My red eyed Friend

Chapters

Chapter 2: The Strangest of New Friends
Chapter 3: A Most Unusual Reaction
Chapter 4: The dragons' pride (fixed)
Chapter 5: Relighting the fire
Chapter 6: A Slight Misunderstanding
Chapter 7: Meeting of Worlds
Chapter 8: Day of Flames
Chapter 9: From the Ashes
Chapter 1: A Dragon's Thoughts

Chapter 2: The Strangest of New Friends

“Hey AJ, we got any more of those muffins you made?” Rainbow Dash asked as she withdrew her head from the picnic basket, giving Applejack an inquiring glance as she did. “They’re really good.”

“Sorry Rainbow…” Applejack chuckled from where she was lying on her back in the grass, her face concealed beneath the brim of her hat. “But I think you ate them all already.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled to show her annoyance at the apparent lack food, before once again slumping on the picnic blanket, an action which rewarded her with a few giggles from her friends. It was a perfect day in Ponyville for a picnic, and hence the group of friends had all found themselves drawn to yet another social gathering in Ponyville Park; all of them relishing in the company of their friends, the warmth of the sun, and the happiness that came with living in the peaceful land of Equestria. The day had so far gone off without a hitch, other than a slight lack of food in Rainbow’s opinion, and the unexpected absence of a certain yellow pegasus pony, due to an apparent bought of the feather flu.

“I reckon she’s just faking…” Rainbow had announced loudly when Rarity informed the group of Fluttershy’s illness, and hence her unavailability for the meeting. “That pony… uh… it’s like she lives inside this personal bubble and never wants to come out.”

“Be that as it may, Dash, she will not be attending… but that does not mean we cannot enjoy this occasion anyhow.” Rarity had replied dryly, eyeing Rainbow Dash with a look of annoyance, which silenced both Dash and the subject from then on.

Hence for the next few hours everything had gone as well as could be expected; copious amounts of food had been eaten, endless stories had been told, and eventually everypony had forgotten all about Fluttershy and her unconfirmed absence due to illness. The subject of Fluttershy did, however, at last resurface, when Pinkie had decided to ask her friends what their biggest fears were, and, as usual, despite each pony’s effort to steer away from the subject, Fluttershy’s fear of just about anything ended up filling the conversation.

“I swear she’s actually scared of her own shadow,” Dash sighed from where she was lying on the red and white picnic blanket, face-hoofing herself to show even she was embarrassed at the fact. “I mean come on… when it comes to fears there’s understandable and legit, and then there’s just plain ‘what the hay is wrong with you?’.”

“I’m agreeing with Dash on this one,” Spike put in, tossing a small ruby in to his open maw and chewing with a few loud crunches. “I mean… no offense… but I think she’s afraid of more things than she isn’t…”

“Look you two…” Applejack suddenly snapped as she lifted her hat and glared between Rainbow Dash and Spike, the amount of venom in her voice and deep green eyes surprising everypony. “So Fluttershy has got a few fears and all… but it ain't no reason to go talking bout her like this behind her back… if ya'll remember correctly, she’s the one who got that dang snoring dragon to move when none of us could… and you Dash, of all ponies, should remember that.”

There was a few moments of awkward silence before anypony spoke again, as usual though, it was Dash who decided to break down the wall that was Applejacks argument; jumping into the air and hovering just above the amber pony, hooves clenched and face set in anger as her cyan feather wings slashed the air. The problem with Rainbow Dash was that the only thing bigger than her mouth, was her stubborn ego; so when somepony took a swipe at her pride she had a habit of biting back without thinking first.

“Applejack, don’t you try and take the moral high ground here… you know just as well as I do that she was terrified of that dragon, and she only acted how she did because we were in trouble. I’d bet my wings if you put another dragon in front of her, she wouldn’t be acting so tough.”

“And so what then Dash?” Applejack said bitterly as she got to her hooves and returned Rainbows’ death glare, stomping the ground and snorting in annoyance. “Are you telling me you aint scared of dragons… and I don’t mean like little Spike here, but I mean fully grown dragons?”

Dash snorted at the remark, and crossed her front hooves in response while remaining in the air.

“No Applejack I’m not scared of…” Rainbow started, and then her magenta eyes flicked up and shot open so they were as wide as dinner plates. “…dragon!”

“Dragons…” Rarity corrected, replacing her ceramic tea cup on its plate before wiping her mouth with a red napkin. “Plural, Rainbow Dash… more than one drag…”

“NO I MEAN DRAGON! AS IN ONE DRAGON!” Rainbow screamed, pointing her cyan hoof in the direction of the southern sky and the Everfree forest. “AS IN THE DRAGON RIGHT THERE!”

Thinking that Rainbow Dash was just being silly, the group of friends laughed and ignored her continued ranting while they went back to their casual conversations, but when a loud thud could be felt through the ground, out of pure curiosity, Spike flicked his gaze in the direction Dash had indicated, and that was when his eyes widened as far as Dash’s had.

“Ah… Twi… we might have a slight problem,” Spike said calmly, gently on tapping on Twilight's shoulder to get her attention.

“What’s that Sp…” Twilight began as she turned, her words falling away as she came face to face with the glistening red scales, hot breath, and huge ivory fangs of a rather large dragon, who was staring down at her with a pair of dark red eyes. “Oh…”

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Titan had spotted the group of ponies just as he came over the northern edge of the Everfree forest, his keen red eyes easily picking up the bright splotches of varying colour against the sea of green grass, which he instantly flew towards. He was surprised, as he came closer, to see one of his own kind resting among them, a hatchling maybe but a dragon none the less, which he hoped meant they wouldn’t just jump and run at the first sight of him; a hope which had so far gone his way considering a cyan pegasus had spotted him. Now the hatchling and a purple unicorn were now looking up at him in a manner more so of confusion then fear, while the cyan pegasus continued to shout at her friends, although apparently they thought she was lying and hence ignored her.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything…” He said as he folded his mighty wings by his sides and lowered his body to the ground, trying to sound as gentle as possible despite his deep thunder voice. “But I was wondering if you can help me find somepony you may know?”

The purple unicorn flinched as his words reached her ears, but did nothing else other than stand in awe of him, as did the slack-jawed purple hatchling; her friends, however, seemed to have been startled by his sudden input into their social conversations, and upon realizing his presence had almost jumped out of their fur coats in surprise. Now six sets of eyes were staring up at his red scaled face, all with different expressions within them as they realized the cyan pegasus had not been lying after all.

“Ummm… ok… before we do anything, can I ask who you are, and what you’re doing here?” The purple unicorn said, the tone in her voice sounding somewhere between nervous and curious to Titan’s ears. “No offense or anything… but it’s just that dragons… never come to Ponyville… ever.”

“Of course… my name is Titan, and I am here to try and make amends with an old friend of mine…” He smiled, pulling back his lips, and showing his rows of shining fangs in the friendliest expression he could. “It has been some years since we have spoken, but I doubt she has forgotten me.”

“And who would this old friend be?” Asked the cyan pegasus, leaping into the air and hovering just in front of Titan’s cider barrel sized red eyes, with a look of utter disdain on her face, her hooves up like she was ready to try and fight him. “Because the last I heard ponies and dragons don’t get along at all… no offense or anything Spike… so why should we believe you and your story?”

Titan sighed and rubbed his face with his claw, his rising razor sharp talons missing the soft cyan body of the pegasus by a scale-width as they came up, and causing her to hurriedly jump backward with a yelp. He had expected to encounter such resistance to his efforts, but it was still annoying to say the least, not to mention time consuming.

“I see why you doubt me… I am a dragon, and you are ponies after all… but you must understand I am not here to cause any trouble, rather to try and make amends for some I caused years back when I was young. I did something long ago which hurt somepony I held dear to my heart… and after all this time, it’s finally caught up with me, and now I cannot think without it filling my mind at every turn.”

Slowly he lowered his claw to the soft ground, and ran his eyes over the hatchling and each of the ponies in front of him individually, making sure his red eyes met their own so they could see there was no harm or aggressiveness within them. Strangely his words at the same time had also sparked a sorrowful fire deep inside himself, he had rarely thought about exactly what he had done, but now it was all coming back and with it the realization of how heartless he had been.

“If you do not wish to help me, I understand… but I will not be leaving here until I at least have a chance to speak with my old friend, and at least try to put things right between us.”

For a few moments there was complete silence other than Titans deep breathing, and the sound of the wind running through the nearby trees, during which Titan could do nothing other than flick his tail and pull his talons over the soft earth in an effort to calm his nerves. He knew that without the ponies help, getting anywhere close to his old friend, let alone apologizing, would be impossible. Eventually however an amber pony came forward and ran her emerald eyes over Titan before speaking, her strange and yet gentle voice shattering the harsh silence that had settled and dissipating all of Titan’s fear at once.

“Look… Titan… normally I wouldn’t go dealing with any dragon other than Spike here… but… to me ya seem to be honest with what you’re sayin, so I guess, as long as we keep this low, and don’t go telling anypony you’re here, I’ll give a you a hoof.”

“And if AJ trusts you, so do I,” put in a white unicorn a moment later, smiling and bravely stepping forward beside her friend; it was a sight which brought a smile to Titan’s maw which only got bigger as each of the six, including the cyan pegasus, eventually stepped forward and in turn decided to help him, it seemed to him these ponies weren’t so bad after all, and perhaps now he had a real chance of putting things right.

Soon Titan to his utter amazement found himself unexpectedly, and almost forcefully, dragged into the ponies’ remaining picnic by a highly energetic pink pony, who was strangely enough named Pinkie Pie, and who in Titan’s eyes was a perfect female pony version of Thane. Hours soon flew by as he lay there with his head on the soft grass and was bombarded him with various questions, which he was happy to answer as his scales and wings soaked up the afternoon sun, although the cyan pegasus who called herself Rainbow Dash never took her untrusting eyes from him.

Eventually the day began to end and he decided it was time to confront his demons; rising to his feet and shaking, before making his intentions known to his new friends of what he planned to do before the sun set.

“If you think you’re ready then… ok…” Said the purple unicorn, who had introduced herself as Twilight Sparkle, her eyes shifting from her friends to Titan as they finished clearing up the last remnants of the picnic. “Who exactly is this somepony you’re looking for?”

“It has been many years since I saw her, so she may have changed her appearance…” He sighed as he cast his eyes up to the sunburned evening sky, the same as he had done that shameful day all those years ago, as he had silently walked away. “…but her name is Fluttershy,”

“FLUTTERSHY?” came six amazed voices at once, followed shortly by the soft wail of one of the ponies fainting.

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Notes:

Not the most exciting chapter I know so I’ll be quick…

I won’t be doing many notes but there are two things that a friend asked about that I want to clear up before I go any further.

1) There is NO Titan/Fluttershy shipping or anything like that going on
2) Thane will be back later for a minor part but other than that he’s out…I will admit though that there will be another dragon

Chapter 3: A Most Unusual Reaction

“So… what exactly happened between you two?” Rainbow asked quietly as she flew around Titan’s raised head, the rest of her friends suddenly looking up at the huge red dragon from the shadowy gravel road, to show they too were curious. “Because as far as we all know Fluttershy’s always been...well... literally terrified of dragons.”

“Once upon a time we were friends…” Titan sighed, growling to himself and shaking his head in shame at the memories. “But a while back I made a bad decision that destroyed that. I guess I’ll have to admit her fear of dragons... is partially my fault because of that… bad choice… other than that I’d rather not go into details.”

Silently Rainbow Dash looked down at Applejack, who was walking along beside Titan's right front claw; the amber pony simply nodded in reply to her questioning expression,simply to confirm what Titan had said was true. By now it was getting dark the sky was beginning to fill with thousands of stars, it made however no difference to Titan, as he could see the world just as well in the darkest night as he could during the day. He knew it was late, but he was determined to after all the years of being gone at least see Fluttershy before he bedded down for the night, and despite their yawns showing they were exhausted, his small companions had decided to stick with him until he did.

“No matter how she reacts…” Titan thought to himself, an image of the small yellow pegasus on one of their better days spent together creeping into the front of his mind. “This was the right thing to do.”

No matter how he prepared, however, a tight knot still formed in his gut as the wall of trees parted, and a quaint tree carved cottage came into full view, looking exactly the same as it had when he had seen it for the first time some fifteen years earlier. He stopped, and for just a moment ran his red eyes over its features; the small wooden bridge that crossed a gentle flowing stream in the front, that he had helped dig out with his talons, the thin gravel path that led up to the doorway that was lined by a tiny fence, no matter how he tried not to think about it, he felt the claws of guilt tearing at him inside at the very thought of what he had done. Finally he closed his eyes and let a single tear roll down his cheek; there was only one word in his mind that described how he acted that day, and that word was heartless.

“You okay big guy?” He heard Applejack ask from beside him as she put a hoof on his foreleg, the gentle touch bringing him back enough to pull his senses together. “This can wai…”

“No…” Titan said firmly, grating the dirt of the road with flexes of his ivory talons. “This has waited long enough… It’s time I stopped running from what I did.”

Within a few moments Titan found himself standing before the tiny wooden doorway to the cottage, his head just in line with the bedroom window on the top floor, the one he had once enjoyed sticking his head through to say good morning to Fluttershy. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he stepped back into the shadow of the house a little, and then nodded, indicating to the five ponies and one hatchling he was ready to confront his past; with a simple nod in reply Twilight turned her attention to the door, and knocked on it three times with her hoof, the rest of her friends and Spike crowding around to calm Fluttershy if she freaked.

“She’s still terrified of dragons, so just be aware of that,” Rainbow said gently, her head darting from Titan’s uneasy face to the door as it creaked open, and the delicate form of Fluttershy stood in the doorway.

She had grown up in the years since Titan had last seen her, but there was no doubt that the pegasus standing in the doorway in front of him was the same Fluttershy he had known; the soft yellow of her coat matched his memories exactly, as did the long pink mane that ran down the side of her face. The pure sight of her brought forward two sudden feelings, one being joy at finally seeing her again, and the other being hatred of himself for ever hurting her.

“Oh… hi girls… and you Spike…” She said quietly, her eyes looking between each of them with, what seemed to Titan, to be an edge of fear in her eyes. “Um… can I ask why you’re here… if… that’s okay with you?”

“We’re here with a super-duper-really-awesome old friend of yours and new friend of ours!” Pinkie laughed, bouncing rapid circles around the shy pegasus, which only caused her to shrink back a little. “And he said he’s here to say sorry for something he did a long time ago.”

“Oh… really… who?” Fluttershy asked quietly, tilting her head a little in confusion and flicking her eyes between her friends. “I don’t have many old friends other than y…”

That was when she looked up in the air at the hovering Rainbow Dash, and noticed Titan standing in the shadow of the cottage behind her, her eyes growing as wide as dinner plates in an instant as they met his red ones.

“Hello Flut…” Titan began as he began lowered his head to her.

“YOU!” Fluttershy roared as she shot upwards through the air toward him, the pure volume of her voice matching the equivalent of the loudest roar of any dragon Titan knew, and startling even him

Fluttershy’s friends, who had been calmly standing around her, literally jumped and fell back on their rumps in fright, while Rainbow was unluckily caught in Fluttershy’s unexpected angry lunge, and failing to get out of the way in time found herself being bowled into and painfully slammed against the wooden wall of Fluttershy’s cottage, the cyan pegasus slowly sliding down to the ground with a thud. The brunt of Fluttershy’s rage, however, was directed at Titan, and hence he got the most painful reward of them all; to her friends’ amazement, Fluttershy spun around in front of Titans face, and gave him a mighty double back leg buck right on the end of his snout. The impact itself came with a loud smack followed by a surge of pain which rippled over Titan’s entire face; if it had been any other pony he would have probably torched them in an instant, but he did nothing more than growl and rub his sore nose with his claw, after all he knew he had deserved it.

“Hello to you too Fluttershy,” He groaned, the pain slowly subsiding as he replaced his claw on the ground, and then turned his attention to the enraged yellow pegasus who was hovering in front of him.

“What the hay do you want Titan?” She snapped, folding her front hooves across her chest as she glared at him angrily, her nostrils flaring and her tail slashing at the air.

“I came to try and put things right between us…” He sighed, sitting back on his red scaled rump and returning her gaze, as she continued to glare daggers at him in the moonlight. “I know I was a total jerk all those years ago, but it’s only recently that I realized what I did was so wrong… so the first chance I got a flew out here, and I was hoping I could apologize, and... we could... talk.”

“Oh, so you think that just because it’s been thirteen years that I’ve moved on… we’ll you’re wrong you overgrown, backstabbing, scale-brained, waist of my time!” She snarled angrily, flying even closer so she was hovering right about his red scaled forehead, the fires of seething built-up rage in her eyes burning into Titan’s own. “I still have to live with nightmares about that day, so if you think you can just fly over here and say you’re sorry when you feel like it… and that for some slim-minded crazy reason you actually think I’ll forgive you, then you’re wasting your breath Titan.”

“Fluttershy look… I know I was a jerk, I know I was heartless, and I know you’ll never forget what happened, but you have no idea how much it hurts me just to think about what I did to you. For the last thirteen years I lived with it buried at the back of my mind, but now I can’t escape it and it’s eating away at me… all I want to do is at least try and see if we can both move on from what happened and maybe… if possible… be able to call each other friends again.”

Fluttershy gave off an angry snort at the words, like they were simply lies to her ears, a reaction that tore Titan up inside. Everything he had said was true; for the last thirteen years he had kept what had happened locked away inside him, away from the ears of others, the true extent of his pain at his actions only ever told in full to one other dear friend years earlier, when it had almost broken him emotionally.

“Ah… Fluttershy… can I say something?” Applejack said from below the two of them, her sudden interjection of the amber pony reminding both Titan and Fluttershy, that they were in the presence of her rather shocked and astounded friends. “I don’t exactly know what he did… but I know he’s truly sorry for whatever it was… so do you think you could at least give him chance to make it up to ya? You are after all the element of kindness.”

Titan saw a single flinch run across Fluttershy’s face, a moment before she let out a loud frustrated scream and once again delivered an angry double kick to his face, this time however aiming the strike right between his eyes, which the impact ended up hurting more than the first one. Once the second wave of pain had died down and he had pulled his senses together, he returned his eyes to her; she was defiantly still angry, but for the first time there was a slight touch of defeat in her expression as she glared at him.

“You’re lucky my friends somehow see more in you then just a giant fire-breathing jerk…” She snapped, flying a little higher, so her yellow figure stood out against the star-studded night sky as she glared at him. “So… I will THINK about POSSIBLY accepting you’re apology, Titan… if I do that is another matter entirely. As for your wanting to talk, I am too tired for that right now so come back tomorrow afternoon… other than that I have nothing to say to you other than good night.”

Without another word she dropped to the ground, and stomped inside with a huff, followed quickly by Rarity, Twilight, and Spike, who apparently weren’t ready to just let her run away from the problem. Titan however had decided he had enough action for one night, and was rather looking forward to getting some sleep, hence in silence he turned and headed back towards the road.

“It ain’t much, but I got an old barn you could sleep in,” Applejack offered as she, Titan, Pinkie and Dash headed back into the trees and left Fluttershy’s cottage behind in the night.

“Thank you...” Titan yawned, raising his head spreading his huge jaws wide open for a moment before closing them again, his huge tail lashing at the air as he did “And I’m sorry you had to see that… I knew she would be angry, but I guess even I under estimated her emotions.”

“We all get mad sometimes…” Pinkie giggled as she bounced along beside Titan, her somehow humorous view of the current situation only confirming Titan’s prior belief; she truly was an exact female pony version of Thane, although she made him smile a little none the less. “Even I get mad… but that’s usually because somepony didn’t come to one of my parties… oh my gosh! I should throw you a party!”

“At least you talked to her… that’s the important thing big guy” Dash chuckled as she landed on Titan’s rough scales that sat right between his long horns, taking no notice of Pinkie’s outburst. “So don’t beat yourself up.”

“Yes…” He murmured, taking a final look over his shoulder as he walked into the trees and saw Fluttershy’s cottage disappear into the darkness of the night. “At least I talked to her.”

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Notes:

Good…now just a few more notes before I let you all go on with life

1) I know you’re all probably wondering what the hay was this ‘event’ which took place…but relax…you’ll find out soon

2) After seeking a few outside opinions (rightly or wrongly) I’ve decided to follow the saying ‘cool story bro, needs more dragons’, so Thane will be playing a bigger part towards the end then I had first planned as will a few others…you’ll see why in the coming updates.

Chapter 4: The dragons' pride (fixed)

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Chapter 4: The Dragons’ Pride

“I can’t believe he actually decided to show his face, after all this time,” Fluttershy snapped out loud, snorting angrily and pacing her lounge room, while Rarity, Twilight and Spike watched nervously from the light green couch they were sitting on, with the fluffy white form of Angel beside them. “Grrr… the nerve of that dragon… I swear I could spend an entire day kicking him and not feel bad about it.”

The sudden awakening of Fluttershy’s dark side had shocked her friends, not to mention scared them senseless, now they were wondering if following her inside her home had been such a good idea after all. It had been Twilight's plan originally, just to see if they could gain any more of an idea of what had happened between the two of them, but as of yet all they had learned was how angry Fluttershy could really get.

“Ahaha… Fluttershy… are you sure you’re not over reacting maybe just a little?” Twilight said quietly as she rubbed the back of her purple neck with her hoof, her face going red as Fluttershy’s eyes felon her. “He did say he was…”

“I AM NOT! OVER! REACTING!” Fluttershy screamed, glaring at her friends like she was about to give them a kicking as well; causing the three of them to jump for cover behind the light green couch, until she shook her head, regained her composure, and began pacing again, even then however they dared only watch her by sticking their heads out from behind their makeshift fortress. “I don’t expect any of you to understand… but for two years he was my best and only real friend… In fact he was like the big brother I never had. And then one afternoon, when I went to meet him in the forest and he was sweet and gentle… but then some of his dragon friends turned up, and he turned into a massive jerk… I don’t even want to remember what he said.”

“But that… doesn’t make any sense,” Spike jumped in, slowly creeping out from behind the back of the couch, and approaching Fluttershy as gently as he could as he spoke, causing her to stop her pacing and look at him. “There must have been some kind of reason… no offense, but he really doesn’t seem to be the sudden drop-you-on-your-tail type… did he give you any indication of why?”

“He said… he had only known me because it had been fun, and that knowing me as a friend was an insult… to the Dragons’ Pride.”

“The dragons’ what now?” Spike replied; scratching his head and turning back at the still mostly hiding purple form of Twilight, who was yet to leave the safety of the couch. “Any ideas Twi?”

“None whatsoever Spike,” Twilight sighed gently, at last creeping out and walking over to where Fluttershy was standing in the middle of the room, and now looking somewhat defeated. “You know ponies have very limited knowledge of dragons and their customs… so I guess the only one who’ll know anything about it, or what it is, will be Titan.”

“Well in my opinion something isn’t right here” Rarity said boldly as she emerged from behind the couch, at last joining the rest of her friends in the middle of the room. “He was sincere about apologizing and AJ was sure of that… so perhaps, whatever came between you two all those years ago Fluttershy is no longer a problem for him… so… maybe at least try and give him a chance at explaining himself.”

Fluttershy’s eyes darted between her smiling and nodding friends, but she still wasn’t sure, she had lived with the heart ache for thirteen years and wasn’t sure if a few minute long apology was enough. Then however, she felt a tug on her mane and looking down her precious Angel squeaking and nodding in agreement with them, his big black eyes telling her that it wasn’t easy but it was the right thing to do.

“Ok…” She sighed at last. “I’ll give him a chance.”

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“I know it ain’t exactly a gem filled cave or anything,” Applejack said as she led Titan into the massive wooden structure that was Sweet Apple Acres' old barn, running her eyes between the old wooden beams with an expression of fondness. “But it should suit your needs.”

“I owe you dearly for this Applejack,” Titan yawned, his mighty legs and wings succumbing to tiredness, and rapidly pulling him down onto the soft bed of hay that covered the wooden floor. “It has been a long time since I slept on anything softer than cold stone.”

The old barn sat hidden amongst a grove of apple trees in the furthest western corner of Sweet Apple Acres, the ideal spot as it were for a tired dragon to sleep without being disturbed. The sky was now completely dark outside and the wind was beginning to howl like an angry timber wolf, the same sound Titan had been falling asleep too all the years he had lived in the cold south of Equestria. Gently he lowered his head onto the soft hay in anticipation for sleep, but it was then he realized Applejack had seemingly decided she’d prefer to sleep beside him in the hay, laying down next to his foreleg rather than making the long venture back to her own barn, her amber furred coat gleaming in the small amount of moonlight which flowed through the windows.

“You don’t mind do you?” She yawned in reply to Titan’s inquiring glance, pulling off her hat and dropping it beside her in the hay. “No offense but it’s dang cold out there… and I really don’t feel like walking two miles back to my room.”

“It’s your barn,” He smiled as he looked at her. “But won’t your family be worried?”

“I’m old enough now my big brother doesn’t need to worry about be… and Applebloom knows I like to spend the odd night at a friend’s place,” She grinned, looking back so her emerald eyes met Titan’s dark red ones. “What about you then partner, you got family?”

“I have… a much older brother” Titan hissed, the very fact he had to say the word ‘brother’ making him want to burn something. “He and I… don’t get along very well… he is what I would refer to as one who vigorously follows the dragons’ pride, which I hate everything about.”

“What the hay is the dragons’ pride?” Applejack asked, giving Titan a confused expression as she looked over her shoulder, emerald eyes glistening in the low light.

Titan mentally bit himself for letting the words slip, as he soon realized what he had just got himself into; now he knew he had no choice but to admit what had come between himself and Fluttershy all those years ago, despite how painful it was.

“Uh, the dragons’ pride is basically the idea that dragons... should be proud of being dragons, and hence should have little or nothing to do with any lesser or other race… regrettably, such as ponies like yourself… personally, I've never been a follower of such a stupid ancient rule, but my older brother has always been a strong believer, and hence we don’t get along.”

“Can choose your friends but not your family ha?” Applejack smiled, nuzzling his outstretched foreleg softly to calm him of his anger before going silent.

For a few moments she played with her hooves and was silent, but from her body language Titan could already tell that there was something on the tip of her tongue, and he probably knew what it was.

“You're curious to why Fluttershy and I fell apart aren’t you?” He smirked, blowing a breath of hot air in her direction and making her turn and face him with her cheeks red in embarrassment. “Admit it… I can see it on your face.”

“Can ya blame me?” She asked, something close to a note of venom in her voice, as she turned back away from him and spoke. “No offense alright… but the way Fluttershy was talking and going on, compared to what she’s usually like, just says to me whatever you did really hurt her deep.”

“No… I can’t blame you… but you will not like what I say, and I doubt you’ll believe me either,” He sighed, returning his former raised head to the soft bed of hay, as the darkest memories from his past began to fill his head. “The dragons’ pride came between us… I will not tell you what exactly transpired, but I will say that if I didn’t hurt her as much as I did, the situation would have been even worse… and that would have put her in a place of danger where even I couldn’t protect her.”

“Protect her?” Applejack asked in surprise. “From what exactly?”

“From… my kind,” Titan replied, closing his eyes and quickly falling away into sleep to escape both her questions, and the pain of his memories.

His dreams however only turned out to be worse.

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“Why are your scales so rough?” Fluttershy giggled, putting her front hooves on Titan’s red scaled snout as he lay with his head in the grass of the clearing, the red dragon smiling and blowing a breath of hot air over her face.

“I don’t know… maybe it’s because I eat hard things like gem stones,” He chuckled as she happily climbed up his face and curled up in the gap between his horns. “That would explain why your fur is so soft, because you eat things like cupcakes.”

“But you eat cupcakes as well,” She said happily, looking down at him from her vantage point on the crown of his head, his red scales like a rough, but very warm bed underneath her.

“Yes… but only the ones you give me,” He smiled, his eyes flicking upward at the darkening sky as evening set in and the stars began to appear.

It had been the end to another perfect day so far for the pair of them, in Titan’s opinion anyway; they had started that morning with a flying lesson, before exploring the forest until lunch, and then the rest of the day had been spent working with the small animal friends of Fluttershy’s, who after two years of daily interaction had finally began to trust the massive red dragon. Now as the day drew to a close the two of them had found their way to a secret forest clearing, to lay tie together and watch the sunset, the same clearing as it were where Fluttershy had found him two years earlier with a chuck of wood lodged in his tail, the result of a stupid decision to test his strength on a dead tree.

“How come you never want to come into Ponyville?” Fluttershy asked abruptly, her sweet voice breaking Titan’s chain of thoughts and bringing a grin to his face.

“I really don’t think the other ponies would like me as you do,” He chuckled, the action causing a few puffs of smoke to escape his nostrils. “Besides… I really don’t think I could fit down the narrow streets of Ponyville on my own, let alone with everypony else trying to walk beside me.”

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t like you.” Fluttershy giggled, resting her head against one of his long and slender horns, laughing a moment later, as the end of his tail came up and rubbed her back gently. “You seem nice enough to me.”

Titan smiled at her laughs and returned his eyes to the darkening sky, which was now beginning to fill with stars; he admitted that he enjoyed being around her, but the need for secrecy was beginning to annoy him. He often wondered if he should at least try and befriend the other ponies he often glanced from a distance, when he and Fluttershy were together, but he always knew that such an action would end badly.

“How about you let me meet some of your friends?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, her words stinging his ears and causing him to let out a growl of surprise.

He had admittedly long ago thought of such a thing, but he had dismissed the idea in an instant, he liked Fluttershy very much and would do anything for her, but he would never do that, his pride wouldn’t let him. He had never told her much about his own race, let alone about how they would react to the idea of a pegasus and a dragon being friends if they were discovered. Titan had never really been a follower of the dragons’ pride, but he still had his own, and that pride of his own would never allow him to admit their friendship to any other dragon, for risk of embarrassment to him or harm to both of them.

“Fluttershy…” He sighed, closing his eyes as he thought of the right words. “I hold nothing against you… but you must understand it would be inappropriate for me to introduce you to my friends.”

“Why?”

“It’s… complicated…” He sighed, rubbing his snout with his claw.

The two of them were both silent for a few moments, listening to the songs of the birds as slowly, but surely, the red light of the sun began to turn to the darkness of night. It was then Fluttershy had decided she would head home to her cottage, and abruptly slid down Titan’s neck, nuzzling his cheek as she said goodbye.

“I’ll see you tomorrow ok,” She smiled, turning and walking off into the darkness of the trees.

“Of course,” Titan smiled, watching her go before shifting onto his hinds, and spreading his massive wings in anticipation of taking off into the sky.

his plan to head for the skies however went out the window, when a chilling scream shattered the peace of the forest and made his head snap round, he knew Fluttershy’s voice a mile away, and there was no doubt in his mind that she was the source of the sound. Half in rage and half in fear for her he charged into the forest in the direction of the scream, his huge red scaled mass smashing aside anything that got in his way, and leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

A thousand possibilities ran through his mind at what could have possibly happened to her; what he saw however when he stopped his charged and burst out of the forest was worse than all of them put together. Before him Fluttershy was backed up against a tree, her tiny yellow furred body quivering in the sight of two sets of snarling ivory dragon fangs; the fangs belonged to two male dragons that Titan recognized without a moment’s thought, one was the stocky form of a crimson dragon named Scorch, and the other, to Titan’s horror, was the massive muscular white dragon known as Storm, his older brother. Both snapped their jaws closed when they realized Titan was standing between the trees a short distance from them, apparently not exactly sure what to make of the situation.

“Titan… little brother… what are you doing here?” Storm asked, his gaze leaving Fluttershy as he stalked towards Titan, a confused look on his face as he stared down at his younger sibling. “It is late and you should be home by now.”

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Titan replied, looking over at Fluttershy and trying not to make it obvious, Storm however noticed, and a growl escaped his throat as his head snapped back toward Fluttershy, and then to Titan again. “What?”

“You do not know this pony do you?” Storm hissed, his white claws grating the earth between them. “You…”

“No… of course not,” Titan replied firmly, trying to sound as firm as he could as he fake snarled at Fluttershy. “Why would I care of such a weak creature.”

He could see the words hurt Fluttershy but he ignored her pain, he knew that if she had any chance of living through the ordeal, he had to put their friendship aside. His words caused Storm to smile and his silver eyes to spark with an uneasy pleasure.

“So then… why does your face wreak of the smell of her fur, little brother?”

A sudden knot formed in Titans throat as he realized there was no way he could deny knowing her, and now he had only two options left. The first was to admit they were friends, but that would end up with him being a joke among his own kind, and Fluttershy most likely ending up as a cinder or worse; the other he hated the thought of, but it really was the only choice left.

“Alright… I’ll admit I know her… but hear me out first,” Titan grinned wickedly, walking in circles around his older brother as he and Scorch watched him intently. “I met her some time ago and I felt sorry for her… she was weak minded, vulnerable, and all round simply pathetic, so I decided to have a little fun with her emotions to…entertain myself. Hence for the last two years I have pretended to be her friend… ha… she was so pathetically minded she actually believed me, even after I told her that dragons and ponies didn’t get along. It has actually been rather fun and rewarding… she gave me everything from masses of food, to her deepest secrets… and all I had to do was smile at the right moments, and she never suspected a thing.”

“You… you mean all this time” Fluttershy cried, tears running freely down her cheeks as Titan grinned at her. “Everything you said… all that time together… it was all a lie?”

“Sorry you pathetic ball of yellow fur… but pretty much,” Titan chuckled, his brother and Scorch joining in the laughter, which only made Fluttershy cry more. “But… yes it was all a lie… but come on, do you really think I would actually befriend you… uh… the very thought of such a thing is an insult to the dragons’ pride, let alone actually doing such a thing.”

“I must admit I am impressed Titan,” Scorch chuckled, flicking his crimson eyes from Titan to the tiny pegasus pony. “But I must ask… how did you keep it up for two years?”

“That was the easy part,” Titan grinned as he looked over at Scorch in the dull light of the late evening sky, leaning against his brother’s side to show how relaxed he was. “This pathetic creature had no real friends other than a few wild animals… so really, as long as I made the tiniest effort to make my emotions look true, she would believe every word I said… far out… I mean, I thought ponies were dumb to begin with, but even I was surprised by how gullible she was.”

His words prompted loud and seemingly impressed laughs from Scorch and Storm, Titan joining in just so it looked real enough, while inside he hated every word he had said. Once the laughter stopped Storm shifted his eyes from Titan to Fluttershy, his long tongue snaking from his maw and running along his lips hungrily.

“You know brother… all this laughter and talk has made me hungry… shall we eat her?”

“No!” Titan snapped, prompting unusual growls of surprise from the other two dragons, before Titan began to fake grin again. “Forgive me… but what I mean is that we shouldn’t eat her, because that’s just too easy after all the work I’ve put into her… I say we let her live, just so she can spend the rest of her life knowing how pathetic and stupid she was for ever thinking a pony could be friends with a dragon.”

“You really are stone hearted little brother” Storm laughed at the words, patting Titan affectionately on the shoulder with one of his massive white claws. “And that’s what makes you a true dragon… come then, let’s go home… the scent of this worthless creature is beginning to sting my nostrils,”

Silently Titan turned and followed Storm and Scorch back into the forest, the last fragments of daylight dancing off his scales as he did. Silently for just a moment he looked over his shoulder at Fluttershy as her glistening eyes followed him as he walked away, an immense feeling of guilt welling up in his gut as he turned away from her.

“If only there was another way…” He thought.

The sunlight suddenly shattered the darkness of his dreams, and Titan was gladly pulled awake at last, realising as his head shot up in alertness of the new day that he was panting, and that his cheeks were lined with tears.

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Notes:
Okay…fixed…I think

1) Okay so just if you were confused the dragons’ pride is simply put the reason dragons don’t usually get along with ponies because they think they’re better…understand now?

2) Like I said with the former blog Thane’s back next chapter and another dragon will be joining the team…and for those of you who are raging at Fluttershy she’ll finally hear Titan’s side of the story

Chapter 5: Relighting the fire

Everything was quiet in the southern mountains of Equestria, more so this morning, and it was due to the lack of a certain red dragon. The birds sung in the early light as usual, the cold hung in the air like an unwanted guest who refused to leave, and the grass that grew about the rocky patches not occupied by trees, as always, was the perfect place for a dragon to lie on his stomach and sun himself. Despite all of this, however, one dragon still felt a little unhappy this morning. At the base of the cave that Titan shared with his friends was a rocky outcrop, which also sported a rather large patch of soft grass, and It was there that two young dragons were soaking up the morning sun; one was the energetic, and at times rather annoying, Thane, while the other was Titan’s oldest friend, Ash.

“So where exactly did he say he was going?” Ash asked as he yawned and drug his claws through the dirt, tearing notches in the grass as he did while he stared over at Thane.

“No idea… but he said he was going to try and fix things with a female he knew,” Thane chuckled, lying on his back and looking up at the dark blue early morning sky, blowing small clouds of smoke into the air. “Personally I think he probably just wanted some female company, after being stuck with us for the last five years… if you get what I mean.”

Thane yelped as Ash brought his black scaled tail down in an arc, and made contact with the tender scaled flesh that was Thane’s backside, causing Thane to growl and relocate himself on the grass a little further from Ash as the young black dragon grinned to himself. Thane was a good friend in all, but from time to time Ash enjoyed reminding Thane that not every conversation was supposed to be funny, especially when it involved their other friends.

They were lying on a decently wide bed of green grass, just below the opening to the granite cave they shared with Titan and a few other friends, as Thane had just reminded Ash, all of them being young and rather annoying at times male dragons. They had all known each other since their hatchling years, and had been close ever since then, so when one such as Titan decided to leave for a little while it was not long before he was missed; as the dragon in mind was Titan, who Ash had been especially close to, he missed him a lot more.

Silently, Ash looked up from the grass to the sun that was rising in the distance, beyond the forest and between the rolling green hills; he had a feeling deep in his heart that he knew where Titan was, and if he was right he simply hoped by the fire of his ancestors Storm didn’t find out, otherwise Titan would be in real danger.

“When he said he was going to fix things with a female,” Ash asked, flicking his dark eyes back at Thane, who was now licking one of his claws clean. “Did he say anything about her?”

“He mentioned she wasn’t a dragon,” Thane shrugged as he returned his claw to the ground and stood up, his green scales matching the grass in colour and shade almost exactly. “Other than that he only said he hurt her badly when they fell apart… why?”

Ash sighed and lashed his night black tail around wildly, like he was swatting at a swarm of bees; now it all made sense as to why Titan had been so secretive when he had left. Ash had never told anyone else, but one night he had found Titan hidden in the forest, and crying his eyes out while he slashed angrily at varying trees; It was then once he had emerged from the shadows and calmed Titan as much as possible, Ash had learned exactly why he hated his older brother with such a passion. In truth, the black dragon had been surprised at what Titan had told him about his secret pegasus friend, but Ash had never been judgemental of anyone, and, if anything, felt deeply sorry for his old friend at what had happened; he had explained to Titan that personally he didn’t mind him being friends with another race, and if he told his other cave-mates he doubted they’d have any problem with the idea either.

“Hello… Ash… you there?” Thane asked, as Ash finally realized the green dragon was standing right in front of him, waving his claw and a look of confused curiosity on his face. “Care to enlighten me… because for some reason it’s either just me, or I’m the last one to know what’s going on with Titan?”

“I can’t tell you Thane because… it’s Titan’s secret to tell,” Ash sighed, rising to his own massive feet and shaking the dirt and grass from his scales. “but let’s just say I can understand why he wants to put things right… some years back he told me what happened between the two of them, and let’s just say it wasn’t enjoyable.”

“Oh come on… I’m the one who said he should go, and now I don’t even get to know where he went.” Thane grumbled, throwing a tongue of flame at a nearby rock to show his frustration, before turning back to Ash. “Come on… you can tell me… I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“If your horns grew a scale length for every time you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, Thane, they’d be bigger than your tail,” Ash chuckled, shaking his head as Thane grumbled again before giving off an amused laugh.

“Yeah… but females love males with big horns ri… OW!”

Thane yelped as Ash turned and gave him another slap with his tail, this time however the black scales of his tail meeting the green scales of Thane’s face.

The black dragon laughed and began to walk away as Thane growled and rubbed his cheek, but before he got far a thought hit him, one that he was amazed he hadn’t foreseen earlier; he realized that despite Titan’s best efforts there was little to no chance the pegasus would believe him in what he said, as he had no proof other than his own words, and those Ash knew the pegasus wouldn’t even want believe after what had happened.

Now Ash’s mind began hurtling and he began pacing in circles, Thane watching him intently as the black dragon mumbled to himself as he thought.

“No… he’s crazy… I’m crazy… that’s a stupid idea… uh… but otherwise… maybe… I must be insane… and yet… no… wait… yes… of course… it could work… then again… but it’s Titan’s best chance…”

“ASH!” Thane roared as loud as he could, shattering the black dragon’s thoughts, and making him spin around in annoyance to face his green friend. “If you’re going to ramble on like your brain is a rock, can you at least please try and make some sense while you’re at it? You’re gibberish is making me feel like I have embers in my ears.”

“Uh… sorry Thane,” Ash sighed as he began pacing again. “But I’m just thinking about Titan… his intentions are good and true, but the chance of this female believing him are slim to say the least… so I was thinking about maybe… MAYBE… going over there and standing up for him.”

“Going where?” Thane asked, sitting back on his rump as he watched Ash continue to pace in rapid circles. “To where this female lives… how do you know… oh wait, that’s right, Titan tells everyone what’s going on but me.”

“Oh get over yourself Thane,” Ash snapped, the venom in his voice only making Thane grin even wider, he always knew how to get under his friends scales. “Look… all I’m saying is that Titan’s going to need some support in his claims, and I know exactly what happened… and I guess in my heart I believe it’s also the right thing to do after…”

“Cool… I’ll go tell Saran we’re heading off for a while,” Thane laughed, rising from his hinds and jumping into the air before Ash could get a word in.

“THANE!” Ash roared; it was no use however, as Thane was already half way up the mountain, if there was one thing Thane was better at the being annoying, it was flying.

And when it came to flying, if there was ever a dragon who came anywhere close to out flying a bolt of lightning, it was Thane.

“Uh… why do I feel this was a bad idea?” Ash sighed, smacking his face with his claw before spreading his own massive black wings and jumping northwards into the morning sky.

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“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Applejack asked as she walked beside Titan, his massive strides forcing her to trot just to keep up with him. “You’ve only been here a day.”

“The sooner I tell her why I acted like I did, the better,” Titan sighed, casting his massive red eyes down at the tiny form of the amber pony as she looked up at him. “But thank you for your concern Applejack… I know this will not be easy for either of us, but it is best if we both at least try and move on from what happened.”

“You don’t mind if I stay do ya?” She asked as her eyes shifted between his own red ones, and Fluttershy’s cottage as it appeared at the end of the forest road. “She’s gonna want me to be there, just to make sure she knows you’re telling the truth.”

“If it puts her mind at ease, I have no problem…” Titan smiled, lowering his head and running his tongue along Applejacks back, the amber pony laughing at the strange sensation “…and thanks for letting me sleep in you barn by the way.”

“My pleasure,” She chuckled, readjusting her hat as they walked.

The two of them found Fluttershy waiting in the back garden, along with Twilight, Rarity, and Spike, all of them sitting under a rather large tree and talking away happily with a cluster of Fluttershy’s animal friends. They all looked up when they heard Titan’s loud footsteps, and moved back a little so he had room to lay his head down among them on the grass, the red dragon accepting the invitation as Applejack sat beside Fluttershy, under the tree on the opposite side of the small group. The day could not have been more perfect in Titan’s mind for his apology, the wind was blowing lightly and the sun was gently shining down on them all, which would make admitting everything a little easier.

Titan could, however, still feel the tension in the air, and he knew it was entirely directed at him; he was nervous to say the least, but the feeling of having everypony, as well as Spike and the various animals staring at him, while he tried to explain himself made him feel even more uneasy. Fluttershy seemed content to run her eyes sceptically over her former friend, as if she already doubted she’d be accepting his apology, the shadow of the proud tree she was sitting under covering most of her face and making her look almost intimidating.

“Alright then…” Twilight began, trying her best to break the uneasy tension, that was simmering in the space between the glaring form of Fluttershy and Titan, her purple eyes darting between the two of them. “Just so everypony knows, Dash has cloud clearing duty, and Pinkie’s stepping in for Mr. Cake today, so they won’t be joining us unfortunately.”

“With all due respect to both of them Twi they aint needed,” Applejack yawned, placing an amber hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she looked over at Titan. “The only two who matter right now Titan and Fluttershy… we’re just hear to make sure everything stays calm, ok?”

“Ok…” Titan sighed, raising his head from the grass and shifting his red eyes to the tiny form of Fluttershy, her own eyes looking up to meet them. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” She replied quietly, her voice this time no longer in an angry rage as it had been the night before, but rather the sweet and gentle tone Titan had once adored her for. “I am ready to hear you Titan.”

Titan closed his eyes and took a single long breath, summoning from his mind the words he had decided upon as he had walked with Applejack. They were brutally honest in all regards, and would no doubt hurt both of them a little, but they were the absolute truth about why Titan had acted like he had all those years ago.

“Fluttershy… that night all those years ago, when I said all those mean things to you in front of Scorch and Storm…”

“Wait… who now?” Spike jumped in suddenly, his mouth shutting instantly and his cheeks glowing red as Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all glared at him, Titan however took no notice of his much younger comrade.

“As I was saying,” Titan went on, his eyes still closed as the visions swirled around inside the front of his mind. “All those things I said, I did so for two reasons… the first I doubt you will believe, but I am being for once with honest with us both… those things I said to protect you. I never introduced you to my brother Storm, or any other dragon, because most are not like me, and if they knew we were friends they would not think twice about burning you to a cinder. I mentioned to you that night the ‘dragons’ pride’, which is, if you must know, an ancient ideal that states that dragons… should have nothing to do with the creatures beneath us in the order of the world… such as ponies. My brother is a firm believer in that ideal, and if he knew that we were actually friends, he would see our friendship as an insult to our family pride to say the least… so… I said all those mean things... to make it look like we weren’t friends, so he wouldn’t hurt you.”

At the words everyponys’ mouth dropped in awe except Fluttershy, she was looking up at him, but she no longer looked anywhere near angry, but rather almost grateful in a way. Quietly she turned her eyes from Titan to Applejack, who after shaking her head and returning to the present moment returned the gaze.

“Fluttershy…he’s telling the truth.”

“I know,” She smiled, the sight for the first time in a long time bringing a real feeling of happiness to Titan’s heart, that happiness dulled a little however, when he remembered he still had one more thing to admit.

“There is however one more reason I must admit,” He sighed, dropping his gaze and looking down at his dark red claws in shame. “I now know the errors of my heart… but I must tell you there is another reason, even if it is no longer part of me. You see Fluttershy… and if you hate me for this I will understand… but even if Storm didn’t have a problem with you being a pony, I still wouldn’t have admitted our friendship. Back when I was young, I was always afraid that we would be discovered… but not because of fear, but because of my own stupid inner pride. I enjoyed our time together so much, but I could never tell any others of my kind because… I was embarrassed that I enjoying being around you… I was scared that if any others of my kind knew we were friends, I’d become an outcast and a joke among my friends,”

“So… you were embarrassed about being friends with a pony?” Fluttershy asked, standing up and walking over to Titan, who no matter how he tried couldn’t meet her gaze. “…that’s why you never wanted me to meet any of your friends isn’t it?”

“Y…ye…yes,” He said finally, digging his claws into the soft ground and growling at himself, the sound causing everypony except Fluttershy to take a few steps back from him. “I was stupid enough to listen to my head, and not my heart… it was only years later when my emotions got the better of me, and I told a close friend of mine about you, that I realized… my true friends wouldn’t have cared that I was friends with a pony, but by then I hated myself, and what I did so much I couldn’t bear to see you and risk dragging up all those memories of yours. So I buried my own memories of that night, in the deepest depths of my mind possible… but now I guess I no longer need to live with or fear them… and now you know why I said all those things thirteen years ago.”

That was when the tense silence returned, as everypony looked between the two silent forms of Fluttershy and Titan. They all knew Titan was telling the truth, but at the same time they were all a little nervous about how Fluttershy would take what he had said; he had, after all, just stated that despite everything they shared, he had once found it embarrassing being her friend. For a single moment everypony thought the situation had just crashed and burned, but at last Fluttershy let out a gently sigh, and placed a front hoof on the tip of one of Titan’s ivory talons.

“I can understand why you were a little embarrassed about me Titan… dragons are after all supposed to be fierce and fearsome, and the idea of you being friends with a pony like me, probably wasn’t back then something to be proud of around your own friends… but I do want us to be friends again… you were the sweetest and gentlest friend I have ever had, and if you are willing to let go of what happened between us...then so am I.”

“You… you really want us to be friends again?” He choked as his emotions blew out and tears began to fall from his deep red eyes, perhaps the happiest tears any dragon had ever cried. “Even after everything I have said, and all these years?”

“Yes…yes I do.”

Everypony let out a sigh of relief, as the two now forgiven friends smiled at each other, for the first proper time in over thirteen years, Titan lowering his head and lovingly running his long red tongue over Fluttershy’s face in a show of affection. Titan himself felt like a massive stone had just been unchained from around his heart and now at last he was free from his memories; he decided in his mind then and there, as he smiled down at Fluttershy and her friends, he would never be embarrassed about knowing them, it was his choice and he was proud to be able to call them his friends.

“Well… that went better than I personally expected,” Rarity said happily as she got to her hooves and shook the grass from her fur. “And I am glad you two have both moved on… but I’m afraid I must get back to my bou… WHAT THE?”

Rarity’s sudden fright was matched by everypony else around her, including Fluttershy, each and every one of them jumping to their hooves and looking around. Titan shook his head in confusion for a moment before everything clicked, and a second later his blood turned to fire; in the middle of speaking, Rarity had been interrupted by a monstrous roar that Titan knew only a dragon could produce, but he had heard the sound so many times in his life he took no notice, until he realized that it meant there was another dragon in the near vicinity of Ponyville.

In a flash he was up and in the air, his eyes angrily scanning the sky for any sight of the roars owner; it didn’t take him long to realize, once he spotted the dragon, who it was, he was however still surprised. Right above the centre of Ponyville, and by the looks of things in chase of a cyan blue blur that was Rainbow Dash, was the slender green outline of Thane, apparently content, to Titan’s horror, to try and make a meal of out the cyan pegasus mare.

“Thane,” He growled to himself, his mind overcome by rage as he shot through the air like a lance at his green friend, leaving Fluttershy and the other ponies in Fluttershy’s back yard behind him. “What have you done?”

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Notes:
Hope it was worth the wait

1) Chapter 6 will probably be coming out early to mid-next week (around 2nd of May) but if I have enough spare time maybe sooner

2) I have another story idea I’ll pass by you all in the coming weeks…

Chapter 6: A Slight Misunderstanding

“Uh… and I thought Sunset was a slow flyer,” Thane thought dryly to himself, casting his eyes over his shoulder again to see Ash, flying still at least four miles behind him, his friend a tiny black dot on the southern blue skyline. “Come on Ash, I’m flying as slow as I possibly can… any slower I’ll probably fall out of the sky.”

Naturally of course, Thane couldn’t blame Ash for falling behind; he was, after all, trying to keep up with perhaps the fastest dragon to ever come out of the mountains of Equestria’s south. The difference between himself and Ash, and most dragons for that matter, was his shape; whereas Ash and Titan were thickly built with muscle like mountains, Thane was slender like a tree trunk, which gave him amazing flying speed. Thane didn’t like to boast about his flying ability, but he knew it was there; for years he had honed his speed and skill by dropping rocks from cliff tops, and racing down to catch them before they hit the ground below. Eventually, however, Thane had become bored with that, as well as racing his friends around the mountains, no other dragon had ever come close to beating him in a race before, and he personally doubted there were any that could.

Grumbling to himself, Thane once again returned his attention to the sky in front of him, before casting his green eyes to the thick forest below in an attempt to withstand his boredom. When nothing interesting among the trees caught his attention he sighed and returned them to the blue sky around him, which was dotted with white clouds, which in an effort to entertain himself he began to strike with his tail as he flew by.

“Why did I even decide to come with Ash?” Thane muttered to himself, his eyes flashing downward for a moment, as he saw the seemingly endless dark green forest at last finish, and shift to a rolling light green plain. “I mean… Titan’s a good friend and all, but this is so bor…WOAH!”

Thane frantically flared his wings massive wings open and came to a stop just in time; his green chest scales stopping a grass blade width away from a large white cloud, on which, to his surprise, a cyan blue pegasus pony was laying on her stomach and apparently sound asleep.

Looking around, and seeing there was no one else watching, he allowed his green eyes to run over her tiny form, admiring the sky blue coat, and to his utter amazement, a tail and mane consisting of all the colours of the rainbow. He also noticed a strange mark on her flank, which resembled a storm cloud with multi-coloured lightning. Captivated by the beauty of the tiny creature, and wanting to know more he lowered his head to her, inhaling a strange scent from her coat which reminded him somewhat of rainwater. He had seen ponies before but never up close; to him they were a strange race, and yet not apparently bad by any means that were obvious to him.

“I wonder if Titan meant his female friend was a pony when he said she wasn’t a dragon?” Thane thought to himself, hovering gently above the sleeping pegasus with shallow beats of his mighty green wings. “But… Titan and a pony… I just can’t imagine that… actually I don’t even want to imagine that.”

Thane shook the strange images his mind had created from his head as fast as possible, he was a joker and all, but there were certain things even he didn’t want to laugh at. His head suddenly snapped back when the pegasus yawned and readjusted herself, her tail giving a single flick in the action which ended up brushing against Thane’s chest scales. He was amazed she hadn’t realized he was there yet, but for some reason he didn’t really want her to wake, Thane would never admit it to anyone, but the sight of seeing a pegasus happily asleep on a cloud he found strangely cute in a way.

And that was coming from the mouth of a dragon.

Still wanting to know more, as gently as he could, he lowered his snout even closer so her cyan fur was just touching his warm scales as he nuzzled her, hoping to his ancestors that she wouldn’t freak when she saw him. She gave a gentle sigh when Thane’s scales toucher her soft back, a moment later however her eyes flared open and she spun around with a speed that surprised even Thane, an angry snarl on her face as she glared at him.

“WHAT THE HAY YOU WEIRD…oh,”

Half way through her rage, it seemed she finally realized that she wasn’t looking at another pony; her magenta eyes widened to the size to Thane’s green scales, and her jaw went slack as she looked at him in shock and realization of what he was.

“Yes… I know…” Thane shrugged, giving her the best smile he could. “I’m a…”

“DRAGON!” She cried, spinning around on the cloud and attempting to bolt.

She didn’t get very far though before Thane’s tail snapped out like a lightning bolt, and swiftly grabbed her from the air, the pegasus struggling and fighting his grip as he folded his forelegs, and brought her up in his tail to his own eye level. To any onlookers it would have been a strange sight to see a hovering green dragon, with a cyan pegasus in his tail, simply occupying a chunk of the sky, then again, judging by her reaction, Thane guessed dragons were a rare occurrence around these parts.

“Are you going to listen or am I just going to have to eat you?” He asked the pegasus with a smile, realizing a moment later as she burst into tears that he probably shouldn’t have said that. “Ok… relax… look I was just joking about the eating you thing… I would never eat something as cute as you.”

“CUTE!” She snapped angrily, sounding to Thane almost insulted as her expression went from afraid to enraged. “I AM NOT CUTE! What do I look like, some fluffy kitten or something you overgrown flying lizard?”

“Well that’s not very nice… I was just trying to be polite,” Thane chuckled, the cyan pegasus still struggling to free herself from the embrace of his huge green tail which only made him more amused. “Look… I’m Thane, and I’m looking for a friend of mine who would have come this way yesterday afternoon... he’s a red dragon, who looks more like a mountain…”

“You mean Titan?” She asked oddly, her struggling stopping in an instant. “He’s over at Fluttershy’s apologizing… why?”

“Well…” Thane shrugged, casting his eyes over his should to see Ash was still catching up with him, before turning back to the pegasus. “Two of us came out here to give him some support… we know that he really wants to put things right, but we weren’t sure this… Fluttershy… would believe him… so would you mind terribly much showing me the way there?”

“Only if you let me go,” She snorted, her magenta eyes looking down at the coil around her that was Thane’s tail. “Then I’ll take you there.”

Thane eyed the pegasus pony for a moment, like he was unsure of whether or not he could trust her, then again in his mind he highly doubted that she’d be able to get away given his speed even if she tried to, hence at last he looked down at her and nodded.

“Ok…” He grinned. “But before I do what is your name?”

“Huh… oh, Rainbow Dash… why?”

“Because I prefer to call my friends by name,” Thane grinned, raising his tail away from his face and at last gently releasing her from her green scales chains. “And just for the record Rainbow Dash, I do think you’re cute.”

“Uh… you dragons are so weird,” Rainbow Dash grinned, shaking her head and face-hoofing herself to show she was embarrassed, while Thane simply laughed. “Come on… I’ll take you to Fluttershy’s place… but just try and keep up with me.”

“You should try keeping up with me,” Thane grinned, spreading his wings fully and surging through the sky with Rainbow Dash right beside him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Wow… he is fast,” Dash thought to herself, still a little unaccepting of the fact that she was hurtling through the sky, directly above Ponyville, at high speed, and with a green dragon who was easily the size of her house. “I mean he’s not as fast as m… oh to hay with it, he is as fast as I am.”

Dash had to admit that she had been a little unnerved at being nuzzled by him while she was asleep, but to her Thane seemed nice enough, and his sense of humour matched hers almost perfectly. She had wondered to herself at first, when Titan had appeared, why Fluttershy would want to have anything to do with dragons, but now she had met Thane she understood, even if she had only known him for half an hour.

“Do all pegasi fly as fast as you do?” Thane asked, drifting over in the sky a little so he could speak with Dash as they flew. “Because you truly are fast if you can match me.”

“I’m the fastest flyer around here by far,” Dash smiled in reply, going into a double loop before coming out strait on the opposite side of Thane’s head, a grin appearing on the green dragon’s face as he watched her. “Think you can beat that?”

“Nope,” He grinned, slowing down a little so he was just behind her, as a wicked grin spread across his face. “But I’m pretty sure I could roar and make the earth shake.”

“There is no way you could roar that loud.”

“Bet I could,” Thane replied, folding his massive forelegs across his chest.

“Prove it,” Dash challenged, grinning and turning over to watch the spectacle.

With that Thane just about stopped in mid-air and spread his jaws as wide as he could, inhaling so much air Dash swore the clouds started moving towards him as he did. Once his lungs were apparently full, his chest pushed out and his head went back; it was then however Dash heard something below her, and looked down in horror and realized exactly where they were hovering, directly above the main square of Ponyville, with everypony in town watching them. It had been a beautiful day outside which only meant everypony would be out and enjoying themselves, which in turn meant that just about every pony in Ponyville now had their eyes on the green dragon.

Dash frantically turned back to Thane, but it was already too late, a moment later the dragon's jaws opened, and from the darkness of his throat came a roar, one that Dash was absolutely certain made not only the ground, but every building in Ponyville shake on its foundations. Dash looked down to see everypony run for cover before turning back to Thane as he finished, it was then the green dragon realized what had just happened.

“Ah… my bad,” he shrugged, looking down at the town as doors slammed shut and windows were closed in response to his roar. “I guess I over did it a little.”

“I shouldn’t have told you to do it,” Dash blushed, fluttering over to the embarrassed green dragon and smiling at him. “So if anypony needs to take the blame it should be me… besides that was really cool anyway,”

“Thanks… but can I ask why you aren’t scared of me like all the other ponies?” Thane chuckled, beating his wings and heading a little higher into the sky with Dash just above him. “No offense, but I just roared my lungs out, and sent your town running for cover.”

“Well…” Dash shrugged with a silly smile on her face, her rainbow tail flicking as she looked down at her new friend. “I guess in a way I’m like you… you’re funny and a little bit out there to say the least... and you seem gentle as well. I’ll admit the whole nuzzling me while I was asleep was a little bit weird though.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go talking about that,” Thane grinned as Dash swore he blushed, shaking his head as his eyes flicked back down to Ponyville. “Titan would…”

“THANE!”

“Huh… what… GHAA?!”

What happened next, Dash couldn’t believe despite it happening right in front of her eyes, but seemingly out of nowhere a huge red scaled blur slammed into Thane with a mighty thud. The ball of red and green scales hurtled downwards, and a moment later made contact with the hard ground below that was the Mane Street. Before Dash could do anything the situation became a mass of slashing claws and snapping fangs.

“OH CELESTIA!” Dash thought in horror, without another thought shooting downwards to where the two dragons were fighting right in the middle of Ponyville.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Titan’s mind was full of one thing, and that was anger; Thane was one of his best long-time friends, but there was no way in the known world that he would let him hurt anypony, even if it meant beating him within a scale width of his life in the middle of Ponyville.

Luckily for Titan, he didn’t think he would need to do that, the crash landing seemed to have knocked most of the air from Thane’s lungs, and after a few decently heavy hits he used his massive strength to pin Thane to the gravel road, one claw on the side of Thane’s face and the other on his chest, while the green dragons tail continued to thrash wildly. Titan knew the kind of blows the two of them were landing on each other would have looked brutal to anypony watching, but after years of play fighting, Titan knew the difference between a hit that could subdue, and one that could really hurt.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, THANE?” Titan snarled, pushing his red claw harder into the green dragons chest until he could feel the pressure on Thane’s ribcage. “Are you trying to make the ponies of Equestria fear us even more than they already do?! And what were you thinking chasing Rainbow Dash like that… can you not control your stomach you waste of scale?”

“Titan, what are you going on about?” Thane snapped as best he could in his position, his scaled green tail flicking and giving Titan a none to gentle strike in the side. “Dash asked me to roar… and I wasn’t chasing her, I was following her… she was taking me to Fluttershy’s where she said you were.”

“I swear Thane, if you are lying to me… I will beat you so hard you’ll leave a perfect imprint in the ground for the next thousand years!” Titan snapped with his eyes burning, pushing a little harder on Thane’s chest so he could feel the rib begin to bend slightly.

“TITAN! LET HIM GO!”

Both dragons looked up from each other, to see Dash standing a short distance away, her cyan face set in horror at what was happening in front of her. Taking a final angry glare at Thane, Titan got off his friends chest and backed away down the street a little; Thane got to his claws and let out an angry growl while he bore his fangs at Titan, obviously furious with his red scaled comrade. For a few moments the two dragons just stood and glared at each other in the middle of the street, not doing anything but growling and showing their fangs. At last however Rainbow Dash decided to at least try and break the tension between the two of them, knowing after all she had been responsible.

“Ah… look you two… we just had a slight misunderstanding there ok,” Dash said gently as she flew in front of Thane’s face, so Titan’s red eyes were on her. “Titan, I did ask him to roar, but when I asked him I didn’t know we were right over the top of Ponyville… so if you want somepony to blame for what just happened, it should be me.”

All of Titan’s anger died in a flash and was replaced by a strange sense of curiosity; slowly he replaced his fangs and flicked his gaze between the cyan form of Rainbow Dash and the massive green shape of Thane.

“So let me get this straight… you two know each other?”

“Uh… in a way” Dash blushed as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, turning back to Thane who smiled at gently her in reply. “I guess you could say we’re… friends,”

“And by the sounds of things, you have a few friends out here too Titan,” Thane grinned as a smile at last replaced his snarl, looking over behind Titan as Ash landed with a thud a short distance away, a very confused expression on his black scaled face. “So would you care to tell me what exactly is going on with you and this… Fluttershy?”

“You mean me?”

Titan’s head flicked around, and sure enough Fluttershy was standing right beside his massive red front claw, her yellow coat a striking contrast to the dark red scales that covered him. Looking over her saw Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Applejack all watching the scene from the covered of an ally way; they all looked a little unnerved, and seemed even more so when Ash came over and lowered his head to them. The black dragon flicked his eyes over each of them before turning his attention to Titan and Fluttershy, a youthful smile spreading on his black scales face as he did.

“It seems you didn’t need our support after all Titan,” Ash chuckled as he walked over and lowered his head to Fluttershy, his dark eyes the same size as Fluttershy’s face. “But I am glad that you have put things right all the same.”

“Me too,” Thane chuckled as he stepped forward beside Dash, tilting his head a little as he grinned and laughed. “But would you care to explain to me what you were apologizing for… Ash has told me nothing less of nothing about what happened between you and Fluttershy.”

“I will old friend,” Titan smiled, his own red eyes looking down at Fluttershy, who smiled back at him. “But first I believe it is only right to introduce ourselves to the citizens of Ponyville, before I do.”

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Notes:

Bit of a weird chapter I know…just for those of you who thought Titan would beat the $#!T out of Thane remember this is a teen rated story…sorry

1) Chapter 7: Meeting of Worlds will be out around Monday or Tuesday next week…I’m getting assignments thrown at me from every direction so time is a little tight right now.

Chapter 7: Meeting of Worlds

It was then that Thane and Ash peered around the deserted street with a little embarrassment, realizing that despite his good intentions, Thane’s roar had indeed sent everypony galloping for the cover of the nearest building. As Titan followed their gazes he noted a large amount of colourful eyes watching them all, usually from various windows or doorways, they quickly however disappeared into the shadows when his own red eyes fell on them.

“It seems I might have scared them a little,” Thane said with a grin, taking a nervous step back when both Titan and Ash snarled angrily at him. “Ok so a scared them a lot… my bad,”

“Yes Thane, your bad which we now need to fix,” Ash snapped, shaking his head and rubbing his forehead with his claw. “Uh… I swear it was a mistake bringing you.”

“Look, can you please give him a break!” Rainbow Dash said angrily as she flew strait up to Ash’s face, and glared at him. “I asked him to roar, so how about you lay off about it?”

Even Titan was surprised by the venom in Dash’s voice, he knew that she and Thane were friends of a sort now, but he didn’t understand why she was standing up for him so much. It was then something in his mind clicked and he remembered the ponies mentioning their elements; Dash’s was loyalty, which made things a little clearer, but he was a little more focused on Applejack, she was honesty, and if Titan was thinking right that could help.

“Applejack do the ponies here know you are the element of honesty?”

His words caused everyone’s eyes to fall on him, including the former glaring pair of Ash and Rainbow Dash; all of them were looking a little confused though.

“Course they do,” Applejack said bluntly like she felt insulted. “We aint referred to as the elements of harmony for nothing… why do ya ask?”

“Because perhaps you can speak on our behalf,” Titan grinned, his red eyes once again looking around the various buildings which lined the quiet and deserted street. “Think about it… if you say we mean no harm than the other ponies will know that it is true, if we say it though they will think we are lying.”

Applejack looked between Titan, Ash and Thane with a questioning expression before turning to her friends, and after a short whispered conversation, which Titan didn’t manage to hear, they all nodded. Feeling a little confused the three dragons shrugged between each other, and sat back on their scaled rumps, content to let the ponies and Spike handle the situation in their own way while they watched and flicked their tails.

Abruptly the small group disbanded and headed in various directions down the street; confusing Titan for a moment, before he saw each go up and knock on a different door, whispering to the shadow concealed inhabitants, before stepping back and letting them nervously emerge into the daylight and the dragons’ visions.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Titan guessed most of the residents of Ponyville had decided to trust Applejack and her friends’ words, they still however watched him, Ash and Thane uneasily, like they expected one of the three to abruptly try and eat somepony. Titan could hear whispers through the crowd, which didn’t help his nerves or his temper, he was no monster but he had pet hates, and being whispered about was one of them; eventually however Twilight came and stood in the space between the three dragons and the multi-coloured pony crowd, and silence followed a moment later.

“Ok everypony… I know you’re all a little nervous and all, but I want you to listen. I would like you all to meet Titan, Ash and Thane, they're friends of ours, and I promise you all they’re not here to hurt anypony, so you don’t need to fear them.”

It was then a smiling Twilight turned around to Titan, and his throat tensed up, it seemed she had just indicated that it was his turn to speak to the crowd of ponies standing before them. For a moment Titan’s mind collapsed as he tried to figure out what to say in the moment he had, all fear vanished however when he felt the soft touch of Fluttershy’s hoof on his red scaled claw.

“Thank you, Twilight” He smiled, casting his red eyes over her before turning to the crowd gathered in front of him. “Now judging by your reactions to Thane’s little outburst…”

“What?” Titan heard Thane growl quietly from behind him, a moment later however Ash snarled, and Thane grudgingly fell silent.

“…You all seem to fear us quite a lot,” Titan went on, ignoring Thane and instead smiling and running his red eyes over each pony in the crowd. “But I say this to you all in honesty from the depths of my heart; we have no intention of harming any of you whatsoever, and we never will. You may not believe this but for two years I secretly lived unnoticed among you all… and in that time I will admit I developed a liking of your race, and it seems my friends now years later have done the same. So I guess to put things as simply as I can, I am offering to you all my own and my friends claws and hearts in a show of friendship, and all I ask is that you might accept my offer.”

Once Titan finished speaking silence took over, the only sounds the rustling of a couple of trees in the wind and the breathing; every so often a pony would murmur something to a neighbour, but otherwise everything was quiet. Then, all of a sudden a tiny purple-blue filly pushed and shoved her way out from the nervous crowd, and casually trotted up the massive black scaled form of Ash, her tiny body just bigger than one of his blade like talons. Titan watched curiously as his black scaled friend gently lowered his head to her level so they were eye to eye, his gaze running over her tiny form for a moment before speaking in a deep but gentle voice with his fangs in a smile.

“And who may I ask are you little one?” He smiled, his breath ruffling the filly’s light yellow mane as he spoke.

“I’m Dinky Doo,” The tiny filly replied happily, Titan, Thane and the entire crowd watching the two of them with a strange sense of silent uncertainty and awe. “And you’re Ash right?”

“I am little Dinky, not the most amazing dragon name I know, but it suits me,” He chuckled, his black scaled tail flicking from side to side as he spoke. “I must say, I am impressed at your bravery for somepony so young… would you like to be my friend?”

“Sure!” the filly squeaked excitedly, before holding out her right hoof in what Titan guessed was a friendly gesture “Bro-hoof?”

Ash gave a face that told Titan he was confused, his dark eyes flicking between the filly’s outstretched hoof and his own black claw.

“Uh… what is this bro-hoof exactly?” Ash said, tilting his massive head in apparent confusion as he tried to mimic the gesture with his clenched claw. “I fear I am a little untrained in the ways of your kind.”

The filly simply giggled, and after a moment of explaining Ash got the gist and returned the gesture, the light collision of his scales on her hoof signifying their liking of each other. It seemed the kindness the two had shown each other was enough to break down any former barriers; soon Titan and Thane found themselves swamped with curious ponies, asking all sorts of questions from where they came from, to how they could breathe fire, and after repeated requests eventually the three dragons each raised their heads and let out simultaneous tongues of flame. For a moment the crowds cheered with awe at the majestic show of heat and light, their cheers were abruptly drowned out however by a bang that brought sudden silence, and startled even the three dragons.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy whispered from where she was hovering beside Titan, face hoofing herself as she spoke while Titan searched for the source of the noise “Pinkie…”

“What is it Fluttershy?” Titan said worriedly, flicking his gaze from her to the surrounding street “what’s going o…”

“OK EVERYPONY, IT’S TIME FOR A PARTY!”

It was then Titan noticed a very excited looking pink blur, that was Pinkie Pie, standing in the middle of the crowd, beside her a long pink barrel looking thing that smoked, and made Titan feel uneasy about being near. Next second there was a massive cheer from the pony crowd and Titan swore he only blinked for a moment, when he opened his eyes again however the entire town around him, to his utter amazement, was covered in a mass of decorations and decked out with countless tables delicious of food. Everywhere he looked the former fairly normal brown and pink buildings were now covered in streamers, balloons and ribbons, not to mention there was now a huge banner that read ‘welcome to Ponyville’ hung across the gravel street.

“Uh… but… wait…” He murmured, his eyes trying to accept exactly what he was seeing, before turning back to Fluttershy, who was still hovering beside him. “How exactly did that happen?”

“When it comes to Pinkie Pie and parties,” She shrugged. “You’re better off not asking questions.”

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If there had ever been a better party in history, then Titan had never heard of it; the entire town had suddenly become one big celebration of the new friendship between dragons and ponies, with apparently no expenses spared by the eccentric host Pinkie Pie. All feelings of unease or distrust between the two races disappeared as the day went on, and eventually became evening, the dusk light truly bringing out the party animal in everypony, including Titan.

Despite promising to Fluttershy he would behave, Titan found himself continually dragged into strange but otherwise enjoyable situations, including smashing open piñatas with his tail for the school colts and fillies, and having a massive cake eating contest with Ash; naturally being larger Titan won that challenge.

Thane though being a joker and a challenge accepter, as Titan guessed, got the brunt of the unusual games the ponies played, at one stage deciding to try his claw in a game of truth or dare, which resulted in him being forced to somehow kiss Rainbow Dash at the hooves of Applejack. To say the least both of them were extremely embarrassed at being giggled and wolf-whistled at while they went through with it, although despite the unusual size pairing Titan swore Thane un-admittedly enjoyed it.

“I am so gonna prank you for that!” Titan heard Dash hiss in Applejack’s ear once it was over, the amber pony simply smiling and laughing in reply as Dash hovered angrily beside her.

“Well serves ya right for asking him to roar Dash,” Applejack chuckled as she walked away and left Dash to mutter things under her breath. "And no offense Rainbow, but ya can't lie to me and say ya didn't like it."

Despite her annoyance and embarrassment, Dash couldn’t stay angry for long, and soon found herself summoned to a challenge race with Thane, the two of them sprint flying across Ponyville over and over while the crowds watched and tried to determine who was faster; a task which eventually proved impossible. While the two of them raced Titan found himself in his own strange challenge, seeing how many ponies could sit on his back while he did push ups beside Applejack, the final number was around seventy three before he collapsed in a sweaty heap.

“I think I need a drink,” He grinned as he shook the sweat from his red scales, a moment later grabbing an entire wooden barrel of apple cider in his jaws, and downing the contents in a single gulp, much to the amusement of everypony.

“Just don’t go drinking too much,” Fluttershy smiled as she came over to congratulate him on his efforts. “Remember what happen last time…”

“Wait… what last time, he’s never had my…” Applejack started, her emerald eyes suddenly widening as she glared at Titan. “So you’re the darn varmint who broke into my cellar all those years ago.”

“Well…yeah,” He grinned, feeling his cheeks sting as he played with his claws in embarrassment. “Sorry about that, one of many bad decisions made in my youth… if it’s any consolation, I broke two of my talons in a drunken argument with a tree because of it.”

A smile spread across Applejacks face as she laughed, and soon the issue was all but forgotten, although Titan did feel a little guilty none the less. Eventually he left Fluttershy and Applejack to enjoy themselves with the evening events, and went to find Ash, who as he discovered was lying in the quiet of the park and telling stories to a combination of youngsters and young adults, of which Twilight, Spike and Rarity were three of. Titan simply smiled and listened as Ash retold the stories of his and Titan’s younger years with affection to the crowd, the words bringing back happy memories of days spent flying, play fighting or just exploring the world together. Once Ash had finished a story about a day when the two of them, along with Thane, Saran and Blizzard had fought off a band of diamond dogs, Titan noticed a filly raise her hoof in question, the same filly Titan noted that had approached the black dragon earlier.

“Ash… how come your other friends didn’t come here to Ponyville with you?”

“Mainly because they had no reason to,” Ash smiled warmly in the low light, his dark eyes flicking up at Titan in acknowledgement before returning to the tiny filly. “Thane and I wanted to help Titan with something he had to do, and there was no reason for the others to come with us.”

“Although I think they would have enjoyed the party just as much as we have,” Titan chuckled, causing the crowd to turn around and look at him, and realize at last that he had been sitting there the entire time. “So do not think they dislike you in any way… I only wish they could have been here for you all to meet.”

Everything was silent for a moment before Ash opened his jaws to speak, but before any words came out, his head snapped around and his jaws shut in a snarl. His black eyes widened and a hiss escaped his throat as he stood, and looked out at the darkening sky while everypony else watched him in confusion.

“You may not need to wish much longer Titan… it seems we may have some unexpected company.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Do you actually have any idea where you’re flying?” Blizzard snapped angrily as he came up beside Saran from the darkness, his ice blue scales a complete contrast to Saran’s own dark purple ones. “We’ve been flying for an age Saran, and I’m yet to spot any sign of them.”

“Thane told me nothing other than they were going north,” Saran snarled in reply, returning his amethyst purple eyes to skyline that was now rapidly darkening as the night set in. “And if you want to be angry Blizzard, be so with yourself, if you had of kept your jaws shut we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Blizzard growled but said no more, most likely in Saran’s mind because he knew the words were true in every regard. There were five of them flying together through the night; Blizzard, Lunis, Raldin, Sunset and himself, but it was the actions of Blizzard alone that had required them, to rather frantically, blaze across the night sky in search of Titan.

The day spent around the cave had gone decently well, despite the original absence of Titan, and then Thane and Ash, but that was only up until Titan’s older brother Storm had showed up, apparently looking for his younger sibling.

None of them liked Storm whatsoever; he was a pain to be around and had a bad temper as well, so when he had asked where Titan was, they had all told him they didn’t know, or that had been the plan anyway. Then, all of a sudden, Blizzard had for some reason decided to try and twist an emotional stone into Storm’s side, winking and cheekily telling the white dragon his little brother was ‘off seeing a northern female he knew’, and that was when Storm had lost it completely. It seemed Storm knew more about this female then the rest of them, and without another word had flown off in a violent rage, most likely, as Saran had guessed, to get some of his own older friends to help him deal with his little brother’s ignorance.

“I just hope we are not to late,” Saran thought worriedly, his mind creating twisted visions of what Storm could do when he was angry, and he knew the white dragon was far gone from angry. “For Titan’s sake especially.”

For a moment he flicked his gaze back over his shoulder at Lunis and Raldin through the darkness, just to make sure they weren’t being followed, neither the marble white, nor the topaz orange dragon that were flying at the back however, gave Saran any indication they were in harm’s way. Saran simply nodded in reply to the two of them before returning his eyes to sky in front of him; it was now filled with a beautiful display of stars, but he couldn’t bring himself to admire them, not with the current situation, and the thought of Titan’s expected reaction to the news running through his mind.

Below him the dark forest abruptly ended and Saran’s nostrils we’re filled with a curious scent, a strange smell that seemed to be a combination of sweet foods, and an immense amount of fur. Hoping by his ancestors that he could trust his instincts he followed the scent over a grassy plain, and his heart skipped a beat when he not only saw the clustered lights of an Equestrian town, but the unmistakable massive forms of Titan and Ash. Around them Saran noticed were huge crowds of multi-coloured ponies, apparently in the middle of a celebration which Titan and Ash were seemingly a part off.

“Is that… Titan?” Saran heard Sunset ask curiously from behind him, Saran however took no notice of the gold dragon’s confusion, and instead flew strait for the park his two friends we’re resting in.

The initial meeting of old friends was a little more tense then Saran would have hoped, mainly because as soon as he landed, Titan and Ash locked their fangs in snarls while the countless ponies took protective cover behind the two of them. Saran knew there were four other adult dragons at his side, but facing two angry dragons like Titan and Ash in a fight was not something he hoped to do, they were after all for their ages two of the largest and strongest dragons around.

“What are you five doing here?” Ash said calmly as he scraped the earth with his talons, his death toned voiced however still sending a nervous shiver up Saran’s spine despite the lack of anger. “It is the middle of the night, and you are scaring everypony.”

“Coming to warn you,” Saran said as bluntly as he could, his eyes flicking once between the gathering crowd of ponies and Titan. “Storm knows you’re here Titan… and trust me when I say he isn’t happy. He told us he plans to ‘teach you a lesson’… and I’m guessing since he hasn’t been here yet he’ll probably be here early tomorrow morning, so I suggest unless you want both your horns broken you get out of here right now.”

“YOU TOLD HIM!” Ash roared, the sudden rage in his voice causing everyone to whimper, as all matter of fire began to flare from his nostrils. “DO YOU STONE BRAINED IMBICILES HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HE’LL DO WHEN HE GETS HERE? THIS IS STORM WE’RE TALKING ABOUT! HE’LL BURN THIS ENTIRE TOWN, AND EVERYPONY IN IT TO THE GROUND WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT! EVEN IF TITAN ISN’T HERE!”

“We didn’t intent to tell him Ash,” Blizzard said weakly as he stepped back in response to Ash’s anger, every set of dragon eyes falling on him with hatred burning in their depths. “It was a mista…”

“IT DOESN'T MATTER BLIZZARD IF YOU MEANT TO OR NOT!” Ash snarled, taking a menacing step forward and baring his fangs at his ice blue counterpart, now knowing exactly where his rage was directed. “THE FACT OF THE MATTER, IS THAT YOU HAVE NOW PUT EVERYPONY HERE IN DANGER!”

“ENOUGH ASH!”

That was when everyone looked up in surprise at Titan, the red dragon standing, with his thick tail acting as a barrier between the still fuming Ash and the cowering form of Blizzard. Slowly he looked between the two of them, and then his other friends, and at last the crowd of ponies who were now looking very scared at what they had just heard; Titan knew they had every reason to be, his older brother was brutal in every way imaginable. But strangely in the depths of his heart Titan wasn’t scared, not anymore; he had lived his entire life kneeling at his brothers claws and now he was over it, he decided then and there that if Storm wanted to show his face in Ponyville, then he best be ready for the biggest fight of his self-focused life, and if he wanted to hurt Fluttershy in any way he’d need to go through Titan first.

As his mind and his body re-engaged with each other, Titan found Ash still looking at him, anger still in his eyes but his rage now at least seemingly under control.

“Save your anger old friend… save it for Storm,” Titan said gently as he lowered his tail, turning to his five other friends as well as Thane who had just landed nearby. “You are a stupid fool for telling my brother Blizzard, and I want you to know that… but tomorrow I will let you redeem yourself. As you all know I have spent my whole life running from him and his temper, and it almost cost me someone dear to me, as you all now know…”

He looked down at Fluttershy who was now standing at his side, the brave smile on her face giving him the strength he needed to go on, and decide what he would do next.

“…but I am done with running now,” He went on, turning not only to his friends, but to the huge crowd of ponies who had gathered in the park as well. “Tomorrow, when my brother decides to show up, I will be waiting… and I want you all to be waiting with us as well. My brother believes our kind… dragons… are stronger than any possible number of ponies; I want to show him otherwise. All his life he has gotten away with being cruel to everyone around him, but now he has gone too far… you are all my friends, and I will not stand by and let him hurt you… but I cannot fight him as well as his friends on my own. So I am asking you all, to please stand by me tomorrow… and if you do I swear I will make sure my brother never troubles any of you ever again.”

For a moment there was complete and utter quiet from the pony crowd, but then just as Titan had expected, a pony shouted out and broke the reign of silence, and sure enough it was Rainbow Dash.

“I’m with you the entire way big guy!” She said proudly as she flew forward, kicking out at imaginary opponents in the air around her. “Let’s show him!”

“And if Dash is brave enough so am I!” Applejack put in, walking out from the crowd and removing her hat in a sort of salute. “Time I put my roping skills to some good use.”

“HE WILL FEAR MY PARTY CANNON!” Pinkie roared from the middle of the crowd, the pure volume of the excited pink blur’s voice seeming to startle even Ash and the other dragons, which made Titan grin. “HOW DARE THAT MEANIE TRY AND RUIN MY SUPER AWESOME PARTY!”

In a few moments the entire town was up and about in support, the crowd rapidly dispersing across Ponyville in preparation for the defence of what was to happen the next morning. To Titan’s amazement even Fluttershy wanted to help out, flying off with Dash and the other pegasi to help gather storm clouds from the nearby hills. It was then as everything went quiet around him the red dragon sighed and turned to Ash, who was for some reason grinning like an excited fox while his tail thrashed wildly.

“Why are you so excited?” Titan asked oddly, heading back into the middle of Ponyville with the black dragon, Thane and his other friends at his side beside him. “We’re facing the fight of our lives tomorrow.”

“I was just thinking about that old saying,” Ash chuckled to himself as he turned to Titan. “You know… the lull before the storm.”

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Notes:

Sorry about the Dash/Thane thing…after reading the comments I just couldn’t resist (so relax they're only friends). Anyway I hope you enjoyed that and Chapter 8: Day of Flames will be ready around next Friday(ish).

Chapter 8: Day of Flames

After seeking a number of opinions (rightly or wrongly) I’ve decided to let you Thane/Dash likers have your happy ending (metaphorically speaking), but not just yet.

Chapter 8: Day of Flames

The early morning air in Ponyville, as Titan noted, was substantially warmer than that of the cold southern mountains, which in turn helped him relax a little as he stood in the middle of Ponyville’s Mane Street, watching quietly as the sun rose and showered his scales with light. The town around him was completely silent, other than the soft rustling of the few trees in the wind, the only other noise evident in Titan’s ears being the sound of his own breathing. Slowly he once again scanned the brightening blue horizon, his keen red eyes trying to pick up any sign of movement or of his brother, his search however once again ended without success.

“Where are you Storm?” He murmured to himself, dragging his ivory talons across the road gravel and leaving a set of claw marks in the surface. “You have never been one to show up late.”

Titan’s thoughts were disturbed as the sound of plodding feet filled his ears; he had however heard the sound enough through the years, and knew it was Thane walking up behind him without even looking. In silence the green dragon came and stood beside Titan in the light of the rising sun, the same as he had done those few days ago when everything been put into motion by their conversation.

“Do you think Storm will actually show his face?” Thane asked, not bothering to turn his green eyes to Titan as he spoke. “You know as well as I do that if he dare attacks, he risks angering Princess Celestia.”

“Storm thinks nothing of the pony rulers,” Titan sighed, closing his eyes and letting the warm breeze run over his dark red scales. “He will come Thane… the only question is when.”

A soft chuckle escaped Thane’s lips as he stood beside his old friend, knowing that now the only thing either of them could do was wait for Storm to show up. They were ready for him of course; the residents of Ponyville were all armed and ready, for whatever the white dragon threw at them when he arrived, the only question was when he exactly he would. While they waited an amusing thought popped into Titan’s head, one that he decided to annoy Thane with.

“You know Thane” He grinned, at last turning to his green comrade. “I swear you enjoyed kissing Dash last night… there isn’t anything bet…”

“Shut up!” Thane growled, although Titan already knew Thane was embarrassed, which meant his predications were true. “look, Dash and I are friends alright but that’s where it ends… you know that it wouldn’t work out even if we liked each other.”

“You never know Thane,” Titan chuckled, shaking his head as he laughed, while Thane let out an annoyed growl. “I hear Spike likes Applejack’s little sister.”

“Do me a favour and be quiet,” Thane snapped angrily, snorting and sending a puff of black smoke into the air “Keep this up, and I swear by the end of today if Storm hasn’t smacked you around already, then I will.”

Titan just grinned and shook his head; Thane had always been good at getting under his friends scales, but every so often there were sweet moments when the tides turned. Ignoring Thane’s muttered curses Titan returned his eyes to the blue horizon; his attention however was once again torn away a moment later as Fluttershy appeared beside his head, a timid and frightened expression on her face.

“Are you alright?” Titan asked gently, presenting one of his massive out-stretched wings as a landing spot. “You look uneasy.”

“I just… I don’t like the idea of Storm being here,” She said quietly as she landed on Titan’s wing, her eyes half concealed behind her pink mane. “I don’t want him to hurt my friends.”

“Do not be afraid, I will not let him hurt anypony Fluttershy,” Titan said reassuringly as he gently nuzzled her cheek, a small smile spreading across her face as he did. “I promise.”

That was when Thane let out a menacing hiss, and Titan’s head snapped around; sure enough four coloured dots were now evident on the skyline of the otherwise clear horizon. Titan took a single look over his shoulder at Fluttershy, and she nodded in understanding, flying back toward the cover of town a moment later in ready for what was to come. Taking a deep breath Titan returned his eyes to the forms of his advancing opponents, the largest being the unmistakable white shape of his older brother Storm. He knew he should be scared now, perhaps even terrified; but as Ash, Saran and his other friends silently emerged from Ponyville and took their places beside Titan, only one emotion burned inside his mind; that was hate.

“You want a piece of me brother?” Titan snarled as he glared at Storm, ripping at the ground with his ivory talons and allowing his mighty red wings to flare open in ready for a fight. “I dare you to try and take one.”

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Within a few minutes Storm and his three friends landed with loud thuds, coming down directly opposite Titan and his own comrades as the standoff began. It had been a while since Titan and seen his older brother, and by the looks of things he had grown as much as Titan had; Storm stood roughly three heads taller than Titan and measured roughly a fourth of a body length longer. Although despite being quite strong Storm was nowhere near as bulky as his little brother, an advantage Titan knew that could be useful.

For a few moments the two sides just stood and stared at each other in complete silence, during which Titan figured out exactly who they were up against. Storm had brought with him two twin oak brown brothers named Ilandor and Thrases; both Titan knew from prior youth experience were exceptionally good fighters for their ages. The other dragon was, as Titan had half expected, Scorch, although just like his brother Storm the crimson red dragon had grown in the years since they had met last. Eventually Storm stepped forward and ran his glistening eyes over Titan, a fire of anger in them despite his calm tone as he spoke and broke the silence.

“Little brother… I believe we decided years ago that you were to have nothing to do with these ponies. Why then do I currently find you standing in the middle of one of their pathetic settlements, and your breath smelling of their disgusting food?”

“YOU decided I should have nothing to do with them Storm,” Titan snapped, the anger in his voice seeming to surprise his older brother. “I am old enough now to make my own decisions… hence if I wish to be among them then I will, whether you like it or not.”

Snarls escaped the three dragons behind Storm, but they each fell silent when the white dragon growled; he then turned back to Titan with his own fangs bared in a silent threat and took a step forward.

“You seem to forget your place in the world Titan,” Storm hissed, his tail thrashing around the air like a whip. “You are a dragon… not one of these pathetic fur coated cake eating ponies. You may be an adult now Titan, but you still seem content to behave like a hatchling… so I am giving you one chance little brother, come with me, or I will show you and these ponies what a true dragon is capable of.”

That was when everything inside of Titan’s mind caved in with rage, all the anger and hatred he had carried for thirteen years suddenly came rushing up, and flew from his tongue in an uncontrollable torrent.

“YOU DARE TOUCH ANY OF THEM AND I WILL TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT!” Titan roared as his former calm broke and every single piece of him went into a state of burning rage. “HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND THREATEN THEM YOU WORTHLESS, ARROGANT, SELF OBSESSED, STUCK UP WASTE OF SCALE!”

“WATCH YOUR TONGUE TITAN!” Storm snapped, although despite his words he still took a step back towards his friends in clear unease at Titan’s rage. “LISTEN TO YOURSELF!”

“I AM LISTENING FOR ONCE!” Titan snarled, his ivory fangs emerging like rows of drawn swords. “ALL OF YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE YOU HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH HURTING EVERYONE AROUND YOU, INCLUDING ME, WELL I AM SORRY BROTHER BUT TODAY THAT ENDS!”

“listen to me very closely Titan,” Storm hissed, his own ivory fangs coming up to meet Titan’s as the two sides came in closer, both ready to try and rip the other apart. “If you keep acting like this then I will gladly burn this place to the ground, and then teach you a lesson about respecting your elders.”

That was when a grin spread across Titan’s face that unnerved even Storm; the red dragon giving off a laugh as he stared up at his older sibling’s confused expression.

“You see Storm, there is one minor problem in your plan… you assume the ponies here will just sit back and let you burn their town,” Titan grinned, the sudden look on Storm’s facing telling the smiling red dragon that his older brother had just been hit by the lance of fear. “Everypony... come and introduce yourselves.”

A moment later, the former quiet town of Ponyville sprung to life; from every doorway, ally way and possible hiding place imaginable the battle ready ponies emerged wielding anything they could use to fight. Titan smirked as Storm growled and looked around at the crowd uneasily; knowing that he and his three friends were now surrounded from every possible angle. In the skies above their heads Dash and the other Pegasi had created a menacing battery of dark thunder clouds, on either side of Twilight and Rarity had mustered the magic ready unicorns, and directly in front and behind them were solid walls of earth ponies led my Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Titan could tell Storm was thinking about what to do; the white dragon knew he was outnumbered and outgunned, but Titan doubted his older brother’s pride would let him just give up and surrender.

“I am warning you all once,” Storm snapped as he looked around, flaring his wings open and baring his fangs at the angry crowd. “Be away with you or you will all taste dragon fire.”

“You try anything like that your face will taste the strength of my back legs,” Applejack said angrily, snorting and pawing at the ground as Storm and his friends turned around and snarled at her.

“Why you annoying little…”

If Storm had any more to say he didn’t get the chance; as he and his friends had turned around to face Applejack, Titan and his own comrades had taken their chance. A moment later the combined masses of Titan and Ash charged forward and slammed into Storm’s exposed shoulders, throwing the white scaled dragon head over tail before bringing him down on the gravel road with an earth shaking thud. Thrases, Ilandor and Scorch for a moment could do nothing but stand there in shock, then however they too met a similar fate as Storm as the remaining six young males bolted forward and charged into them. Within a second the former calm was transformed into scene of thrashing tails, slashing talons and snapping jaws as the dragons fought; it was then the fight for Ponyville really began.

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Storm hadn’t expected Titan and Ash to charge forward, and hence had been caught totally unaware; his friends however, after seeing Storm’s fall, were a little more prepared for their own collisions when they happened. After a short struggle both Thrases and Ilandor managed to break free of their opponents and head for the sky, right on their tails the snapping forms of Thane, Saran, Lunis and Raldin; Scorch managed to get loose, but before he could get anywhere Applejack roped his wings together, the crimson dragon however kept fighting both Blizzard and Sunset even his new bonds. Ilandor didn’t get very far into the air before being met with an unfriendly wave of lightning bolts from the awaiting pegasi, and then dragged quickly downwards once again by Lunis, Saran and Raldin, his twin however managed to escape the barrage and burst through the dark wall of clouds. The pegasus ponies screamed and scattered while Thrases chased them, his jaws snapping out at any that were in range of his maw.

“You scrapes of meat will pay for this!” Thrases snarled as his snapped out at a blue pegasus stallion, his ivory white fangs missing the stallion’s hooves by a scale width as he gave chase. “Now come here!”

It was then something from outside his field of view slammed into the side of his face, sending a sudden and immense wave of pain through his skull like a stone had just been dropped on him. Snarling and turning he saw a cyan blue pegasus pony hovering in the air a short distance away, her hooves up like she wanted to fight him, and an angry expression etched on her face. Thrases simply grinned at the pegasus mare; it seemed in his mind these ponies had no idea when to give up.

“You, my little fur ball I will enjoy, ripping to pieces” He laughed wickedly, turning his massive dark brown form to her and spreading his razor sharp talons as they faced off.

“I’m not scared of you scale brain!” she snapped in reply, shooting forward and aiming her front hooves at the middle of his chest.

Dash’s mind was overcome with anger to the point of blinding rage, she had only one thought going through her head, and that was a want to hurt this brown dragon as much as possible. She didn’t care how much it hurt him; all she wanted to do was wipe that stupid smirk off his face and get him out of the sky as fast as possible.

Before she even got close to him however, she saw in horror his tail flick out with lightning speed, the giant brown scaled whip filling her vision a moment before it hit her full on like a train. Dash had received her fair share of heavy blows in her life, most being from crash landings or gifts from a very annoyed Applejack; but the pain she felt when the dragon’s tail hit her made every inch of her cyan body scream in absolute agony. Everything blurred as she felt herself fall rapidly towards the earth below, the last image burning in her mind that of the smirking dragon who had just knocked her from the sky.

All of a sudden her fall came to a sudden stop, but she knew she hadn’t hit the ground because that she guessed that would have hurt a lot more. With all her strength she tore her magenta eyes open and saw perhaps the most wonderful thing that she could have ever dreamed of, Thane’s soft face set against the crystal blue sky.

“You ok?” He said hurriedly as he hovered still, his green eyes angrily flicking up at Thrases as Dash realized he had her held gently in his claws.

“I feel like a tree AJ just bucked” Dash giggled in reply, the pain in her body slowly dying away as her mind returned. “But otherwise I’m fine.”

Thane nodded and looked over as three scared looking pegasus mare ponies flew up to him, apparently trying to take cover from Thrases and his now continued chase of anypony who got too close.

“You three take care of her,” He said firmly, opening his claws wide and allowing the mares to take Dash over their backs as he snarled up at Thrases. “I’ll deal with him.”

Once Dash was safe on the ground, Thane turned his attention to the looming form of Thrases, trying to figure out a way to deal with the brown dragon without putting anypony on the ground in danger. He had an idea but it was dangerous, and above all crazy to say the least, but having no other real choice he decided to go with it.

Like an arrow he shot upwards, and climbed into the cover of the highest clouds possible, high above not only Ponyville but even Thrases, who was chasing a cluster of pegasus ponies far below. At the high altitude he could feel the cold on his scales and the thinness of the air in his lungs, but he wasn’t going to let Thrases get away with hurting Dash.

Taking a deep breath, Thane took his aim, recalling everything Dash had told him about her legendary sonic rainboom during the party the night before; he knew that even though he was a thin dragon, he was too big to manage such a thing, but he understood the principle and that was all that really mattered. Just before he launched himself he pictured Dash in his mind, her cyan body being knocked from the sky by a smirking Thrases like she was a bug; it was enough to ignite every piece of Thane’s heart into a wild fire of burning rage, Thrases had hurt her, and now it was the brown dragon’s turn to feel immense pain.

“Now you will pay!” Thane snarled, launching himself strait down toward the earth, hissing through the air like a spear thrown by the sun itself and aiming himself directly at Thrases.

With every moment that passed, Thane could feel he was picking up speed as he headed for the ground, the air tightening in a cone around him just as Dash had described so vividly the night before. His eyes were locked on the centre of a wide point directly between his brown scaled target’s tough shoulders, the widest and easiest target area available for the green dragon to hit accuratly. In his mind there were only a few moments between the collision, and that was when Thane unleashed his anger, closing his eyes and sending a continues jet of flame out directly in front of himself; the fire danced and shimmered but couldn't escape the cone of air. The red hot flames were instead forced by the ever increasing pressure into a tighter and tighter space, building up into a compact ball of fire that Thane swore would rival even a star in how hot it was. Knowing that there was no turning back now Thane could feel his own heart beating wildly and fear welling up inside him, but he knew exactly what he had to do, and he swore he wouldn’t let Rainbow Dash down.

At the last possible moment he tore his green eyes open and locked them on brown scaled target, throwing the palms of his green scaled claws forward just as Dash did with her hooves, before he slammed into the back of Thrases like a living meteor.

Everything seemed to freeze as the countless pegasi watched the two male dragons collide in awe; what happened next however would not just be remembered by them, but would be spoken of for generations across the whole of Equestria. The fire that had been contained in the pressure of Thane’s cone of air broke its chains and shot outwards in a massive burning ring, but instead of dying out like any other flame, the pressurized inferno ignited the air around it as it spread outwards. Every pegasus shot for the ground as the wave of dragon fire swept over them and singed their tails, to everypony already on the ground, for a single moment it seemed Thane had literally set the sky on fire.

Thane however was too busy to take any notice of his feet; the impact had so far done everything he had planned for it too, the immense heat had not only hurt Thrases, but had been so hot Thane could hear the brown dragon’s scales cracking from the flames. The force of the impact had also sent the two dragon’s shooting through the clouds and hurtling rapidly towards the ground, the unlikeable situation Thane now found himself in.

Content to hurt Thrases as much as possible for what he had done, Thane aimed them directly over a large building, and just as they got close enough the green dragon flipped himself in mid-air, and like a pony slammed his rear legs into his opponent’s shoulders. A moment later there was an all mighty crash as Thrases formed a crater with his landing, Thane however wasn’t done yet.

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“You are a stupid Hatchling Titan!” Storm snapped as he was pinned the ground, struggling to get free under the immense combined weight of Titan and Ash as the two dragons attempted to subdue him. “You think you can win this?”

“Do me a favour and shut up!” Titan snapped angrily, driving a clenched red claw into Storm’s ribcage. “Or how about you make this easier and give up for once.”

“I WILL NEVER LET YOU WIN YOU LITTLE BRAT!”

Somehow Storm managed to get his rear legs free and drove them into Ash’s black scaled side; Titan knew it hurt by the look of agony that crossed his old friends face, but undeterred he continued to fight with his older brother with even more effort.

Around him the entire town was a battle ground of dragons and ponies, all locked in in combat as each side tried to subdue the other. Ilandor had found himself the target of a combined effort by the earth ponies, Saran, Raldin, Lunis and Pinkie’s party cannon; Scorch was likewise locked in an endless brawl with Sunset and Blizzard while constantly trying to avoid the unicorn’s endless barrage of magic spells. The town itself to say the least had so far survived reasonably well, as the fighting was generally contained within the confines of the park and Mane Street, although a number of carts, stalls and alike had been damaged by thrashing tails, or stray flame strikes. Titan had told everypony the night before that only he and Ash were the confront Storm, the reason being that not only was he the largest, but also because he was the most aggressive. Above the clouds Titan could hear snarls and growls; he silently hoped that Thane could handle Thrases on his own.

“I should have just burned that annoying little ball of fur all those years ago,” Storm snapped as he continued to struggle, turning his attention solely to removing himself from Titan’s grasp as Ash tried to regain himself. “But no… I believed your lies, and I actually thought you had some pride in being a drag…OW!”

Storm tore his eyes away from Titan as he yelped painfully; it was then Titan realized the source of his brothers pain was the purple scaled form of Spike, who had grabbed, and then sunk his short but sharp white fangs into Storm’s tail. Storm simply flicked his tail upwards and sent Spike flying skywards, luckily for the small dragon Ash had regained himself enough to grab the yelling purple hatchling with his tail as he fell. Storm snarled in anger and swung his own tail out at Ash’s now exposed side, before it got there however a rope loop caught the white blur and stopped it in mid-air.

“WHAT!” Storm snapped, glaring over to see a grinning amber pony tie the rope off around a thick trunked tree. “YOU AGAIN!”

“Name’s Applejack” She chuckled, galloping over before spinning mid-stride and delivering a double back leg buck strait into the side of Storm’s white scaled face. “And like I said, ya'll try and hurt anypony you’ll taste my back hooves… and just so you know I’m the element of honesty, SO WHEN I SAY I’LL KICK YA I MEAN IT!”

The last words came out beside another double kick; for once, Titan was glad it had been Fluttershy who had kicked him, seeing Storm’s painful reaction to Applejack’s kick told him there was a lot more strength in her legs then anypony else he had encountered.

Storm hissed and by the looks of things went to try and flame Applejack, before he got the chance however an explosive bang shook the entire town and the earth around it. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up for a moment, seeing to their utter amazement the entire sky fill with red hot dragon fire; a moment later two dragons burst from the clouds wrapped in a swirling ball of flames, one suddenly rolling and slamming his back legs into the shoulders of his opponent. The unlucky dragon not only caught the full force of the kicks but a moment later painfully crashed into a nearby building, flattening it and converting the area into a smouldering crater.

No one could do anything but watch in complete stillness, as the unlucky dragon shakily and uneasily picked himself up, shaking off pieces of wooden building material and a variety of tools, which told Titan that the building had, probably, been the town hardware store. A moment later Thane landed on the road right in front of the dragon, who Titan guessed was Thrases, the now black-brown dragon uneasily backing away from his smaller green counterpart with absolute terror as Thane snarled and stalked forward. What made everypony look on in silence however was not only the scene of destruction, but the fact Thane’s scales were, to Titan’s utter amazement, no longer dull green like moss but sparkled like brilliant emeralds. It seemed the immense heat had burned off any dead scale, and left behind only the shining new green colour that reflected the sunlight as good as any mirror.

“Look… ok… you win,” Thrases started as he stepped back nervously from a still snarling Thane, everyponys’ eyes on the two of them. “I’m done.”

“You hurt Dash you waist of scale,” Thane snapped, his green tail moving to the ground, and wrapping around something amongst the rubble Titan couldn’t make out. “I say when you’re done.”

“But…”

If Thrases had anything else to say he didn’t get the chance; with a speed that Titan swore would have normally been impossible, Thane’s green tail lashed around and collided with the side of the brown dragon’s head with a loud metal sounding bang. The brown dragon fell unconscious to the ground like a stone a second later, as Thane’s tail stopped in mid-air above him, revealing what looked like an steel anvil clasped in its green wraps.

“Now you’re done,” Thane hissed, turning around to the silent crowds and more specifically Ilandor, the anvil still grasped in his tail, as his green eyes burned into the other brown dragon like a pair of hot swords. “Now then… I think I’ll deal with you next.”

Upon seeing his twin knocked out cold, Ilandor gave up fighting on his own accord and threw himself at Thane’s feet in surrender, an act which Thane grudgingly accepted and put the anvil down uneasily, before heading off to find Dash. A few moments later Ilandor silently left after swearing to never come back, picking his brother up in his claws and flying off back towards the southern mountains, while everypony glared and watched him fly off in a victory silence. Titan couldn't help but smile as he flicked his eyes between the outline of Ilandor and Thane, it seemed the combination of love and dragon fire was a powerful weapon by any regards.

Knowing that there were now only two of them remaining Scorch in turn soon gave up, and allowed his claws and wings to be tied up by Applejack, the crimson dragon was then tied up to a tree while everyone's attention shifted to Storm, who had quickly been subdued by the combined effort of the eight young dragons.

The white dragon unlike his friends however refused to stop fighting no matter what, continuing to struggle under the now combined holds of six dragons while Titan and Ash glared down at him as he was tied up. A crowd of ponies soon formed behind the two as Storm continued to fight despite being both held and tied down, all eyes locked on the one they considered the reason that an otherwise perfect day had been ruined, and their town half trashed and burned.

“Now then brother,” Titan growled as Storm lay sprawled on his stomach in front of him, each leg and wing held down by a separate young dragon and his tail subdued by Applejack’s rope. “What to do with you?”

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Notes:

Tried to get this done in a day so is a little rushed I'll admit...hope you all enjoyed it none the less

Chapter 9: From the Ashes

Just so you all know this was a 'middle of the night at uni' chapter (got bored with drawing houses so I wrote this), so there is a chance of a few small grammar errors.

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Chapter 9: From the Ashes

“You try anything Titan, and I will beat you within a scale width if your life,” Storm snapped, baring his fangs at both his little brother as well as the crowd of ponies standing behind him. “You think this is over? You think you can just win one fight and forget how much of an insult to your kind you really are?”

“I am done listening to you and I am done with obeying the ‘rules of our kind’ Storm,” Titan replied firmly, looking down as Fluttershy emerged from the crowd, her tail a little blackened from Thane’s fire. “I know what I want brother… I want to have friendships among the ponies, and I want to be able to live among them as I used to… and I will no longer have my wants tampered with by you.”

“You better hope then Titan I don’t come back and burn them all in their sleep,” Storm hissed, his diamond white eyes fixing on Fluttershy with an angry fire burning in them. “Especially this one.”

“If you ever come here again Storm…” Titan snapped as his ivory talons opened out like drawn swords, his anger suddenly returning at his brothers words. “Maybe it would be best if I beat some sense into you now rather than later.”

“Titan, wait.”

Titan stopped and looked down at Fluttershy, his razor sharp talons almost at Storm’s white scaled face. Wordlessly, the yellow pegasus walked forward and stood in front of Storm, the two of them watching each other intently as everyone else watched the strange scene unfold. At last a smile spread across Fluttershy’s face, which only caused and angry growl in reply from Storm, although Titan could see curiosity in his eyes.

"Storm… why do you not like us?”

Storm gave out what sounded like a scoff at Fluttershy’s words, a sort of arrogant smirk crossing his face as he replied. Titan noticed a snarl cross Thane’s face and for a moment he thought the green dragon would decide to break a few of Storm’s talons, but soon Thane however seemed to think better of it and returned to normal.

“Because you are a weak and pathetic race,” Storm chuckled darkly, his stupid smirk suddenly making Titan want to slam Thane’s anvil strait into his brothers face. “That is why I hate you,”

“How are we so pathetic?” Fluttershy went on, sitting back on her rump as she looked at Storm square in the face. “What have we ever done that made you think that we were pathetic?”

“Hmmm… let me think,” Storm said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and snorting as he spoke. “You’re tiny for one.”

“But how are we tiny?” Fluttershy retorted briskly, every pony and dragon looking between the two of them. “I’m a lot taller than most of my animal friends, and I’m huge compared to most insects… so technically they’re tiny… but they’re also a lot bigger than some other animals, so in a way nothing is really tiny.”

“Alright fine so maybe you aren’t tiny!” Storm snapped, clearly annoyed at being verbally outdone by the yellow pegasus. “But you’re weak… I could crush you with one talon without even trying.”

“If we are so weak Storm, then why when Applejack kicks a tree does it shake and give up its apples?” Fluttershy replied in a flash; Titan had to admit when it came to an argument, she was as sharp as one of his talons. “And why then if Rarity wishes, does a stone boulder break open and give up its gems?”

Titan heard a few muffled laughs from the pony crowd, they all fell silent however when Storm let out an angry snarl. Titan himself could do nothing but grin at his brother’s downfall, it seemed Fluttershy was a lot smarter and quick witted than the white dragon had thought.

“Fine so you’re not weak either,” Storm snarled, the angry expression set on his face telling Titan he was now clutching at straws. “But you are cowards… right now you are all cowering behind the protection of my brother and his stupid friends, if they were not here, you would all run in fear at the pure sight of me.”

“If we are such cowards, why does Rainbow Dash attempt dangerous stunts that not even a dragon would dare to try?” Fluttershy said gently, a smile spreading across her face as Stormed glared at her. “And why if we are cowards would I be sitting, talking and probably annoying you right now? You could after all quite easily reach me with your jaws or burn me before Titan could do anything.”

“Oh for the love of… alright fine… but you are a totally useless race when it comes to the world.”

“And yet we build towns and cities, have jobs, help animals, take care of the land, control the weather and even make the sun and moon rise and fall,” Fluttershy went on, at last looking up at Titan’s smiling face. “And we make good friends too… so I really can’t see how we are useless either.”

A grin spread across every single face in the crowd as Storm let out a defeated sigh; in truth Titan was amazed, he had never thought Storm would admit defeat, but the white dragon seemed for once all out of fire. For a few moments after everything was quiet and silence reigned supreme, but in a way after all the noise of the morning Titan was glad for it. Who broke the silence however surprised Titan just as much as Storm’s defeat had, for it was Scorch who let out an amused laugh, and caused everypony to turn to where he was tied up to a nearby tree.

“You know old friend… I have to say I agree with the little one” he chuckled, shaking his head while all eyes were on his massive crimson form. “Up until today I thought the same of them as you did… but, it seems we were both wrong in many regards about these ponies, and now their actions and her words have made that clear... they truly are far from pathetic. I know you and I have always been sworn to live by the dragons’ pride… but Storm, to me those ideals no longer fit in a world such as this, where our two races openly want to get along… and in truth I believe you should be proud of your brother, for bridging the mountains between ponies and our kind.”

“You believe I should let Titan stay among these ponies?” Storm asked oddly, his eyes locking with those of his crimson companion. “My own little brother?”

“Not just him Storm, but anyone who wants too,” Scorch said as he smiled, his tone firm but almost happy in Titan’s ears. “Storm, you and I have been living for some time in a gone age, where our kinds kept to themselves… that is no longer the case, and if anything we should now support the friendships between our two races. So in short yes, he should be able to stay here among the ponies of Equestria, if he wants too.”

Storm turned to Titan but no longer was there and once of anger on his face, instead his gleaming diamond white eyes were soft like Titan remembered them from his hatchling years. Titan simply smiled and lowered his red scaled snout to his brothers white one, nuzzling him gently to show his affection of his older sibling. Then, for the first time in what seemed like years, a small smile crept across Storm’s face as he spoke, his voice no longer in anger or sarcasm but a tone of care for his little brother.

“I guess now I must accept you truly are an adult Titan… and hence you can now find your own way in this world, without me,” Storm said gently, smiling up at Titan like he done when they were both very young. “So… I will take Scorch’s words to heart, and let you stay here if you wish. And, I just want you to know that even after all these years and everything we’ve put each other through, I still love you, little brother.”

“And I still love you to Storm,” Titan grinned, nuzzling his brothers cheek once more before stepping back to the crowd a little. “Alright everyone let him up.”

Somewhat uneasily, the six dragons who had been holding Storm down removed themselves and let him stand, the white dragon shaking his mass of scale to remove the dust and dirt that had gathered on him. Once his shake was finished Titan watched Storm lower his massive head down to Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus barely larger than one of his glistening diamond white eyes. For a single moment Titan felt his gut clench up in unease, but as Storm spoke all fear left in and was replaced by joy.

“I guess I owe you an apology little one… especially for how I acted all those years ago,” Storm said gently, gently nuzzling Fluttershy’s cheek with his snout. “I am sorry I scared you back then…and I am sorry for causing such havoc here today, and scaring everypony.”

“I forgive you Storm,” Fluttershy smiled, giving Storm a soft lick on the end of his snout in return. “And I want you to know I don’t mind you coming and seeing Titan.”

“Thank you kindly… but I think he has seen enough of me for one day,” Storm chuckled, smiling up at Titan as a now untied Scorch came over and joined the small group. “So, I believe it is time we left you to your own little brother, until we meet next.”

Titan and Storm shared an amused smile at each other, the fire of brotherhood that had for so long seemed dead suddenly seeming to reignite between them. For so many years, Titan had hated even thinking about Storm, but now in truth all feelings of dislike had been burned and now it seemed they both wanted to start over.

“Until we meet again Storm,” Titan smiled, stepping back a little further to give his older brother enough room to take off. “I will wait.”

With nothing more after than a parting smile Storm turned, and bolted down Mane Street, with Scorch right behind him, the two massive dragons at last spreading their wings and jumping into the air as they reached the edge of town. In silence Titan watched as his brother went from a massive white scaled form to a single speck on the blue horizon as he flew off, wondering how by the flames of his ancestors the events of the day had played out as they had. In truth though he didn’t care, for the first time in many years he was able to say he actually liked his brother, not to mention he was now able to live among the ponies of Equestria again.

“How did you do it?” Titan asked at last, looking down at Fluttershy as the crowd behind them disbanded to examine the damage. “Storm had hated ponies ever since I can remember.”

“All I did was show him he had no reason to hate us,” She giggled, fluttering up from the ground and landing in the gap between Titan’s horns. “And then I just showed him a little kindness… he really did the rest himself.”

“I’m going to pretend I understand,” Titan chuckled, turning on the road and heading back towards the centre of Ponyville. “Now I guess we should see how much damage he did.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The town of Ponyville itself had survived the attack relatively well despite everything, but as Titan noted Thane had literally reduced the town hardware store to a combination of ash, junk, and rubble. The rest of the town was in relatively good condition though, and with a little cleaning up Titan saw there would probably no longer be any indication there had been an attack.

Titan and the other dragons took up the task of clearing the sky of the dark thunder clouds, while below the ponies mended up the few damaged buildings, stalls and sale carts, and put out the occasional small fire Thane had somehow caused.

Eventually, as Titan cleared away the clouds with swipes of his tail, he spotted Thane looking down at the ground every so often, and tracing his gaze he grinned when he realized Thane was staring down at a now bandaged up Rainbow Dash. Wordlessly Titan flew up the Thane and him a gentle tap on the shoulder with his tail, the green dragon immediately spinning around and snarling at his grinning red counterpart.

“Do you mind?” Thane snapped, resuming his cloud clearing like nothing had happened, Titan however grabbed his tail in his jaws and pulled him to a stop before he could get away. “OW!... Titan, what do you want?”

“Are you going to keep being a scale-brain, or are you going to go down there and tell her?” Titan replied firmly as he spat out Thane’s tail and pointed down at the cyan blue pegasus, causing Thane the growl and look away in embarrassment. “Look Thane, I know you like her so why do you keep denying it?”

“Because it could never work Titan,” Thane snapped in a defeated tone, his voice causing both Ash and Saran to stop what they were doing and look at him. “Yes alright I’ll admit I like her… but how by our ancestors it possibly work with me being a dragon and her being a pony?”

“Well, the only way you’re going to find out is if you ask her,” Ash said bluntly as he flew up, Thane now looking angrily between both Titan and the black dragon. “And Thane you better ask her and soon… because if you don’t tell her how you feel then I will.”

Titan swore Thane’s eyes doubled in size and he looked like he was going to choke for a moment, although at last he looked down at Dash uneasily. Gently Titan put a claw on Thane’s shoulder to calm him, they had been friends for years and now it seemed Thane needed his support more than ever.

“Come on Thane just tell her… I’ll come with you if you want, but you need to let her know how you feel… who knows maybe she likes you as well,”

“I’m pretty sure she does,” Ash put in, glancing over at Titan before returning his dark eyes to Thane. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you Thane… plus not only did she defend you after your roar incident, but I’m pretty sure she also enjoyed kissing you as well.”

“I highly doubt it… but ok… I’ll tell her,” Thane sighed in the end, taking a last glance up at Ash, before he heading towards the ground with Titan right beside him.

Dash was at that moment explaining to Twilight and Applejack what exactly had occurred up in the sky with Thrases, but for once she was telling it exactly how it was, without putting any extra ‘awesomeness’ into her tale. What surprised Twilight the most about Rainbow’s story was not the event itself, but instead how much emphasis she put on her description of how she had felt when Thane had caught her. Twilight knew Dash well enough to know the pegasus didn’t often open up about her feelings, but for once it was almost like Dash actually wanted her friends to understand how she felt.

“You know Dash,” Applejack chuckled suddenly, lifting the brim of her hat from her amber face. “I think you kind of like him.”

Dash literally froze on the spot still with her mouth still open, when it closed however Twilight saw bright red patches appear on Rainbow’s cheeks.

“I… ah… well, maybe I kind of do like him.”

“Well it’s understandable sugercube,” Applejack laughed before Dash could say anything else, giving the cyan mare a gentle pat on the shoulder. “He’s the only one who I know to ever match you in the air, plus he saved your life as well… and despite being a little annoying I guess he has a good heart, just like you really.”

“I’ll admit, the idea of a dragon and a pony actually being in a relationship is a fascinating concept,” Twilight put in, her words causing Dash to blush intensely again as their eyes met. “Does he know you like him?”

“No… but I’m not sure if I should tell him,” Dash sighed, rubbing her side around which a bandage was now wrapped. “He’s a dragon you two… and I don’t mean like Spike, I mean a grown up adult dragon, I just can’t see it working out between us.”

“Well why don’t you just tell him first?” Applejack chuckled, prompting Dash’s cheeks to grow even redder. “Then at least you have a starting point to go from.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could there were two loud thuds as Thane and Titan landed on the road beside the three of them. Looking up Twilight could see Titan was grinning, but Thane was seemingly uneasy, and looking over it seemed Dash was looking about the same. Gently Titan nudged Thane in the side, which Thane replied to with a growl; he then however slowly stepped forward and looked down at Dash. Twilight could feel the heat between them and there was no doubt now in her mind Thane liked her, the emotion between them so thick now it felt like the air was full with it.

“So… Dash… how are you feeling anyway after what happened?” Thane asked somewhat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his claw as he spoke.

“A few bruised ribs,” Dash replied, her cheeks reddening as she looked at her hooves. “But otherwise I should be fine.”

“Oh come on!” Snapped three voices.

It was then Titan, Applejack and Twilight all simultaneously face palmed themselves, and let out annoyed moans, much to the embarrassment of both Thane and Dash. At last however Twilight lowered her hoof and watched as Thane let out a growl and shook his head, looking down at Dash with a soft face as he at last spoke.

“Dash… this is going to sound stupid I know but…” He began, lowering his head so they were level and Dash moving in a little closer. “I like you Dash, and I mean I really like you… I know you’ll normally only hear this from stallions… but every time I’m in the air, all I can think about is you, and all I can see is your face in my mind. And every time I lay my eyes on you I can’t help but think I’m looking at the most beautiful female in all the wo…”

There was no doubt in Titan’s mind that Thane could have probably spilled his heart for another hour or more, but it seemed Dash had other ideas in mind. Halfway through saying the word ‘world’ Thane found his mouth no longer full of passionate words of love, but rather Dash’s tongue, her cyan hooves finding their places on his cheek as they both lost control. Titan, Applejack and Twilight could do nothing but stand and smile as the two embraced properly, it seemed Titan realized she had been just as infatuated by him as he was by her. It was perhaps to the now watching and gaping crowd of ponies the strangest thing they had ever witnessed, but as long as Dash and Thane were happy, Titan doubted either of them cared what the world thought; although Titan had to say the sight of a cyan pegasus mare and a green male dragon kissing, was not something he had expected to see in his lifetime.

At last they released each other before reddening up in embarrassment a moment later, Applejack letting out an amused wolf-whistle to demonstrate everyponys’ thoughts on the event.

“Wasn’t that hard then now was it?” Titan grinned, giving Thane a rough pat on the shoulder in admiration. “So, reckon you two can work something out?”

“I want to…” Thane smiled as he looked up at Titan and then back at Rainbow Dash, a soft gleam in his dark green eyes. “But the final decision lies with you Dash… you want to try this… with me?”

“ARE YOU KIDDING?” She said joyfully, jumping forward and suddenly wrapping her front hooves around his green scaled face in a hug “of course I do! Oh this is so awesome Thane… I’m probably the first mare in history to have a dragon as my coltfriend… err… well maybe malefriend is a better word I guess, but that doesn’t matter anyway.”

“I can’t wait for the day when he meets her parents,” Applejack whispered in an amused tone, just loud enough for Titan to hear.

Titan simply grinned and watched on happily at the new couple, he knew it was perhaps an unusual pairing of souls, but it just seemed to somehow work in a strange but romantic way.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now Dash,” Thane grinned as she let go and returned to the ground, his face then however dampened a little. “But you need to know now before we go anywhere that certain things we… can’t do…”

“Oh I can help you there,” Twilight jumped in excitedly, everyone now looking oddly at the excited purple unicorn as she clapped her hooves together. “I know a great spell that can temporarily resize body parts. I practised it on Spike’s tail and I know it works on dragons, so all I need to do is shrink Thane’s…

“STOP!” Thane said suddenly, his green tail flashing over and filling the purple unicorns’ mouth before she could say anymore. “Twilight, I’m glad you have a solution to our… problem… but can we please not talk about this right now, and in the middle of the street… it’s just a little bit of a touchy subject is all,”

It was then Twilight noticed everypony looking rapidly between her, Thane, and Dash; and seemingly looking a little unwell to say the least, no doubt due to the somewhat disturbing images their minds had conjured with her words. Titan could do nothing but smirk and shake his head; it seemed Twilight had a habit of putting words out without exactly realizing what she was saying. Dash and Thane to say the least were now both blushing immensely under the many gazes; although despite the awkwardness of Twilights statement, it seemed they both looked a little relieved, knowing there was one less barrier between them now.

“Uh… that was… awkward,” Dash said gingerly as Thane removed his tail, her cyan cheeks still as red as Titan’s scales as all eyes fixed on her. “I’ll admit I’m thankful Twilight… but let’s maybe keep this conversation for later… we’ve only just started going out.”

Before anypony could say or do anything else, a pink blur that was Pinkie Pie seemed to snap into existence out of thin air, her sudden entrance causing a chorus of startled yelps as everyone jumped in surprise.

"OH MY GOSH! SO YOU TWO ARE REALLY GOING OUT?” She laughed, bouncing rapid circles around Rainbow Dash and Thane as Twilight face hoofed herself. “THAT IS SOOOO CUTE! I GOTTA THROW YOU A SUPER AWESOME ‘FALLING IN LOVE’ PARTY!”

“But Pinkie…” Dash started, trying her best to catch the bouncing pink blur without success.

“NO NEED TO THANK ME DASHIE,” Pinkie laughed, somehow stopping in mid-air and mid-bounce. “BUT I NEED TO GET STARTED RIGHT AWAY, SO I’LL SEE YOU AT YOUR PARTY TONIGHT.”

Without another word, Pinkie disappeared without a trace and left everypony looking a little confused, after Fluttershy’s advice however Titan decided he didn’t even want to know how the pink pony did it. Eventually the watching pony crowd returned to their own business, although considering Pinkie now knew soon the entire town would probably hear of Dash and Thane. Titan at last grinned and shook his head, his red eyes looking between Thane and Dash as he spoke and broke the somewhat awkward silence.

“Well… I am happy for you two but I am afraid I must be elsewhere… so I’ll see you all at the party tonight.”

“And where the hay would you be needed?” Applejack asked, the edge of an amused grin returning to her face.

“I happen to have my own mare to take care of,” Titan chuckled, giving one last farewell before heading off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“I’m glad Rainbow Dash finally found somepony,” Fluttershy said happily, readjusting a little so her head rested against Titan’s right horn. “Well someone anyway,”

“I’ll admit It is surprising,” Titan chuckled, glancing upwards as the first gleaming star took its place in the darkening blue sky. “But I am happy for them… I know Thane is a little bit of a joker at the best of times, but I know he truly cares about Dash.”

The two old friends were sitting on the grass outside Fluttershy’s cottage and watching the stars emerge, Fluttershy quietly lying on the warm scales between Titan’s ivory horns. It reminded Titan slightly of the night all those years ago, where the friendship between them had been torn apart, but now however that night was a distant memory, and no longer mattered to either of them.

Not too far away Ponyville was beginning to spring back to life as the night fell, everypony coming out for the party to celebrate Dash and Thane’s new found love for each other. Titan was looking forward to the party, but at the same time he was a little sad, for as it were Saran, Blizzard, Sunset, Lunis and Raldin had decided once the next morning came, they would head back to the southern mountains.

For a moment, as Titan watched the stars, he wondered if this was all just some kind of crazy dream, but as he heard Fluttershy sigh softly and felt her twitch a little he knew it wasn’t. a question sprang to mind that had been bothering him for a few hours, so he decided it was best to get it off his chest.

“Fluttershy you don’t… you know,” Titan murmured, flicking his red eyes up towards Fluttershy. “Feel the same way for me as Dash does for Thane?”

“In my heart you are like my big brother Titan,” Fluttershy replied softly. “You are my oldest and closest friend who I love dearly… but no… not like Dash does with Thane.”

“No offense, but I’m glad,” Titan chuckled, returning his eyes to the stars. “So thank you Fluttershy… but just know that I promise I will always be here for you from now on. By the way, when I first met your friends they said you were terrified of dragons… are you still?”

“Would I be sitting on your head now if I was?” Fluttershy said happily. “And would I have stood up to Storm if I still was?”

“Just making sure,” Titan grinned, allowing his tail to rise and wrap around Fluttershy as he stood up. “Come on you… if we don’t show up tonight Thane will want my tai,l and Dash will want yours.”

With a giggle Fluttershy took hold of Titan’s ivory horns and allowed him to carry her back towards town, both of them discussing the likely outcome of the night’s celebration. In Titan’s mind everything was now as it should be; Fluttershy no longer feared dragons, and he once again has his dearest friend back, plus he could now freely live among the ponies.

In a strange and yet surreal way, as they walked under the stars, to him it felt like the thirteen years of being apart had never existed, like the two of them had always been, and would forever be the best of friends.

End:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ok…so that’s the end…that’s the bad news.

Good news is that I have no wanting to let characters like Titan or relationships like Thane and Dash’s disappear into the pages of fanfic history (they only just got together after all). So... this story if continued (ish) in Underworld: Equestria.

Chapter 1: A Dragon's Thoughts

I can't do this all alone
I'm completly incomplete
I can't struggle on alone
You made me strong when I was weak

My red eyed friend where are you now
My red eyed friend I miss you so
My red eyed friend I'll be waiting for you
Where are you now

(Sonic Syndicate - Red Eyed Friend)

My Inspiration.....

Chapter 1: A Dragons' thoughts

They said to feel the cold morning air in the south of Equestria is like having chunks of ice buried beneath your skin, and then slowly allowing them to melt, an odd and old saying that brought a smile to Titan's maw as he sat in his cave mouth, watching as the new day sun and its light rose between the rolling hills. If the saying was true, it was such for ponies alone; he had sat on the rocky mountain ledge in the morning air more times then he could remember, and had never once felt any discomfort with the cold against his hide. He was, then again, a dragon, and hence his inner fire kept his red scaled mass warm, even on the coldest of mornings.

This morning was, however, surprisingly cold despite his inner fire, which had, despite the persistence of his draconic stubbornness, eventually got him thinking about heading back north; that thought in turn had taken many different roads and paths, before winding up in the strangest of places, a memory at the back of his mind where a young yellow pegasus with a light pink mane dwelled. He hadn't thought about her in many years, but no matter how he tried, his last mental image of her haunted the front of his mind no matter how he tried to escape it, mostly because that last image had been a painful one for both of them.

"Maybe I should go see her," He murmured to himself, running his long ivory talons across the granite of the ledge, and leaving four long scratch marks as he thought. "It's been years since we've seen each other, and perhaps she might be ready to... forgive me... after all this time."

The sound of growling, and dragon scales running across hard rock behind him, broke Titan's chain of thought, the sound though simply telling him one of his cave-mates were now awake, and would no doubt soon be disturbing his peace. A few moments later, the growling green scaled form of Thane emerged from the depths of their cave, and as expected soon he dropped himself on the ledge beside Titan, spreading his jaws wide as he yawned before turning to his friend with an amused look on his face

"Titan... why by our ancestors do you feel content to rise so early?" Thane asked with a cheeky smile, spreading his huge green wings to soak up as much sunlight as possible. "I swear you're awake for more of the night then you are asleep."

Titan simply growled in reply, and returned his attention to the rolling hills below and the rising sun, taking no notice of Thane and his sense of humour, but instead once again looking over his own thoughts. Thane was a good friend, who Titan had known for around the last five years, one of the reasons they now shared a cave with a few other friends. The only problem with Thane was that he loved to be the funny one, and was hence totally ignorant to any emotional issue when it came up; usually trying his best put a humorous spin on the problem, which often only made the problem worse.

Titan sighed to himself as his troubled thoughts returned, his heart was telling him he should go see the yellow pegasus, and at least try and make amends for his actions; but his mind was telling him that it was a foolish idea, and there was no way she would ever even think about forgiving him. Feeling defeated, he slumped his head on the end of the ledge and let out a long sigh, his hot breath causing the moister in the air to become a small cloud of mist in front of him. From the corner of his eye, Titan could see Thane watching him intently as he tapped the granite with his own ivory talons, green eyes alert to every flicker and flinch of Titan's body.

"Come on Titan... what's got you acting so strange?"

"It's a long story Thane..." Titan replied dryly, not bothering to shift his gaze from the hills on the horizon beyond, which happened to sit the edge of the Everfree forest. "And not one I want to share with you either."

"Well, whatever it is, it's making you feel guilty," Thane remarked, blowing a small tongue of red flame across his front claws to warm them. "I've known you long enough to tell that much."

Titan growled once more before raising his head from the stone and turning to Thane, running his dark red eyes over Thanes green scaled face for a moment before speaking.

"A while back I knew someone... she wasn't a dragon, but we still got along well and eventually we became friends in a way... but I hurt her feelings badly when I left, and I haven't yet been back to make it up to her... so, if you were really wondering, I was thinking about going back to try and fix a few things between us...It's been quite a number of years, but I just think it's the right thing to do."

Thane was both motionless and silent for a few moments as Titan's words sank in, the blinking of his green eyes the only sign that he wasn't made from painted stone. At last he snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head; sighing and rubbing his face with his claw a few times before turning back to Titan, with a look of what Titan guessed to his amazement was agreement.

"What exactly happened between you two I don't know, and if its personal I don't want to... but if what happened is weighing on your mind this much, then it's a good idea. But, I will say this of all things... just because you want to apologize doesn't mean she'll want to hear you... and if quite a few years have passed as you said, it's probably going to take some time for her to accept that you're sorry."

Titan was speechless as he realized what Thane had just said; Thane was admittedly a good friend, but when it came to matters of the heart, he usually liked to make a joke or amusement out of it, so for him to be talking in such a way was totally out of character for Thane.

"You actually... think I should go?" Titan mumbled, trying to put the words together as his mind finally re-joined the rest of him.

"That's my opinion..." Thane smirked, closing his eyes, and laying his head down on the now somewhat sun warmed rock ledge. "What you do now is up to you Titan."

For a few more moments Titan’s mind went over his thoughts in detail, looking at how exactly he would be able to even get close to her, and then how he would apologize for his actions. He knew all too well that over the years the ponies of Equestria had come to fear dragons, for both their fire and aggressiveness, but if he could make them see that he was not a threat, then there was no reason for them to be uncomfortable with him.

Soon Titan found himself on his legs and pacing the granite ledge while he thought and muttered to himself; At last, however, his chain of thought was broken by hysterical laughter from Thane, who Titan realized when he turned and glared was rolling around on his back and laughing hysterically.

"Why must you make a joke out of everything?" Titan snapped, allowing small wisps of smoke to float from his nostrils to show his annoyance.

"Titan, you think things through far too much... I can't help it if I find it funny," Thane laughed

"Forgive me for not wanting Princess Celestia to make a trophy of my hide," Titan growled, the red dragon snorting and rolling his eyes.

Thane at last rolled over, and apparently regained control of himself. "Look, why don't you just go on impulse like I do... look at the situations as they arise and listen to your heart... otherwise you will just make everything more complicated than it already is."

Those words, of all words Thane had ever said, spoke volumes.

Deciding to take Thane's advice without another thought or word, Titan spread his wings, and swiftly jumped from the ledge, letting a huge roar escape his throat as he did, which ended up making Thane yelp and growl in response, a reaction that made Titan laugh. For a moment he headed for the ground before pulling up just above the tree tops below, lining up his eyes and wings with the rolling green hills on the horizon as he hurtled through the sky. Now he knew what he had to do, and no force in the known world would be able to stop him, after all the years of living with his guilt it was finally time to put things right. In his mind’s eye two things were burning like newly lit fires, the mental map of the lands he had carried all his life, and the face of the Pegasus he was looking for

"Fluttershy my old friend..." He thought as the sun emerged from the clouds, and layered his red scaled back in golden light. "I am coming for you."