...in a land far, far away, there lived a king and queen. They weren't like most other kings or queens in stories because their castle wasn't very big, and they weren't very rich. Their kingdom was nothing to brag about either. But they were happy, because they had everything they could ever need.
They had two children, whom they loved more than anything in the world. As long as they were together, they were all happy.
I was their son. The proud prince of our castle. This is my tale.
We were a strange kingdom. We didn't even have magic, since neither Mommy nor Daddy was a unicorn, nor did they want to use magic at all. The other kingdoms all thought that was strange, since they all used magic in some way, even if they couldn't make it themselves.
We said we didn't need it. We had the sun and the moon, and that was enough. They make us feel warm, give us light, and guide us every day. To use magic would be rude to them.
I told Mommy and Daddy that I wanted to be a knight when I grew up. A hero to make them both proud. They smiled and told me they were glad, but they warned me that every knight must face a great challenge before they can earn that title.
I wasn't scared at all. I said I wouldn't fail them.
Mommy would always smile. Daddy would make her smile. Seeing them smile made me and my little sister smile. We were happy every single day, living together in our little kingdom, surrounded by ponies just as happy as we were, sharing all the love and joy life could give.
But one day, Mommy disappeared. Sis and I tried to look for her, but she wasn't anywhere in the castle, or even in the whole kingdom. I tried asking the neighbors, but they didn't know either. Not the birds or the animals or any living things could tell me. Not even the sun or the moon, though I know they can see everything in the world.
Daddy brought home terrible news the next day. He told me a dragon took her from us. It locked her up in a big tower far away, guarding her day and night.
Sis and I cried. We couldn't believe it. Nothing like this ever happened before. We said we had to do something. We begged him to let us find her.
Daddy stopped us. He said we were too young, but he promised us he would get her back.
Days passed, and Mommy wouldn't return. We couldn't smile anymore. Not without her.
I asked why the dragon took Mommy away. I asked when she would be back. Daddy couldn't answer.
One night, I had a strange dream. I saw Mommy in a white dress standing next to my bed. She smiled at me, but there was something wrong with her. She looked sick.
I asked her what happened. She said the dragon was hurting her.
I tried to ask her why, but she disappeared. A horrid beast took her place. Crimson scales and sharp teeth. A pair of burning yellow eyes.
It stared down at me, flashing an evil grin. Afraid of what it might do, I climbed under the bed and curled up, whimpering. The whole world shook from the thing's laughter.
"Yesss... Run and hide, little pony!" it said. "You cannot stop me! Your mother shall be my feast!"
When I woke up, I told Daddy about the dream. I wanted to know what the dragon meant by "feast."
He didn't say anything. He just hugged me and told me to go back to sleep.
My quest was clear now. Mommy was in trouble, and I had to save her.
This would be my challenge to earn my title as a knight: slay the dragon and rescue my mother so our kingdom could be happy again.
But I needed help. Daddy couldn't come along. His kingdom was small, but it still needed him. He said he'd been paying a ransom to the dragon, and it wouldn't hurt Mommy until we could save her.
I said we shouldn't have to pay a beast not to hurt us. I asked why we can't just fight it. He couldn't answer. He just walked into his room and closed the door. I think he was crying. My sis and I cried as well. We've never seen him cry before.
Sis wanted to come along, but I told her to stay. She was too young. I couldn't risk letting the dragon get her too.
I could barely stop her from crying again. She was taking it the worst among us. Every day she looked more and more gloomy, nothing like the happy little filly she used to be.
She asked Daddy if magic could save Mommy. I thought he would punish her, but he just walked away again. She didn't even try to talk to him after that.
The dragon's curse was upon us all. I had to stop it.
My sis made me promise to bring Mommy back. I said I wouldn't return without her, both of us alive and well.
Daddy helped me find the lands where the dragon lived. Glass and concrete giants were all around. Everything was gray and white. No trees. No grass. Hardly anything green, almost like they were there just so the place could pretend it was alive.
The dragon's lair frightened me. But I had to be brave. For Mommy, I would be brave.
I was joined by a mighty warrior at the gate. He wore bright white armor and a strange medallion around his neck. Sometimes, I would even see him put on a blue mask over his mouth. He said it protects him from evil forces.
His weapon was strange too. It wasn't like any knight's sword I've ever seen. It had a long handle with a small blade at the end. Very very sharp, as he told me. When I asked how such a weird blade would help us, he said it's a special one. It makes the dragon come out of its victims and can cut through its thick hide.
All we have to do is find the beast now. Find where it took Mommy and free her.
I asked him what it wanted from us. The warrior told me horrible things. Every night, the dragon crawled into Mommy's bed and bit into her chest. It fed itself off her and hurt her. It grew stronger, maybe strong enough to take over the world.
Mommy is strong. I know she won't let this happen. She's fighting back. She won't give up.
"We will cut down the beast," the warrior said. His hoof stroked my head. "Your Mommy will smile again."
We advance into the castle. The walls inside and out are strange. White. Lifeless. I'm sure now that only a beast of death would want to live here.
We pass through long, empty hallways. There are chambers to either side. Beds in every one of them. At first, I think this is where the dragon's minions live. That's the only thing that makes sense. These creatures look like ponies, but there's something weird about all of them. They walk around slowly or just stay in bed all the time. They make strange noises and smell bad. Some of them have weird strings and ropes tied to them.
The halls just don't seem to end. I feel sick. The creatures scare me, but my companion doesn't even seem to notice them.
"I don't want to be here..." I whimper.
"Don't worry," the warrior says. "We're almost there."
There are other knights in this place as well. They move back and forth between the rooms and talk to the creatures. So maybe those things aren't evil after all. There must be many others like me who need help to slay the dragon.
But why do they all look so strange?
We turn a corner and reach the final corridor. There is a white door at the far end. The warrior tells me to go ahead. Our hoofsteps make loud echoes as we get close. I fear they might wake the dragon.
I take a deep breath. My hoof shakes as I slowly press the handle and open the door.
Thinking back now, I should have seen it coming. I remember how Mommy looked before it took her away. Something was very wrong, but I couldn't put my hoof on it. She looked pale and tired all the time. When I asked what was going on, she just smiled, but she wouldn't answer.
I did think that she might be sick. But that didn't worry me at the time. We all got sick sometimes. It only took a few days, we would get better, and we could all smile again.
But Mommy wasn't getting better. She kept trying to smile, to keep us all happy, but I could see that it was hard for her. She was in pain. But we just smiled anyway, because we hoped it would make her feel better.
The dragon is sneakier than I thought. It must have been planning this for a long time.
I find myself in a small room with white walls. Mommy is at the opposite side. She has a large white bed all to herself. She's lying on it dressed in white robes. Her eyes are closed, and her face is pale.
I tiptoe across the room and stand beside her bed. My forehooves grasp her own and hold on tight.
"Mommy?"
Her eyes slowly open. She smiles when she notices me, and I feel her squeezing my hoof.
"My beautiful child..." she says. "You came to rescue me."
"Yes, Mommy!" I smile back at her. "We'll save you from the beast, and you can come home. We all miss you so much!"
"I missed you too." She leans forward to kiss my forehead. "I thought of you every hour of every day."
The warrior steps beside me and kneels before her. "My lady," he says. "The dragon will soon return."
She nods weakly. "Yes... I know..."
"Will you reconsider? If we could use the spell, it would—"
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "No," she whispers. I see the pain making her cry. "No magic. We never needed it before." She looks at me and smiles again. "We won't need it now."
Her smile makes me want to cry. I fight back my tears. I want to smile, just like her. I open my mouth and try to say something.
She breathes in and starts coughing very loud. Something red stains her lips and spills onto her chest. She can barely stop, and her breaths sound ragged.
The warrior draws his sword and puts on his mask. He grabs hold of my forehoof and starts dragging me out of the room.
"Go now, little one!" he says. "This is it. The dragon is here!"
I try to resist. I want to go back to her, but he is too strong. He pushes me out into the hallway. Through a small gap between him and the door, I can still see Mommy. She is looking at me.
She is smiling.
"Wait outside!" he tells me. "Once I release the creature, we'll be able to fight it!"
The door closes. No matter how hard I push against it, it won't stop. Just before the gap disappears, I see my mother's eyes one last time.
Hours pass, though they seem like ages to me. I run up and down the corridor, not knowing what to do. I keep thinking of Mommy's face as she looked at me.
Finally, the door opens, and the warrior comes out, drenched in sweat. The sword drops from his grip as he stumbles forward.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." he mutters.
I stare after him as he walks straight past me, a hollow look in his eyes.
His weapon stays behind on the floor. Confused, I pick it up and marvel at its strange shape.
"What happened?" I mutter to myself. "Did he—"
No...
Heart pounding, I run back into the room and go straight to her bed.
"Mommy?"
Her eyes are closed. I grab her hoof and tug on it desperately. I press my head against her chest, praying for a familiar sound.
"Mommy? Are you awake?"
But Mommy doesn't answer. She doesn't move. Her skin is cold. I can't feel her breathe. I hear nothing in her chest.
"Wake up, Mommy! I'm still here!"
I clench my eyes shut. I don't want to cry. I just want to smile. I just want to see her smile again.
"I'm going to save you! Please, just wake up!"
Silence.
"No... Please... Don't do this!"
I bite into my hoof and try to stop my tears, but they pour out of me anyway.
"I don't want this! No! Not this! Please!"
My hooves beat on the mattress. It doesn't even budge. I feel powerless.
I failed her...
"NO! Mommy! Please! Don't... Don't leave me!"
There's a low roar in the distance. The floor shakes beneath my hooves. I gasp and step away from the bed, my eyes darting back and forth as the lights in the room go dim.
"Hello again, little one..."
My blood runs cold. I slowly turn around and see the dragon standing right behind me. I see its tooth-filled grin. I see the evil in its eyes.
It has grown tenfold now. It is bigger than our castle. Bigger than our entire kingdom.
It laughs at me. I fall to my knees as the entire world shakes and almost falls apart. My hooves press against my ears and try to block it out.
"Did you really think you could stop me?" It laughs again. "You are all weak and pathetic. But you do make an excellent meal..."
Its claw points toward Mommy. I look at her face again. The dragon's words echo in my head.
My hooves start to shake. I grit my teeth, climb off the floor, and look up to stare back at the creature. Tears stain my cheeks, but inside I am burning with hatred.
"You monster!" I scream at it. "I'll slay you for what you did! I won't let you hurt anypony ever again!"
I draw the warrior's sword and run straight at the beast. It roars at me and jumps back, dodging my first blow. I follow up with another charge, but each time it just moves out of the way.
Our little dance doesn't last long. I manage to back the dragon into a corner. There's no place left to run.
"Your time has come, monster!" I aim the sword at its heart. "Nopony will ever cry again because of you!"
The sword thrusts out to deliver the final blow. But the dragon doesn't seem to notice. I gasp when it flashes its evil grin at me again and disappears in a cloud of black smoke. Once it clears, the dragon is gone. The blade met nothing but air.
"Struggle all you want, little one. There is no escaping it."
Everything around me goes dark. I drop the sword and fall to the floor. My head is buried under my forelegs as I curl up, tears escaping me once more.
"I've already won."
The warrior returns. He says he is sorry, but the dragon was too strong.
"We needed magic, but... She wouldn't let us..."
I don't say anything. I just want to get out. I never want to see this place again.
He follows me back to the entrance. Once we're outside, he shows me the way back home. I start down the path, but then pause after taking only a few steps.
I remember the promise I made to my sister.
Author's Note
A weird idea I had. No, I won't specify who the kid is, but it isn't any of the "fan favorites."
Quasi-side story to this fic: (link)
Inspired by the Metallica song "Until It Sleeps"
