The Scaleless Lord

Deep within the land of Ponies is a place so full of mystery that even the Twin Deities, Celestia the Radiant ruler of the sun and Luna the Beautiful, ruler of the moon, are hesitant to go. This place known to all as the Everfree Forest is all that remains of the Eternal Sea, a forest that stretched from one side of Equestrias borders to the other. Few know what happened to the great forest, and those that do have a fear for those that do not. Myths are all that remain of the Everfree's history and many have tried to prove these myths true or false. One myth has never been proven, and that is of the lord of the Everfree. It is said that it appeared on the wind long before Discord was born. The race with the greatest knowledge of these myths are the dragons, for it is said that this creature instilled despair in the ancient dragons, and was said to be the center for much of what they do. Many have tried to find this legend, but only the deities know for certain who, or what the creature is.

This brings us to four fillies wondering around the edges of the forest in search of the mythical creature. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and  Babs Seed made their way towards the center of the forest when they heard a strange noise behind them. Slowly turning around they quickly grew a horrified expression. Facing them was a pack of timber wolves, canines made from the forest and enemies to all besides their pack. Letting out a yell that was heard back at Ponyville they galloped as fast as they could away from the pack of timber wolves. Much to their surprise the fillies made it to the base of the mountain at the center of the forest. Turning around they noticed that the timber wolves stopped following them at the edge of the clearing around the mountain. deciding they would try to another direction they began to trot towards another edge of the clearing, only to notice that the timber wolves mirrored their direction keeping them away from the forest. Unable to leave the four wanted to get as far from the timber wolves as they could so began to climb up the mountain.

Half-way up the mountain Apple Bloom noticed a cave entrance that was hidden behind a tree, on a plateau. As always the fillies wanted to try and get their cutie marks any way they could. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, CAVE EXPLORERS!" the four exclaimed as they rushed into the cave. This was no ordinary cave though, for if they had stopped to look at the walls the crusaders would notice the cave was not naturally formed. As they went farther downward, each eventually felt their muzzle drop when they came upon the inhabitant and its home. Before them lay a dull grey dragon at least half the size of the mountain they were under. What truly made this a unique dragon was that it was scaleless, and the more disturbing part was instead of legs it had four massive tentacles. When they looked to see its wings they noticed it had six wings in place of the common two. (A/N think similar appearance to Seath from Dark Souls) Carefully moving around the dragon the fillies had to move around a vast assortment of treasure that filled the floor. Sadly their luck for the day had deserted them, as Apple Bloom slipped causing the treasure around her to move creating a soft clinking that when reverberating off the walls sounding like the pounding of a drum. The fillies had to cover their ears and close their eyes for a short time, and shortly noticed a large eyelid began to open.

When its eye was open it didn't seem to notice the fillies as it yawned and stood up. As it stretched its arms the tentacles began to move around the floor causing the fillies to yelp and run towards each other. Finally taking notice of them it looked at the fillies before blinking. Surprised that they were real the dragon spoke in a raspy voice, as rocks were scraping against each other. "Great ponies," he said exasperated, "Didn't your kind learn your lesson last time. What does it take to keep you out of thy forest,". This last sentence caught the attention of the fillies as he placed a special emphasis on "thy forest".

Gathering her courage Apple Bloom walked up to the dragon and began to stutter.  "D-D-Did you s-say.." was all she could say. While finding it amusing the dragon wanted them gone quickly so he used his magic to change his form into a young dragons size, close enough to a large pony.

"That should make this exchange easier for you," he said his voice losing the gravel aspect. Looking at the fillies he noticed they were frozen in shock before sighing, "I guess i was wrong,". He walked over to the one who talked before clicking his hands in front of her face. She broke out of her shock to look at him with...  amazement? This caused the dragon to wonder if there was something wrong with this filly. Still looking at the filly, "Lets see an Earth Pony, Unicorn, Pegasus, and another Earth Pony. What are you young ones doing in thy home,".

After a few minutes and still no answer from the fillies, he was deciding if he wanted to get them out of his home or to eat them where they stood.

Finally Apple Bloom spoke up, "We were chased by timber wolves to the mountain, then we found the cave opening,".

Making up his mind the, dragon picked up a golden scythe with a pure black blade. A red aura surrounded the blade, that created a sense of unease to the fillies. Using the scythe he slashed in a random direction and as he slashed a tear appeared in the air. Turning to the fillies he grabbed one of the fillies with each tentacle before walking into the tear.