Guitar Strings and Dragon Wings

Chapter 27

Rainbow Dash raced as fast as she could for Fluttershy's cottage. At this point she didn't care if she had to fight a dragon herself, she just had to reach her friend at all costs. She passed over trees, dirt roads, a stream; everything flashed by in a quick blur. The wind wistfully zipped by her face as she got ever closer to breaking the sound barrier, but she knew that wouldn't be necessary. After only about thirty seconds she had arrived.

"Whoa. What happened here?" she asked herself.

One side of Fluttershy's house was completely obliterated, exposing the interior of her bedroom and some of her living room. Slowly Rainbow hovered down to the level of the living room and made her way over a splintered and torn wall. With a quick descent she planted her hooves on Fluttershy's living room rug. She carefully trotted over to the green sofa and found Packie's shirt laying on the floor beside it. On the wooden table nearby there were two empty mugs.

"F-f-fluttershy?!" she nervously called out. "Patrick? Anypony here?!" Only silence responded.

With a swipe of one of the mugs, Rainbow inspected it and sniffed the inside. "Tea? But Fluttershy only makes tea on special occasions. Unless Patrick made it…" she realized.

She took a few steps to the other side of the house and peeked her head inside the kitchen.

"No one." She murmured.

Rainbow went back to the living room. "M-maybe they're upstairs." She assured herself. "Y-yeah that's it. They just had a crazy night… and destroyed… half of the cottage."

No that's ridiculous. Where could they be? She thought.

Rainbow hesitantly ascended up the staircase. The whole cottage was so quiet, eerily quiet. The entire situation just felt wrong to her.

"Fluttershy? Are you in your room?" she asked. Again, no answer.

Once she reached the second floor she could see that the door had been pulled clean off its hinges. It was lying across the floor just outside the bedroom. Slowly she walked over to the door and inspected it. The brass handle had been crushed slightly, now pocketed with five distinct crevices. She realized that the damage had been done by a human hand. She reared her head in disbelief.

"No. It can't be…" she muttered. Her heart sank, not wanting to believe what she was seeing.

"M-maybe it's not what I think. Maybe I'm missing something."

She carefully backed away from the door and stepped inside Fluttershy's room. The site truly shocked her.

"No…Fluttershy…" she cried weakly.

The entirety of her room was in shambles. The floor was horribly scarred with deep indents like someone had taken an axe to it. Her bed was flattened to the ground as the posts keeping it supported had collapsed, the sheets lie shredded over it. Shards of glass plagued the floor's surface and splinters of wood had embedded themselves in the walls. The wall to the left of Rainbow had one long scratch running diagonally across its full length. Worst of all was the wall directly in front of her, or lack thereof; that section of the room had been cleanly blown away by some heavy blunt force.

Rainbow let out a long sigh and let her head sag down in depression. "Why? Why did this happen?"

In a fit of rage she gritted her teeth and stomped her front legs down with enough force to dent the wood floor. "I bet Patrick did this! He was acting weird all day yesterday, and now this happens. GRRR!" She gave a swing of her hoof into the wall next to her, which plowed on through to the other side. Angrily Rainbow removed her leg from the new hole in the wall.

"Rainbowww!" a voice called.

She turned her head back to the front door, recognizing it as Twilight's.

Knock-knock*

"Rainbow, are you in there?!" she called again.

"Yeah, I'm here!" the pegasus replied. Hurriedly she ran back down to the front of the cottage and unlocked the door. When she opened it she saw that Twilight had brought someone else other than just their friends. Rainbow remembered now that Celestia told her to bring the other blue unicorn.

"Rainbow, did you find Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.

"No, but I did find something much worse… come with me, I'll show you." She grumbled sternly.

Rainbow jerked around and led them inside, directing her friends to follow. Wordlessly Twilight turned to Rarity and Pinkie Pie who just shrugged at Rainbow's behavior. Nova, who was shocked to hear the news that Twilight gave him, decided not to say anything as he entered the unfamiliar building.

Rainbow took them up the staircase and pointed to the open bedroom.

"Just look for yourselves at Patrick's handiwork." She scoffed sarcastically.

The other four ponies gasped in terror at the sight of the wrecked room.

"OH NO!" cried Pinkie. She desperately tried to hold back a tear as she looked around at the destruction.

"This is just awful." Said Rarity. "It's no wonder all of the animals came to get us."

"We must inform the princess immediately." Nova ordered.

"Hold on a second!" announced Twilight.

Rainbow cocked a glance at her, as she was inspecting the door. Twilight carefully inspected the door handle, eyeing it intently.

"See what I mean?" asked Rainbow Dash. "See his hand prints on it? Why would he have to rip the door off?"

"I don't know, that part does seem a little weird. But I just don't see any motive." Said Twilight.

"Motive? He was acting weird all day yesterday!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sorry, but I saw it in Fluttershy's eyes. She trusts Patrick. I know that if she felt in danger with him around, she would have told somebody."

"But Twilight, this is Fluttershy we're talking about here." Pleaded Rainbow. Her eyes started to water with worry. "She's our friend."

Twilight placed her hoof against Rainbow's chest. "I know this looks bad, but until I see more evidence I'm not going to start pointing hooves at who is responsible. If Patrick did take her then we'll find him and get some answers, don't you worry. But let me ask you this. How do you know Patrick wasn't trying to help and just pulled the door off to save her? Maybe it was locked and he panicked."

"That seems like an awfully big assumption, Twilight." Rarity said.

"Is it really? Look at the far wall in the bedroom." Said Twilight.

The four other ponies obeyed, observing the long singular streak across the back wall.

"I don't know about you guys, but wouldn't it be extremely weird for Patrick to do that? He has no way of making a mark that clean. I'd say something much bigger than Patrick did that." She deduced.

"Are you insinuating that a dragon did this?" asked Nova.

"I'm 'insinuating' that this human boy, who I've seen build trust with my friend, has done nothing but be kind to her, promise to the princess to help her in any way she needed him, and had absolutely no reason to be aggressive toward anypony, could not possibly kidnap one of my best friends! I'm sorry, but I trust him, just like Fluttershy does!"

Twilight had never spoken so passionately about anything, other than studying magic.

Nova casually glanced at Rainbow. "What's your element of harmony?" he asked.

"Loyalty." She bluntly responded.

"You could learn a thing or two from your friend here." Nova replied.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"She's gone?!" cried Celestia.

"Yes princess, and Patrick is gone too." Twilight answered.

Wallace sat with his legs crossed on the floor next to them. The library was dead silent.

"So when are we gonna go after em'?" he asked. "If he took her then I'll plow his smug little face in." He threw a punch at his open palm, making a smacking sound to show he meant business.

"I don't think he's responsible, Wallace." Twilight muttered.

"Princess," interrupted Nova, "If I may say so myself, your brilliant pupil here showed us all another point of view that we did not gather at first. There was a marking along a wall that seemed to indicate that another monster, possibly a dragon, is truly responsible for this disappearance." He waited to gauge her reaction at this information, but she did not respond immediately.

Instead Celestia quietly hung her head and breathily sighed. "Why is everything falling apart now? I thought I was doing everything right, taking every last precaution. But yet I still failed. Why?"

It disturbed Twilight to see Celestia so depressed over something she had so little control over.

"Princess, please don't be so hard on yourself." Pleaded Twilight.

"I'm sorry…I can't help it. I am just running out of ideas and it's starting to scare me and—"

She was cut off when Twilight nuzzled up underneath her neck, forcing Celestia to pick up her head. Twilight hadn't done this in so long, and the tears that Celestia had felt building up began to recede. The royal guards watching hesitated to say anything as did Twilight's friends. After a few seconds Twilight slowly pulled away and smiled up at Celestia.

"Better?" she asked.

"Y-yes. Thank you Twilight." Celestia replied. "Thank you for reminding me why I love being a princess."

"D'awww." Said Pinkie.

"Ugh…" grumbled Wallace. "The cuteness… it burns my insides."

Celestia raised her head to her three guardsmen. It was time to get serious.

"Azure, Astral. I want you two to scout the forest surrounding the cottage. Please no armor, it'll only slow you down and send Ponyville into panic in the process."

"Right away." They replied simultaneously.

She turned back to face Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash, I want you to go with them. You three together are possibly the fastest Pegasi in Equestria, so you should be able to cover a great deal of ground quickly."

"Yes Princess." She responded with an additional bow.

"Good." Celestia said. "As for the rest of us, we should go rendezvous with Applejack and Anthony and alert them to what is going on."

"Alright!" yelled Wallace. "Finally some action."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A human walking around Ponyville was strange enough, but to see one hanging out with a town regular such as Applejack was even stranger.

"Woo, those varmints were scared to see you." She said.

"Yeah you could say that again." Said Jiggs with a smile. "I guess I still got some moves from my high school days." His clothes had a light hint of dirt encasing them, showing signs of a busy morning.

"Well, after helping me all morning I think you deserve a good wash-up." She poked fun at him.

Wiping some dirt off his sleeve, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, what a tremendous reward. A shower." He replied sarcastically.

"Hey running water's hard to come by where I live." She retorted.

"I'll keep that in mind."

With the morning sun now high in the sky, everypony was out and about. They had decided to take the long way back to the treehouse, seeing as they had finished all of her chores for the whole day. She was extremely grateful to him for everything he did this morning and having him get up so early definitely helped.

"Y'know, once all this dragon business is over, why don't I hire you as a second hand to have around the farm?" she offered.

"Well um, I'm not sure. What if have to go back after everything?"

"Do you want to go back?" she asked.

"I…I don't know. You see the looks I get. I don't really belong here and everyone knows it."

"So what?" she said. "If you help the princess and contribute to our society then I see no reason why everypony wouldn't accept you, human or not."

"I guess… only time will tell." He mumbled.

Applejack sighed. "Heh…look. You just have to make em see. Show em not what you are, but who you are. That's what's important around these parts."

Jiggs smirked confidently. "Alright, I think I can do that."

"Good."

He continued to fiddle with his bracelets as they walked through town. They had stopped leaving marks on his wrists the night before. e really couldn't

"You know, it's funny. These things feel weightless now." he noted.

"Well that's what you wanted, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's just that when I first put them on, they weighed a ton, and I could barely lift my arms."

"Doesn't sound like nothin' to complain about." She added.

They passed over a small stone bridge and stopped at the apex. Jiggs rested his arms on the arches while she mimicked, placing her forelegs over the edge. He looked down at the water below him, looking at his reflection. His black hair still came to rest just squarely above his shoulders, long and sleek.

Applejack gazed out over the rest of Ponyville, enjoying the sight of everypony happily going about their day.

"So do you have any siblings?" she asked.

Jiggs' ears perked up at the question. "Yeah I do. I got a younger brother and older sister."

"That explains a lot. It's no wonder you're so good with Applebloom." She said.

"Yeah if you say so."

Jiggs leaned his head back, to see more of the sun and blue sky.

"So what are their names?" she asked.

"Tommy's my brother. He's kind of a trouble maker, but still my parent's favorite. He's still in high school, wants to play football, be a band geek, do a little bit of everything."

"And your sister?"

Jiggs hesitated at her question.

"She's…"

He paused for a moment trying to think of something.

"Janet's um…"

Applejack could see for some reason he was having a hard time telling her.

"Pshhh… I don't know." He shrugged it off.

"No come on, it's okay, you can tell me." She assured.

"I…I…don't know…" he kept stammering, trying to spit it out.

"What's wrong?" she poked his side with her hoof but he didn't budge. Instead Jiggs kept staring up at the sky.

"It's just… I've never had to tell anyone before." He finally said.

"SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

A deafening screech broke their attention away from each other. All activity in the town stopped immediately. Jiggs and Applejack glanced around for whatever made the sound, but only saw open sky.

"I bet I know what that is." Said Applejack.

They continued to search the sky from atop the stone bridge, turning their heads every which way.

"THERE!" a bystander called out.

They turned to open sky, overlooking the town's clock tower, as three massive winged figures flew overhead.

"DRAGONS!" another bystander yelled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The ponies below began to disperse in a great panic. They stumbled over each other trying to get away as fast as they could. Shops and gathering places emptied as the dragons began to make their descent. They all fled to the safety of their homes, boarding themselves inside.

"They act so cowardly." Noted Allele.

"Did you really expect any different?" the king asked rhetorically.

They began to lower themselves down to where Fletch had said "town hall" was located. According to him, this was likely the most strategic vantage point in the entire settlement.

Something caught the king's eye just past the town square. A bipedal figure was walking next to a pony. It had been ages since the king last saw a human, but nevertheless he knew when he recognized one.

Staying in their pre-established triangle formation, the trio of scaly beasts slowed their pace with each flap of their mighty wings, gradually descending to the center of the square. One by one each monster firmly planted their clawed feet on the rough dirt road, causing a seismic tremor with each impact.

BOOM*…BOOM*…BOOM*

They formed up with the king at the head, directly in front of town hall.

From far away the king could see the human walking over toward them with his arms crossed. There was an orange earth pony trailing close behind him, looking a little frightened. The great red beast turned his head slightly with intrigue.

"Neither of you say a word." Said the king.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What are you doing?" hissed Applejack as quietly as possible. "We should go get help, now!"

"I'm just gonna say hey to our new neighbors." Jiggs said confidently. He kept walking toward the dragons as they silently watched him.

"Are you crazy?!" she whisper-yelled. "You're gonna get us both killed."

"Nah we'll be fine." He brushed her off.

When he was about thirty yards away from them when he stopped. The dragons towered above him. The red and brown ones could easily clear a two story building. However, the other one colored bright yellow was only about half as tall as they were. Their three sets of cat-like eyes fixated upon him.

There was a long silence where the dragons and Jiggs sized each other up.

"HELLO!" called out Jiggs.

They gave him no response.

"Maybe they're Chinese dragons?" he asked Applejack.

She merely stared back at the dragons in fear, not answering his questions.

"Whatever, I'll try the Chinese anyway."

He raised his right hand skyward, splitting his fingers into two sets between his middle and ring digits. His thumb was extended outward. On Earth this was popularly known as the Vulcan salute from the show Star Trek.

"NI HAO!" he said in Chinese.

Again the dragons did not respond, but stared menacingly.

Jiggs, a bit frustrated, dropped his hand.

"Look, tell me what you want…"

He paused for a second.

"OR I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR FUCKING ASSES!" he yelled vigorously. His voice echoed into the distance, throughout all of Ponyville.

Applejack got close behind Jiggs, deathly afraid of the consequences from his sudden outburst. "Happy place, just go to a happy place…" she mumbled to herself.

"Hahahahaha…" the red dragon chuckled. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" His voice boomed across the landscape, rumbling the earth itself.

He broke out into a fit of laughter directed at Jiggs. Angrily he clenched his fists, knowing when he was being insulted.

The monster began to calm down and collected himself. "Haha…you're an interesting one, human." The reptile smiled deviously through rows of teeth. "It's a shame that I'll have to kill you eventually."

"You couldn't kill me if you tried!" Jiggs yelled. "You couldn't kill any of us!"

"Oh but we already have. One of my officer's killed a human last night."

"What?! That's impossible!" he replied.

"I'm afraid it's true, human. It was your unfortunate flying friend. Though my officer acted only in self- defense."

"W-what?!" Jiggs stammered. "Packie's…dead?"

Jiggs gripped the sides of his head in disbelief, struggling to take in the news. "No, it…can't be." He muttered.

"Oh no…" muttered Applejack. "Anthony, we need to go get the princess." She pleaded.

"DRAGONS!" a female voice called out. "WHY DO YOU TRESSPASS ON EQUESTRIAN SOIL?!"

Applejack and Jiggs looked up to see Princess Celestia slowly hovering down. Her white form gracefully danced across the air. With a few quiet flaps of her wings she gently landed down next to Jiggs and Applejack.

"Princess, I'm so glad you're here." Whispered Applejack.

"I came as soon as I could, Applejack." Said the Princess.

Jiggs just stood in disbelief, "I… can't believe he's dead."

"What are you talking about Anthony?" Celestia asked. "Who's dead?"

"So nice of you to join us, queen." interrupted the red beast.

"I'm not a Queen. I'm a princess. Now tell me what you're doing in pony lands!" she demanded.

"For a being who does not assume the title of queen, you damn well take the liberties of one." He asserted.

"Princess Celestia!" another voice called from far off in the distance.

"Twilight!" called Applejack.

Twilight was leading a group of four ponies and Spike, including herself, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, with Nova at the rear. As they approached, they could all see the standoff between the dragons and Celestia.

"Oh no." said Twilight. "They're here already… We're too late."

As the sound of galloping approached, it started to slow. The new arrivals hesitantly approached their friends hoping to not disturb the situation any further. They all tried to keep their heads down nonthreateningly.

"Twilight…" whispered Applejack, "Where's everyone else?"

"Rainbow and the other guards went to look for Patrick, and Wallace said he would catch up." She quietly replied.

"Packie's dead." Muttered Jiggs. "The big red one said so himself."

"WHAT?!" cried Celestia. "Is this true dragon!? Have you killed a human?!"

"I wouldn't be so hasty!" the beast bellowed. "Last night, one of my officers kidnapped one of your own. She is our prisoner now. The human simply got in the way and perished."

"Oh no…" whimpered Pinkie Pie, "You were right Twilight. Patrick was trying to save her."

"And Rainbow said all those awful things." Added Rarity.

Twilight shuddered at the fact. She desperately hoped it wasn't true. "No…he can't be dead."

"You…MONSTER!" yelled Celestia.

"You should know queen. You made me this way." He grumbled.

"Impossible!" she retorted.

"Oh but's it true." the red dragon took a step forward. "Maybe you'd like a closer look at what you've created."

Celestia took one step forward as well. "Who are you?!" she pleaded.

The monster lumbered further, closing the distance between them about halfway, and stopped.

Celestia hesitantly but confidently approached. She proceeded no further once she was within arm's length of the beast.

"I'll ask you again." She said. "Who are you?"

The two leaders locked eyes fiercely, neither of them attempting to break focus.

"I'm disappointed you don't recognize me Celestia." He somberly replied.

"I'm sorry… but I don't." She struggled to remember, pulling every memory from her long life, but nothing seemed to stick out. Nothing came to mind when she looked at him.

"I suppose it would be hard to remember my face after so many centuries. Perhaps you're going senile… but very well."

The towering beast unfurled his wings and raised his hands in balled fists. He stood up on his back legs and outstretched triumphantly. He raised his head so that every being in Ponyville would surely hear.

"I am the ruler of all dragons!" he bellowed. "I am king Hroth von'Kall and I have no equal in strength!" His thundering voice echoed for miles.

"RROOOHHHH!" his long and boisterous roar made the ground quake.

Celestia said nothing.

She only looked up at him blankly.

The colossal dragon leaned back down and brought his face close to hers. He snorted quietly, letting her gaze upon his form.

Tears started to trickle out of the corner of her eyes. She sniffled once, trying to hold back the flood gates.

"Now do you see, queen?" he mumbled. "See what you have made me?"

"K…k…" she stammered.

Celestia felt an enormous lump build in her throat.

She at last recognized him.

"K…k-kall…is that r-really you?" her voice was practically silent.

His amber-yellow eyes leveled with hers.

"I told you never to call me by that name again." He angrily replied.

"K-kall…" she said. "I searched for you for decades. Everypony kept trying to tell me you were dead but I didn't believe them. I looked for so long…"

"Lies…" the dragon grumbled. "You left me to die, amongst my own kind. And now… I am their king."

"No Kall it's true! Please believe me!"

"Don't lie to me, queen!" his voice erupted. "Try spending a few centuries locked away from everything you care about, and I dare say that you would have done the same as me."

"But Kall-"

"Stop calling me that!" he bellowed.

Celestia's stream of tears had turned into a river, running down the length of her face and neck. She couldn't hold any of it back now. She frantically pleaded with him.

"I swear Kall! I spent so many years looking for you! "I'm sorry that you left! I'm sorry that you were held prisoner! But I swear I didn't know!"

"RROOOOAAAHHHHH!" he shouted in anger. "It's all lies, queen! And now… since you have deprived my race of their rightful place for eons, I, as king, have come to take it back for them!"

"No, you won't!" shouted Twilight.

"Such arrogance!" Shouted the king. "You'll learn your place soon little pony."

The red dragon erected himself preparing to summon some kind of attack.

"NO KALL PLEASE!" cried Celestia.

Nova, who could no longer see his princess being tormented, and silently began to charge a spell with his horn. His magical energy enveloped his horn with a green aura, the same color as his eyes.

He could feel his power building and took aim straight for the dragon king's chest.

"I hoped I wouldn't have to interfere." Said Nova. "But these dragons aren't going to leave us alone. I need to stop this now!"

"Wait Nova!" shouted Twilight.

CRASH!*

It all happened so fast.

A bolt of yellow lightning impacted into the dragon king's left cheek, sending him careening to the wayside. He felt the impact crush the side of his jaw, fracturing a few teeth.

In slow-motion the dragon turned his head to see what force had hit him.

It was Wallace's foot, encased in yellow energy, plowing into his face.

Everyone gawked at the violent sight as the king fell to the ground, forming a deep indent in the path beneath him. Wallace carefully floated the twenty or so feet down, using his golden energy to displace his momentum. He crossed his arms sternly and stared back at the two other dragons.

After gently falling like a fall leaf he planted his feet on the gravel of the town square. He stood calmly with his back to Celestia, who was still trying to absorb what she just witnessed. The yellow energy that had surrounded his feet dissipated.

"Tell me where our friends are, or I'm killing all of you." Wallace said sternly.

If facial expressions could kill then Wallace would've easily decimated armies with his icy glare.

Allele stood horrified at the human's explosive power, but her ally was not so easily frightened. The immense titan of a dragon walked toward him.

"How dare you human?! Do you have any idea of the powers you're dealing with!?" Greyl rumbled.

His king, off to the side, eased himself upward. Within a moment he was back on his feet.

"I'll handle this Greyl." The king replied. "If I need your assistance, I'll ask for it."

"Y-yes king." His second-in-command obeyed reluctantly.

Wallace faced back to the dragon he had just knocked down. The beast stood at least five times taller than himself. Subconsciously, Wallace began to wrap himself in his invisible layer of energy which served as his shield.

"I warn you human," said the king, "I'd rather not have more of your friends killed."

"What do you mean?" asked the comparatively miniscule human.

"Packie's dead." Shouted Jiggs.

Wallace dropped his head in disbelief. "What?!" he yelled at Jiggs.

"They're holding his friend Fluttershy as prisoner too." He replied.

"Those... bastards." Wallace muttered through gritted teeth.

Far away Twilight began to creep forward past her friends. She quietly made her way up to where Jiggs held his ground. Then with a flash of purple light, she teleported.

She quickly materialized next to Wallace who was surprised to see her. "I'm sorry, but you have to let us handle this." She placed a hoof on his shoulder and teleported back to her friends. When they reappeared Wallace was obviously frustrated.

"No, wait why?!" he said.

"Just let us handle this." Twilight said.

The red beast lumbered back over to Celestia. "I'd hoped this could've ended differently queen."

"Please Kall, I'm not some evil queen. I'm just a princess. What could I do to make it up to you? Please I'll do anything."

"You could live a hundred lifetimes and never pay the debts you owe. But for now, I think I'll strip you of your power."

"It doesn't have to be this way." She pleaded.

"Unfortunately it does. You have kept the source of all magic for yourselves for too long, while my brethren have suffered in squalor for centuries. I am going to the well and claiming it for ourselves."

"No please!" cried Celestia. "You can't touch the well!"

"Touch it? Hahaha no…I'm going to destroy it!"

"No you can't!" she screamed. "Don't do this Kall!"

"Maybe you want me to kill the yellow Pegasus as well?" he asked.

"No I'll do anything! Whatever you want! Just don't hurt anypony!"

"Actually there is something I want from you…" the dragon smiled seductively, "I want your orb."

"B-but that's not something I can just give to you." She tried to reason.

"I already told you. I was going to take it." He grumbled.

With a great swipe of his clawed hand he scooped Celestia up into his grasp. Struggle as she might, his hold would not loosen. He now had her completely immobilized.

The group of ponies immediately began to panic.

"Wally do something!" ordered Pinkie.

"I'd like to, but Highlight told me not to do anything." He answered

"PRINCESS CELESTIA!" screamed Twilight.

"Stay back Twilight!" shouted Celestia. "Everyone just stay back! Don't get involved!"

"A wise decision." Mumbled the dragon king. "No one else has to die today, as long as I get what I want."

The monster raised the white pony up to eye-level, like a child playing with a doll.

"Now…shall we begin?" the dragon asked.