looking terrified and worried. Mockin and Juniper burst out laughing, which made juniper cover her ears from Mockin's deep throated laughing. Celestia and her guards looked at Mockin and the filly in utter bewilderment then some of the guards started to snicker as they realized they had been pranked. This carried on for about thirty seconds until Celestia herself lost it and burst out laughing. Mockin could get used to living like this.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin and Juniper eventually stopped laughing and stared at Celestia as she tried to control her fits of giggles.

"That was -snort- very immature Mockin. I am -he he- disappointed in you. Who is this?"

"This little filly woke me up, and her name is Juniper."

"Well hello my little pony, how is your day so far?"

"Awesome! I got to fly on a dragon's back, I got to see Canterlot Castle. I even got to see one of the Princesses! Best day ever!"

"My! You have had a busy day so far, why don't you head on home now though in case somepony gets worried about you."

"Ppphhh! No one is worried about me, why would they be? I'm just a little orphan who has nopony to be looked after by."

"I see...perhaps Mockin would allow you to stay with him for a little while? But only for a little while, ok?"

"Yeah!"

Mockin walked with Juniper on his back after Celestia's retreating figure as she led them to the dinning hall to have some breakfast. Juniper jumped off of Mockin's back and ran to one of the cushions next to the table so she could get the food first. Growing up in an orphanage where there wasn't enough food to give everypony a full stomach she learned that she had to protect what was hers. She didn't take more than she needed but she fought for what she got. As Mockin layed down next to Juniper he looked at all the food in front of him: lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, daisies, lilies and even grass. He licked his chops with anticipation and leaned forward to get some lettuce, but as soon as he took a bite of it he immediately spat it out and looked at it with confusion and disgust. 

"Uh oh, I hoped this wouldn't happen but it looks like it has. Mockin your body has changed...which include your taste buds and your digestive system, so you are now a carnivore."

Mockin's gray scales turned white at the thought of eating another creature. How could he do such a thing? It was just wrong. His stomach growled and he grumbled himself, at least he would give it a try.

"Follow me, Juniper you can come too. Yes the food will still be here."

"What is Mockin going to do?"

"You may not want to see what takes place, he is going to eat meat."

"Ewww...what kind of meat?"

Mockin let out a nervous laugh at the foal's foal-ish manners, it cheered him up a little.

"Lets start with fish."

Juniper jumped up onto Mockin's back and they flew off towards the nearest body of water, which happened to be a pond with some fish in it.

"Ok, you will need to dive down into the water and swim towards the fish and try to catch one. I don't know how because I've never done it."

Mockin reached behind him and picked up Juniper off his back. But before he put her down he had another idea, he gently tossed her in the pond without warning.

"Whhhhaaa!!"

Mockin then had the terrible thought that she may not know how to swim, he looked at where Juniper had disappeared under the water and held his breath. With a small splash Juniper resurfaced and squirted water out of her mouth and glared at Mockin.

"That was unfair...but fun."

"I wish I was a foal again..."

Mockin looked at Celestia then with a devilish grin he picked her up with two arms and full on tossed her into the middle of the pond.

"Wha-hey! Waaaaa!"

Mockin couldn't stop laughing at Celestia's expression as her head went under the water with the rest of her body quick to follow. Mockin was laughing so hard he didn't notice that he was surrounded by a gold aura, he did notice when the ground vanished from beneath him and he was suddenly falling. He looked down to see the pond fast approaching.

"Cannon Ball!!"

With a gigantic splash Mockin hit the surface of the pond and sent a massive wave crashing on the two ponies treading water at what they thought was a safe distance away. As Mockin was underwater he saw fish cowering in the depths of the pond trying to escape the intruders of their home. Mockin swished his tail and pulled himself forward with his claws to get speed so that he could grab one of the fish before it got away. The twenty or so fish saw him approaching and immediately swam in different directions, Mockin focused on one and managed to sink his claws into the delicate body. He swam back up to the surface to see Celestia and Juniper glaring at him.

"What?"

"You got my mane wet!"

"Yeah, Do you know how long it takes to dry?"

"Well I can imagine Juniper's dries normally but you're right I don't know how long yours takes. You did wish to be a foal again though so I granted it."

"Bwaahaaa! My mane is already dry Mockin, did you actually think I was mad? That was great! Though I don't want anypony to know that...so if this gets in the papers I am going to hold you personally responsible."

"Ok, ok I won't tell anyPONY."

"Good...oh no you won't! You won't tell a single soul, you hear?"

"Fine...oh yeah I caught a fish, see?"

"Did you taste it yet?"

Mockin looked at the still twitching fish and felt really guilty for killing it and taking it away from it's home. He leaned forward and sank his teeth into the slimy body, it tasted weird but good! He closed his jaws, pinching off the chunk from the rest of the body. He slowly chewed and swallowed then took another bite. 

"So is good?"

"Yephh, I mean yes its good, but now I want more."

"Well then get some more, we will just be swimming and minding our own business."

Mockin took a deep breath and was amazed at how much air he could hold. He dove down and started searching in the dark depths of the pond, he thought it would have been darker but he could be wrong. He was searching for ten minutes and he still hadn't taken another breath or found a fish. He decided to swim up a bit and search more carefully, when he saw a very big fish swimming towards him. It was maybe four feet long and had razor sharp teeth, as it swam towards him it gained speed and bit his leg. Breaking all its teeth in the process. Mockin had no pity when he killed and ate this fish, it must have been desperate or stupid to attack a 10 foot being, dragon or not. Mockin was now full so he swam up to the surface to get some air, when he surfaced he heard Juniper talking to Celestia.

"Sooo how do you know if a stallion likes you?"

Mockin dove back under the water and tried to forget what he had heard. After another ten minutes just swimming around and having fun in the water he got bored and wanted to see how fast he could go when he propelled out of the water. Mockin went to the very bottom of the pond which was about twenty feet down and faced the surface. He kicked off the muddy ground and used any means to get himself up to his top speed, right before the surface he snapped open his wings and launched out of the water. 

"Wooohooo!!"

Celestia and Juniper both jumped up from their sitting positions at the edge of the water and stared at Mockin as he grew smaller and smaller in the sky. He had launched out of the water and got about ten feet of air, however he used the momentum to carry himself higher and higher into the sky. Soon Mockin had gone higher then he had ever gone, but it grew too cold so he turned around and dive bombed towards the ground. Mockin was having so much fun being able to fly and soar through the air, but as he got closer to the ground he snapped open his wings to stop his descent and regretted it instantly. He was going to fast to stop his fall that way, so his wings snapped straight up and he could feel the pain in his joints as the muscles pulled. He couldn't stop his fall that way, and he wasn't over the pond so he was going to crash land...and it was going to hurt, a lot. Or not, Mockin stopped feet away from the ground as Celestia grabbed him with her magic to prevent him from transforming into a pancake.

"You need to be more careful Mockin. What if I wasn't here? You would have probably been dead."

"Yeah sorry, it won't happen again."

"Now I think it is a good time to get back to the Castle don't you think?"

"Yeah! I'm hungry!"

"I can't fly right now so I'll walk while you go on ahead."

"Nonsense we will walk together, its been a while sense I was last on a walk."

Mockin was bombarded with questions from Juniper as she wanted to know everything about dragons. Juniper grew a little tired and took a nap on his back which gave him time to ask Celestia about an idea that came to his head.

"Hey Celestia? Would it be ok if I took Juniper to the clearing with me? To live with the dragons? If there was a legal issue involved I could adopt her to make it easier.

"I think you should ask her if she wants to be adopted by a dragon first, but I like the idea."

Mockin and Celestia walked back to the Castle in silence until Mockin remembered something.

"Did you figure out how to help my condition?"

"Mockin, do not get your hopes up ok? This may take month's to figure out so you should get used to your body as soon as you can."

"Who can I tell about this?"

"Whomever you would like to. Its your secret, just be careful in whom you trust with it."

"What about Juniper? If I am going to adopt her she should know before hoof so its not a surprise."

"I agree, shes going to wake up soon and start demanding food again. Lets hurry back."

Mockin and Celestia walked through the streets of Canterlot drawing a lot of attention from a lot of ponies. Some even came up to Celestia with a notepad in thier grasp while asking stupid questions and just pestering her for information. Mockin himself got tired of the questions so he growled and stared at the ponies to warm them to go away. They took the hint.

"Your useful, thank you by the way."

"Don't mention it."

Juniper woke up with a yawn and looked around, she was confused why she was in front of Canterlot Castle and on a dragon's back.

"I'm hungry...when can we eat?"

Mockin and Celestia chuckled together at the little filly. Celestia excused herself from Mockin and Juniper after dropping them off at the dinning room. Juniper immediately dove into the food and started to eat anything that was in front of her. Mockin watched in amusement as she ate everything without savoring the taste. Now was as good of a time as any to ask her.

"Hey Juniper? How would you like to be adopted by me? It would mean that you would have to live with the other dragons in the north bu--"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. Why would I joke about that?"

"Then yes I would love to be adopted! When do we go?"

"Hang on Juniper there is something you should know first, I am not really a dragon...well I am, it's just that due to a spell cast on me I turned into a dragon. Originally I was an earth pony."

"That's so cool! Why was I supposed to hear that before you adopted me? That makes you even more awesome!"

Mockin smiled faintly at the foal's energetic attitude. Now the hard part was getting an orphanage to let a dragon adopt a pony. This was going to be fun.


> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin was standing on all fours staring at the building in front of him. It was an old building, had some shingles missing, some cobblestone tiles loose, but it didn't look bad. The problem wasn't how the building looked or it's residents, it was Mockin. Taking one glance at the doors into the building Mockin knew that he wasn't going to fit. So how was he going to get inside? It was rather important that he did because this was the orphanage, and he didn't want to scare ANYpony inside so he couldn't shout or roar. He will just have to wait. He waited for about fifteen minutes before a pony opened the door slowly, and then poked it's head out to look around. Odd. Then the pony looked straight at Mockin and went pale with fear but before it could duck back inside it was shoved out the door which shut with a slam. The pony squeaked with fear and started to hoof the door begging to get back in. It was actually kind of amusing. Mockin, who had layed down because of the wait, got up and approached the pony who was now cowering at the foot of the door. Mockin stopped a couple of feet away from the cowering pony and sat down. The pony slowly stopped shivering with fear and turned his head to look at Mockin who was looking at him with concerned eyes.

"W-What do y-y-you want?" The pony was shacking again

"I want to adopt a pony, why else would I be hear? I mean think about it, if I wanted to eat a pony I wouldn't go to a building that was closed off and just wait outside. I would be flying above the city looking for a pony who was in an excluded area." Mockin regretted saying that last part, because the pony stared in horror at him and fainted.

Darn, now what was he going to do? Mockin leaned over the fainted pony and knocked on the door as softly as he could. Which turned out pretty bad because he almost knocked the door off (puns!!) it's hinges. When the door swung open he saw three ponies standing in front of him shacking with fear and carrying forks. Mockin stared at them for a little bit then bent down and scooped the fainted pony up and into the building. The ponies inside the building flinched as Mockin moved but calmed down visibly as they saw the unharmed body of the pony.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, you forced a pony out of the building to confront a dragon you didn't know and then didn't let him back in after he begged." Mockin felt slightly disgusted at the actions of the staff at the orphanage.

"W-Well we had to protect the foals, we had to communicate with you some how." One of the ponies responded while looking at the floor, ashamed.

"You could have shouted at me from a window! Anyway i'm not here to eat anypony, in fact i'm here to adopt one." 

The three ponies stared at Mockin with disbelief, a dragon?! Adopting a pony?! Unheard of.

"Umm...ok well then why don't you follow me. And what is your name?" One of the staff members started to walk down the hall of the orphanage and looked back at Mockin.

"My name is Mockin Sage, and I won't be able to fit inside. However, I know which pony I want to adopt, her name is Sweet Juniper." The staff member just nodded and started to walk down the hall again.

Mockin layed down in the door way with half of his body sticking inside the orphanage. The other two staff members looked a little scared but were quickly relaxing. One of them eventually got curious.

"I didn't know dragons had cutie marks. And is that a pony?" The staff member pointed at Mockin's side where his cutie mark was.

"Yes that is a pony." Mockin didn't really have an answer of how he got it so he just left it at that.

The staff member looked a little disappointed but let it go. The last staff member was studying Mockin a little too closely, then she leaned to the curious staff member and whispered something to him. He looked at her with a disbelieving stare.

"Oh you are on." The last staff member just smiled and turned to Mockin.

"Um Mockin Sage? Could you do me a favor? I have always seen a pony stick their head inside a lions mouth at the circus but I have never seen one do it to a dragon, could I be the first?" 

Mockin was completely taken back by the question and had to think about it for a couple of seconds.

"Um, I guess. Sure." Mockin opened his mouth as wide as it would go, revealing his, hundred or so, razor sharp teeth. She hesitated, but then mentally shrugged and walked forward. When she got in front of Mockin's open jaws she noticed his forked tongue and his lack of nostrils. She may not know much about dragons but she hadn't heard of a dragon with a snakes tongue and no nostrils. Again she mentally shrugged and leaned forward, sticking her head in Mockin's mouth. She shouted with joy and pulled her head back and looked at the male staff member who sighed in defeat and handed over ten bits. Was he really the source of a bet? He wasn't really sure how he felt about that. Thankfully he didn't have to think about it for very long because the first staff member came back with Juniper literally jumping for joy behind her. As soon as Juniper saw Mockin she ran up to him and jumped onto his face, hugging his snout as if to never let him go. 

"There is a problem, we can't allow this adoption to occur without consent from the crown. You will need to have a writ of approval." The staff member still looked uncomfortable with the situation but relaxed at the site that Juniper was happy.

"Oh don't worry about that, Juniper can you reach into my saddle bag and get the scroll?" The saddle bag was actually around Mockin's neck and strapped around his upper chest, he only needed one because of the size of it.

Juniper let go of Mockin's face and slid down to the floor, where she reached up and took a scroll out of Mockin's saddle bag and handed it to the staff member. The staff member looked it over and made sure everything was correct, then nodded and handed the scroll to the male staff member. Juniper jumped back onto Mockin's face, obstructing his view. 

"Um, Juniper? You are going to have to let go or go on my back, I can't see." Juniper let go of his face and crawled up his head and down his neck. 

The staff members watched in amusement at the scene and felt like the adoption was going to work out well. But just as Mockin was going to leave he was stopped by a stampede of foals as they jumped all over him and hugged him. What Mockin was expecting was that they were going to beg him to adopt them, but what he didn't expect was what actually happened. They all thanked him for adopting one of them and started  congratulating  Juniper on being adopted. What Mockin didn't know was that Juniper was the oldest of them all and the least likely to be adopted, until now. Mockin and Juniper left the orphanage happily and walked down the streets of Canterlot without a care in the world. The citizens of Canterlot witnessed two species draw closer with a giant leap. Mockin was walking with a bounce in his four stepped pace and Juniper was beaming with joy, sitting on top of Mockin's head now. She had a father! She may be only twelve years younger than Mockin but she was his. Mockin was slightly giddy, he had a daughter! He was as happy as he could ever be. As Mockin and juniper approached the castle he thought more about Juniper as a pony, she had a deep rich red coat with a white mane and tail. She also had green eyes which kinda reminded Mockin of Emeralds, at least she was old enough to understand that she was adopted. 

"Hey Juniper? Are you sure you won't mind living with dragons? They can be harsh or straight forward sometimes and you may feel lonely or left out." Mockin was still concerned that she would be happy with beings that were much larger then her.

"I have thought about it and I have decided I will be happier here ever you are, so lets leave this place as soon as possible!"

Mockin grinned "hold on." He then jumped into the air and spread his wings, propelling him forward and up. After A minute of flapping he was high in the sky and going very fast towards the north. Mockin then remembered that Juniper couldn't with stand the same temperatures as he could. So he reached inside his saddle bag and pulled out his wolf coat and reached back, draping Juniper in it's weight and warmth. 

"Thanks!" Her yell was barely heard over the wind rushing in Mockin's ears. As they flew Mockin was observing the ground below him and he saw a very familiar hut in the distance. Mockin decided that he would give Juniper a break so she could stretch her legs, meanwhile he would see if watching Fangs was around. Mockin landed and helped Juniper down on the ground who instantly went to explore the clearing. Mockin decided that knocking would be a bad idea so he made his presence known with a much more subtle approach then knocking the door down (puns!!). 

"FANGS!!" Did I say subtle? Oops.

Fangs ran out of the cabin with a knife and looked up at Mockin with wide eyes. Mockin just smiled down at the Lunar Pegasus, he had managed to scare the lunar Pegasus! Fangs dropped his knife and continued to look up Mockin with surprise and uncertainty. 

"Its me, Mockin, long story but seriously stop staring at me."

Fangs shook his head and looked at Mockin more closely, he noticed his cutie mark, his color scheme and his eyes. The cutie mark was new but everything else matched, besides the body. 

"Prove it."

Mockin sighed and retrieved his wolf coat which he had put back in his saddle bag when Juniper didn't need it. Once Fangs saw the coat he sighed with relief and kicked his knife to the side of the door way so nopony would step on it. Mockin heard a scuffle and a yawn from in the hut and saw Fangs blush as he quickly tried to close the door. Mockin just stuck out his hand and stopped the door from slamming shut to see another lunar Pegasus mare walking up to Fangs and giving him a quick peck on the cheek and completely ignored Fangs' attempts to hide his ever growing blush. She just looked at Mockin for a second then grunted and shuffled to the kitchen. Mockin was trying really hard not to laugh at his friends sake, he could only imagine what Fangs would do to him if he was smaller.

"Humhm, um...well I kinda gave all the bits that you gave me and took a certain mare out on a date..." Mockin raised an eyebrow and continued to watch the massive lunar Pegasus squirm under his gaze.

"I'm sorry alright! But it went really well and we kinda started to go out and...we eve-hmph-what I mean is you caught me at a really bad time." The lunar Pegasus stopped his rambling and sat in the door way looking guilty but happy.

Mockin was enjoying the moment a lot but enjoyed even more when the lunar Pegasus came back up to Fangs and leaned on him with a cup of something in her wing. She then looked at Mockin and smiled, revealing her fangs in greater detail.

"Thank you by the way, by the way Fangs talks to you you must be the friend of his that gave him some bits. Without it we probably wouldn't have gone out on that wonderful date." She stopped at the memory of the time they had. After a couple seconds she snapped back out of her trance.

"Anyways, like he said, you woke us up after a long night." Mockin took a minute to get the thought of them doing something else and remembered that the lunar pegasi were nocturnal and when they said night, it was the equivalent to his day.

The lunar Pegasus smiled at the dragon in front of her and poked fangs in the ribs. Fangs who had fallen asleep woke up and looked around, then, remembering where he was, looked at Mockin.


"So what did you stop by for?" Mockin just smiled

"Hey Juniper! Come here! I want you to meet somepony."

Juniper dashed around the hut and slid to a stop next to Mockin.

"Juniper, this is a special friend of mine and his marefriend." Fangs glared at Mockin at that last remark but the mare just giggled.


"Nice to meet you Juniper, I'm Nebula."

Juniper ran forward and shook Nebula's hoof with enthusiasm, this was her first time meeting a lunar Pegasus and she was excited. Fangs just smiled down at the foal in front of him.

"Sorry for disturbing you two, and I'm sorry we can't stay longer but we have to get back to the mountains so we can settle again." The two lunar pegasi waved a farewell to the departing figures. Nebula then started to shuffle back to the room they shared.

"Cute foal, I want one just like her." Fangs just shivered at the thought

> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin and Juniper were flying towards the clearing at a moderate pace, mostly because Mockin was scared that the wind would blow Juniper off his back. Juniper had so far enjoyed being with Mockin, he was kind and caring towards her, but she didn't really feel like he was her father. He was more of a big brother to her, but since she didn't have any other family she was content to have a brother. Mockin thought of Juniper as a younger sister as well, she was careless, smart and energetic, all in all, annoying. Mockin didn't care though, he didn't have any siblings so Juniper was perfect. However, because he had adopted her he needed to act like a father to her which was confusing him a little but he would find a way to manage. They were getting very close to the clearing so he started gliding towards the entrance at an angle. As he approached he saw two dragons sitting at the peaks of the mountains on either side of the entrance. When he got close they spread their wings and dived down at him, Mockin took the hint and dived down to the ground and landed. The two dragons landed in front of him and behind him, the one in front spoke to him.

"What brings you here?" Mockin looked at the dragon in confusion, didn't he know?"

"I was told that I would be welcome, Granite I believe was the dragon's name." The dragon in front of him stared at him in suspicion.

"Then why do you have a foal with you?" 

"That was Princess Celestia's doing, she requested that I bring her here as a sign of trust." That wasn't entirely a lie either, Celestia was worried how she could show her trust to the dragons.

The dragon in front of him and snorted and told Mockin to stand still as the dragon behind him searched him for anything that could harm the tribe. The dragon opened up Mockin's bag and rooted around inside but came up with nothing. He then went up to Juniper and picked her up with one claw and examined her. Juniper squeaked as she was picked up but didn't complain verbally. She did kick the dragon in the nose as he leaned in to sniff her, the dragon snorted and growled at the fillie. Mockin turned around and took Juniper out of the dragons hands before smacking his hand away.

"You deserved that, why would you need to sniff her?!" Mockin was slightly angry so he stood on his hind legs (which he rarely did because it was kind of awkward for him) to stare down at the dragon.

"That's enough both of you, seeing that nothing is wrong you can go in and see Granite." 

"Oh he has invited me to stay, permanently." The dragon just snorted and flew up to his original post, followed by his companion.

"I'm sorry Juniper, I thought they would have been told who I was and thank you for not questioning what I said." Juniper was still a little scared from being picked up and Mockin made a mental note to make sure she was comforted later.

Mockin walked through the entrance to find that the clearing was mostly empty. Shrugging Mockin placed Juniper down and she stood looking around with awe. Mockin let her observe the clearing until he led her to the cave where Arrow and Crash were staying, Mockin was excited to see his friends again. Mockin stepped into the cave and looked around, at first he was confused because there was two dragons sleeping in the cave and then he realized that they were Razor and Jewel. He kept looking and saw Arrow and Crash sleeping as well, why was everyone sleeping? It was around four in the afternoon! Mockin walked over to Arrow and Crash and stomped on the ground to wake them up. 

What they didn't do was wake up though, confused Mockin rolled Crash over and was surprised to see that he was still sleeping, what was going on? Mockin half-ran, half-flew towards where Jewel was and shook her shoulder. She didn't wake up either! Mockin bent down and put his ear to her mouth and heard breathing, they weren't dead at least. Mockin turned around to ask Juniper if she knew anything but she was on her side and laying in the cave entrance. Mockin ran over and examined her body, she was alive but...asleep.

Mockin ran out of the cave to find that there wasn't a single dragon out. Every cave he checked was filled with sleeping dragons, something was very wrong here. Mockin looked up at the two dragons standing guard to see that they were still awake. He shouted up at them to get there attention and one started flying down to meet him. But half way through the flight the dragon stopped flapping his wings and just started falling through the sky. Mockin gasped and took off through the air trying to catch the dragon before he hit the ground and died. Mockin picked up speed and caught the dragon in his arms but staggered at the weight of him. he started gliding towards the ground with the dragon when he heard a growl, the other sentry saw Mockin caring his friend and started flying towards him. Mockin groaned as the other sentry fell asleep as he was propelling towards Mockin. Mockin looked down at the ground to see it was fifty feet away, a dragon could survive that fall, so he dropped the dragon in his arms and turned towards the speeding body of the other dragon. He looked up just in time to catch the dragon as it collided into him and sent him flying through the air towards the ground. Mockin hit the ground back first with the dragon still clutched in his four limbs. The impact made him dig a trench about twenty meters long and five feet deep, it hurt, a lot. Mockin screamed as he felt his right wing snap and his right leg break from the impact. Mockin shoved the dragon's body off of him and looked down at his right hind leg, it was bent towards him and at a slight angle. Mockin fought the urge to throw up and looked away from his mangled leg.

Mockin felt a different pain then his leg or his wing but nothing else felt wrong. Confused and a little scared, Mockin looked down at where the pain was coming from. Mockin took a shuttering breath as he saw a rock sticking out of his chest. The rock had stabbed through the left side of his back and came out the right side of his chest, going through his right lung. Mockin was gasping for breath and spat up blood as his lungs filled up with his life force. Mockin looked down at his mangled body and realized he was going to die, either by chocking on his own blood or from lack of air from his lungs. Mockin reached towards his back and felt where the rock had entered and realized that it was shaped like a spear or a  stalagmite. Mockin couldn't remember either of those things in the clearing, how did it get hear? Mockin soon stopped caring as he coughed up what felt like half of his lung, but what came out was about a a liter of blood, he was dying fast and he needed to get help NOW. After three minutes of struggling to stand or crawl towards a cave to look for something to help him, he had coughed up gallons of blood and was suffocating because his lungs couldn't get enough air. Mockin just gave up and started to cry as he realized he couldn't continue on with his life. It was over, Mockin saw his vision slowly turn black, he lost feeling in his limbs and felt sweet relief crawl up his body as he lost feeling in his chest and neck. The last thing he saw was bright white claw extend towards his body from his left side and he knew no more.

~~~

Mockin gasped as he took his first lung-full of air and felt oxygen go through his body. It was bliss. He took a couple more breaths and studied his surroundings carefully. Everything was black, and he felt as if he was floating, where was he? Mockin looked down and stared at his hooves. Hooves! He was a pony again! He looked over the rest of his body, but he was confused when he saw scales hidden in his fur. What in the world? He looked over the rest of his body and saw that he had hooves, but his tail was that of a dragon with fur patches running down his spine. Mockin felt his face and felt a long snout and very sharp teeth, he also noticed that looking at his hoof he could see details he wouldn't have noticed if he was a pony. So he was a pony/dragon AKA a hideous monstrosity that scared even him. Mockin started to cry and hugged himself in the abyss, he wept big fat tears that didn't flow down his face but rather ran in streams just floating away. Mockin was slowly spinning backwards and he tried to correct himself causing him to notice his Pegasus wings stretching from his back. He cried even harder, there was no way that he was still alive, no way at all.

~~~

Juniper woke up to find herself laying on a very uncomfortable surface. She sat up and held her head in her hooves, what a headache! She looked around and noticed two other ponies stirring from their sleep, both groaning from the pain in their heads. She jumped when she FELT the two dragons groan in pain as they woke up, wait, dragons? Now she was really confused. There was a terrible scream from outside of the cave and Juniper ran to go investigate. A dragon was backpedaling away from a long dirt trench that stretched from the meter of the clearing to the edge of it. But he was more concerned about the thing at the end of the trench, there was a dragon skeleton with a rock jammed through its rib-cage. Juniper also noticed that it had a broken wing but most surprising was that it was in a pool of blood. How could a skeleton bleed? Dragons from all over the clearing came over to investigate the strange occurrence, there was even a dragon who got up from the clearing floor with a broken leg and Juniper recognized the dragon as one of the sentries. The creepiest thing about the skeleton was that it looked like it was sitting down and had it's arms on the dirt around it as if they were arm rests. The blood around the skeleton began to seep into the ground around the skeleton and then it disappeared revealing the lower part of the skeleton, it had a broken leg too. Where did this dragon come from? why was it here? Where was Mockin?!

~~~

Mockin was asking himself that same question as he cried himself out and continued to slowly spin. Deciding that he had died and was awaiting his punishment or salvation he thought about where he was. He could hear himself when he cried, he could move everything on his body, he could sniff, but couldn't smell anything. He touched his left leg with his right and felt it, well he had five of his senses so what was he doing here. Mockin floated for what felt like hours to him, he didn't have anyway to tell time so he didn't know. Just spinning, and spinning, and spinning, and spi-WOW THAT'S BRIGHT!!! Mockin covered his eyes as a blinding light erupted all around his body and consumed him. After the light died down a little Mockin snuck a glance around him and saw nothing but whiteness. Great, from eternal darkness to eternal brightness. He was still spinning. Mockin completely blanked out out of boredom, but snapped his eyes open as he sniffed something. It smelt like burnt rock, or maybe burnt earth, he didn't care he just needed to go towards it. Everything he tried failed as he tried to stop his spinning and travel towards the smell. But he must have done something because he could smell it getting stronger. Mockin looked in the direction of the smell and saw movement. As he looked closer he saw the up-and-down movement of wings propelling a body forward. What was it? A pony? Dragon? Griffin? The smell grew stronger and stronger as the object drew closer to him. The object became clear as it flew closer, it was a dragon, but it was a pure white being. It came up to Mockin and smiled at him. It examined his body and shook its head.

"You couldn't decide what body to have could you?" 

Mockin stared at the dragon in awe, why was it being so casual? How could it move?

"Can you stop me from spinning please?" The dragon snorted and reached out with a pure white claw and stopped his movement.

"Thanks, where am I? Am I dead?"

"No. You are not dead, you are in the deep stretches of your soul. Judging by how you look you haven't decided what you want to be as a species, understandable but you need to decide if you want to return to Equestria."

Mockin recognized that voice! It was the voice that spoke to him in his dream! 

"So How did I get here?"

"You died."

"But-"

"You aren't currently dead, but the dragons at the clearing will be if you don't return, and quick."

"Who are you? Why are you in my soul? And why is my soul so empty, its kind of disturbing."

"I am here because I was meant to guide you through your journey, now soon you will be forced to make a decision. If you decide to become a pony you will be able to save Canterlot and all the ponies living there, or you can become a dragon and save the dragons living in the clearing. You don't have much time so choose wisely."

The dragon turned away from the stunned and panicking Mockin and started to fly away. But it turned around suddenly and looked at him. It's body suddenly went pitch black and its voice became masculine.

"There is a third option, but you have to figure out what it is. If you choose the third option you will save both species and join them in their happiness. But if you fail on the road of the third path you will die as well as both species. Choose. Wisely." With that the dragon turned around and vanished into thin air.
> Chapter 14 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was flying, odd, she was a unicorn. She looked around her and saw nice white fluffy clouds zooming by underneath her.

The best dream she has had in a long time.

Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the ability to fly through the sky and glide through the soft fluffy clouds. She heard a small hissing sound and turned her head towards the noise. She saw a red-ish orange dot in the sky above her, it was growing bigger quickly. She looked at it more carefully and realized it was a meteor, heading straight towards her. She just hovered on her wings and stared at the approaching light in the sky, it wasn't burning away. She started to panic, she had expected it to burn away in the earths atmosphere but it hadn't.

Flying away as fast as she could she turned her head back towards the meteor and saw it...turning! It was following her!  She screamed as she heard it right above her and bearing down, she felt its white hot claws clamp around her body and push her towards the ground.

Juniper woke up screaming and with a cold sweat. Her room-mate woke with a start and rushed to her side. Juniper took short ragged breaths as she recovered from her nightmare. Her room-mate ran to the bathroom and returned shortly after with a towel that was drenched in cold water. Juniper's room-mate gently pushed her to the bed and placed the towel over her forehead and wrapped it around it around her horn. Juniper calmed down considerably when she felt the towel's cold seep into her tired and fevered head.

"Thank you."

"Was it that same dream again?"

"Yes...only this time I was flying."

Juniper's room-mate was slightly older than her, she had a dark brown pelt with a matching mane. Her eyes were bright and searching, and her wings were longer than normal pegasi wings. Her name was Inquisitive Inquisition and her cutie mark was an eye that was opened slightly as if looking for something small. Her partner in crime, sort of. Juniper had gotten her cutie mark which was a hoof print. It had been four years since the...accident. Ever since then she had been having nightmares almost everyday, and they just got worse. They wouldn't be so bad if Luna helped, but the problem was that she couldn't see the nightmares, she said that they weren't nightmares. Well if she had been having them then she would be calling them nightmares. Inq waited patiently for Juniper to recover, once Juniper did Inq got up and went over to her bed and layed down to sleep. Juniper watched as her best friend fell asleep almost  instantly. Juniper, herself couldn't sleep so she decided to get up and wander around.  

Juniper heard the guard outside her door stand at attention as she walked outside of her room and into the castle. The castle had never felt welcome to her, in fact she hated it. The only thing that was keeping her inside the building was the owners and the need to sleep somewhere. Juniper had had a very bad past four years, she had been adopted by a dragon that she had liked and looked up to, only for him to disappear the day after. He was a plot-hole! He abandoned her! After giving her hope and making her think she was cared for and then leaving. She had gone through many, many, many psychologists and hadn't gotten any relief from her grief. The only help she had was from Twilight Sparkle and Juniper's new teacher, Princess Celestia. Juniper passed by two patrolling guards as she walked down the halls of the castle, both just nodded to her, she was known to wander around in the middle of the night. One guard was a dragon with a crest adorning his breast bone, the crest was a picture of a pony sleeping. The other guard was a Pegasus and he had a full suit of armor because he didn't have any natural armor, they both moved with practiced ease and scowered the halls for intruders. 

Juniper didn't really care about where she was walking, but she started to pay attention when she smelled the sweet smell of grass and a night flower she couldn't name. She looked up in the sky to see the moon in it's full glory, shining down on its kingdom, a silent guardian. Juniper hadn't been to the garden at night in a long time, she was starting to wonder why because it was beautiful at night.

"You had the dream again didn't you..."

Juniper turned around to find Princess Luna standing next to her and gazing up at the night sky.

"Yes, but I was flying this time, it was peaceful at first."

"I find that walking outside on a cool, calm night can make almost all of your worries go away. That's just me though."

Juniper smiled weakly "Thank you Princess, I think I might do just that."

Juniper parted from the Princess and started walking towards the front doors of the castle. She passed several guards and was never stopped once, they all knew that something was the matter. Juniper approached the front doors and the guards opened it for her so she didn't even have to stop walking. 

Juniper was sitting on the side of a fountain in the middle of an intersection dangling her hind hooves in the water and looking at her distorted reflection. She looked up when she heard a desperate scream for help coming from an ally to her left. Juniper got up and ran over to the ally to see what had happened. There was a stallion in a hood towering over a mare who was cowering at his feet in a pool of blood. Juniper realized in horror that the stallion had turned on her, raising his knife in his magical grip. Juniper closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable strike...that never came. Juniper heard a hissing sound that she knew all too well, she looked up to see a red-ish orange object flying through the sky. The stallion had noticed it too and was distracted for the moment. The object came faster and faster until it was only ten meters away. It unwrapped and folded out its limbs and extended towards Juniper. 

She screamed, her nightmare was coming true. The object extended its white hot claws and forced Juniper down. The object used its momentum from falling to ram into the stallion and smash him to the ground. Juniper glanced up to see the object pull the stallion up the side of the building and disappear over the edge. What had happened?

Juniper slowly got up and took some shuttering steps towards the mare on the ground. As Juniper approached she found the mare was still breathing but only in short, uneven breaths. Juniper crouched next to the mare and used her horn to send a firework into the sky to get help. Juniper returned her attention to the dying mare at her feet, she was whispering something, so Juniper crouched down and put her ear to the mare's lips.

"It's eyes...were bright...protective...he looked like a...dragon. Find him...friend...and thank him for me..."

The mare took short breaths between words and they were decreasing in strength each time. This mare was going to die soon, unless help came NOW. Juniper remembered that she had a contact spell so that she could talk to Celestia from a distance but only for a few words. She charged up her horn and cast the spell.

"Juniper!"

"Celestia. Teleport. Now."

With that the spell ended and a second later a flash illuminated the ally and revealed Celestia standing there looking at the mare. She silently took the mare in her magical grasp and teleported away, leaving Juniper alone once again. Juniper thought about what she had seen, a dragon? Psssh yeah right, although it sounded more logical then a meteor. How did this dragon know though? And why had she been dreaming about this for four years! It didn't make any sense to her, maybe her and Inq could figure it out. 

Juniper shuddered at the sight of the blood on the ground, it reminded her of that dragon skeleton in the clearing. so much blood. she looked away from the puddle and magically cleaned it up. Juniper walked out of the ally and headed back towards the castle, so much for getting rid of all her worries. Juniper approached the doors but stopped just before them and turned around to stare at the moon that was hiding behind the edge of the city now. She gasped at what she saw.

Standing on top of a building there was a silhouette of a dragon, on its hind legs. It stood there in front of the moon and observed the city, then as if sensing that Juniper was looking at it, it turned to her, paused, and then quick as a flash disappeared from view. A silent guardian.


> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juniper woke up to the usual sound of birds chirping in the morning sun. Darn birds. Juniper slowly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to releave herself. After splashing cold water into her face to wake herself up fully, she walked out of the bathroom to see Inq sitting at the small table in their shared room sipping happily at a cup of coffee. 

"Good Morning! Such a nice day outside!" Juniper cursed fate, her best friend was a morning person and she definitely wasn't one.

Inq smiled and continued to cradle her cup in her wings and hummed happily to herself. Sweet Celestia why did she have to make noise! Juniper knew that she was over reacting about what her friend was doing but it was still annoying. 

"Did you sleep better after your walk?"

"Not really I me...how did you know I went out? You were asleep."

"I was pretending, I knew you wouldn't fall back asleep so I made it look like I had so you would open yourself up freely. It's not good to keep emotions couped up like that."

"Well thank you for your concern. I didn't have the dream again, I just had a REAL nightmare this time."

Juniper then explained what she saw when she went out on her midnight walk through the city. 

"Wow...where is the stallion now?"

"No idea, I kinda feel sorry for him, somehow I don't think that dragon was going to have any mercy on him."

"Probably not. Any-who, you have to be somewhere don't you." Inq already knew the answer and knew that Juniper had forgotten.

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot!" Juniper looked at the clock and groaned "I have to be there in five minutes! Gottagoseeyoubye!"

Inq snorted at her friends expense, Juniper was fun to be with. Inq had met her when Princess Celestia had introduced Juniper to her family. Inq was an only child of two parents who were now barren, but to make up for that they became a foster home and took in the foals who had the least chance of adoption. Juniper was the only exception, Juniper had lived in their house for the first two years until Celestia asked Juniper to become her new student. That's when Celestia offered this room for the two of them to share, Inq was over joyed to get out of that house with all the whining and crying foals. Inq sighed and went over to her desk to start going through the news for any leads.

Meanwhile Juniper was sprinting through the halls of the castle, dodging and weaving through the legs of dragons and ponies alike. Now-a-days dragons were common throughout all of Equestria. In Canterlot they had built three Manors, Manors big enough to hold an entire family of dragons, the buildings were big enough to let dragons walk around and still let ponies do the same. Each Manor had a treasury or horde room for the families "loot". The only creatures who knew of these rooms were the dragons who lived in that house, it was guarded with a spell so that if any creature found out where it  was they would instantly forget. The spell was cast with the power of all the princesses at hoof. However, besides these three Manors, there weren't any personal housing for dragons yet, it took a long time to build dragon sized houses.

Juniper's hooves screeched as she skidded around a tight turn nearly hitting a dragon.

"Woah, slow down before you hurt yourself or someone else."

"Sorry!" Juniper shouted over her shoulder at the dragon who was now shaking her head.

Juniper looked at a clock in one of the halls she passed, one minute! Juniper ran as fast as she could she couldn't be late! Right as the minute hand ticked over to eight o'clock sharp she burst through the doors of Celestia's private rooms. Juniper looked towards Princess Celestia's empty desk in confusion, why wasn't she there ready to give her the new project that she had been told about? She heard a small grunt and then a yawn which drew her eyes to the now rising mass in the bed at the far side of the room.

"Who...what are you doing, Juniper? Is something wrong?" Princess Celestia yawned again and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, trying to get sleep out of them.

Juniper stared at her in disbelief, had she forgotten? Why was Princess Celestia still sleeping?

"I'm here because you asked me to be...don't you remember?"

"Oh I remember -yawn- but I said come here the next time we have class, not a friggin' Saturday morning!" Princess Celestia was slightly annoyed that she had been awoken from a particularly nice dream.

"Saturday? Is it really? Then why did...oh she is sooo gonna die!"

Inq heard the frustrated screech and knew that she had been figured out, oh well, Inq got up and trotted to the window that she had left open so she could fly away. As Inq got closer she heard the running sound of hooves approaching, she chuckled. Her amusement died when a flash blinded her temporarily and when she recovered she saw Princess Celestia towering over her, oops.

~~~

Bumble buzz was a guard for the princesses and he was bored out of his mind. He was currently guarding the doors to the castle at the most relaxed time of day. So with nothing to distract himself he was starting to fall asleep. Bumble eventually did fall asleep and was startled awake by a high pitched scream and a brown blur flying through the sky. The blur was followed by a much bigger white one that looked kinda like the princess...

"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN TEAR THINE HEAD OFF!!!"

Naaah, princess Celestia didn't chase after anypony and didn't get mad, like ever. Plus she was in her private chambers enjoying her first day off in almost three centuries. She had given specific orders to not be disturbed by any ponies outside the castle. Bumble just shrugged and tried to stay awake at his post.

~~~

Juniper felt a little pity for Inq but not much, she deserved whatever she got. Juniper was studying a book called "The Art of Ubstruction." It was quite interesting, it told you all about how ponies...blah blah blah blah...in which case they would hide it somewhere else. (Yes Juniper rambles on and on about stuff) while Juniper was engrossed in her book she heard a knock on the door and a guard calling to her.

"Miss Juniper, you have a visitor shall I send him in?"

"Umm, give me a sec." Juniper looked around the room and gave it a once over to make sure it was clean enough. It wasn't, but who cares. "Send him in."

In walked a Lunar Pegasus who looked familiar for some reason. He walked in and looked around the room before resting his eyes on Juniper.

"You're bigger."

Juniper stared at the Lunar Pegasus with a confused look, how would he know if she was bigger? Who was this?

"Who are you?" The pony just laughed and looked at Juniper with amusement.

"I suppose you wouldn't remember me, we only met for a couple minutes. I'm Watching Fangs, an old friend of someone no longer here..." Watching Fangs looked down at his hooves with a look of sadness all over his face. Then he brightened up a bit and looked back up at Juniper.

"Well anyway I came here because I have found a body at my door and the pony doesn't look like it had died of natural causes."

"Sooo why come to me?"

"Well I came here for you and your partner Inquiring Inquisition. The body had a note on it, more like in it, but it said Sweet Inq."

Juniper shifted in her seat and felt extremely uncomfortable that this pony knew her full name, as well as Inq's.

"Also the princess said that you should get out of the castle so this is a perfect opportunity. You could home your skills in deduction and make the princess happy at the same time, judging by how she sounded when she was flying outside she could use the space."

"I'm sorry but I still don't know who you are, or how you know all this stuff."

"Still don't remember? Do you remember Mockin sage at least?"

~~~

Bumble buzz was about to get off his post, finally. He had some real trouble staying awake but he had managed. Bumble heard the bells announcing that it was now four o'clock. Bumble sighed and turned towards his replacement as he walked towards him. Bumble turned towards the doors and was about to open the doors for himself when they burst open and smacked him in the face. When he looked up he saw a fully grown Lunar Pegasus getting up off his back and backing up from the door.

"Now look Juniper, I know you hate Mockin for disappearing but..."

"HE LEFT ME! HE LEFT ME ALONE AND SCARED!! AND KNOW YOU COME HERE AND CLAIM YOU KNEW ALL ALONG THAT I WAS ALONE AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO HELP?!!!"

Bumble stared at the filly with pure terror, Juniper was depressed sure, everypony knew that but why was she mad at this pony?

"Look Juniper, I am sorry that I couldn't come sooner but I have a family now and I couldn't leave my foals because they were so young. I only have time to be here for a day before I go back, please forgive me?"

~~~

Watching Fangs saw Juniper go from pure anger into grief in almost a second, it was very disturbing. She stopped in her tracks and fell to the ground curled up in a fetal position. Fangs ran forward and hugged Juniper's upper body to his. Fangs witnessed something he didn't understand and hopped would never witness again, he saw a pony who was torn apart from a pony who gave her hope and then left her, tearing away at her love and her trust for others.

Fangs let Juniper spill four years of pent up and ignored grief on his chest. He even let Juniper punch his side as she buried her face in his chest and took her anger out on him. He didn't mind, it didn't hurt much. Juniper eventually gave up and hugged Fangs back. Fangs could feel her hitching breaths shudder through him and it pulled at his own heart. He simply pulled her in tighter and layed his head atop of hers and shed tears of his own.

> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was now midnight in Canterlot and almost everyone was sleeping. The moon was out and the stars were shinning their soft peaceful light, but two ponies didn't have a care in the world as they sat together and comforted each other. They were holding each other as closely as they could, they were trying to suffocate their worries between the gap in their bodies. Throughout the night ponies passed the two ponies and silently observed, one was a giant Lunar Pegasus and the other was a small Unicorn fillie, two opposites that made a whole. The news had traveled fast about the two grievers, the press had swarmed the two and tried to get the story straight out of the horses mouth, they just held to each other tighter and shared their moment even closer. The press had pestered the two ponies until the Princess of the night herself, put a stop to the questions.

She had proclaimed that the two would not be disturbed until they felt ready to be questioned. The Lunar Pegasus looked up at the Princess and gave a silent nod of thanks to her, and in doing so made the press snap a few thousand pictures in seconds. If you looked at the two from the back then you wouldn't have noticed that there were even two ponies, the Lunar Pegasus had folded it's wings around the fillie and comforted her with a slow up-and-down motion of it's wings. The unicorn had fallen asleep and had poured out enough tears to soak the Lunar Pegasus and still create a puddle around the two. The fillie had cried until she couldn't squeeze out anymore tears and had buried her head in the crook of the Lunar Pegasi's neck. Throughout the entire time the Lunar Pegasus had shed very few tears but had remained watchful of his surroundings, a silent guardian.

Fangs looked around him and Juniper, and seeing nopony he decided that their time of grief should end. Watching Fangs gently stroked the unicorn with his hoof over her ear to wake her up. Juniper slowly opened her blood-shot eyes and squinted through the darkness around them.

"Are you ok?" Juniper silently nodded her head and opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry Fangs...I shouldn't have put you in this pos-"

"Do not be sorry for grieving, grieving is good for the mind. It lets out your emotions and helps relieve the stress on your body, much like anger."

Juniper smiled a watery smile up at Fangs and struggled to stand up. The problem was that her legs had fallen asleep from sitting on them for hours on end. Fangs knew she would have some trouble because he was himself. Thankfully his wings still functioned properly, enabling him to lift Juniper onto his back and fly into the sky.

"Juniper? Do you know where Inquiring Inquisition is? We need to pick her up before we go."

"She's probably in our room...If she's still alive."

Fangs flew back down to the gates and waited for the guards to open them for him. Once the gates were open he flew down the halls of the castle at a slow, gentle pace. As Fangs flew down the halls he asked any of the guards he passed where the couriers were.

"Do you know where the Royal Couriers are?"

"Certainly, when you go out the front gates of the castle take a left down to the big building with two guards standing in front. You won't miss it."

Thanking the guard, Fangs traveled on down the hall until he neared Juniper's room.He gently landed in front of the door and was glad to find that his legs were in working order once again. Fangs knocked on the door to the room and looked back at Juniper who had fallen asleep again. Fangs turned back towards the door when he heard a click.

"Who is it?"

"I am a friend of Junipers, Watching Fangs."

"Prove it..."

"I have Juniper on my back."

The door opened slightly revealing Inq's eye peering out at him. Once the eye had traveled from his face to his back the door opened fully to reveal Inq in her full form.

"What do you want?"

"I need you to come with me, on request of Princess Celestia."

Inq looked suspiciously at him for a couple of seconds before walking into the room and starting on her packing, as well as Juniper's. After about five minutes she had finished and put both saddle bags on her back. As she started closing the door she remembered something and ran back in the room.

"What was that about?"

"I forgot to turn off the bathroom light."

Fangs looked at her suspiciously, he had remembered it being off, whatever. Watching Fangs led Inq through the halls of the castle and out the front gates, into Canterlot. Once outside, Fangs took a left and followed the road into the city. After walking for about five minutes Fangs started getting worried that he might have missed the building, but as he rounded a bend in the road he saw a large building with two towers on either side of it and two guards posted outside the door. One tower had a style that mostly represented the night sky and the other was of the day.

As he approached the two guards became aware of his presence and tensed up.

"Is this the Royal Couriers building?"

"This is the couriers building but the Royals are here, yes."

"Thank you."

"Stop. What business do you have here?"

"Nothing that you are permitted to know."

"Faaaph! It is my business unless you prove otherwise!"

"Alright..." Fangs reached underneath his left wing and removed a letter that he secured there with a bit of string "...here"

The guard snatched the letter from his grasp and started to read it with a scowl plastered on his face. As his eyes traveled down the page his face slowly went from one of disgust to horror, after he had finished he handed the letter back with a shaking hoof, in which he snapped to his forehead and saluted.

"Sorry for the t-trouble sir. I will personally escort you through the building and make sure you get there in good time.

"Thank you."

The guard snapped his hoof down to his side and opened the door so that Watching Fangs and Inq could enter. The guard then proceeded to lead them down the main hall until they reached a hall that branched out to the left, which they followed. On either side of the hall were doors that were evenly spaced, each with a letter, pony or saddle picture inscribed in them. At the end of the hall were much larger spaced doors and there were two of each kind, one on each side, the major difference was that each door had a crown inscribed above the other pictures. The guard led them to a door that had a saddle on it, knocked, then proceeded to wait. The door opened to reveal a dragon of enormous size it must have been at least twenty feet long, and stuffed in that small space.

"yes?"

"I want you to take these ponies to their destination with utmost hast and caution."

"Alright, how many? two? no, three, ok where are you headed?

"We are headed to my lodge in the middle of the forest, halfway from here to Dragon Pass."

"Easy enough, give me a minute."

The dragon walked back into the room and Fangs saw that the rooms were magically altered to be bigger on the inside then the outside. The guard remained at the door, awkwardly standing at attention. Fangs looked at the guard with confusion before realizing that he was waiting to be dismissed.

"You are releaved, guard."

"Thank you sir, send my regards to your mother."

"I won't."

The guard trotted off, back to his post without a second thought to what Fangs had just said. Inq had though, mother? Why all all this respect for this pony all of a sudden? Who was he?
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a reason behind Dragons being in the courier business, it was because of their speed. Sure ponie that pulled carriages were quick and comfortable but if you needed to get somewhere fast then you got a dragon. The dragon that Watching Fangs, Inquiring Inquisition and Juniper rode on had some experience with carrying ponies around. He knew that you needed to start off slow so that the ponies could adjust and then you sped up gradually. If you didn't then bad things could happen and he really didn't want to deal with that.

The dragon slowed down when Fangs shouted over the wind that the house in the middle of the forest was his. The dragon stopped flapping his wings and instead just glided the rest of the way, slowing down ever so gradually. The dragon had to admit that the house looked very inviting and comfy, not too big, not too small. The windows on the front wall of the house were spilling a soft, warm, orange glow over the freshly fallen snow that covered the ground. The dragon flapped his wings once to slow himself down and landed with a slight jolt that sent the soft powdery snow flying in all directions.

Watching Fangs slipped off the dragons back and reached up to help Inq with Juniper. Once Fangs had Juniper on his back he walked towards his house, happy that he was home again. Inq jumped off the dragons back and started getting the saddle bags down while thanking the dragon himself.

"Thank you, might I ask your name?"

"You may, its Tornado, and I will be staying for a little while to rest and make sure you are alright." Inq smiled up at the dragon and carried the two saddle bags over to the cottage. 

Fangs had wrapped Juniper in the coat and placed her on the swinging bench that hung from the porch ceiling. Fangs was amazed that Juniper could have slept through all that, but then again he could understand why she might have. Fangs looked to the door into the cottage and smiled as he raised a hoof to knock.

Right before he could knock however, the door openned to reveal his first born standing there looking up at him with her adorable teal eyes.

"Daddy's home!" Night Frost jumped up and wrapped her little forelegs around his neck and let herself hang.

Fangs grunted when she hit him but smiled anyway, he was indeed home. Fangs struggled to look down at the fillie but managed to see her smiling face beaming up at him. Night had a blue mane that went well with her midnight blue pelt, he could also see her undeveloped wings fluttering as she struggled to hang on his neck.

"Hello Night, I missed you. Where's mommy?"

"She's over by the fire with Thunder and Skipped Beat." 

Fangs helped Night down from his neck and placed her on the ground, she immediately ran towards the Tornado and pounced on him. Fangs really hoped that the dragon was in a good mood. Fangs returned his attention back to the cottage and walked inside, at first he didn't see anypony but after looking around he saw his wife was indeed in front of the fire. 

Nebula lay on her left side with her back to the fire and her head facing the door. Laying down next to her head was Skipped Beat, a very special foal to Fangs. Not only was Beat, Fangs' first son but he was an albino with no wings as a Lunar Pony. Beat had blood red eyes and a shockingly white pelt and mane with a matching tail. Skipped Beat had never shown any signs of growing wings so they had assumed that he wasn't ever going to. They had also figured out that sunlight seriously disturbed the foal, when he had first felt the touch of sunlight his skin had turned red almost immediately and he began burning up. So now the poor foal could only go outside when he was fully covered.

Thunder struck on the other hand, had nothing unusual about him. Except maybe that his mane stuck out in almost every direction imaginable no matter how much they tried to slick it down. Thunder Struck was currently two months old where as his siblings were two and four years old. Thunder had a surprising appearance, his tail and mane were darker at the roots then at the tips where they were much lighter. And his charcoal black pelt amplified the effect.

Nebula was staring at Watching Fangs with a half-lidded smile.

"You made it back, good, now you can take Beat outside because he has been bugging me all night."

Skipped Beat perked up his ears at the sound of his name and openned his eyes to look up at Watching Fangs. As soon as he had registered who it was, he got up and trotted over to Fangs.

"Hey Daddy! Can you take me outside? Pleaaaassse!"

"Hey kiddo, yes I will take you outside, lets go start a snow ball fight with your sister."

Beat jumped with joy and ran out the cottage door, only to crash into Inq as she started walking inside.

"Oooof! Hey! Oh, um hi there...uhhh." Inq looked up at Fangs for some help with a name, but before Fangs could answer her he was interrupted by Beat himself.

"My name is Skipped Beat! But you can call me Beat. Whats yours?"

"My name is...Inq. Just Inq."

Skipped Beat looked up at Inq and studied her before running out of the house to go play in the snow. Inq looked at Fangs and he motioned towards Nebula at the fire. Fangs walked out of the house to find that the yard had been mostly cleared of snow and what was left was two forts on either side. Each fort was manned and defended by a single ferocious foal, brother vs. sister. You may think that Night had an advantage over Beat because she was older but you have to remember that snow was white, and so was Beat. Beat was very smart for his age, he had realised that he wasn't going to win by just throwing snow balls, he had to get up close. 

Tornado snorted with amusement as he watched the foals play in the forts he had made them. He was happy to see foals that weren't scared of him, he was used to foals crying at the sight of him, but these ones were using him as a referee. Beat was even using him as cover as he crept unseen from his fort and silently crawled through the snow towards Night. Night was throwing snkw balls aimlessly at where she thought Beat was, but was completely taken by surprise when a snow ball hit her at point blank range from behind.

"OWW!" Night whipped around to find nothing there. Night looked more carefuly and still couldn't find anything, then what had hit her? Another snow ball hit her in the back of the head. Night groweled and turned around to once again not find anypony, who was throwing them then? Night heard a slight shuffle of snow behind her and knew who had done it.

Night scooped up a ready made snow ball and turned around, throwing her snow ball through the air. The snow ball landed squarely between Beat's eyes and exploded in a puff. Beat looked dazed for a second before he got tackled by Night and they started play fighting. They carried on for about two minutes before they got exhausted and cold, so they ran up to Fangs who had sat down next to the sleeping Juniper and watched the scene play out.

"Thank you Tornado for everything, you can go if you wish."

"Thank you sir, I have rested long enough, give my regards to your mother and wish her well for me."

"I will."

Inq, who had come outside again to help take Juniper in, paused when she heard the dragon wish Fangs' mother well. Why were all these ponies giving respect to his mother? It couldn't be just to be polite because they were guards, they didn't care. So why were they so concerned about his mother? She decided that she was going to ask him sometime soon.

"Where should me and Juniper sleep Fangs?"

Give me a sec and I will take her in. Alright Night and Beat, you twogo inside and help your mother with cleaning up, you made most of the mess anyways."

The two foals ran inside the house and disapeared as Fangs picked up Juniper and carried her inside the warm house, closing the door behind himself. Fangs walked across the living room and into the guest room where he layed Juniper down and pulled the thick blankets over her. Out of all things, this woke her up.

"...mmmhh. Thank you Fangs. Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it, now go back to sleep."

Fangs walked out of the room and closed the door softly behind him. He then walked over to the couch and crashed on it, man he was tired. Fangs observed his family bustle around the house and watched his foals attempt at cleaning up the mess they made. Fangs then switched his gaze from his family back to Inq who was on another couch and was trying to stay awake, and failing. 

"Inq, I'm so sorry, there is another bed in the room that Juniper is in, you can sleep there."

Inq barely managed to nod her head and dragged her hooves over to the door and stumbled in not even bothering to close the door. A minute later the whole house filled with the sounds of her snoring.

"Wow Beat, she snores louder then you do." Beat glared at his sister and decided it wasn't worth it to argue. 

Fangs let out a sigh and let his left hoof hang over the edge of the couch and his eye-lids slowly drifted close. Time for some well deserved sleep.

> Chapter 18 (Warning: Dark and Gory)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin floated through the darkness that surrounded him. He had his eyes closed and could feel what was happening around him. Mockin had been floating in the abyss for four years, thirty three days, twelve minutes, and thirteen seconds, and during this time he had been conscious without a second of rest. Mockin wasn't alone in the abyss, oh no, he had regular visitors to torment him and pick at his body. They were shapeless, massless, physics defying, creatures that feasted on the non-living.

Mockin called them whispers.

They would come to him and sink into his mind, exploring his inner workings, finding all his secrets. In a matter of minutes they had found out every detail of Mockin there was to know, even how to control his body. Mockin floated through the abyss with his helpless mind trapped within his own skull, this was a torture that only worked with time. The whispers had plenty of time.

Mockin wasn't entirely without hope however, the whispers seemed to have neglected his dreams and the power they held over ponies. Mockin had relized that when he was dreaming everything was VERY realistic and accurate. Unlike a lucid dream, he couldn't control what was happening and he didn't know what some of the ponies names were. Mockin had realized that he could dream subconsciously while the whispers probed and tore open his soul from the inside. 

The whispers had grown tired of tormenting him with their insistent bodies and had decided that physical pain would help speed the process of turning him into one of their puppets. However, in doing so, the whispers had revealed their weakness to Mockin, blood. The whispers had torn him open so that his blood spewed outwards and passed through a whisper. The said whisper had screamed in agony before flashing a brief shade of blue and gold, turning instantly back to an empty space of light. 

The problem with the things he was put through was that he was always healed instantly and his previous wound grew together. His mental strain had put him onto the edge of insanity and the only reason he hadn't tipped was because he had dreamed of something very shocking and unbelievable. He had dreamed of Juniper.

The only place he had dreamed of was what looked like a crude interpretation of Canterlot. He had been a dragon in this dream and he had been enjoying his sense if flight with the after thought of being tortured. After a perticularily nasty stab at his mentality he had looked down to see a mare in a street being cornered by a stallion with a knife. Mockin had started to approach but stopped when he saw a filly round the corner of the alley and shout at the stallion. Something about the filly had stumped him and made him hesitate in his path, after a minute of thought it came to him that this filly was indeed Juniper.

Mockin redoubled his speed and barreled towards the stallion with the knife who was now approaching Juniper. The stallion stopped to look up at Mockin as he approached and so did Juniper, perfect. Mockin streamed down and pushed Juniper aside before grapping the stallion around the neck before dragging him up and over the roof of the house bordering the alley. Mockin dug his claws into the stallion's kneck before he could scream, he then proceeded to crush his neck entirelly.

Mockin watched as his shadowy black claws effortlessly squeezed the life force out of the colt, he then focused on the colt's face and gasped as he realized it was a spitting image of himself. Mockin dropped the stallion's body and examined his body, he was a shadowed dragon that seemed to float as he stood there. Mockin took a tentitive step forward on the shingled roof and noticed his claws didn't make a sound as they scrapped against the hard surface. 

He had become what was torturing him, he had become a whisper, and he loved it. Mockin found a new file of information stored within him and openned it to find everything there was to know about Juniper and her friends. 

Chuckling to himself, he carved Juniper's and her friends name into the body of the stallion before proceed ing to pick it up and carry it across the roof tops in effortless bounds, leaving a trail of shadow in his wake. Mockin flew through the air and teleported to an old friend of his, time to mortify someone else. Mockin dropped the body on the steps up to house. 

Mockin flew back to Canterlot and landed on top of a roof to observe the place that was going to be his soon, the moon cast his marvelous shadow across the houses and spread his power over roof tops. Mockin looked around at the ponies that were unaware of his presence, except one. His gaze had stopped on one pony, that pony was staring up at him with kindness and gratitude. Gratitude? Strange word, it held so much power, so much power. 

Mockin balked as he was jolted from his half sleep to find himself surrounded by the whispers as the sneered down at him. Mockin looked down at his hooves to find that he could see through them and they produced a darkness of there own. Mockin gasped and realized that the whispers had found his one true refuge and manipulated it to turn him into one of them, to do their bidding. He fought against the urge to become a whisper and started to relax as his hooves became more and more transparent. the whispers on the other hoof, they started flashing blue and gold and screeching at Mockin before they pummeled him mentally and physically. 

Mockin had taken hope in the fact that Juniper was still alive and well, but he was disturbed with the knowledge of what he had done to that stallion. 

So there Mockin was, floating in the abyss with his eyes closed and waiting for the whispers to approach him once again. He knew that they were coming soon and when they did, he would be ready. Fifteen minutes earlier Mockin had bit down on his tongue to cause blood to spew into his mouth. His wound hadn't healed and was still currently bleeding in his mouth but Mockin didn't swallow or spit out the liquid in his mouth, he was saving it. 

Soon enough the whispers approached him again and once again they surrounded him.
This time however, Mockin had spit out all the blood he had in his mouth and sprayed over the whisper that circled him. The whispers shivered and screamed as the blood passed through them and caused them agonizing pain. Mockin then reached for the nearest one and attempted to grap it before it came to but his hoof just passed through it. All the whispers were screaming and were all now glowing a blue and gold light from all over. 

Some whispers grew bigger and widder while some of yhe others started shrinking and becoming slimmer. Mockin watched in awe as the whispers transformed into bodies of actual matter and shape. One whisper who mockin recognized as the whisper that took pleasure in hurting him physically, grew six limbs and enormous size. The whisper then formed four legs and two scaly, massive, wings that matched well with the tail that grew from the base of the two legs in the back. The whisper then extended what could only be described as its neck and formed its lower jaw, cheek bones, upper jaw, and then horns. The last things the whisper formed were it's eyes and the color of it's scales, which were blue and gold. The whisper/dragon had normal eyes except for its pupils which were gold, and its scales had a base color of blue but at the tips they changed into gold. 

Mockin stared up at the whisper/dragon with awe and fear, he was so focused on this whisper that he didn't notice the other whispers change into their new forms. He did notice when they walked over to the dragon and sat kn either side of it. There was a Griffin, Minotaur, Zebra, Donkey, and most surprising, an alicorn. All the whispers were colored in the same way as the dragon was, with their respective style. The Zebra had inter-changing stripes, the griffin had a blue plummage with gold claws and feet,
The minotaur had a blue pelt with gold hooves and horns, the donkey had a blue pelt with gold hooves and mane/tail. The Alicorn was different though, it had a blue pelt with gold-ended feathers and hooves, but what was most surprising was that it looked almost exactly like Mockin himself.

Mockin stared at the impossing figures that stood before him, a lowly black and grey speck in the pressence of shinning and shimmering gold. Mockin had immediately lost all fear of yhe creatures that stood before him and instead felt only respect. However, that didn't explain how they had gotten there or what they meant to do. Mockin tried to form words but failed as blood continued to leak out of his slack jawed mouth a spill across the abyss. The dragon stared longilinly at the blood as it spilled everywhere but returned his golden gaze back at Mockin and broke the ice.

"You may not have chosen wisely, but you chose correctly. We weren't really sure if you were actually going to free us or if we were going to stay in-prisoned in your mind. You have finnaly taken your fate into your hooves. I thought Joy here would have to reach out to you again but you managed. 

The dragon waved his hand to the Alicorn that stood on the far right, who smiled at Mockin. 

"...W-Wha-"

"To answer your question, yes, we have all been here sense your birth and ever sense we have been trying to open your eyes to our presence and your true self."

"...W-Wha-"

"If you look deep within yourself then you will find the answer, but for now, I think you have a world to return to."

Mockin gaped as all the creatures walked around him and surrounded him. They then walked forward and placed their legs/arms around him before they melted and started to encase Mockin in a shell of light and energy. Mockin gasped as he felt each presence fill in the gaps of his heart and soul, replacing all that he had suffered and filled it with better things. He felt like he was being born again.





Granite sat in the middle of the clearing that the dragons had occupied for centuries and remained still. Granite sat there in the middle and stared up at the smiling skeleton dragon that had been placed on a rocky throne of it's own. The dragons had decided to keep the skeleton because they didn't know how it got there and why it was there. So they had moved it carefully over to the edge of the clearing and constructed a rocky throne that looked impossing to any intruders that came in the clearing. Some foolish dragons had started worshipping it and had placed sacred fire lillies on the bones. 

Granite on the other hand had looked to it for inspiration, the bones made it look like that dragon had died happily even in the face of death. So Granite had decided to look on all the bright sides of things before despairing.

At this time Granite had been staring at it with unfocused eyes so he didn't notice the slight twitch the bones did. He did notice the gathering of moisture underneath his claws though, and as he looked down he saw the moisture too. The moisture was a deep rich red and was extremely thick, Granite gasped as he realized it was blood. Granite jumped back and observed in horro as the Gallons of blood seeped out of the dirt and collected into a ball that floated in mid air. The blood the started drifting towards the skeleton, the skeleton responded by standing up and jumping down from its raised throne. Granite was too horrified to scream as the skeleton landed with cracks and creaks before it reached towards the blood with one claw.

As soon as the skeleton touched the blood it started glowing white and distorted. The blood then spread across the body and covered the skeleton from view. Granite noticed, however, that the body started to shrink and form different appendages. First its wings shrank and became more feathery and then it grew a horn from it's head. Granite was too transfixed to connect the dots that were forming in his head, but he did notice that the claws shrank away and were replaced with solid surfaces.

The light slowly faded and the body dropped from its hovering position to land on its side in the dirt. Granite snapped his attention down to it and took slow, cautious steps towards it. As Granite approached he noticed a ponies body with wings and a horn! An alicorn?! Granite sped up and checked to see if it was breathing, it was. Granite ran his eyes over the body and noticed its interesting clorage, blue pelt with gold tipped feathers and hooves. The mane and tail had highlights of black going through the gold hair that they were made of. Slowly and painfuly the alicorn's eyes blinked open to reveal blue irises and gold pupils that stared around at the unfamiliar world. Before Granite spoke to it he checked what gender it was, you can't be too sure.

Granite peeked at the belly of the pony and got his answer, that was all he needed to know.

"Umm...excuse me miss...but um, who are you?" Granite wasn't sure if he should adress her as a princess or an enemy, I mean that was quite the appearance.

"Miss?...why would you think that?" The pony looked around her before looking up at Granite with those bright and knowledgable eyes.

"Well um, I wasn't sure how I should adress you. I will call you princess if you want."

"Princess? What do I look like? An alicorn?...i've seen you somewhere."

"Um yes you do look like an alicorn because thats what you are. Also, I have never seen you before."

"I'm an alicorn?" The pony turned her head around and stared at her wings, she then lifted one hoof to her forehead and tapped at her horn.

"I'm...I'm an alicorn. Is that why you assumed I was a mare?" 

"Umm, no...I kinda, checked." Granite was blushing but thankfuly no-one would be able to tell.

"What do you mean you checked? I mean honestly...SWEET CELESTIA!!" The pony craned her neck down and looked between her legs to see nothing there at all.

The mare almost fell over as she continued to stare between her legs and her kness wobbled. The mare started breathing very heavily before looking up again and looking around. Finnaly she found a puddle and ran over to it before skidding to a stop and sitting down on her lower back and leaning way forward. Granite silently observed as the mare spread her legs and looked down at herself. After a full minute she looked up and just stared at the cavern wall.

Granite started to get worried so he walked over to make sure everything was ok. As he approached the mare slowly got up and turned to face him, she had a completely blank look on her face.

"Everything ok miss?"

"Um no. And I'm not a miss, or a sir...I'm not really anything."

Granite just stared at the alicorn, if she didn't have a wang then she was a mare right?

"But um, you don't have any stallion parts. So how can you not be a mare?"

"Like this." The mare suddenly turned around and lifted her tail, presenting nothing to him. 

Granite couldn't help staring at the blank spot that he had been expecting something to be. He also couldn't help looking down to make sure she didn't have anything to make her a he. She/he didn't.

"Um...how? What? What's your name?"

"Huh, it's Mockin Sage but I don-" Mockin stared at the dragon as its jaw went slack and literally hit the floor. The dragon just stared at Mockin as he turned around and observed. Mockin looked more closely at the dragon and something clicked within his head, this was Granite.

"Granite? Granite is that you? Oh man! This is so wierd! Oh...I've been dead for four years haven't I?" Granite could just stare at the alicorn in front of him and nod his head in answer. 

This couldn't be Mockin, there was no way. Mockin had died or disappeared four years ago and left the new equestria without a much needed counter balance. Mockin was going to be the pony-in-the-middle that stopped the dragons and ponies from going against each other. Also, Mockin was an earth pony/dragon he wasn't an alicorn that had no gender. 

"Granite? Hey Granite! Look, I need some help to find someponies. Could you help?"

Granite vaguely heard the words that had come out of the alicorn's mouth but they finnaly clicked into his brain after the pony tapped on his head.

"We need to get you to Canterlot, quickly, jump onto my back." The alicorn looked a little taken back but then nodded and scrambled up Granites leg awkwardly. 

Granite didn't even bother asking it why it didn't use it's wings, that was a question that just added to the ever growing pile. Granite jumped into the air and flew as fast as he could towards Canterlot in the distance.






> Chapter 19 (final)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mockin currently stood in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, it was completely empty besides himself, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence. Princess Celestia sat in her throne with a hoof on her chin and was studying him with a curious eye. Princess Luna stood to the right of the throne and was picking at a spot on her right hoof with her left, completely ignoring Mockin. Princess Cadence sat to the left of the throne with her jaw hanging open loosely and her eyes wide open. Mockin sub-consciencely scratched the back of his head and looked to the floor.

Granite had by-passed all protocole and had smashed the front doors open to the Castle, and had completely destroyed the main hall to get to the throne room. Once he had gotten there he had deposited Mockin off and had quickly appoligized while bowing his way back out of the Castle. That was an hour ago.

At first Mockin was confused and a little bewildered, but now he was just nervous. The endless silence needed to stop now.

"Sooo, um. I'm alive..."

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow, while Princess Luna glanced up at him. Princess Cadence was, well...

"Umm can one of you say something? I feel really self conscious right now."

Princess Celestia leaned forward in her throne and her eyes grew wide, Princess Luna's jaw dropped and Princess Cadence fell to the floor.

"W-What? Why are you..."

Mockin had dropped his hoof down from his head and in doing so, he caught sight of it. It was transparant. Mockin looked over the rest of his new body and found that his entire body was see through. Mockin started to panic. As soon as he started to breath quickly he felt everything slow and he could hear what was going on outside of the throne room. He took a deep breath through his nose and he could smell what was being prepared in the restuarant three blocks from the Castle, pudding. Now he was confused.

Mockin felt himself grow taller, he could feel his neck become longer while his arms and legs repositioned themselves on his body. Mockin looked down to see that he had an assortment of animal parts replacing his limbs. Something clicked in his head and he thought of one word. Confusion. He was confusion, in other words a draconequues. Mockin let his arms fall to his sides and stared at the Princess' in front of him.

"If it helps, this is new for me too."

Acceptance. Mockin felt his body shrink again and his limbs go back to there original position. Mockin looked down at himself to find that he was in his normal body, well, Alicorn body. He was beside himself with joy.

"Ha! Puns!"

Mockin looked to his left to find a spitting image of himself standing there, smiling happily to him.

"Woah! What the heck! Who are you?"

"I'm Joy! Or in other words, WE, are joy. I'm you, or you are we. Us. Oh whatever."

Mockin looked back at Princess Celestia who had resorted to leaning heavily in her throne, what a show Mockin must have made.

"Um, do you know what is happening to me Joy?"

"Duh! I am you, but it would be kinda dumb to tell you what you already know, and trust me, you don't want to turn into Dumb."

Mockin was completely confused now, and once again he felt himself grow and change, just as Joy vanished from his sight. 

"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!!"

Mockin quickly covered his mouth with his mismatched hands and looked at Princess Celestia who had cobered her ears with her hooves. But beneath that, Mockin could tell that she was surprised, however she wasn't confused.

"Please keep your voice down, you do not yet know the full extent of your abilities, and for that, neither do we."

The Princess slowly lowered her hooves away from her ears and looked back up at the draconequues  Mockin, she continued to silently study him. Mockin crossed his arms in front of him and snorted, now he was getting angry.

Once again, Mockin felt himself shift and change, fearing what he would find he looked down at his body to find that he had turned into a Minotaur. Patience. Mockin calmed down and started to think about what was goin on with him, each shift or change in his body seemed to happen during a specific emotion. Joy, he duplicated. Confusion, he turned into a Draconequues. Patience (calm), he turned into a minotaur. Shyness, he turned transparent maybe even invisible. This left Mockin sort of excited and happy, he had finnaly figured out what had happened to him, more or less.

Mockin sighed as he felt his body shift and change again, this time however, it was a familiar feeling. Mockin looked down at his claw and realized that it was indeed, a claw. The claw was surrounded buly little hard objects which Mockin quickly identified as scales, he was a dragon and a single popped into his head. Order.

Mockin looked back up at the Princesses to find that Luna had regained her composure and Clelestia had gotten up out of her throne to start approaching him. Cadence was out cold.

As Princess Celestia approached him he could feel hiw she felt, she was surprised, happy, sad, and cautious all at the sametime.

"Curious..."

"You aren't curious Princess, merely surprised. You knew this was going to happen but you didn't know when."

Mockin inwardly recoiled at what he said, he hadn't meant to say that! He didn't even know how he knew that.

"That is true, I had my suspicions about you when you transformed into a dragon the first time. So when I had returned to my Studies I read up on old prophecies that fake or real seers had predicted, I found one that reminded me of you. It was a prophecy of a new Alicorn, an Alicorn that controled Emotions. It did mention that this Alicorn would be seperated from the power of Love, love being the most powerful Emotion, to combine that power with all the others would be suicidal. Even for an Alicorn." Mockin took a minute to fully register what was happening to him.

"So i'm the Alicorn of Emotions? What does that mean exactly?" Princess Celestia looked at him with a far away look before snapping her attention to back to what was in front of her.

"I do not know... for once in my life I do not know the full potential of an new Alicorn, you are a complete mystery."

Mockin felt like he had been hit by a train, Princess Celestia didn't know?

"But Princess-"

"Please, call me Celestia, you have before anyway. Why should it change now?"

"O-Ok, um, Celestia? What happens now?"

Celestia softly chuckled and patted his enormous shoulder with a gold slippered hoof.

"That is where the fun starts."





"How is this fun?"

Celestia shushed him with a hoof pressed to her lips. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be hiding. Currently he was in a tree with Celestia, they were planning to surprise Twilight and her friends as they headed towards the library. Apparently Twilight had something important planned with her friends, and they were purposely going to ruin it.

Mockin's part of the plan was to wait for Celestia's signal and then he was to come out of the tree as a draconequues and pretend to be Discord. Why? He had asked this question fifty times and had gotten the same answer everytime...

"Just wait and see."

Mockin had his part down pat, he didn't need to confuse himself because he was already baffeled by this plan. For one, he would be a blue and gold draconequues, not the assortment of colors that Discord was. However, that was the only major flaw in the plan that he cared about, his voice already matched Discord's quite well because of his voice box changing in the transformation.

Mockin looked to his left in the close confinement of the tree to see a grinning Celestia perched on the thick branch next to him, as balanced as a cat. 

Once again Mockin shook his head and sighed, he hoped that Twilight would come soon, he was starting to cramp in this position. 

Thankfully only after a minute more Twilight and her friends slowly walked up the path towards the back of the Library. As soon as they were next to the tree, Celestia jumped out and stopped the six friends in their path.

"Princess!" Twilight gasped as she now stood in front of her beloved teacher, the rest of the friends dropped into respectful bows. "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh I just dropped by to check up on my favorite student and a rather chaotic problem.

That was Mockin's cue.

Mockin jumped out of the tree and panded gracfully next to Celestia, everypony except Celestia and Fluttershy, glared at him.

"And Discord, what are YOU doing here? And why are you blue?"

Mockin couldn't help but notice the certain degree of hostility in Twilight's voice as she looked at him. Wow, it must suck to be Discord...oh wait.

"Ouch Twilight, I'm wounded, I truly am. Now why would one of my friends cast me down in such a way?"
Mockin prided himself in how well he managed to pull off a convincing Discord voice. "As for why I am blue? I thought it was the new thing, do you not like it?"

"Oh! I do! Oh, um..." Fluttershy had spoken up rather loudly and then hid behind her mane as she drew attention to herself.

"Yes well, its good to see you Princess. And Discord."

Mockin had completed his part of the task, now all he needed to do was stand around and do stupid things, but he had other ideas. Mockin calmed himself down and cleared his mind of most distractions, in doing so he shifted his body into his Alicorn form and looked over at Celestia, away from the gaping faces.

"Why Celestia! Your coat color is SOO out of fashion, don't you think Rarity?"

Mockin looked back at the six friends and singled out the fashionista of the group.

"What? Oh? Um, why no of course not? White would never go out of style! It is such a crisp and unchanging color that looking at it you can see that something is pure and clean. Also, how did you do that?"

"Thats what I would like to know." All of the other five friends said in unison.

Mockin just grinned at them and felt an uplifting emotion rising inside of him.

"Why don't you ask me instead?"

Mockin turned his head to the left and found his twin, Joy, looking at the six friends with obvious...joy...written all over his face. To Mockin's surprise, the six friends simply shook their heads and returned their gaze back to Celestia, apparently coming to a mutal conclusion. Mockin wasn't finished though.

Mockin walked forward with Joy at his side and started jumping in opposite directions around Celestia as she tried to speak to Twilight. He even made 'boing' sounds when he jumped again, managing to interrupt Celestia every time.

"Well Twi-boing-light, I actua-boing-lly came down to-boing- Ponyville to tal-boing-k WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT!"

Finnaly Celestia had enough of Mockin and Joy's hopping and yelled at them both as the continued to annoy her, they had even managed to get Pinkie Pie to join in.

"Look Mockin this was funny but no-" Celestia clapped a hoof over her mouth a little too late. She had slipped the secret out.


"Mockin? Wan't that the Earth pony you told me about a while ago? The one that had been reported missing?" Twilight looked from Celestia to Mockin who was now alone, joy having disapeared and Mockin was now turning transparant.

"Uh...Well it's a long story, and I haven't even heard it all. Which is the real reason for us coming here. Elements, meet Mockin Sage, Alicorn of Emotion."

All six heads snapped to Mockin who was now almost invisible and he desperantly hoped that he could go invisible. All six pairs of eyes were boring into him and studying him intently.

"Is she dead?" Rainbow Dash asked, although in truth everyone else was wondering that too.

"No I am not dead!" Mockin felt himself shift as the first hints of rage spilled into him. "Also I am a HE not a SHE."

Mockin looked down at his body and realized that he had turned into a Griffin, rage. Interesting. When he looked up again all the Elements bombarded him with questions and concerns. Mockin sighed to himself as he a thought came to his head, this was Celestia's REAL prank, not the stupid surprise prank from the tree.

[hr


The hooded figure that walked into the spa was very interesting. The pony wore a dull brown cloak that covered it's head and was draped over its back, covering its cutie marks. 

"Hello! Welcome to the Happy Fly spa! How may we help you?"

The hooded figure looked around the spa slowly, noting the two other customers in the store. 

"Yes, you may help me. I have come for a mane styling."

The hooded figure swept the hood off the cloak to reveal his unkept face and his lack of a mane. The pony then lunged forward and siezed the mare by the neck and gazed into her terrified eyes with his own cold and rage filled orbs.

"Your mane will do nicely." The pony licked his teeth that had been sharpened into unnatural points that rivaled even a Lunar Pegasi's.

The mare tried to scream but was silenced when the pony rammed its other hoof into her throat and cut off her air temporarily. The pony turned around and cut off the two customers who had noticed what happened and had scrambled for the exit. 

"Leaving so soon? Why thats bad manners, at least let me give you a parting gift..."

The Mare watched as the pony kissed both customers on the cheek, one was a colt and the other a fillie, both were terrified. 

"There now you have my blessing to leave in peace. MOVE!!"

At first neither customer moved and simply stared fearfuly at the pony standing over them, but at his insistance they sprinted out the door without a second glance at the mare. However, once the customers left the pony turned his attention back to the mare, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Tell me you whorse, what do you know of the newest Alicorn in Equestria?"

The mare was speechless for multiple reasons and didn't answer his question.

"You don't know? Or you won't tell me? If you are keeping secrets from me I swear on my friend's life that your family will regret your decision."

The Mare worled her tongue as fast as she could to try and get some sort of answer out.

"Y-Yes..."

"Yes what? You know? You were lying? SPIT IT OUT!"

"Yes I know of the newest Alicorn in Equestria!" The mare had screamed in terror as the pony suddenly advanced on her cowering form.

"Ah...an answer. Tell me more."

"It w-was blue, a-a-and g-gold."

"And?"

"It rode in on the leader of the North dragons."

"And?!"

"Thats all I know!" The mare burst into tears and covered her eyes from the monstrosity of a pony in front of her.

"Ah..."

The mare spared a glance up at the pony as he sighed in what seemed like delight. The pony slowly removed the cloak from its back and dropped it to the floor. The pony then turned and looked through one of the glass windows that faced the street, it just continued to stare outwards in utter calm and content. The mare looked down at his flanks to identify the pony that was terrorizing her, the cutie mark was a leaf blowing in the wind.

"My old friend..." The pony let out with a sigh, "you have returned."