> Tiamat, The Dragon God of Evil... and Giraffes > by Hypnos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A giraffe set me free > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gah, how long has it been since I woke up? I had been stuck in some garden, for what seemed like ages. My other heads hadn’t even woken up yet. The last thing I remembered before we woke was fighting with my brother, his knights surrounding me as he prepared a spell to stop me, before he succumbed to his wounds. Are you idiots up yet? Wait, what’s that? Oh it’s just another of those stupid tour groups. “This way class. We’re almost done,” the pony at the front said. They gathered around my form, some scared, others bored. The Great Tiamat reduced to a lawn ornament to be ogled at by children. If my brother saw me he’d have a field day with this. “This statue was found under the castle after it was built, no one knows how it got there or even how old it is. All we have are the words written in an unknown language,” the pony said to the smaller one’s looking at me. “Why is it so important it’s just some dragon?” one of the foals said disinterested. Just some dragon, I knew I should ate those horses the moment they dared to make their own nation. “Ya, it’s not even that scary. Ah thought dragons were supposed to be- ah don’ know bigger,” another said it’s voice with a southern drawl. Little punk, thinks it can talk about me that way. Why if I weren’t stuck I’d eat all these little twerps. “Some historians think this might have been some kind of deity to dragons, but it may also be a memorial,” the head pony told the foals. “Now let’s move along class, it’s almost time for lunch.” As they walked away I went back to trying to wake up the others. Thinking we could break free if all of us were here. After an hour had passed no one had visited the garden, but I felt a sudden change in the magic around me, before a one of the other statues in the garden exploded releasing some strange monstrosity. Huh, always thought that was an abstract piece. It stood there for a second popping its back and stretching out. It turned around looking to the other statues in the garden. It stopped in front of a few scratching its chin, at a few it snapped its fingers releasing some trapped creature, some more lucky than others, one even turned to dust as soon as it was free. Before long he was in front of me giving me a once over. “So, let's see what you can do?” he asked as he snapped his fingers, causing the stone around me to vanish. As soon as it was gone I could feel the magic in the air rushing to me, slowly refilling my mana pools. His face drained of color as I stood there basking in the sun and stretching out a bit. “Wow, being turned to stone sucks. Do you have any idea how long I was like that, I mean wow. I’d probably be insane if I weren’t asleep for most of it,” I said jumping off the pedestal I’d been standing on for the last… few thousand years. “So, you wanted to know what I can do?” I asked him. “Umm- well- uh bye,” he said trying to teleport away, only for me to cast Disjunction stopping him in his tracks. “Now, that’s no way to show a girl a good time, mister…” I stood there for a second looking him up and down, as he was just there frozen in what I assumed was fear. “I’m gonna go with a chimera, no wait a giraffe. Yup definitely a giraffe.” “But- how do- I even resemble- a gira,” he was saying till I gave him a look of displeasure about being wrong. We stood there for a bit looking at each other, before long I grew bored and was about say something when I heard something approaching. A group of ponies in armor rounded a corner, only to freeze when they saw me and the giraffe. “Who goes there?” one of them yelled. “Oh, look Mr. Giraffe, someone sent us a snack,” I said smiling at him, before looking back to the approaching prey. “Now, get in a single file line so I can cook you all at once,” I told them. They looked at each other, before spreading out and stopped, taking a defensive formation. One of them ran to get reinforcements. “Hmm, I guess I can work with this,” I said, sighing and looking back to Mr. Giraffe, “Why do mortals always have to be so difficult?” “What do you me-” he started saying, but I didn’t hear the rest as I rushed at my meal. I was tempted to just use blasphemy to make it easy, but I hadn’t had a decent meal in a while so I wanted to enjoy myself. One of them tried to stop me with magic, the spell slid off my scales, and I sliced his head off his shoulders. As his body slumped over, another tried avenging his friend by skewering me with his spear, when I swiped it from his hooves he jumped away using his wings to propel himself away from my counter attack. “Playing hard to get? Don’t you just love it when your food plays back?” I asked him, smiling. My claw began to glow with magic, the remaining guards eyes grew wide, as the pegasus that just dodged was surrounded in my aura. He looked at me, his eyes suddenly filled with fear, or at least that’s what it smelled like. “Ugh, really that’s just disgusting, now I don’t even want to eat you. I mean, seriously. Gross,” I said, tossing him away. Turning to the other guard, I frowned there was only one left, but now my appetite was ruined. I turned to leave, making my way toward the entrance the ponies had walked through, just before I go though I heard the rush of wing beats. More ponies landed in front of me. “Halt, dragon!” one yelled. I yawned and turned around as I heard more land behind me. I saw two larger ponies land in front of Mr. Giraffe. “Discord! We won’t let you wreak havoc across Equestria again!” the larger of the two yelled, as he still stood there in shock. These two seem important, strange how they think he’s the larger threat. Maybe I’ve been trapped longer than I thought. “Sister, we think there may have bigger problems than this fool,” the blue one said noticing the headless pony on the ground and me covered in its blood. “What could possibly be worse than Discord, Luna?” her sister asked. The other grabbing her head in her magic and forcing her to look at the carnage I had caused. She seemed shocked for a moment, looking back at Mr. Giraffe, then to her sister and then back at me. I smiled and waved at them. The white one’s face suddenly filled with rage, and she rushed at me. “You will rue the day you thought you could harm one of my ponies, and get away with it, dragon,” she yelled, her body bursting into flames. I frowned, I never thought to introduce myself to Mr. Giraffe. I raised a claw, to grab the flaming pony as she got close enough. Before she could stop herself, I had grabbed hold of her by the face. “I’m so sorry,” I said still holding the white pony’s head. “Apologies, won’t halt justice, wyrm!” she yelled. I looked at her confused. “I wasn’t talking to you,” I said simply, as I tossed her over my shoulder by her head, hearing a wall shatter behind me soon after. I walked toward the stunned large blue pony, she got into a defensive stance preparing for me to attack. I merely pushed her out of my way, and stopped before the still shocked Mr. Giraffe, and stuck out a claw. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Tiamat.” Mr. Giraffe stood there staring at me for a second, it didn’t seem like he was going to respond any time soon. So, I turned around to leave the garden, seeing the two larger ponies pulling themselves to their feet, with their guards still staring at me. “Well, it’s been fun, but then again it hasn’t so bye,” I told them, spreading my wings to take off. “What are you planning, creature?” the large white pony yelled to me, causing me to stop. I folded my wings back up and looked at her for a second. I hadn’t really given that much thought. “You know what I have no idea. I’ve already conquered the world once so that’s out of the question, maybe I’ll destroy the world,” I said causing their jaws to drop and stare at me even harder. “No, that’d be no fun. I think I’ll go see how the world has changed, or I might just go see how my children have done in my absence.” Before they could say anything, I unfurled my wings and took off. A smile on my face as I left to discover what new wonders the world had in store. “What have I done?” > Paint The Town Pink > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot Castle Princess Celestia sat in her throne, nursing a headache from being thrown headfirst into a wall. While she hadn’t been badly hurt, she still felt terrible about the events earlier that day, not only had she rushed in and fought that creature but she was defeated single-handedly, literally. Now she had no idea where that thing went or what it was planning. Before she could get to deep into her thoughts, the door to the room slammed open, and a guard rushed in. “Princess, we’ve found it! The creature was flying away from the city, toward Ponyville,” he said, making the Princess practically leap off the throne. “We need to warn Twilight and her friends! Ready a battalion of guards, and send them to Ponyville! Who knows what this creature will do, or what it could possibly be thinking.” I wonder if anyone’s invented television yet? I thought flying over the landscape, toward a town I saw in the distance. As I flew I looked down, seeing train tracks and a few dirt roads dotting the landscape, but the only creatures I saw were ponies and the occasional wild animal. This place is so peaceful... it sucks. Before long I had arrived at the town, all the ponies in a panic as I landed in the street. This is more like it. I stood there, listening to the sweet sound of panic and mayhem, when my vision was filled with pink. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. What’s your name? Do you like parties? I only know one dragon, and he likes parties. His name’s Spike. Did I already ask your name, oh but you haven’t told me yet. Have you?” the pink said rapidly, not even breathing. I stood there shocked for a second, before coming back to my senses. “Umm, hi. Shouldn’t you be panicking with the rest of the pre-, I mean ponies?” I asked it, confused. It took a step back looking at the other ponies, still running around the street. “Probably, but this is important, I mean you are the main character after all,” it said smiling at me. “Thank you…” I said confused, but assumed it was a compliment. I looked around, the street empty except the two of us. “Well, I’m Tiamat, it’s… nice to meet you.” “Oh, I can’t wait to introduce you to all my friends! There’s Twilight, and Rainbow, and Applejack, and Rarity, and Flutters-” she started saying at rapid-fire speed, not noticing that I wasn’t listening. Then I remembered she said something about another dragon earlier. “-are, and Granny Smith, and Steve, and-” “Pink,” I said, interrupting her. “That’s not my name, you forgot the EEEEE at the end,” she said. Before she went back to naming all her friends. I hate these ponies. “Pink,” I said again, interrupting her again. I grabbed mouth, before she could yell EEEEE again. “You said something about a dragon earlier.” “Yeah, that’s Spike,” she said, before rambling on about every detail she could think of about him. “Could you show me where he lives?” I asked her before she could ramble too much. “Of course,” with a smile she took off hoping down the road, before stopping and looking back to where was still standing. “Come on, silly.” As we walked down the street, I saw the occasional pony looking at me from their windows, and one from a trash can. Some, seeing me with another pony, gave them the courage to leave their hiding places. Soon, we were at our destination or I thought we were because Pink had stopped. It was a funny looking house built into a tree. Is it a tree house, or a house tree? When she knocked on the door, a small purple dragon opened the door. He looked at her then he turned to me standing behind her. He let out a squeak, grabbed Pink and pulled her inside, before slamming the door shut. “Well, that’s just rude,” I huffed. I heard a commotion coming from inside, like they were moving a bunch of furniture to block the door. Then it got quiet. Do they think I’ll just leave if they don’t make any noise. Oh, I’ve got a great idea. I used Invisibility, before teleporting myself inside. I ended up in the far corner of the room. It was a library of sorts with the shelves built into the walls. Some of the ponies were trying to look through the window. An orange pony in a cowboy hat currently taking up the window, while fighting off a blue pegasus who was trying to look out also. “Is it gone?” a white pony asked, looking a bit scared over to the two at the window. I smiled thinking up a perfectly evil idea. “No, I don’t think it is,” I said as I dropped the Invisibility spell, appearing in the room. Inciting another panic. “Go outside!” the orange one yelled, looking at the door remembering the had boarded it up and had couch pressed against it. Another pony was cowering under the couch. The blue one trying to pull the boards off the door, making me laugh a little. “What do you want, you evil monster?” a purple pony yelled, and the others stopped and look to her then to me, waiting for a response. “Hey! Evil is such a strong word, and I don’t really think that describes me that we- no, wait evil describes me perfectly,” I smiled at them, and the white one fainted onto the couch. “As for what I want I just wanted to meet the dragon that lived here,” looking at the small purple dragon hiding behind the purple pony. The blue pony flew into my face, “And just what do you want with Spike, huh? You gonna make him a part of your evil empire, or something?” “You’re in my way,” I frown pushing her out of my way a little bit too hard, causing her to crash into a bookshelf. I looked back at the little dragon, his frightened form hiding behind where the pony was, before going to where her friend landed. “HEY, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!” I heard someone yell, suddenly I felt a little nervous. Looking around to see the pony that was hiding under the couch staring at me. “YOU SHOULDN’T JUST THROW PONIES INTO WALLS LIKE THAT, YOU COULD’VE JUST ASKED HER TO MOVE, YOU… YOU BIG MEANY!” I heard a yawn, and an itch in my neck. “What’s with all the yelling? I leave you alone for five minutes Red, and you start picking fights,” I heard the voice of Black say, looking over to see my black dragon head was the first to wake up. She looked around to see everyone else in the room staring at us. “Why are you all looking at me like I just sprouted a second head?” I joked, hearing Black huff in annoyance. "Red, you're the worst," > Two Heads are better than one... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Um, Twi what’s goin on?” Applejack asked her friend thinking she’d have some idea what to do. The dragon that she had gotten a letter about had appeared in her home after following Pinkie Pie. Now, it just stood there arguing with a second head that had appeared out of nowhere, seemingly having forgotten about her hand her friends. “What?! That wasn’t my fault that was Blue and you know it,” the red one said snarling at the black one. “Oh no, don’t go blaming the others just cause their not here. I know it was you, you-” “I have no idea, Applejack. This just all seems too impossible, I mean how could she just have a second head appear,” Twilight said, turning back to the farmer, confused that the creature didn’t even seem put off by the new head, and now they were talking about more. “Well, I say we get em while they're not paying attention,” Rainbow Dash fumed, having been just thrown into a wall with a slight shove. But all their plans were for naught. “And just what is that supposed to mean, don’t think I forgot what you did. Or did you forget that we share memories,” I yelled at my other head, releasing a bit of smoke into the air as the argument grew more heated. “Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do-” she yelled back before stopping. “Umm, excuse me.” I heard someone squeak, but couldn’t tell from where. We both looked around the room, which seemed to have shrunk a little in the middle of our yelling. The ceiling of the room rubbing against the top of my head, till I grew annoyed with it and shrunk down slightly. Some of the ponies were in the far end of the room, probably conspiring against us. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you fight,” the squeak said, this time letting me know where it came from. I looked down to see the yellow pony that had woken Black up, looking up at us concerned. A smile came to my face, which seemed to make her shiver in fear. “Black, I think we’ve frightened the poor thing,” I said to Black making her growl at me. “So, it’s just a pony, and don’t think I’ll just forget about this just because you want to change the subject,” she snarled at me. “You’re such a drama queen, but I think we should deal with these before we continue our discussion,” I said, seeing them all looking to us with terror. “Now, what to do? What to do?” “I say we eat them,” Black suggested. “No, my appetite was ruined earlier. I think we should just burn the town and leave,” I said. “What’s the point? They’ll just rebuild it in a week,” Black rebuffed. Neither of us noticing the ponies moving the furniture away from the door. “Oh, I’ve got it let’s curse the-” I started to say before the door burst in, blasting the remaining furniture across the room, with the ponies in front of it. The rainbow one hitting another bookshelf. “Twilight, I have the Elements! We need to find this…” the white pony from the garden burst through the door, before looking around, seeing the furniture and ponies strewn throughout the room, before she saw me on the far side of the room. So, I did the first thing that came to my mind. “Hello,” I said, waving at her. “Seriously, that’s what you say?” Black said facepalming. “What? I thought it was funny.” “Well, it wasn’t and you’re terrible.” “What are you doing here, foul creature?” she spat at me, her eyes full of fury. The rest of the ponies still reeling from being blasted across the room. “That’s a good question Red, what are we doing here?” my enigmatic second head asked me. “Well, right now my dear Black, we are standing, while being visually accosted by a lesser horse like creature, that is most likely planning some kind of daring assault that is more than likely to fail,” I said to her smiling. “Did I miss anything?” “What about the giant rainbow coloured laser coming right at us.” “Hmm, yeah I guess I did miss that… Wait, what?!” we both turned our heads to see a giant rainbow coloured laser coming right at us. “Well, that’s a big ole bunch of nope. Bye,” I said using a gate spell, sending myself Io knows where. a few minutes ago Celestia had just broken down the door to her student’s home, after not being able to open it. After she stepped in to retrieve Twilight and her friends to seal away the dragon that had overpowered her and her sister. Now, she saw the monster in the room with the bearers, but now it had a second head both looking right at her. “Hello,” the red one said. “Seriously-” the two heads started argueing. Twilight gather your friends I have the Elements, ready them so we might seal this creature away. Celestia said to her student using telepathy. They gathered themselves, taking the Elements. The power gathered and they began the spell, the dragon arguing with itself, but it noticed the spell too late, or so she thought. As the spell cleared, all that remained where the dragon was was a strange circle floating just above the floor. “Where did it go?” Twilight wondered. “Who cares, it’s gone right so why worry about where it went?” Rainbow Dash said, glad that the dragon vanished. “But, the Elements didn’t hit anything,” Twilight said worried, “How could they miss?” “It matters not as long as everypony is alright,” Celestia said, looking around the library. The room was a mess, bookshelves toppled over. “Where’s Spike?” Twilight muttered, looking to the portal still floating in the middle of the room. “Spike!” she screamed rushing into the gate, vanishing before anyone could stop her. “Twilight, no!” Celestia yelled as she to rushed after her student, falling into the portal. “Wait!” Applejack yelled as she and the rest of them rushed to the portal. As they got there the portal quickly closed before they could pass through. As they hit the ground a rumble came from a nearby pile of books, and Spike’s head popped up. “What’s happened?” > A Shadowed Fate > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The world around Celestia flashed by as she fell through the portal, millions of lights passing by, through some she saw images of strange alien worlds, and some looked just like her home. Before long she finally passed through the other end of the portal, her landing crashing into Twilight who went before her. “Ow!” the smaller pony yelped, not having the softest landing herself. As they got up from the ground they saw the world around them, it looked strangely like their home, but somehow off. The stars not in the right places, the moon slightly off, and a trail of crater like footprints leading off into the distance. “Princess, where are we?” Twilight asked as she looks around. “This place looks like the Everfree forest but…” “I don’t know for certain, Twilight, but I have a feeling we’re not in Equestria anymore,” Celestia said, looking at all the strange differences. She looked at the tracks leading away, “but I think I know which way the dragon went.” “Princess, who or what was that?” Celestia's student asked. “That being isn’t any normal dragon I have seen or heard of.” “I honestly don’t know, Twilight, but we have to figure out where we are, and get back home before we can deal with it,” Celestia said, before heading away from where the footprints went. “But, first I believe we should seek shelter, it looks like a storm is forming and I’d rather not be caught outside when it hits.” Twilight nodded and followed the princess. Celestia saw her student expression was sorrowful that Spike was taken away from her. Celestia had seen this expression before when she saw a mother losing her child. She looked forward and pressed on, knowing that when they returned they would find Spike and bring him home. After a few minutes and the thunder clouds rumbling over them they found shelter in a cave. The cave was open and roomy, there was what looked like a campfire pit on the far side to the left and the smell of alcohol was faint in the air. “This will do, I’ll keep watch you rest and we’ll find a way back in the morning,” Celestia said, sitting by the entrance, waiting for anything to happen. After a few minutes the rain began to fall and the sound was oddly soothing to the princess. “Princess, do you see this?” Celestia heard her student say. “What is it Twilight? Is something wrong?” Celestia asked as she turned to her. Twilight was looking up with her horn lit up for some light. The princess saw what Twilight was looking at, at the edge of the light she made the shadows were clinging to it, trying to dim the light. Celestia also saw that the shadows were going through the wall. “I think this is a false wall,” the purple unicorn said as she put her hoof on the wall. “It… feels real, this is amazing.” “I don’t know if we should try dispelling, but I won’t say I’m not curious about what it may be hiding,” the princess said, looking to the wall with interest and worry. Twilight’s curiosity won out as she tried to dispel the wall in front of her, only to fail. Celestia looked at the wall and sensed the magic that made the wall, it was old and powerful, but not without holes that an experienced spellcaster could exploit. “Let me try, my young pupil, stand back,” Celestia ordered as she charged her magic, before lightly kicking the wall causing it to slowly fade away. “That… was oddly simple.” Twilight said as her ears flattened on her head. Celestia chuckled at her. “Sometimes the most complicated things are,” she smiled, stepping into the passage that had appeared, her student quickly making to follow. Neither noticing the wall reappeared before too long. The tunnel down was dark, so dark that the two ponies couldn’t see anything in front of them. Even when they cast a light spell, the darkness around them still made it hard to see. Celestia looked around at the darkness and felt that it was no normal darkness, this was something more powerful than normal darkness. As they traveled down Celestia felt that they were being watched, the darkness was held at bay by their light but circled them like wolves, almost as if waiting to strike out at them. Twilight moved closer to her mentor for protection. Celestia smiled softly as she moved her wing to her student. This gesture calmed the young unicorn a bit as they continued. Finally they have reached a large chamber that splits off into multiple paths. Celestia looked around as she saw some shining in the corner of her eye. She saw what looked like gold in the room that made her think this as a thieves den. “Princess…” Twilight said. Celestia looked down at her student just to see her looking towards a different path. At first she didn’t understand why but she then felt a magical pull that she had never felt before emanating from within. “Twilight, if I tell you to run,” Celestia whispered, causing the younger pony to tense in fear, not knowing what could make the Princess worry this much. The two of them slowly started to walk down the tunnel. The darkness around them seemed to become stronger as they continued to a point that they can only see ten feet in front of them. Celestia puts as much of her magic as she could into her spell just to see where she was going. Finally they have entered a large room, or as they think was large since their light spell was showing so much. The magic they felt filled the room, it was odd to the princess. The magic felt both soft and light yet tough and deadly. She didn’t know why until her light caught something and she stopped. What she saw was a claw, a large claw that was bigger than her. She then realised that the gold she saw wasn’t one from a thieve's den but one of a dragon’s hoard. Before she could say anything a new source of light appeared that seemed to cut through the darkness as if it wasn’t there. Celestia and Twilight saw what looked like an eye that seemed clouded over, a sign of blindness. Celestia moved in front of her student to protect her with her life. “Why have you come here?” a voice said as the eye seemed to stare at them. “We didn’t mean to intrude, a storm was passing and we sought shelter in your cave,” Celestia said, with false confidence. The eye seemed to narrow at her as Celestia heard the sounds of it shifting a bit. “You sound like the Princess of the Sun yet you do not look like her, who are you?” the being asked. “I am Princess Celestia, we followed a dragon through a portal that took us to this land,” she said, more confident knowing that this world was too different than the one she called home. The being stared before she heard it make a sound which sounded like it was chuckling. “Princess Celestia, I think not, you do not look like her but what you said rings true,” the being said as it shifted a bit more. “Only her or her sister can break my magic, even when it’s at a weakened state.” Twilight looked at her mentor with wide eyes, for her she has never heard of a dragon casting magic or even having magic. Celestia simply kept eye contact with the dragon. “Then perhaps, you can help us find the dragon we are searching for, we believe she took a young dragon, named Spike, that was in Twilight’s care.” The dragon didn’t say anything, just simply stared at Celestia as if she was reading her. “This dragon, I sense anger in your voice when you speak,” the dragon said as there was a large thumping sound as it stood up. Due to the darkness the two couldn’t see the dragon’s body, only its eyes that seemed to pierce them even when clouded. “It attacked and killed a member of my guard, and mortally wounded another, then it left after single handedly defeating my sister and I,” Celestia rumbled angrily, remembering the dragon’s crimes. The dragon’s eyes didn’t falter as it looked at them. “I don’t see why this should bring your wrath unless this is because of pride,” the dragon said simply, showing no emotion whatsoever. “This creature has to be stopped, it was able to disarm Discord with a snap of its claw, who knows what other terrible things it may do with that kind of power,” Celestia seethed growing angry that this dragon would accuse her of being prideful. The dragon didn’t seem to react to her outburst which was odd to the solar princess. Dragons other than Spike were prideful and wild, they would attack their own for the simplest reasons, yet this one was different. “And what are you going to do, if this creature can stop a being of chaos so easily, and both you and your sister? What chance is there for you to stop this being?” the dragon said. “We will use the Elements, of course. Or if need be there are other, more dangerous things we can try,” the Princess said, an edge of doubt in her voice now. “And then what?” the dragon said. “The Elements are meant to stop evil but they won’t kill, would you let those bearers go and end one life for the sake of others?” This time her eyes narrowed at Celestia. “If it comes to that, I will end the beast’s life myself,” Celestia said evenly, Twilight looking at her with a worried expression. The dragon looked at the princess in silence and leaned a bit closer to her. “Tell me princess, will you kill another living being, a being that lived maybe longer than you,” the dragon said as it’s eye stared at Celestia. Her reflection stared back at her with her expression. Celestia stood there a moment looking at her reflection, seeing her student behind her looking at her with worry. But then she remember the guard she was told would never fly again, and the family of the one that would never see him again, and her expression shifted from one of doubt to one of righteous fury. “Yes.” The dragon stared at her. “You lie to yourself,” it said simply. “How can you say that? You know nothing about me, dragon,” her voice filled with anger that something like this could say that to her. “You have been living in a state of peace for some time now, you haven’t faced something that you could have faced alone, and for the rest,” the dragon’s eye shifted over a bit to look at Twilight. “They would become nothing more than cannon fodder.” “We didn’t come here seeking advice, we are here to find Spike and return home,” Celestia seethed frustrated at the dragon’s implications. “Will you help us find him or not?” “I do have one question for you,” the dragon said simply. “What does this dragon look like?” “She has two heads, one was red and the other black,” Twilight said before Celestia could continue arguing with the dragon. “But when they were talking I heard them say something about other heads.” The dragon looked at Celestia before moving away from them. The sounds of large footfalls past them as the dragon walked out of the cave. “Follow.” the dragon said to them. Twilight looked to Celestia, her mentor’s expression hard before looking to Twilight and nodding. The two followed the dragon back to the main room and followed her tail into another. This one having a dim light coming from glowing crystals in the walls. The princess and unicorn saw the dragon in the light, it was a large black dragon with it’s eyes on them. Around them were statues of different creatures and items with more items and weapons around them. “These are statues of the gods of old that used to be worshiped by others, some dragons as well.” the dragon said as she nodded to two statues, one of a dragon holding a shield in one claw and wings spread out, and the other a five headed dragon, each head looking forward with a stinger-tipped wrapped around its feet. “What’s the point of this? You still haven't told us if you would help us find them,” Celestia fumed. The dragon looked at her and moved her claw over to the five headed dragon. “This is Tiamat, the Queen of all evil dragons, and basically the god of evil,” the dragon moved it’s head to look at them. “This is what you face, the god of evil herself.” “But, there’s only one god, and that’s Faust,” Twilight said confused. Celestia frowned at this, remembering when her ponies still had other gods, who eventually died due to lack of worship. The dragon chuckled. “You, my dear need to brush up on your history, Tiamat is a dragon god, she is the god of evil and the mother of all evil dragons, the chromatic dragons.” the dragon said as it looked at Celestia. “Do you think you can fight that by yourself? The dragon god of evil with nothing but some old trinkets?” Celestia sat there soaking in what the dragon said, remembering her first time facing Discord and the trouble her and her sister had. Then she remembered how Tiamat stopped him with no effort. “How could we fight such a creature?” Celestia mumbled, looking at the statue of Tiamat. “Don’t worry Princess, we’ll find a way,” Twilight reassured Celestia, placing a hoof on her shoulder. Celestia smiled at her student. Twilight then looked at the other statue. “So, then who is the other statue of, the King of Evil, or something?” The dragon started to laugh at this. “If that was true then we would all be doomed, that is Bahamut, the platinum dragon or the king of all good dragons or in this case the opposite to Tiamat, his twin.” “Then maybe he can help us fight Tiamat,” Twilight smiled, excited from learning so much more about a new subject. “So, dragon which one do you serve?” Celestia asked, sharply. “I serve neither of them because I,” the dragon stopped and looked over to another statue, this one was just a normal dragon but was larger. “You can say I serve under that one.” “Who is he?” Twilight asked, interested. “Rah Jun, and that’s all I know of him,” the dragon said. “I don’t know much about him, never asked when I saw him.” “Enough of this, will you aid us or will we have to seek Spike out for ourselves?” Celestia asked, looking up at the dragon. The dragon looked down at her and turned to leave. “You should rest and clear your head, we’ll talk tomorrow.” the dragon said as it disappeared in the caves. The two looked at each other, before making their way back to the entrance. Laying down near the fire they had passed by. As she laid there Celestia ruminated over what she had learned here. Discord, the fool he was, had released an actual god onto the world. And now she had no way of dealing with it or protecting her ponies from it. She lay there worrying about the future of her ponies, fearful of what may come now that the actual God of Evil, if the dragon was to be believed, was free to wreak havoc on the world. Meanwhile with the God of Evil “Red, are you sure you should be drinking that,” the less than excited head said to her heavily inebriated head. “Black, you know what? I… I love you, you know that,” the drunken one slurred at her still sober head. “Ugh, I need a drink.” Over at the far wall of the bar I had found, two pony-like people were sitting there staring at the strange creature sitting at the bar. “Mac, you seeing what I’m seeing?” one asked the other. “Eeyup.” “I think, it’s time to call it for the night,” she said to him. Mac looked at his drink then back at the dragon, then to his drink again, before setting it on the table along with some coins, and left. “Bar wench, a round for the everyone, on me!” Red yelled, opening a portal to her hoard, causing a pile of gold coins to flow out of it, making everyone in the bar cheer. The bartender sighed, “I hate this job.” The next morning Celestia and Twilight woke up to the sound of something being stirred and the smell of alcohol and something fruity. Celestia opened one of her eyes to an odd sight. There in front of her was what look like a monkey stirring a pot as it was adding berries to it. As they got up to see what he was making, he turned and looked at them. “Hello hello! You two slept like fallen logs.” the monkey said with a cheerful tone. “Uh my back, who knew sleeping outside could hurt so much,” Twilight whined. “Oh it’s not so bad, come come sit by the fire and I’ll pour you some brew.” the monkey said with a smile. The two of them made their way over to him, Twilight smiling and Celestia still worried about what she had learned the previous night. “So, would you like some of this brew or my wake up brew pony people?” “I’d love some,” Twilight smiled, though Celestia was still sitting there staring at the fire. “So which is it?” the monkey asked. “You can have this or the other.” “Umm, that one,” she said confused, not remembering which was which. The monkey’s tail went to the keg near him and began to pour the liquid into a small bowl. Celestia saw this out of the corner of her eye and saw that it was a small bowl, smaller than a normal cup. Twilight took a sip, “This is really g-” her tail and mane puffed up and she let out an ‘eep’, before she passed out. “Twilight, are you alright?” Celestia yelled, before she turned to look at the monkey. “What did you do to her?” “Hmm, light drinker,” the monkey said as he drank from the keg and his tail poke Twilight’s side, her leg twitched a bit. “What was in that drink?” Celestia asked him. “Monkey king wake up brew, good stuff,” he said happily. He then poured some in a small bowl. “Want some?” “No I think I’m awake enough,” she said, simply. “Suit yourself.” the monkey said as he tossed the bowl away and pulled out a ladle. He took some of the stuff from the pot and drank it. “Hmm, not enough hops.” “I’m not even gonna ask,” she said, as she shook her head, before looking to the forest outside the cave. “Wait, who are you?” “Me? Why I’m the Monkey King.” the monkey said with a smile. “You mean Sun Wu Kong?” “No no, that’s someone else, call me King.” the Monkey King said with a laugh. Celestia smiled softly. “So, what’s with the long face pony?” “We need to find a dragon that was kidnapped by an evil god, and return to our home,” Celestia said, concisely. “I don’t think that’s it, there’s something else you're troubled by,” King said as he put something in the pot. “You can talk to the Monkey King.” “I don’t know, it just seems like I’ve always tried to protect my ponies,” She sighed looking down at Twilight, “but now it seems like I can’t even do that. I’m afraid I just don’t know how to deal with this monster my little ponies are faced with.” “I don’t think you have to,” the monkey said. “That’s the thing about others, they come up with crazy stuff that works, sometimes.” “That was oddly, helpful,” Celestia smiled at the monkey. The monkey smiled at the princess. “Well we monkeys are helpful, you ponies don’t see that.” he said with a chuckle. “I wonder when our host will awaken, we must hurry. Who knows how far that foul dragon Tiamat has gone,” she said looking to the false wall that led to the cavern. “Don’t know, dragon friend left to do something about an hour before you two awoken.” the Monkey King said. “What! Why didn’t you say anything?” she yelled at him for forgetting to mention this earlier. “You didn’t ask,” the monkey said. “She said something about looking for some young dragon or something, didn’t listen busy making brew.” “Ugh, well do you at least know when she’ll return,” the alicorn sighed, before nudging Twilight. “How long will she be out?” “Don’t know, but if I have to say… maybe an hour or the next twelve minutes, she light drinker so it’s hard to say,” the monkey said. “Also I don’t know when she’ll be back, have to be careful with ponies, dragons and ponies aren’t as friendly with each other as ponies and dragonborn.” “Then I guess all there is, is to wait,” she said, sitting down. “Hmm! I have to say you're better than the other pony princess, she would have smite me where I stood.” the monkey said. “If she would that is her business, this is not my world and I have no right to interfere with it,” she said flatly. The Monkey King looked at the Princess for a moment. “If you don’t want to interfere why are you here?” “I came to retrieve my student and Spike.” “Yet, you are here in this world so you’re already interfering with the land already.” the monkey said simply as he stirred a bit. Celestia looked at the monkey king for a moment. “Are you saying you want me to smite you?” she asked, confused. “I wouldn’t hold it against you, we monkeys are used to it since you ponies hate the god of chaos and those he has made since his rule, that means us.” the monkey king said simply with a smile. Celestia stared at the monkey for a moment until she heard the sound of someone coming near. She turned to see what looked like a mare that stood on two legs. She had black fur and a dark gray mane wearing a t-shirt and pants. She walk into the cave with sigh as she saw the two of them. “Oh you're awake,” the mare said. “How did you sleep?” “And who are you?” Celestia asked her confused. “That’s Dragon friend.” the monkey king said. Celestia looked at the mare in shock. “You know that’s not a dragon, or are you too inebriated to tell?” “And do you know that the same dragon can cast magic right?” the mare said. Celestia looked at her for a moment before seeing that her eyes were clouded over. “It has been a long night,” the princess said to the dragon turned pony-person. “You can say that.” the mare said as she sat down. “Now do you have anything that your Spike is tied to, something that was his?” Celestia sat there thinking for a second, before looking over to Twilight and plucking a hair from her mane, causing the mare to twitch and roll over, and hoofed it over to the dragon. The dragon mare look at the hair and sighed. “It’s going to be hard but I can work with this,” she said as she covered the hair with her other hand and closed her eyes. She didn’t say anything for a few minutes as she frown. The frown grew as she opened her eyes. “He’s not here.” she said bluntly. “I know he’s not here, that’s why we’re looking for him,” Celestia said, sharply. The mare looked at Celestia for a moment. “I mean he not here on this plane or world,” the mare said. She leaned a bit closer to Celestia. “Are you sure that he came through the portal?” Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t even seen him in the room when she entered the library. “It seems my student overreacted when she didn’t see Spike after the Tiamat vanished,” she looked at the still unconscious unicorn. “Now, I suppose the only thing is to find Tiamat and convince her to send us home.” Meanwhile at a random bar Tiamat lay there, her form now massive in size wrapped around the bar, her two heads resting on the roof. As the sun rose in the sky, its light stirred the great beast from its slumber, bringing forth wrath this world had never seen. *yawn* “Rob, I don’t wanna wake up turn off the sun,” she muttered, trying to dig her heads into her impromptu pillow, causing the roof to cave in. Just a few feet away, two pony people stood staring at the mess the dragon had made of their bar. “I’ll go get the guards,” one muttered, walking away as he mumbled about how this was why he hated dragons. “I’ll get the broom,” the other said, before trying to push past the dragon’s tail which blocked the door, causing her to stir slightly. Her movement making a wall tumble down. “Ugh, I hate this job.” In the cave Celestia watched as the dragon worked on getting the spell ready for her and her student to use to get back home. “Telyn Gwynn,” the dragon said out loud. “What is that?” Celestia asked curiously. “My name, you gave me yours yet I didn’t give you mine, so there it is.” she said without looking at her. “Well, then Telyn Gwynn I wish to thank you for your aid, and if ever you need it our doors are always open to you,” Celestia said to the dragon. The dragon was silent for a few minutes as she worked. “What does your sky look like?” the dragon asked randomly. Celestia blinked at this question. “It is a gentle shade of blue, with the sun’s light bouncing off the clouds. Sometimes in the distance from my castle I can see Cloudsdale gently moving over the plains. And when the sun sets it paints the world in a vibrant red hue, making the sky look like a work of art, only the gods could have painted,” Celestia smiled, fondly remembering her home, even though she was only gone a day. “Thank you,” the dragon said as she continued to work. “It’s hard you know, not able to see the morning sky or the night sky whenever you want.” “I can only imagine, but with all your power couldn’t you just heal your eyes?” Celestia asked. “I was told I could but… I don’t know how, I spent time in a plane that there’s no sky, just darkness,” she stopped and looked at the princess for a moment. “I’m unlike most dragons, I don’t have the pride of one or the anger, some say that I’m not even a real dragon.” “Even so, I believe you will find a way,” she said. The dragon smiled as she continued to work on the spell. “I wish I could give you something to help but I’m afraid that I have none,” she said as she stood up and turned to her. “Well, I guess I’ll send you home so that works.” Celestia stood, placing Twilight on her back, before turning back to Telyn. She took a few step back and raised her arms. After a few moments the same portal opened up and Telyn looked at her. Celestia and a passed out Twilight walked up to the portal. Before she step through the princess looked back at the dragon to say something but saw the strain she was going through to hold the portal open. She turned and jumped through it as it closed behind them. The dragon sighed as her form changed to that of a human. She let out a sigh as she turned to head into her cave. Before a portal opened before her, and through it stepped through the very being the Princess followed into this world. “This isn’t my hoard, Black I think we made a wrong turn,” one head said causing the other to groan in pain. “Ugh, why did we wake up?” the black head muttered. The red one looked over at Telyn, and raised a brow, which is hard when someone doesn’t have brows. “Maybe she know, you sad looking blind lady, which way is Dragon’s Eyrie?” it asked the confused Telyn. “Ummm, I don’t know where that is, I know where Shadowfell and the Feywilds are.” the sorceress said. “Bah, humans are never any help,” she said opening a gate with no effort or preparation, and stepped through it, before it disappeared the red head popped back out and smiled at her. “You look sad, have a puppy,” she said before a tiny hellhound appeared at Telyn feet, and yipped at her. The portal stood there open for a moment before collapsing in on itself. Telyn looked at where the portal was and at the tiny hellhound for a moment before looking out of the cave. “King! I need one of your strongest drinks!” the hellhound puppy barked at this. “Make that two!” > Lawful Evil... or not > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Red, admit it you have no idea where we are.” “No, I know exactly where we are,” I replied to my annoyed head. We had been wandering through the forest ever since we returned from that other world. Every time I tried teleporting out I always ended up back where I started, or I thought it was. Stupid forest all looks the same. “Ok, then enlighten me, where are we?” she asked. “I thought you knew, I mean isn’t it obvious. We’re right here,” I told her, pointedly. An hour had passed by and I was starting to grow tried of this blasted forest. I snorted and a jet of flames came out my nose, catching a nearby tree on fire. Then it hit me, a perfect idea to get out of the forest. “Black, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “That the longer I listen to you the stupider I become?” she said. “What, no, probably, but no. I was thinking that we could just burn the forest down then we’d be able to see a town or somewhere better to go.” “You know we have wings right?” I stopped and looked over my shoulder, at the pair of wings on my back. “Oh yeah, forgot about those,” I smiled spreading out the forgotten appendages, giving them a test flap, before launching myself into the air above the accursed forest. As we flew over the world below us I saw the town I had gone to a few days ago. It looked much the same though I could see more activity there than last time. I could see a few more town in the distance though most of them seemed to be only a few cobbled together looking shacks. So, I took of towards the mountain city, I had awoken at, thinking if anything I could at least find a map there. I flew high above the cloud to keep from being spotted below. If anything I should have probably disguised myself, the moment I left the castle, but now I doubt anyone wouldn’t notice a dragon with two heads. “Hey Red, what are you thinking over there, you’ve been quiet since we took off?” Black said interrupting my thoughts. “I was trying to decide which disguise to use,” I said smiling at her. “How bout a pony, I don’t think we get much attention then.” “No, who wants to be a pony that just seems so bland,” I vetoed her idea. “I was thinking more a minotaur or a griffon, you know something passably cool.” “But then we couldn’t openly use magic,” she said, destroying that idea. “I’ve got it what if we split, then we both be what we want, and get the information we need twice as fast.” “Sometimes you actually have good ideas,” I chuckled, making her fume a bit. “Sometimes?” she raised a brow at me. “Fine, most of the time, but I get to be the noble this time,” I said sticking my tongue out at her. I looked down seeing a small clearing in some trees by the road, after a quick flash we were standing there beside the road. It was mostly empty, but I did see a cart slowly making its way toward us. After another flash and a bit of concentration, there was a second dragon standing in the clearing and I had one less head. She had black scales covering her and was just a bit shorter than me, at the end of her tail was a stinger identical to mine. “So, do you want to be griffons or ponies?” I asked her, laughing a bit as she stumbled a bit, not being used to controlling our legs. “I think we should be ponies,” she said before falling flat on her face, causing me to start laughing at her. She huffed, before disappearing in a puff of smoke, when it cleared in her place stood a pegasus, with black fur and a mess of black hair. Just above her hind leg her mark was a green draconic eye, half open. “Looking good, Black. Now you just need a good name, how bout Abyss?” “You just want to turn the townspeople against me don’t you, fine but I get to pick your name,” she smirked at me. “Fine,” I said before transforming. I stood there after looking myself over. I was a unicorn with bright red fur, and a golden mane, my mark was a crimson dragon egg speckled with other colors wearing a slightly askew crown. “Give it to me straight, I look ridiculous. Don’t I?” I asked looking over at her. She just stood there stunned. “Wow, you look amazing, truly fitting of your godly title,” she said, still staring at me. “I think I have the perfect name for you, Royal Ruby.” Just as she said that the carriage came close enough that we could see it more clearly. It was a brilliant white color, trimmed with gold. Pulling it were two earth ponies, and sitting in the driver seat was another earth pony wearing a suit. We stood there on the side of the road, waiting for them to get closer. “Remember, I’m a noble and you’re my bodyguard,” I told Black, or Abyss as this form was now named. “Understood, my lady,” she said already getting in character. Now, the carriage was practically in front of us. “Excuse me, good sir,” Abyss said, making the driver slow the carriage to a stop. “What can I do for you fine mares?” he asked us, as the two pullers just stood there ready to go at a moment's notice. “We just wished to inquire as to your destination,” she said as posh as possible, making me have to fight to keep from laughing. “We are on our way to the city of Canterlot,” he replied with a smile. “Then, might we be able to join you on?” Abyss asked flashing him a charming smile. “Unfortunately, that is n-” as he answered, the door to the carriage slammed open, and a white unicorn pooped his head out. “Why have we stopped, you fool? I must be in Canterlot this instant! I will not be stuck in the middle of nowh…” he started yelling till he turned his head over and saw the two of us standing there, staring at him. “What is this?” “They were just asking if they could join us. They were on their way to Canterlot,” the driver answered not looking the unicorn in the eyes, mostly because said unicorn was still staring at us. “Well, don’t just sit there let them in the carriage!” the unicorn shouted. The driver looked at the unicorn and back at us confused. After a few moments he got down and opened the door for us to step into the carriage. I stepped into the carriage flashing a smile at the driver. The inside had two sets of benches facing each other with a small table in the middle, on one side the unicorn sat looking at me disappointedly when I sat on the other side than he was on. Abyss got on just behind me, and took a seat next to me. Before long the carriage started moving again, the unicorn still looking at me. “So, what are two lovely young mares such as yourselves doing out here in the middle of nowhere,” he asked, with that creepy smile that people have when they expect something to go their way. Abyss looked at me for a second before turning to answer him. “Her ladyship, Royal Ruby, and I were travelling to Canterlot to see the Royal Gardens, when a foolish band of brigands attacked our carriage. Unfortunately, they destroyed it before we dispatched them,” she said with anger, playing the part perfectly and almost making me believe the lie. “How garish, but I must say I have never heard of you before miss Ruby, how is that?” he asked me, ignoring Abyss except for my name. “Her ladyship, is from the land of-” “Silence, servant!” he glared at her. “I was speaking to Miss Rose, not some lowly commoner. If you worked for me I’d have half a mind to make you walk the rest of the way.” It’s a good thing Black likes acting or she’d probably eat this fool. “Then I apologize, but her Ladyship does not speak to the common rabble, as it is beneath her,” she said snidely, grinning as he began to fume. Me silently chuckling at the impending argument. “Do you have any idea who I am?” he asked angrily. “I am Prince Blueblood, nephew of Princess Celestia herself!” Abyss put her hoof to her chin, thinking. “No, can’t say that rings a bell,” she said thoughtfully then looked over to me, to see if I knew. I shook my head. “No, neither of us have ever heard of you,” she smiled at him with false innocence. “How can you not have heard of me?! I am the great Prince Blueblood, I have…” he started ranting not noticing that we were ignoring him. Abyss turned to see me barely containing myself. “So, what is the plan when we arrive, ‘Ruby’?” she asked, getting my attention, somewhat. “I think we’ll find a library or something, who cares as long as this idiot keeps me entertained,” I looked over at him still ranting. Another fit of laughter overtook me. Abyss sighed, shaking her head at me. “...and I will not be ignored. Hey! Are you even listening?” he glared at us. “Hmm, what was that?” I spoke to him for the first time. “I will not be looked down upon by some petty no name noble whorse, I am a Prince, and-” he yelled, before being punched in the face by a pony that appeared next to him. It was a cobalt blue pegasus, with darker blue hair, and pair of dragon wings wrapped around a gem as a mark. “That’ll teach you to talk to us that way,” she said kicking him while he lay on the floor of the carriage. “Nice to see you’re finally awake, Blue,” Abyss said to the enraged pegasus still kicking what's-his-name. “Oh, hey Black, hey Red. What’s going on, and why are you both ponies?” she asked us after giving the now unconscious unicorn another kick. “Hey Blue, guess what?” I said to her. “What?” “You’re a pony too,” I said laugh as her face drained of color, as she looked down then back at us, before opening her mouth to scream. Only to be cut off by Abyss shoving her hoof in Blue’s mouth. “None of that.” “Is everything alright in there?” I heard the driver ask from the front. “Yes!” I shouted to him. Blueblood groaned at this, only to be kicked by Blue. “That’s good we’ll be in the city in just a few moments,” he shouted to us again. Blue spit Abyss's hoof out of her mouth, “So, why are we ponies?” “Disguises,” I answered, quickly. “Reason?” she said. “Info.” “About?” “Dragons.” “Okay.” “Why couldn’t Green have woken up first?” I heard Black mutter. “Reasons,” both Blue and me said at the same time. “Oh god, I hate you both so much.” A moment later, we felt the carriage slow to a stop. I heard the driver get down from the front, and walk around to the door on the side. Black got up to block him from seeing Blueblood, while I cast an invisibility spell on Blue, no point in explaining why there are three of us now. He pulled open the door, when I saw him, his face had an expression like he was ready to be yelled at, but he relaxed when nothing happened. We all moved to leave the carriage, Blue whizzed past him, as Abyss and I stepped through the door. She closed it behind her so he wouldn’t see his master beaten on the floor. He tipped his head to us as walked away after thanking him. “Have a nice visit to our fair capital ladies,” he said as he climbed back onto the driver seat. “And if there’s anything I can do for you just ask.” “That won’t be necessary,” Abyss said waving to him as we continued to walk away. After we were out of sight from them, Blue landed next to us and shimmered back into sight. “So, what’s the plan, are we gonna infiltrate the government, incite riots, plan a coup?” she asked at high speed. “Oh, or are we on some kind of secret mission, and you can’t tell me or we’ll all be killed?” “Blue, first off we can’t die, and if it were a secret how would we keep it from you, we’re all basically one person,” Abyss said to her annoyed. “So, then why are we here?” “Because I want to know where the hell all the dragons are, and why they don’t rule the world,” I told her, angry that all my hard work was ruined in the last who knows how many years. As we walked down the street, we got a few strange looks, mostly from males staring at us and then females glaring at us after they noticed their stallions staring. We made our way through the city keeping away from the more crowded areas, eventually stopping at a fountain in the middle of a street to figure out where to go. “You have no idea where we’re going do you?” Blue asked us, sitting on a nearby fountain. “I don’t know I was following Red,” Black shrugged. “What I was following you,” I told her, making her sigh. “So, I guess we’ll just have to ask someone,” she said looking around at the ponies passing by in the crowd, till she she stopped at a unicorn who was sitting by the fountain staring at a book. “Excuse me.” Nothing happened. “Excuse me,” she said again poking the unicorn this time, causing her to flinch and look up from the book. She was confused at first, till she saw Abyss and me looking at her. “Umm, can I help you?” the unicorn said with an annoyed tone. “Yes, we were looking a library or something,” I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me as she looked back at her book. “Down the street, take the first left then the second right and head down that way, it’s on your left you can’t miss it,” she told us without looking up. I looked at Black seeing if she got that, she shook her head at me, I looked over to Blue. She was chasing a bird that had pooped on her head, or so thought from the white spot there. “That’s way too many direction, can you just show us?” I asked. She slowly looked at me with a very annoyed look as she pushed up her glasses. I thought she was about to say no, so I used my ultimate attack, a weapon so feared that not even gods were immune, I gave her the puppy dog eyes. Her eye twitched a bit as she let out a sigh. She closed her book and hopped off the fountain. “Follow me,” she said as she started walking. I looked over at Blue, she was still chasing the bird. “Blue, come on! We’re going,” I yelled to her just as she caught the bird. She glanced over at me, then back at the bird, before letting it go. “You got lucky this time,” she told it as it flew away, doing what sounded like laughing. Blue turned over and began following us, as we caught up with the unicorn. “So, who’s this nerd?” she asked looking at the unicorn. “I don’t know, hey what’s your name?” I asked her. She looked back at me with a frown. “Moondancer.” she said as she looked away from me. “Ooh, I like that, doesn’t fit you at all, but I like it. Sounds fierce, yet elegant,” I said to her. “Uhh, thanks?” the mare said. We continued down the street. Blue was looking around at the stores. “And here we are.” I looked up and saw a large building on the other side of the street that looked like a library. “Great,” I said to her then looked over at Blue, “Blue stay outside and keep watch.” I started to walk inside, before looking back at Moondancer about to walk away. “I feel like I might have need of you,” I told her, and she stopped for a second glancing at me confused, only to be picked up in my magic and dragged inside. “H-hey! Hold on!” she yelled but I didn’t listen, just humming happily as I walked into the library, Black walking right next to me. She glanced at the unicorn for a second with a concerned expression before shrugging and continued to follow me. Inside it was a massive building filled to the brim with shelves and books, right next to the door was a table with a librarian behind it. She gave us a confused look as we made our way to a table. I plopped down Moondancer in one of the chairs, and sat myself down. “And why did you drag me into the library, I thought you just wanted me to show you where it is?” she said in a quiet tone. “Meh, you’ll help us find what we need,” I shrugged at her, and Black nodded. She looked at the two of us before grumbling a bit. “There’s no need to be that way this’ll be fun,” I told her smiling. Two hours later “This sucks!” I said slamming my head into the table, piercing it with my horn. I heard a lot of ponies shushing me for my outburst. “Red, why don’t we just leave there’s nothing useful here,” Black said to me, she had stopped calling me by my disguises name after the first ten minutes of reading. Moondancer was just sitting next to me reading her book. “What are you two even looking for?” she asked us. “I’m trying to find out what happened to Dragon’s Eyrie, there has to be a book here somewhere,” I told her, looking at the small pile of books I had found on dragons. Most of which was almost completely wrong. “All I’ve been able to find is this trash, and most of it is useless,” I said grabbing one of them and opening it. “I mean look here it says dragons eat just gems, who in their right mind would think dragons could survive on some shiny pebbles!” Again another round of shushing from the others. “What do you expect, these are the only books on dragon kind in Equestria.” Moondancer said. Both me and Black slowly looked at her. “Is she kidding Red, please tell me that she’s kidding.” Black said. We both stared at her for a moment before I looked at Black. “I think she’s serious, Black,” I told her, before looking back at Moondancer. “Why aren’t there more, there is an entire section on griffons and minotaurs, but only ten lousy book on dragons!” Again, shushing. “Oh, shove off!” I yelled at them, everyone else suddenly became very interested in what they were doing. “What do you expect, dragons are big, mean and breath fire, anypony knows getting close to one of them is a death sentence, who in their right mind want to go study them?” She said crossing her forelegs. I huffed a bit as I angrily stood up and marched out of the place with Black and Moondancer in tow, the later floating in my magic forelegs still crossed. She didn’t start yelling so that was good. I was about to walk past the librarian but I stopped and looked at her. “Don’t even say it,” I said as I went back to walking. After finding Blue outside, who was busy flying around the building, we all headed into an alley as I started to make a ritual circle. “Hey Red what are you doing?” Black asked me. “I’m sick and tired of useless books, I’m just gonna summon someone who would know what I want,” I told her as I finished the circle. “I thought Green was good at these things,” Black said. I glared at her as I poured my magic into the circle. After a few moments it sparked to life and smoke began to come off it. I saw a being appear in the smoke, it was about six feet tall and wore a business suit. He looked down at me with solid black eyes. “Well, this is new,” the demon said. “Never thought I would be summoned by a horse.” “Shut up, demon! I not in the mood for pleasantries,” I told it angrily. “Hey! No need to be angry with me, I just got here,” it said. Black looked at the demon and at me. “So… what? Do we have to asked it’s name or something?” she asked. “Why in the Nine Hells would I do that? I’m not going to invite it to tea, I’m just asking it a question,” I snapped at her. Moondancer didn’t say anything since she was busy staring at the demon in front of her. The demon just sighed. “Alright, normally I need you to do a few things but I have short time, so what do you want?” he asked crossing his arms. “What happened to Dragon’s Eyrie?” “Wow, haven’t heard that name in a while. Well, you see it’s gone,” he said simply. I stared at him for a moment. “Err run that by us again?” Black said. “It was there but now it’s gone,” he said. “How can a nation that covered the entire world, just up and vanish without a trace,” I snapped at him. Everyone in the alley flinched a bit as my magic began to push against them. “What that’s all I know, you summoned me. So, unless you’ve got another question can I go back now?” it said holding its hands up. “Fine, then one more question. Where is Emberscale City?” I asked it, a bit less angry after realizing I was mad for no reason. “Oh, that is a much easier question. It’s about twelve thousand miles, due southwest of here,” he told us. “I think they call it the Dragonlands now.” “That’s original,” Blue laughed. “I wonder why they call it that?” “Is that a question?” the demon asked. “No, now leave,” I told him. “You know normally this is where’d I’d ask for your soul, but I prefer to stay alive, so bye,” he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. “So, Red what now?” Black asked. “Now I guess we go to this ‘Dragonland’,” I said to her, leaving the alley, Black and Blue just behind me. I looked behind me and saw that Moondancer was following us. “Do you need something?” I asked her confused. “I think she wants money for showing us around all day, lousy greedy ponies,” Blue said to me. “That’s rich coming from you,” Black said. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Blue huffed at her. “Shut up Blue,” I told her. “What do you need, we’re leaving we don’t need a guide anymore.” “Oh I’m coming with you,” she said as she waved to the alleyway. “First you spent two hours in the library looking up dragons for something that doesn’t exist, summoned something in an alley that I have never heard of before, and are going to the Dragonlands, so I’m coming with you.” “Didn’t you say only crazy ponies get up close to study dragons?” I asked her. She huffed a bit. “Well call me crazy,” she said with a stomp of her hoof. “I’m going and there’s nothing you can do about it.” “Well, there’s a lot I could do, but I won’t,” I said and turned around to leave. A moment later, I turned around and saw her just standing there. “You coming or not?”