They thought they could stop him. They thought they had stopped him. Had him contained. Restrained deep underground. They were, however, mistaken.

Ritual was not dumb; the simple fact of the matter was he was smarter than anypony. He was still capable of making mistakes, however. Much to his chagrin, he had been interrupted on his rise to power due to something he should have caught. The dragon was supposed to have been consumed in the spellwork utterly, and he didn't make any allowances for otherwise.

Thinking back on it, he knew what must have happened. The creature had enough of dragon blood in addition to a ‘sentient’ soul to power his return, despite any depreciation that would have happened from being a mixed breed. And that ‘extra’ part of the dragon would have been a depreciation to the total power mix … except for the fact that it was connected to the place he was traveling to, and acted as an amplifier instead. Things tended to want to go ‘home’ after all.

And so he learned from his mistake. He should have slit the things throat and done the spell work the old fashioned way. Live and learn after-all. He would not allow his enemies the opportunity to learn however. Not like they were allowing him to. Keeping him alive in any form was a mistake on their part. They thought the petty magic suppressor and chains they had him restrained with would slow him? That the ragged the cell he within which he was entombed would keep him?

Pfha.

Weakness and Ignorance on their part. Child's play for him. They didn't understand his power. They refused to. Even after all these years. Even after what he did last time to prove his strength. Their ignorance was going to be their downfall. They were going to keep him, put him on trial again, and try and ‘punish’ him.

Ritual could have accepted his punishment the first time if they had taken and used his knowledge for their own ends. Their childish refusal to take the power that lay right at their hooves infuriated him. That they turned from the fruits that Blood Magic and Dark Magic offered was folly. He had discovered the mingling of those two powers to grand unheard of boons researching his Thesis. They had refused to listen, out of some petty idea concerning corruption. They had banished him when he had set about to prove he was correct in action. He had returned, and their ignorance was his gain.

If they had bothered to pay attention in the least they would have known that he could escape this ‘prison’ of theirs. It was childs play to be honest. painful, and literally soul-rending, but child's play none the less. His own blood for the circle and runes, and a portion of his own soul to fuel the spell. the magic inhibitors they put on him only stopped magic that went through his body. The circle drew the power externally, and his soul guided it. It was not easy to do, least of all to himself, but he had his mission. the jagged piece of rock he used to attain his own blood lay nearby. He would not be stopped, not by such trivialities as flesh and spirit. his mind was much more powerful than that.

The chains that bound him fell away. the Inhibitor fizzled. Ritual smiled. The effort left him weak, and his soul diminished, and even now his lifeblood leaked. He was free again, and in this land he had so much more to work with in the way of ….reagents. he would have to move from this place, it wouldn't take long for his jailers to notice his freedom, even with as inept as they were.

He didn't have enough reserves left to fuel a teleport... However, If he wasn't mistaken, there was even a pair of guards outside his cell. He could use them to repair his own self incurred wounds, even as they helped him escape. It wasn't as if they were doing anything useful with their blood and souls.

****

Snowfire woke feeling surprisingly rested. She hadn't dreamed, not that she ever did anymore, but that had been very restful. Strange scents filled the materials of her nest, which were by far too comfortable. The air was also not dank, and the little drip of water that would fall on her back from condensation was not present.

This wasn't her cave, the primitive part of her brain informed her waking mind. It was some sort of hedonistic paradise as far as it was concerned. Places that were safe enough to sleep in that were quiet, dry, and comfortable were very sought after commodities after all.

Having assured herself that there was no immediate threat that needed to be dealt with, Snow let herself wake the rest of the way up. The half awake stage was good for quick reactions and an instinctual area analysis, but that was about it.

Huh. That's right...bottom of a tree run by a crazy pony in the middle of a town of crazy ponies. Snowfire checked herself over absentmindedly. All her organs were present, and it didn't look like the door leading to the basement had been opened since Twilight had left.

Thinking on yesterday, she realized the ponies really were crazy. There was too much going on for it to be some sort of act to get something out of her (not that she had anything worth that much effort). If they had the resources to be messing with her ever since she had arrived here like that was nothing she could do about it. If ponies were that powerful there would be nothing they could want from her. She didn't think they were that powerful, outside of maybe their Princess, so yesterday was not some sort of elaborate ruse. But if it wasn't… Snowfire just could not understand most of the behavior. Friendly and nice without getting anything out of it? Especially from a position of power? Completely alien to her experience.

They were sincere, it seemed, however. Which was… alight. Very strange, but she could cope, and mimic when she needed to. While the food was definitely a motivator, there was something else, but she couldn't put words to it. Well, at any rate, her life didn't seem to be in danger and after a few more days she would be free to head off and try and find something a little more in line to her jaded experiences.

She had mused to herself enough. Stretching her forelegs out, she pushed herself up. The few blankets that had ended up across her slit off as she moved. She arched her back similar to a great hunting cat with a yawn. It was habit; she didn't need to flex any kinks out after that rest. She could have just stayed in that room, but curiosity was starting to get the better of her, and she was never the fearful type.

making her way up the stairs, she puzzled briefly at the door. She had no idea why a hoofed species would need doorknobs... but they were all crazy so she put the thought out of her mind. She pushed the door open. Maybe it had something to do with Spike.

“Heya Snowfire! Good-morning,” said Spike, as if her thoughts had summoned him.

“`Monin,” said Snowfire. The little Dude was a puzzle to her. ponies raising a dragon was just weird on the ponies part, but Spike was just as odd himself. For example, he was currently sweeping the floor, of all things. “...What are you doing?”

“Oh, the place was a little dirty after the girls spent the night, so I’m just cleaning up a little.” said Spike.

“Ahh,’ she said. She could see the logic. Keeping ones cave clean was a normal impulse,even if she had never thought ‘tree’ would substitute for ‘cave.’ “ That's right, Twilight's like your mother right? You share this place.“

“Um, it’s sister actually, but yea, we live here, “ said Spike. The words sounded confident, but Snow could see that there was some sort of emotional baggage loaded in there. Probably the ‘sister’ thing. The mare had hatched him, so she wasn't sure where the confusion was coming from, but before she could ask Spike continued.”That reminds me, `Twi wanted to speak with you.-

-HEY TWILIGHT! Snowfires Up!” Spike called to the rest of the library.

“Ok ok,” Twilight said coming out of what looked like a storage room across the main area. “Spike, you know it’s rude to yell like that, especially inside.”

“Aww `Twi, what was I gonna do?”

“You could have come and found where I was. By the way, I noticed you didn't make your bed this morning.” Snow smirked at the drakes blush. she didn't get what the deal was with making a bed in the morning, but it the embarrassed expression was amusing. “Go on, you better go make it.”

Snow snorted softly to herself as the Drake ran up the stairs. Definitely mother.

“Good morning Snow, you certainly slept in a lot, Its almost lunch time. You sleep well?”

“I guess I did. Really?” said Snow. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept past dawn.

Twilight nodded her head with an amused smile. The lack of malice still noted itself in her mind, but it was a surprisingly easy adjustment to make, mentally.

“So, Spike said there was something you wanted to talk about Princess?”

“Oh, please don't, it’s just ‘Twilight’. It’s not a ‘Royal’ talk,” said Twilight. Snow for some reason felt bad at the mares distress.

“Err, alright, there was something you wanted to talk about, Twilight?”

“Oh, there is so much I would like to discuss with you, but I don't have time to do that right now. However, on a smaller scale, I wanted to see how you were holding up and what your plans were. The letter that preceded you was a little vague.”

“Well, I guess I’m doing alright physically. Pretty good actually. I’m not sure why your Princess Celestia insists I stay around for a few more days honestly. As far as plans go, I’m not sure? I don’t think just wandering around town would probably just start a violent mob, so I’ll probably just hang out here.”

“Well, actually, if you wanted to check out the town, it shouldn't be too much trouble. I know some of the ponies at Canterlot might not have left the best impression, but I think the likelihood of an actual ‘violent mob’ forming is pretty low. I’ve already vouched for you, and that carries a little bit of weight...usually. You should give the ponies around here a chance, they might surprise you.”

“Well, the running and the screaming from yesterday sort of led me to believe otherwise.”

“Oh that was mainly Roseluck I think. I think that mare actually enjoys running scared.”

“Well, OK. I might poke my head out then. Anyways, as impressive as your collection is, I’m not a reader.”

“Spike has the rest of the day off, so he can show you around if you want. I would actually show you around myself, but my actual royal duties mean I have several sheets of laws I need to read and write reviews on.”

“That's cool. The Little Dude is interesting.”

“Why do you call him that?”

“You mean ‘Little Dude’? I’m… not sure. That's just what little boy dragons were always called. I was a ‘Little Dudette’ for a long time.“

“Very Interesting. The next time I get a block of free time, I would like to do some research with you. You have so much fascinating information in your head.”

“ We can see later, I guess?” The way Twilight's eyes dilated when she said ‘research’ set off all kinds of warning bells in Snowfire.

“There's something I wanted to ask about Spikes issue, are you sure the ‘fighting to mature physically’ aspect is correct?”

“Its the way its always been as far as I know. Maybe there is another way, but I don't know it. Fighting just kind of happened for us.”

“Oh, its just that… ponies don’t really do anything like that.”

“Yea I gathered.” Snow shook her head “I remember a few good ones I was in myself. There is just this kind of… thrill that happens, and then you've ‘grown up’ a little. Not enough real fights means it wont happen at all. Too much fighting doesn't mean you mature too much though, I've been in enough fights to figure that one out.”

“What do you mean, you've been in more battles than is considered normal?”

“ ‘Battles’ is a good word, Ill Have to remember it, but yes that's right. The rest of my
clutch is all pure-blood, and I wasn't. Not that hard to figure out.”

“...Oh” Twilight didn't really know how to respond to that. The picture of the place that this dragoness came from that she was developing was not a pretty one. The frank conversation along with the mostly unnoticed hints were going along way to describing the somewhat standoffish behavior the Dragoness was exhibiting.”Well, what about your parents? Im sure they were at least concerned with that.”

Snowfire snorted. “Nah, I didn't have any parents.”

“You mean the ‘clutch’? Are all dragon young raised like that?”

“Far as I know, yea. All dragonlings are kind of… grouped together and raised by some of the elders. But what I said when I didn't have parents was that I didn't really have any. There were no half-breeds in the flight besides me.”

“What?! That's horrible.”

“Uh, it’s actually not that uncommon? Alot of us have parents that get killed while we're growing. Sometimes they just leave too. The elders never told me what happened to mine, and I never really wanted to know If I wasn’t good enough or whatever for them if they were still alive. My parents just were dead or gone before I could know who they were.” Snowfire didn't know how to interpret the wide, watery-eyed look that Twilight was giving her, but it was making her uncomfortable.

“You poor thing!” said Twilight, taking a step forward

“Um, I’m fine?” said Snowfire, taking a step back.

“Do you need a hug?” said Twilight, taking another step forward

“No, no, I’m good,” said Snowfire, taking another step back.

“I think you might need one,” said Twilight, stepping towards the dragoness again.

Snowfire tried to backup again, but bumped into the wall of the library next to the staircase that lead up. What in the world was that mare trying to do?

“Heya Guys! whats going on?” Spike asked, walking back down the stairs

“Your-taking-me-out-to-show-me-around-the-town-and-we-are-leaving-right-now-so-bye-Twilight,” rattled off Snow, grabbing Spikes arm and breaking for the front door.

****

“Haha, yea, `Twi gets a little crazy about her ‘Research’ sometimes, “ said Spike.

He and Snowfire were ambling down the street, and she had just said that Twilight didn't seem the most stable. He agreed in his own way. While for the life of him it looked like Twilight was coming onto the dragoness, he didn't want to deal with an issues like that about his mother figure, and so was playing it off.

“So this is Ponyville?” said Snowfire, stopping to take a look around.

Ponies were still staring at Snowfire or taking a different route when they saw her, but there wasn't really any running or screaming, Spike noted. He saw somepony looking out of their window and waved. The pony looked surprised for a moment, then waved back with a little smile.

Ponies were panicky creatures, Spike had learnt over the years. Startle them or present them with something outside of their experience too fast and their reactions would be anywhere from hilarious to cataclysmic. However, mix in some of the familiar with that unknown and they could deal with it. He never really thought that He would be ‘the familiar’, but he knew that with him accompanying her around, things would go smoother.

“Yup. This is where me and `Twi have been living for a coupla years now,” said Spike. He watched the red dragoness as she looked around. Cobblestone streets and thatched roofs didn't seem that special to him, but he supposed he might have been little spoiled by growing up in Canterlot.

Snowfire was really interesting to him. She was the first contact with someone of his own species that did not act like a bully to him. Well, mostly his own species; the fur thing was different. It looked kind of cool actually.

“So… are you hungry?,” said Spike, returning her attention to him. She had a little grin for some reason, her blue eyes smiling playfully.

“You mean you eat every day?”

“Oh yea, usually at-least three times a day.”

“Three times…” said Snowfire softly. “I think I may have died and gone to heaven. Really? You're not pulling my tail are you?”

“Nope! come on, I’ll take you to Sugarcube Corner. They have the best stuff,” said Spike.

“Sure, lead on,” said Snowfire.

Spike started leading the dragoness through town. She followed, moving near silently. Spike noticed something in her gait that he had never seen in ponies before, something smooth and predatory. There didn't seem to be much he needed to do to calm the townsponies, but he was sure that the way she moved like that bothered some. Its screamed ‘on the prowl’. It looked like most ponies were accepting her, especially after spending the night with the local super-powered Princess. It was just going to take a while for anypony to come up and say ‘hello’ on their own. Spike kind of wished he could move like that, but knew it probably came from actually needing to move like that, and that was more than he was willing to commit to.

“So, we haven’t really talked much,“ said Spike as they walked.

“Oh? then what was that whole life story thing yesterday?” asked Snowfire, poking fun at him verbally.

“Awh, I was just filling the time till `Twi came back. And you did ask.”

“I did ask you what your story was, so ok. Ask me a question then.”

“Well I don't even know what to ask… humm, about about something, as a dragon I should know, but don’t?”

“So something you should know, but don’t, as a dragon… mmm… well I’m not sure what you really know or don’t, but I can take a guess,” said Snowfire, and giggled a little. Spike wasn't even sure she realized she did that.

“Go for it,”

“Well, if a dragon, and more specifically a drake asks a dragoness to get food with him, hes asking her out on a date,” said Snowfire with a big grin.

She apparently couldn't keep from laughing her tail off when he stopped right in the middle of the street while sputtering, stuttering, and blushing bright red .

****

*Ding-ling*

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!”

Snowfire may not have had much in the way of sweets in her life, but she knew what the building looked like. Walking around the corner and seeing a building from the outside had been a surreal experience, but Spike had not reacted to it, so she tried not to either. The interior was apparently a store of some sort selling food, but not any kind that she recognized. There didn't appear to be any customers besides them at the moment.

The pink pony behind the counter that greeted them she however did recognize. Snow wondered who had followed them in when she saw the mare smiling at them, but when she checked there was nopony there. huh, weird, Snow thought. At least the mare had an easy to remember name.

“Spike! Snowfire! Hi!” Greeted Pinkie.

“Hey Pinkie,” returned Spike.

“Heya,” said Snow.

“You have good timing, it’s right before the lunch rush, but after I made everything. What brings you two by?” said Pinkie.

“Well Snow and I were getting kinda hungry, we sorta ...left the library before we could grab anything, and I thought we could get some food here. Oh, and also Snow has never had a cupcake before,” said Spike.

“*GASP* No! She’s never tasted the sweet cake or luscious cream of the bestest of things ever?” said Pinkie.

“Yup. Never had one, so yours will be her first,” said Spike.

“Well you did the right thing bringing her to me Spike! Especially if I’m her first. I'm going to make sure she enjoys it so much she won’t hesitate to come back for more.”

“I’m… getting some mixed signals here,” said Snow.

“Sh-hh-h, nonono! Let Aunty Pinky do her thing for the little draggy-waggy. I'm sure you will enjoy it.”

“What -Glaprgh?!”

Snowfire suddenly found her mouth full of… something. It was light puffy, and sweet . Her brain kicked over to automatic and she started chewing, revealing the most amazing thing; it was full of gem-bits!

“Glerpher-mmf,” Snow tried to say.

“I know, right?” said Pinky.

“-Mmfgg-

*gulp*

• Another?”

“Of course! I just pulled a bunch out of the oven, you and Spike can share them!” said Pinkie

“Awesome!”

“Sweet!”

****

She and Spike had stayed in Sugarcube Corner for the lunch rush. Most ponies did a double or triple take when the noticed her camped out in a corner, but only a couple had left after. Pinkie had called them ‘sourpusses’, and Snow had asked if that was some sort of disease. Spike had shot his drink out of his nose when Pinky had answered-

-“Sure, why not?”-

-but wasn't able to explain it properly to Snow, citing something about exposure based resistance. All in all, there was much less with the torches and pitchforks then she had expected, so these ponies could be weird all they wanted.

It was after the rush, and she said she had a little bit before she had to start baking before the next one, after bantering back and forth with Spike a little had asked Snow how she had gotten here.

“So, Princess Celestia then sent you to heal the rest of the way in Ponyville?”

“Yup, that's more or less the whole story. Not that I actually need to ‘heal’ any more, but she had made me promise to stay around a few days anyways.”

“Cool!”

“Cool?”

“Yup! If she hadn't, you wouldn't be here and none of us would have met you and we wouldn't be friends!”

“Friends?”

“I know! Isn't it great? Oh, that reminds me, I still have to throw your welcome to Ponyville party.”

The Pink mare started switching topics so fast at that point that snow was having trouble keeping up. “Friends” huh? She didn't quite notice the small smile she had gained, but Spike and Pinkie did. Snow listened to Pinky babble on for a bit, nodding at some things, but not completely sure what was being said. Nothing that set any alarms off; the talk was filled with mostly inane day to day kind of stuff. Spike seemed to have achieved a very zen state himself, that of someone completely zoned out.

After a while, Pinkie had excused herself and the two dragons left the shop.

“Alright, that was pretty cool, thanks Spike.”

“Sure, Snow, no problem.”

“Hey, are there any caves around here?”

“Um, there is a couple I can think of, why?”

“Just thinking about where I’m gonna sleep tonight.”

“What? Sleep in a cave? Why would you do that?”

“Well, I mean, Twilight has to be getting tired of having me around right? so I thought I’d just save everyone the trouble-”

“Oh my, that’s completely ridiculous dear,” a voice from besides them said.

“Rarity?” asked Spike.

“Hello Spike darling. Snowfire, dear, I hope you do realize that Twilight would not just ‘get tired of having you around.’ Shes much better then that.”

“Oh, well, you see-”

“Tut-Tut! Simply won’t happen dear. And even if she were to say... bring home a dashing young stallion and you had to find somewhere else for the evening, my door is always open.”

“That is very generous of you,” said Snowfire.

“Think nothing of it dear, it’s what I do. Why don’t you and Spike walk with me for a little while, there are some new bolts of cloth in at the market and I want to take a look at them before they get sold.”

“Sure thing Rarity, whatever you want.” said Spike. When Snow looked, he was making eyes at the white mare again, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“Alright,” said Snow. She could have just gone back to the library, or find one of those caves, and a large part of her wanted to just that, but something else made her go with the two.

“So how has my little assistant been doing today?” Asked Rarity as she led the two towards the market.

“Oh, I've been good. I did some cleaning earlier, but I've been showing Snow around town. we just left Pinkies place. Can you believe Snow had never had a cupcake before today?”

“Indeed, that is hard to believe. And what about you Snowfire, how have you been?”

“Off balance, to be honest,” said Snow.

“That is quite to be expected dear. It’s not everyday that one finds themselves ripped from their homes and cast off into the wild by a dark wizard, after all,” said Rarity.

Snow glanced around at the neighborhood they were walking through and rolled her eyes “Wilds, right. but nah, that's not really that big of an issue. I guess its that everdragon -err.. everypony acts so different,” said Snow.

“Well, while I can understand a bit of culture shock as being normal, I find it hard to imagine that being ripped from your home to be a small thing,” said Rarity

“It really is not an issue,” said Snowfire. “Im actually about the age when dragons are supposed to leave the clutch to find their own hunting grounds, so I was expecting to go somewhere ‘in the wilds’ and survive on our own,” said Snow

“Oh dear, that doesn't sound very fun. You don’t have anypony back at home that misses you?” asked Rarity.

“Nope. Not one. Really, being out of that place is not a problem for me,” said Snow. “Your Princess Celestia told me she might not be able to even find my ‘home’ again. I told her not to worry too much about it.”

“Well, what are you gonna go after the next few days is over? ” asked Rarity

“I don’t know,” said Snowfire, shrugging her wing joints.”I’ll probably just head off, and find a cave somewhere that's far enough away.”

“Well you could always consider staying here darling. You seem like a nice enough Dragon after-all, and I for one would enjoy an additional somepony to talk gems and jewels with.”

“Here?” Snowfire could barely hold back a snort “I don’t think ponies and dragons mix very well.”

“Hey! I think we ‘mix’ fine,” said Spike with a hint of indignation. He had been content to let the girls talk, but this was something he felt the need to interject on. “Everypony is real nice around here.You just have to make a little effort. I think I can guess what it was like where you were growing up based on my own experiences with other dragon, but ponies are not like any of that.”

“Quite right, Spike,” Rarity said with a nod.

Snowfire, wide-eyed, wasn't sure how to respond to that. She was saved from having to come up with a response when they came upon the market.

It was an open air bazaar, with dozens of stalls and hundreds of ponies moving with purpose. Exotic scents tickled Snows nose and arcane devices shined in the sunlight. Hawkers called their wares, and ponies haggled. Most seemed to ignore her presence, intent on their own tasks.

“Well, maybe with two dragons as my escort Traveling Trade won’t try and swindle me again,” said Rarity before she plunged into the crowd. Spike ran after. In for a jade-chip, in for a diamond, Snow thought to herself, and followed.

****

As it happened, Traveling Trade did try and swindle Rarity again, despite having brought double the dragons. At Least he tried until Snow started to pick her teeth clean behind Rarity. Traveling’s prices had dropped remarkably fast after that.

Author's Note

I don't know why I plan a chapter and and tell myself
"yea, that's only going to be a short one,"
and then have to get so large that I'm forced to cut it and make two chapters out of it.

On that note, are these getting to wordy?

As always, thanks for reading.