A Tale of Two Dragons

|CHAPTER THREE|

The Message and the War Room

The new moon rested at the apex of the heavens like a blinded eye trying to gaze down upon the world. Crickets chirped noisily in the brush and the stars gazed down upon the earth below, reveling in the chilly serenity of it all.

“The only problem that I can see with getting to Ponyville is that we’ve got to be more than thirty miles away from it,” the Guard turned to Greymane, “Would it be asking too much for you to perform a long range teleport spell.”

Greymane nodded sheepishly, “Teleporting isn’t my forte,” he admitted.

“Hm,” the Guard growled, scanning over the map again for a few moments, “Dragon,” he turned to Scav.

“It’s Scav,” Scav replied, arms folded and eyes still flaring, “My name is Scav.”

“Whatever, can you fly us to Ponyville?”

“No. A pony or two I can handle, but there’s no way I’d be able to carry our cart as well as the two of you,” Scav replied.

“To tartarus with your cart! You’ll have to leave it here for now,” the Guard growled with a stomp, “Can you carry your friend and I here to Ponyville?”

“You’re crazy if you think that Greymane or I are going to just leave our cart sitting here!” Scav retorted, “If we’re going anywhere, that cart is...”

“Actually...” Greymane interrupted, trailing off and rubbing the back of his neck. Scav looked over at Greymane, “I mean, it’s not like somepony’s gonna steal it. We could just come back once this is all over.”

“The fate of Equestria may lay upon us getting this message to the Princesses,” the Guard agreed, snatching Scav’s gaze away from Greymane, “All I need to do is get to Ponyville and send the message, you’ll be free to go after that. Now, can you carry us to Ponyville?”

Scav bit his lip, looking from the Guard to Greymane, “You-you’re sure, Greymane?”

The unicorn nodded, “Yes.”

Scav turned back to the Guard, “Fine. But once we’ve delivered the message we’re done here, okay?”

The Guard gave a gruff nod.

“Okay then,” Scav said, laying flat on his belly, “get on.”

Later...

“Those lights! Do you see them?!” the Guard called out over the rush of wind and the flapping of wings.

Scav, fatigue pulling his body groundward, looked over the blackness of the ground below, spotting a group of lights amidst the darkness, “Yes!” he called back, “That where we’re headed?!”

“Yes! That should be Ponyville, make haste!”

Scav changed the angle of his wings, rotating his body forwards as he dove for the ground.

“If memory serves me...” the Guard began, unfazed by the rush of wind in his face, whipping his short mane and tail around wildly, “...the messenger lives in the town library, he’s a young dragon named Spike...or was it Spine? One of those two, the name’s not important.”

Scav flared open his wings, catching the wind as he came in for a landing. He aimed for an empty street, landing heavily on all fours and running a few steps to dissipate his momentum before dropping low to let his passengers free.

The two ponies hopped off, Greymane stretching his legs while the Guard turned in a circle, glaring around to spot the library. Scav remained low to the ground, catching his breath.

“I need to get in better shape,” he muttered, rubbing his back with a pained expression.

“So this messenger is a dragon?” Greymane asked, curious.

“Yes,” the Guard replied, heading off, “follow me.”

“Follow you? What?” Scav asked, stretching his back out, “No, the deal was we get you to Ponyville and we’ve done...”

“The deal was that you were free to go once the message has been delivered,” the Guard interrupted, not stopping as he trotted off down the darkened streets, “now follow me.”

“I don’t think so,” Scav growled back, causing the Guard to stop in his tracks and turn around with a glare, “how do you think that you’re going to stop Greymane and I from leaving?”

The Guard opened his mouth to reply, but Greymane beat him to it.

“Scav, wait. Why not just see this through? Aren’t you the least bit curious about all this? I don’t know of a time in history when a large group of dragons came together to do anything besides migrate,” he reasoned. Greymane then trotted a few steps closer, dropping his voice so only Scav could hear his words, “Besides, we might be able to get something nice out of this. We are doing a big thing for Equestria here, maybe we can get a reward of some sort,” he pulled away and his voice returned to normal, “C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

Scav remained silent for a few moments, glaring from Greymane to the Guard and back.

“Fine,” he finally said, “lead the way.”

Later...

Twilight Sparkle flipped to the next page of the book she was reading with a hoof, gentle candlelight seeping over the pages. She continued reading before a loud knock at her door made her flinch, drawing her gaze from the letters.

Twilight frowned down the stairs before glancing outside and noting the time.

“It’s just past midnight,” she said to herself as she got to her hooves, “who in the world could that be?”

With a touch of magic she turned on the downstairs lights, trotting carefully down the stairs as she stifled a yawn. She made her way across the ground floor, frowning as she wondered who could be at her door.

Upon reaching it, she pulled the door open with her magic.

“Can I help you?” she asked the two ponies on her doorstep. The first was a greyly colored unicorn with a jeweler's loupe and the second, a swaybacked earth pony with... “Oh my! What...what happened to you!?  You’re all covered in...in blood!” Twilight gasped at the sight of the beaten and battered earth pony, eyes bulging wide.

“I’m fine, ma’am. I have a...” the earth pony began, only to be cut out by a freaking-out Twilight.

“But you’re hurt!” she exclaimed, gesturing with a hoof, “you’ve got cuts and burns and...”

“I assure you that I’m fine, ma’am!” the earth pony asserted, growing annoyed, “I have a very important letter that I need to get to Princess Celestia with all due haste and I need your dragon to send it, okay?”

“Wait, you’ve got a letter for the princess?” Twilight asked, confusion added to her current symptoms, “Who are you?”

“Royal Guard, earth pony division under captain Charger. But that’s not important. I have a letter that I need to get to the princess immediately! Lives hang in the balance!” the Guard turned to his compatriot, “Greymane, the message!”

Greymane nodded, pulling out the folded message and magicking it to Twilight, who took it in her own magical grip.

“Well...alrighty, then. Why don’t you two come inside. It must be freezing out there,” she moved back to let them in, “head up to my bathroom, there’s some first aid supplies in there. I’ll go have Spike send this, then we can get you to the hospital.”

“If it’s alright with you,” the Guard began as he trotted in, “I’d rather go with you to see that the message is sent without delay.”

“Well, okay. My bedroom and bathroom are right next to each other anyways...”

“Hey, do you mind if he comes in too?” Greymane asked, gesturing back outside to Scav, “Don’t worry, he’s with me.”

“‘Don’t worry?’” Twilight asked, following Greymane’s hoof, “why would I..?” Twilight’s eyes bulged out at the sight of Scav outside, but quickly went back to normal, “Um, sure. Him too.”

“I’m good actually,” Scav said, eyeing the small door frame warily. He looked to Greymane, “I’ll just wait out here.”

“You sure?” Greymane asked.

“Ahem. Miss Sparkle, the letter,” the Guard said, looking around the room.

“Hm?” Twilight asked, looking away from Greymane and Scav, “oh, yes, sorry. Right this way.”

Twilight headed up the stairs with the Guard in tow.

“Are they closed?” Spike asked, looking back over his shoulder with a happy grin.

“Mm-hm,” Rarity nodded, a pleasant smile crossing her lips, her eyes squeezed shut, “now what is this surprise, Spike?”

Looking forwards again, Spike pulled a fine silver necklace with a perfectly cut diamond set into the pendant. He performed an about face and walked up to Rarity, who waited patiently as he clasped it around her neck and took a step back.

“Okay,” he said, his proud smile barely contained, “open them.”

Rarity opened her eyes and looked down at the necklace, eyes sparkling with wonder.

“Oh, Spike! It’s sooo beautiful!” she cooed, looking back up at him and embracing him in a hug. She planted a kiss on his cheek, but suddenly pulled back, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him, “Spike! Wake up! Spike!” she cried as the dream came crashing down...

...“Huh, wuh?” Spike asked, groggily rubbing his eyes as Twilight released him, “T-twilight? Ugh, what time is it?”

“Just after midnight,” Twilight replied, cutting to the chase, “I’ve got a letter that I need sent to the princess, then you can go back to sleep, okay?” she magicked over a folded piece of parchment to the still half-asleep Spike.

“What? Another friendship report? But I thought you already had me...”

“Oh, for the love of Celestia! Why is it that whenever someone is asked to do something they always have to go around asking questions and not actually doing anything!” an exasperated voice growled. The owner of the voice, the Guard, came up next to Twilight, “Just send the message!”

“Geez, okay, okay!” Spike said, leaning away. He held up the parchment and blew a flame on it, vaporizing the message into a flurry of magical energy that zipped out a window and offwards to the horizon.

“Finally!” the Guard exclaimed, feeling a great weight lift from his shoulders.

“I think you could have asked that a little nicer,” Twilight said, fixing the guard with an unhappy look. She looked down to Spike, “thank you, Spike.”

The Guard opened his mouth to speak, then promptly shut it as his legs grew wobbly, his body swaying. Twilight’s eyes turned to him, a question rising in its wake.

“Um...are you sure that you’re okay?” she asked, “Here, let me grab my first aid kit.”

“F-fine...” the Guard assured her, holding a hoof to his forehead, “...as a...” and then he decided to faceplant into the floor.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Scav replied, “In fact, I think I’m going to go pay Los Pegasus a visit,” Scav glared up the stairs at the receding form of the Guard, “Call me suspicious, but I don’t exactly believe our ‘Royal Guard’ friend here.”

Greymane was quiet for a second as what Scav was implying sunk in, “You don’t believe him?”

“No,” Scav replied, watching as the subject of their conversation made his way up the stairs behind Twilight, “not on his word alone, at least.”

“Fair enough,” Greymane replied, glancing back over his withers, “though those injuries look convincing enough…”

“Still, though,” Scav replied, eyes going back to Greymane, “what he’s saying doesn’t add up, I want to see Los Pegasus for myself. You coming?”

Greymane considered for a moment and then shook his head, “No, I think I’ll stay here and keep an eye on our friend. If he turns out to be some nut, then I could see us being rewarded for keeping a good eye on him. The same goes if he’s telling the truth and we really just did help assist Equestria in getting this message out.”

Scav nodded, “See you in a bit, then,” he said, turning and lifting his wings before thrusting them groundwards and lifting into the night sky. Greymane shielded his eyes from the blast of dust that the takeoff sent up before closing the door and looking around.

“Hm, cozy little place,” he remarked.

A yell of fright came from up the stairs.

Elsewhere…

Sitting cozily on a large, round cushion set out before a crackling fireplace, princess Celestia read over Twilight’s most recent report. A small smile graced her lips as her eyes slid back and forth, reading over the well written lines of ink.

A quiet pop of a spell materializing made the alicorn flinch, taking her eyes off the report as a new piece of folded parchment landed before her.

Another friendship report? she thought with a quiet frown, That’s odd...

She set down the current report and selected the other document with her magic, immediately noticing that the parchment was of a different quality than Twilight’s. Unfolding it showed that the writing style was different as well, deepening her frown. If not from Twilight, then who had sent the letter?

Twenty-two-hours. the letter began, as her eyes flowed over the page...bulging wide by the end of the short reading.

Los Pegasus destroyed… she read again, fifty to seventy dragons...inhabitants were massacred...threat to continued razing equestria’s cities until the princesses surrender the throne...immediate action requested.

Celestia stood, dropping the parchment as her magical grip faded. She rushed to the doors, flinging them open with a blast of energy. The two Guards posted to either side of them, jumped at the noise, startled from a quiet conversation as they turned to their leader. Their stoic expressions quickly turned to worry as they spotted Celestia’s face.

“Is there something the matter, prin…” the Guard to the left began.

“Yes, there is,” Celestia cut in, not wasting any time, “fetch my sister and Captains Shining Armor, Charger, and Wingald. Have them meet me in the war room,” both Guard’s eyes widened at the mentioning of the war room, Celestia turned to the other Guard, “you, come with me!”

“Yes, your highness,” both Guards chorused, the first rushing off as the second followed Celestia as she galloped down the hallway and towards the war room.

Celestia feared that war was on the horizon.