I awoke with a start as the sound of approaching hoofsteps reached my sensitive ears. Jerking onto my legs from my back, my golden eyes struggling to gets used to the early morning sun that leaked into the room, I saw a maid preparing Luna's opal regal wear as sounds of somepony splashing in the bathroom became present. I yawned; stretching my front legs and baring my claws slightly into the tile floor. The maid nervously smiled at me as I went to the breakfast cart that she had brought in. One good thing about being in the service of a princess was that I never had to hunt; especially when you had a griffon for a personal chef. Grabbing the plate that was clearly marked for myself, I lazily sauntered back towards the fireplace and began eating my meaty breakfast of fried ham and eggs. A carnivore I was, but I hardly ever ate meat that was raw; too messy to be honest. I paused when I heard the bathroom door open; Luckily for me, Princess Luna had already dried herself off and mercifully saving myself from beholding her majestic wet form.

The maid turned her attention towards her princess and gave a quick bow with a smile, "Perfect timing, Mistress, your dragon had just woken up and is enjoying his meal," both turned to me as I let an accidental burp escape after I finished off the ham. "Indulging in it would be the better choice. Anyway, I have your royal wear polished and ready to go as you commanded." Princess Luna turned towards the dark armor pieces, inspecting them closely as if trying to spot any form of blemish. Letting a soft smile spread across her lips, she nodded in satisfaction and started placing the polished pieces on her body. I watched as I saw the sleepy headed mare transform into the ruler I learned to love and respect. I gave her a small bow as we turned and left for the chariot that awaited her.

The flight to Ponyville was uneventful to say the least, but damn was the view beautiful. The scenary was nice, don't get me wrong, but the wind whipping Luna's mane behind her and the sunlight making her appear more beautiful than ever. I noticed myself start loosing altitude as I gazed at the regal beauty, more like stared now that I think about it, flapping my powerful wings a few times to catch back up to the Pegasi drawn carriage. I performed magnificent barrel rolls, flips and tricks as I enjoyed the freedom of the sky. Occasionally, I would catch my mistress watching me with those loving azure eyes full of awe and wonder. Granted being one of the few dragons to have luminescent white scales could have been a part of it; especially when the sun cast an occasional rainbow on the carriage as I flew around.

We landed with hardly any problems at all, the hardly coming from a grey Pegasus with a blonde mane almost colliding into me. The grassy meadow we landed in sat in front of the Ponyville Elementary School. It was a decently sized little school house, its maroon colored walls was littered with drawings that the little foals made. A simple jungle gym and slide combo thing sat a few yards from the school with a nearby tree for shade and picnic table for outdoor lunches. I felt the cuteness meter rise as I watched the fillies and colts run and play in the mid morning sunlight. However, it quickly dropped when I noticed a small Pegasus sitting by herself under a tree.

I nudged Luna a bit as she started speaking to a maroon mare named Cherilee, the teacher of the school. This quickly turned into a swat with her tail as I nudged her again. With a frustrated huff, steam literally spilling out of my nose, I decided to talk to the filly myself. She was an off white color, with teal eyes and a bedhead style crimson mane. She was just sitting under the tree, sunken head, eyes full of tiny tears that snaked down her cheeks to form a small puddle below her. I took notice of her wings the second I got closer to her; Batpony wings. Images of Luna's night guards formed in my head as I inched closer, unsure of whether or not I'd scare her away.

I sat down next to her and decide to form some small talk, "Hey, are you ok?"

"Go away." Her voice cracked as she continued crying, "Your just like everypony else." I became quite curious by what she meant by that, but decided to learn that later. Right now there were more pressing matters; like making her feel better.

"Oh, I can guarantee you that I am most definitely not like everypony else." I tried to sound as friendly as I could possibly get, however, that went to dust; especially when it was true.

"Yes you are, you're here to make fun of me aren't you." Dang it kid; look at me! Pushing the thought aside, I kept on egging my way to her.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Here it comes, I just know it.

"Because I'm different... I'm a Batpony hybrid, blank flanked freak." Ouch. Deciding that I should actually try cheering her up instead of reminding her why she's alone, I started swishing my tail around until it was under her closed, sobbing eyes.

"And what's wrong with that? Just because you're different doesn't mean that you're a freak. I mean look at me and tell me what you see." Her hooves wiped away the tears from her eyes as she started to open them again; which immediately dilated to the size of pinholes as she saw my tail swishing back and forth on the ground in front of her. She slowly turned towards me and let out a highly audible gasp as she saw my figure laying down next to her. The sail on my back fluttered slightly in the small breeze, causing it sway and ripple from the base of my wings to the beginning of my tail. My scales cast miniature rainbows as the sunlight hit them through the tree leaves.

"Whoa." That was all she said as her eyes grew twice their normal size; how ponies can do that I have no idea. She got up on her hooves and stretched a forehoof out, which I met half way as I let her rub the scales on my chin. My sensitive ears twitched as I heard Princess Luna's voice approaching from behind.

"I swear, you turn your back for a second and that dragon disappears on you." It was apparent that she was highly annoyed. A second voice, sounding full of worry sounded off as they started getting closer.

"You don't think he flew away, do you, Your Highness?" I could just picture the look on my mistress's face as she shook her head.

"No, we'd be able to hear him calling to me with his roar. Its something he does to tell me that he's still around. He's loyal like that; always there for me when I need him, willing and ready to do what I desire of him."

"Sounds like you have a winner there, Princess."

"Yes, and if I knew what he thought of me, I'd be willing to- Nightwind!" My head dropped at the sound of her tone; yeah, she ain't happy with me. "I bring you here to give these students an opportunity to see a dragon and you're out here laying under a tree!?" I felt the little filly below my chin inch her way close to me, her body physically shaking as she heard Luna yelling. And if it wasn't for the fact that I knew how she worked, I'd be shaking too.

"Now, Kulaan, allow me to explain myself." She shot me a venomous stare that told me I had better have a good reason for walking off. which I did; fortunately. "I got a little sidetracked with my new friend here." I stood up on my legs and revealed the cowering filly. Her ears were tucked as close to her head as they could go; her head lowered as if expecting a lashing or scolding. Luna was about to say something before Cherilee interrupted her.

"Ruby! What's the matter? Did the dragon scare you?" Yes, blame the giant lizard for scaring the foal. The filly known as Ruby slowly shook her head as she inched closer to me again.

"Did the princess's yelling scare you?" I closed my mouth shut as I felt an imaginable dagger being pierced through my being. She knew what I was doing and I relished in the idea of getting the better of her. To tie her up and temporarily remove her sense of power and make her my- in other news... life. I shook my head as those thoughts made their way back into my mind. Luckily, I was saved from making a fool of myself when a small squeak from Ruby sounded from between my forelegs. I looked down to see that she was nodding her head yes. Princess Luna's face changed from possibly contemplating my demise to instant regret as her ear fell flat. She eased her way towards the small Pegasus and gave her an apology, giving her a very motherly hug in the process.

Things were super sweet until the bell rang for the school to start, Ruby was nuzzled ahead with Cherilee next to her; leaving me with a very large want to take to the sky. I was shocked to the point of changing to the color red as I felt a pair of lips meet my cheek. Princess Luna giggled as she started walking towards the schoolhouse. "You're so sweet," she said looking back at me. After falling back to Earth from cloud nine I started to make my way towards the bustling building.

The rest of the morning went by without a hitch; mainly due to Princess Luna tempting the class with some of them being able to ride me as I flew around for a bit. I'm not going to lie; I was not looking forward to it. Especially when the more 'noble' foals claimed that it would be them that would be riding the dragon. I quickly lost interest as Luna began talking to the students about different countries scattered around the world. I lay down next to her, crossing my forelegs in the more regal dragon stature and soon found myself falling asleep as the sun started heating up the room. After waking from a quick cat nap; Luna was still in her speech about culture and its benefits to ponykind. How she and Twilight Sparkle did put the world to sleep with their lectures will remain a mystery, all I knew was that I desperately wanted to fly. My attempt at being the super stealthy dragon that I was failed as a colt's voice rose over Luna's.

"Ooh is it time to ride the dragon!?" I froze midstep as I heard the droned sound of excited fillies and colts as they talked about riding the dragon. I turned to my mistress for a sign of help, but soon noticed that smile of hers. She was planning something and that made me very nervous.

"We only have time for one of you to ride him for now," Oh don't tell me, "However, during lunch he will be giving rides to anypony that wants them." You dirty.... I narrowed my eyes at her as she gave me a sporting wink. I soon realized that just standing in the doorway was a bad idea as I saw a stampede headed my direction. Outside didn't fair much better as I was surrounded by a sea of ponies, each coming up with a good excuse as to why they should be allowed on my back.

As I turned for a few moments, a familiar figure over by the school's door caught my eye. Ruby was standing by herself again, with a crestfallen look. I could understand it, why would I pick her since she didn't fit in. Then Luna's wink slapped me in the face as I realized that she wanted me to pick Ruby. I made my way over to her with the group of foals behind me. Kneeling down on my legs, I gave her the signal to hop onto my back, much to the groans of disapproval from certain fillies. Princess Luna stepped outside and blocked the other foals from myself and Ruby as she made it clear that she wasn't sure what to do.

"I have chosen you to be the one who gets a good flight with me. Consider it a form of offering for the privilege of being your friend." The filly's eyes watered a bit at the word friend. After giving her a quick affectionate nuzzle, I helped her climb up onto the spot where the base of my neck and shoulders were. Making sure that she held on as I took to the sky, I released several roars as I climbed into the clouds. I had to let out a small chuckle as I glanced back at Ruby, "Open your eyes, young one, the view is even better." I heard her gasp as I flew straight and level, sending out several more roars as I gave Princess Luna an idea of our position. The land below the afternoon sun was bustling with ponies as they went about their daily lives in Ponyville. The few clouds in the sky made it a perfect day to live, and enjoy the outdoors.

I felt Ruby tighten her grip around my neck as I made a slight turn towards a nearby lake. I lowered my altitude and drug a claw over the water's surface, splashing the white Pegasus a little; who giggled at the thought of being wet. I climbed into the air again as a few more roars escaped my throat, echoing along the countryside. After a few seconds of catching my bearings, we turned and flew off towards the school.

Author's Note

So here is chapter 3. Its a bit longer than the first two, but let me know what you think. Should I continue with longer chapters or stay with shorter ones?

If you would like a reference on Nightwind's sounds for his roars, attacks, etc. check here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOWav94syLc