Carmino

Pea Gravel had been wandering through the desert for days.This filly had a grey coat,she also had long legs for her age. Her mane,though riddled with sand and dirt, was distinctly a carrot orange with yellow highlights. She had bare hooves and a hairless, skin toned muzzle.

She squinted her soft green eyes from the sun. "Is this it? I'm just going to die out here?"

The Sweltering heat beat down viciously on her small filly's body, her pace slowed down the further she went. Soon she simply crawled along the  rocky, unforgiving ground. The filly found refuge in the shade of a large rock. It gave her an amazingly refreshing break from the brutal rays of the desert's sun. She curled up in a ball and took a moment to remember what had happened. The last thing she could remember was being at some log cabin on the edge of the scrub desert. The Scrub Lands were so far away now, she hadn't seen a tree in days. She had been with somepony who she called 'Uncle'...now she remembered.

It was late in the night, the moon shown like a dim, white sun over the horizon's mesas. She had been living at Uncle's cabin since she was eight. That was six years ago. Pea and her uncle sat in his cabin; she liked him, he was always taking her out to fly on his back. And he told her stories...somepony close to her had also told her stories before. Jars and sacks lined his shelves, he had many wool blankets with amazing designs, but they were kinda stinky. She was eating some dried plants with Uncle, come to think of it, he was a strange pony. He was a donkey, but he had wings like a pegasus. She only knew two pegasi...but the other one...Pea blocked out that memory, she didn't want to remember that.

She thought back to her Uncle. They were eating, but when Pea went up into the loft to go to bed, Uncle looked out the window. He had only a few windows, one facing north, south, east and west. His back was to her, but she could tell he was trembling. She was about to ask what was wrong, but he spun his head around and motioned her to be quiet. He had a panicked look in his eyes.

Pea realized what he was afraid of when she heard a low thumping, like a massive set of legs trying to be sneaky. The soft moon light that filled the room was now suddenly blocked out and Uncle had one last look at Pea, still with a hoof to his lips. With no warning a massive yellow hand smashed through the window. It's clawed fingers wrapped around Uncle like a vice. She could hear his ribs crunch and his wings snap; but as he was dragged out of the hole in his home...she heard a sound far worse.

She couldn't tell what happened, she just hid under her uncle's blanket in the loft, trying not to listen to the awful, terrible sound. It was the sound of something eating uncle. Though she tried not to listen, she could hear every last stretch, rip, and crunch. She almost vomited, but she was so terrified she held it back.

         After awhile, the night became quiet aside from a low steady breath from outside the cabin. Then she heard the invader's laugh. It was a raspy, gluttonous, and awful sound. It made her hair stand on end. For a moment she lost grip of her courage and she let out one, single, tiny wimper. She instantly regretted what she did because she then heard a sniff.

The invader spoke,"Ah... Pequeño? Don't hide from dear old tío...come out,"

Pea froze, she was petrified...she couldn't move at all. A vicious growl came from outside. Suddenly the Cabin shook, it was collapsing! She jumped out of the loft, only to find the room she was eating in moments ago was now ablaze. She busted out of the east window as the room caved in on the small wood cabin. Pea trotted away as fast as her little hooves could carry her. She looked back for a moment, just a moment.

But what she saw was what she had feared. Behind the blazing rubble heap, was a massive yellow dragon. He had a stocky neck, mammoth shoulders and a long tail with a hook on the end. His face was wretched. His head had an eye missing, broken horns, pirceings on his nose and what was left of his ears.  His shoulders though, seemed to at one point, anchor a powerful set of wings. The Dragon's mouth had a crooked tooth smile, still stained with Uncle's blood. One side of his face had looked as it should, a scar here and there, but the right side of his face...it was missing an eye, and most of the skin. all of his teeth showed on that side of his face as drool and blood dripped from it. Pea ran even faster now, not because of what happened exactly, but who sent this invader. It could only be one thing...

Pea came back to reality. She blinked, fully remembering the past events. She shook her head in confusion,"Its not fair!" she spat out as she pounded the sand,"Why do they keep following me?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

All of that shouting, even under the rock's shade, took a lot of energy out of her tiny body. In a painful flash, she blacked out.She woke up shivering and, in the pitch-black darkness, she hears sniffing. Pea froze, her heart raced. Did he find her, was her escape for nothing? She shut her eyes, ready for the cruel hand of death to snatch her away. But it didn't, a voice called out to her in the blackness;

"Me smell you," the voice said. It was much softer and kinder than the dragon's, "Is you alright?" Pea couldn't see him, but she knew from the tone of his voice that he sounded friendly. She stuggled to her hooves and stumbled in the blackness.

"I could be better...I-I need some water," she said weakly," Could you spare some?" She heard a soft chuckle, "Share? Yes, Me will share water."

Pea was so tired, she barely noticed she was being lifted on the stranger's back. She couldn't feel how rough it was, how warm it was...She felt so safe, so far away from her pursuer that she drifted off to sleep.

Pea woke up with a start, her mouth was dry, muscles sore, and she couldn't feel the ground. She blinked and looked around at her surroundings. She was at some sort of cliff base, and there were long brown sacks everywhere. The sun wan in a late afternoon position and the the mesas at the horizon cast long, purple shadows. All she could smell was brimstone and...blood! She looked at the bags again, some were bloodstained and motionless, others seemed to have desperate contents. She looked at herself...her belly was scraped up, bruises shown through her fur, and now that she moved around...she could taste her own blood. Worst of all, her back left leg was strung up to a dead tree with a mind-numbingly confusing knot.

She became panicked,"How am I going to get out of this one?"

She heard footsteps, low thuds...like a massive set of legs trying to be sneaky. She tried her best to play dead.

"We sure made a grande haul, eh Sidzo?" said a voice she didn't recognize. She did hear one that rang a bell however it was a raspy, gluttonous, and awful sound;

"Did you see it when He said 'Oh me have water'?...Oh its too much!"

As Pea played dead, she cursed. "They did find me...what are they going to do?" she thought. One of Sidzo's cronies poked Pea. He was some kind of diamond dog, but he looked more like a jackal.

"Hey boss," he barked,"this 'un still 'ung up, do you want me teh put 'er in one of da bags?"

Sidzo grunted in disapproval," Do what you want, I don't care." The nasty Yellow dragon shoveled some of the mysterious bags and stuffed the contents in his jagged maw. The sounds that came out were crunch after wet squishes, Pea' skin began to crawl. The jackal caught her and hopped right next to the poor filly.

The jackal sniggered, "Well, Ahm kinda hungry..." Pea flinched, he licked his teeth,"Oooh...she's still awake..."

"Hey! What you doin'?" a voice called, his voice sounded oddly relaxed. The jackal untied the knot that held Pea in the air," Oza, its you...wern't ya doin sumptin?"

Pea heard footsteps closing in, not as big as Sidzo's but close to them. Suddenly she was lifted higher in the air. Her head was turned to meet the stranger's.

It was another dragon, he was a little past his teenage stage and had only been walking on fours for  a year or so. He had a white-orange stripe pattern on his smooth scales, like a clown fish. On top of his head short, sharp horns were beginning to grow. His body were slender with lean muscle. Just like Sidzo, he had large,nasty scars on his back where the bases of wings should be. His teal eyes glared coldly at the jackal as he trudged forward.

His eyes looked at Pea's, "What you here for, pony?" Pea hadn't actually spoke for days, so when she tried it came out cracked and weak. The dragon, Oza rolled his eyes.

He grabbed a large jug near by,"Drink," he commanded. Pea looked at the jug for a dazed moment, than guzzled it. It's refreshing taste of fresh water was almost too much but before she was done.

The jackal snatched it from her," Hey you little dirt clod! Quit drinkin' all mah water!"

The next thing the jackal knew he was smacked up side the head. Oza lowered his popped his knuckles,"Shaddup, Oza is dragon, not doggie! Run off before Oza gets upset."

The diamond dog whimpered and scooted off, taking his precious water jug. Oza sat the filly back on the dirt and stretched out to his full length. When he yawned, the little pony could see that his tuonge (and the rest of his mouth) was blue. He smacked his lips and closed his eyes.

Pea was confused. The striped dragon spoke as he rested," Oza ask you before, why you here pony?" Pea Gravel had never heard or seen a dragon like this...Oza.

She pushed up some courage to speak," T-the yellow one...um...Sidzo, right?...H-he kidnapped me," she started crying when she remembered what happened to her uncle,"I-I...um..." Oza raised his hand, motioning her to stop. "You don't have wings...why Sidzo take you?" Oza opened one eye. He had seen many sad ponies in the past few years, but he always thought there was a good reason behind it. This time he wasn't to sure.

"What Sidzo do?" his relaxed tone suddenly grew a razor edge. Pea didn't know how to say it, how to describe that night's horror. "He k-killed my uncle...and broke down my house."

Oza rose up on his back legs, he wasn't very tall, but was barrel chested. He glared in Sidzo's direction, his toes dug into the dirt.

"Sidzo, what you do to this pony?" He called. Sidzo looked up from something he was eating, he placed one of the mysterious bags down. Sidzo was just as terrifying in the daylight as in the dark. One of his massive hands wiped his mouth as he spoke.

"Is something wrong amigo?" the yellow dragon spat through his crooked teeth. Oza walked toward the beast up on his back feet, his chest puffed out.

"Boss said only winged pony or ones who didn't pay, not the others..." Oza said with bared teeth," Borox asked for that one alot," he pointed at Pea," Sidzo don't want to see Borox angry, right?"

Sidzo chuckled, he was at least  three times bigger than Oza and was much, much stronger. The massive yellow dragon turned his entire body towards Oza. All of Sidzo's henchmen looked at the future fight scene in anticipation.

"I don't think he cares to much, Pequeño Lagato," spat Sidzo.

They were only a few yards away from each other now, steam rolled out of Sidzo's mouth," Don't get any stupid ideas Oza..."

Oza scraped the dirt and cocked his head sideways, " How about fatty makes Oza, eh?!"

The yellow dragon crouched half a second, than bolted toward Oza, who just barely dodged the assault. Sidzo smashed his head in the Cliff base, rocks began falling from the top. Oza lifted his bodyweight over as many bags as he could. Not wanting the precious cargo to get squished. Pea was far enough away to not get hit. (actually she backed away from the camp by a few yards) Rocks rained down on top of Oza as pe huddled behind a bolder at a safe distance.

After the dust cleared, Pea saw Oza shake off many of the rocks and boulders that fell on him...but no Sidzo. With a loud bang and a green flash of light, Sidzo appeared directly above Oza. In a moment, he forced all of his weight on Oza's back, causing a loud WHAM and dark blue blood to spurt out of the young dragon's mouth. Sidzo reared on his hind legs, now almost a third of the cliff's height. He roared monstrously as his torso flew down to earth, his meaty paws balled up in bone crushing fists. Oza looked up for a second, before Sidzo smashed into him again.

"Oh God..." whispered Pea, " there's no way he could have survived that one!"

Sure enough, the orange-white dragon didn't get back up, he managed to spit some of his blood back at Sidzo, but the massive dragon wasn't satisfied. He grabbed Oza's head, who's body was limp. Sidzo raised his victim's head up and smashed it against a rock, twice, three times, four! He slipped his hands under his victim and lifted Oza over his head. Oza couldn't even react as Sidzo dug his talons into Oza and smacked him against the cliff like a baseball bat. After a few whacks and blue streaks ran down the cracked rock, Sidzo threw Oza back to the dirt. The yellow dragon's henchmen went wild cheering their master on.

Sidzo released his vicious grip, his chest heaved with a triumphant belching growl. Oza lay practically lifeless at his feet. The victor gathered the bags, the supplies, and all of the water. "Adelantado boys, we're leaving."

Pea waited for the monsters to be out of sight. She got out from her hiding place. She tip-toed over the the broken dragon. She couldn't tell if he was breathing...she got closer...still nothing...closer. He suddenly gasped for air, and made slow shaky breaths. He could't move his body, but he tried to speak. What came out was gurgles and coughs.

Pea looked at the pitiful creature, "Serves you right, you...you dragon bastard."

Oza turned his head with much difficulty...or at least Pea hoped that was a face. The dragon's neck quivered as tried to stay erect, and blue blood trickled out of Oza's mouth and nose.One side of the dragon's face had been practically smashed into a blue, swollen mess. With the less damaged side of it, he tried to smile. Pea didn't know how to feel; her whole life, dragons ruined everything, she hated them, but this one...he stuck his neck out for her, he didn't even ask for her name. She stood back up, a confused and angry look on her youthful face.

"No," she thought, "all dragons aren't evil and murders...yeah thats it..."

Pea began to walk in the opposite direction Sidzo went, but she heard Oza. With some spurts and coughs he managed to say,"Is...*cough*...you alright?"

Now Pea was at a moral cross road. She remembered something somepony said to her when she was young;" The best friends in life, are the one's you reach out to help." Pea stood dead in her tracks, what should she do? Oza coughed again.

This time more blood drained out,"I...can s-see you're fine...Oza...Oza is fine too..."

The mare turned around an trotted back to her defender. He was laying limp again and Pea crept up to his head. She tried to smile because his face was so wrecked, along with the rest of his body.

"Um...is there anything I can do to help?"

Oza's eye fluttered open. Pea wasn't a doctor, but she'd seen plenty of death to know that Oza's time was coming to a close. The dragon muttered something, Pea didn't understand it, but she suddenly wanted to gather half a pound of sand and a bluegrass cactus bud. She darted off to find the ingredients and laid them in front him. He rolled his tongue out and chanted something, his eyes rolled back and he stopped moving.

Pea was shocked...she wanted to cry, but the sand and the flower slowly levitated with an eerie glow. A strange bottle landed in it's place. The pony had an impulse to pour it on Oza's tung. She did and waited...nothing...she dug her hooves into the ground nervously. After what seemed like an eternity, Oza's eyes sprung back, his face was now...less damaged than before and she heard his joints pop as he moved his head up. Pea was overjoyed! She popped forward and hugged Oza's neck tightly.

"Hey now," he chuckled," Oza still hurts a little!"

Pea let go and scooted back. The dragon rolled onto his back stretching his limbs. Pea fidgeted nervously, confused and kind of scared. The dragon's wounds slowly closed up and his ribs morphed back into place.

She looked up at the dragon," What was that back there? I'm not a doctor, how did I know how to do that?" Oza smiled as he checked his fingers and toes could wiggle.

"Oh, Oza used magic on pony, tell you how to make 'Revival Potion'. Oza thanks you for listening."

So much had happened to Pea, she was so worn out and confused. Oza laid down again and Pea inched closer to him. "Um...Oza, t-thank you for everything. I would've been eaten or worse... if you didn't help me."

Oza raised an eye brow," Oza would be dead without help also." They sat silent for a moment, the sun began to set and it got chilly.

"Oza, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, pony can."

"I could use a friend, and you're alone now too right?"

Oza made a wide grin,"Oza could use friend too."

Pea remembered her green pancho, she wrapped it around herself in the growing cold. "By the way, My name is Pea Gravel."

The dragon licked her mane," This dragon Oza, but Pea already knew that."

TO BE CONTINUED...