The Red Dragon of Change

Chapters

Winning & Equestria
Trains & Ponies
Town & Talks
Uncertain Goodbyes
Royal Talks and A Dark Past

Winning & Equestria

“COME ON! Is that the best you can do?!” I shouted from my nest as I sent a ball of fire at my opponent. I knew I had this game locked down as they started throwing their Watchers at me. Watchers were... well, the most accurate description would be giant demon cannibalistic babies.

When Square Enix announced a reboot of Drakengard I knew I’d be buying it, however it came as a pleasant surprise when I found out that they’d be unleashing an interactive demo tournament at Games ‘Con.

Naturally, I joined as soon as I could - under a fake name of course - and picked the best character that was in the line up. The dragon, Angelus. I won’t go into detail about my strategy since it was basically just guerrilla warfare and trying to keep my nest small enough to slip under the other contestant’s radar.

I spat another fireball at my opponent’s avatar as it came too close. The crimson knight that was Inuart rolled to the side as fire washed over where he had been standing not moments ago. I laughed as he summoned his dragon, only for it to fall to my aerial defenses I had set up.

“Give up! You don’t have a chance,” he shouted, trying to look like he was in control.

“Your armies have fallen as well as your companion. And yet, you tell me to throw the match?” I said as I put a bit of drama into my speech. I loved to make things a bit more real, and I thought I was a great actor. “That’s almost enough to make me laugh.” I lunged for him suddenly and swept him up in my jaws before snapping his spine with the force of my jaws. I laughed, throwing his corpse down in front of me and lunging down to te-

“CONGRATULATIONS. YOU WIN!” flashed before my eyes. I could hear cheering going off, and a moment later everything went black. Dammit! Right at the best part, I thought as I opened my eyes and removed the helmet from my head and looked out at the crowd of people who had come to witness the new demo.

Looking out over the crowd, I saw the rest of the convention. You couldn’t even tell that this was the same place that all those disappearances had happened. Hell, many advisors told my dad not to use this place for his first ever time of planning Games ‘Con because of all the disappearances a hundred thirty-two years ago. But like always, his mind had been made and the workers had gotten out their dusters and tools to get this place shining again.

I turned to my left and saw a guy removing his helmet as well, he looked pissed and I couldn’t help but smirk. “That’s why you never mess with the best.”

“Yeah yeah, ‘die like the rest’ and all that shit,” The guy said as he flipped me the bird.

“Ha! In your dreams, bitch!” I turned around and walked up the steps to the main stage. It was then that I noticed the cheering had stopped and when I looked over to where the podium was, I saw my dad standing there. .... Fuck, he’s the one in handing out the prize?

Nathaniel Martin, C.E.O. of Square Enix and my father, was giving me an unamused look. I sighed internally. Great, now he’ll lecture me on being too instinctual again.... Not to mention lying to get into the tournament.

I’d actually listen to him, if not for the fact that literally everyone was afraid to play against me. And I’d bitch and moan about being alone... except I forced everyone away. I became the best pro-gamer ever with a win streak of over a thousand in any game you could think of, and I could get away with playing all day since it was my job to test all the games R&D comes up with.

It took most of my will to stand there next to him. I didn’t pay much attention to the crowd or what my dad was saying, but as I reached for the prize I saw what looked like a Moogle from that one franchise reach for it as well. It tapped the box of collector’s coins before disappearing, making me pause for a moment.

What was that? I thought as I paused, only for my dad to clear his throat. Glancing up at him I took hold of the box. And was suddenly in a different place.

I glanced around, affirming that, yes, I was in a snowy valley devoid of trees. Almost like it was a place game developers had forgotten about. There were a few rocks spread around, one of them looking like it was made of some sort of green material. Instead of being covered with snow, there was actual moss on it.

It was very out of place and actually made me snort in amusement. What developer would put a key item or place like that in the middle of all this white? And the moss didn’t even look like it... was....

That’s not just any rock, that’s an enemy, I thought as I tried to walk over to the rock, only to fall on my face.

“What the fuck happened?” I asked quietly. My eyes widened as I noticed my voice sounded rougher, more gravelly. Right in front of me in the snow was the box of coins I had just won. “Where did you bring me...? And which game is this?”

I looked over at my side where I felt the familiar weight of a folded wing. I felt as if my body temperature was several degrees higher, yet for some reason I didn’t feel sick, and truth be told the extra body head was welcomed as I felt the cold wind bite at me. Trying to stand I could feel something dragging behind me. Stopping to get my bearings I took a moment to calm down.

I avoided looking at the box of coins, the thought that they had something to do with me being here, while silly, was the only thing I had to go on. “It’s just a VR,” I told myself as I turned my head to inspect my body. “I really detailed VR,”

My body was covered from head to tail in crimson scales. My tail itself was huge and it reminded me of a scorpion's tail. The tip was more bone than flesh and it resembled a stinger. Looking down I saw my arms were missing, and yet somehow I could feel myself lowering my arms to steady myself. Looking at where the limbs should be, instead of arms I now had wings.

“So I’m a wyvern-” I noticed the green enemy move from the corner of my eye and turned my head, a growl making its way out of my throat. Not only do I have to figure out a new type of dragon, but I also have to fight an enemy as well? I smirked. These developers know how I like my learning curve.

As the enemy woke up, I could see that it was a dragon. It was taller than me and was messing with something around its front that I couldn’t see, but I thought I could take him down. I’d killed bigger before, way bigger.

I growled again, whipping my tail in the snow to make even more noise. “Looks like I have my first kill.”

The dragon turned to look at me and smiled as he said, “You best be ready for a true fight then!” He lumbered over to me - and there was no doubt about him being a guy since his pole was in full view - and chuckled. “You’re a bit on the weak side, but you got a lot of fire in you if you think you can take me.”

“Ugh, put that thing away before you lose it, you damn Hentai reject,” I growled, letting my gaze rest just above his head. “Besides, I’ve taken down bosses bigger than little minion NPCs like you.”

He laughed and grabbed something on top of my head, pulling me up until I was eye to eye with him. “You’re even more fiery then I had thought!” He licked the side of my muzzle.

Eugh.... Damn NPC’s from that Corruption of Champions game, I thought as I shook my head roughly. “Okay, that’s it. You’re more than just dead!” I lunged forwards and latched onto the spine on top of the dragon’s head, twisting his neck and flipping him onto his back.... A bit more easily than I thought I would. “Seems like you’re weaker than you thought, damn NPC.” I pulled my tail over and plunged int-

The dragon growled as he caught my tail and threw me against one of the boulders in the valley. “You want a show of force!? I’ll give you one!” As I tried to regain my breath, the dragon stalked over and plunged his tail spikes into the membrane on my wing making me use the breath I had regained to cry out in pain.

Fuck! Why did it hurt so much? They’re supposed to dull the pain in these VRs to where it isn’t agonizing when we break a leg! I thought, my eyes widening.

“Now you’re mine, little wyvern,” he taunted as he placed his claws around my wings preventing me from moving them. “and I don’t intend to let you escape.”

I watched as he lined himself up down there. I thrashed around hoping to throw him off so I could escape, but he was much larger than me... and stronger. I closed my eyes as I tried to block out what was about to happen next.

“Hey asshole!” I heard someone shout nearby. A moment later I heard the dragon above me shout in pain as he was thrown off. Getting up quickly I turned to see a green rhino standing next to me, it’s horn covered in blood.

Turning to face the dragon I saw a large gash running down his side, it wasn’t very deep, his scales seemed to take most of the blow, but he was still bleeding and it was giving him trouble. I turned to face the rhino again only to see it was gone, instead standing there was... Beast Boy? The boy standing next to me was green like the character from the TV show, but he was different.

Instead of looking more wild and wearing a loincloth like in the show, he seemed more well groomed and was wearing a weird black and purple track suit. It was strange.

I stared at him for a moment before saying, “I’m not in a VR, am I?”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’d say no.” He replied not taking his eyes off of the other dragon. “Need some help?”

My eyes widened and then narrowed. “I don’t need help from a boy such as you!” I turned to face the dragon who was just then getting up. “I have this under control.”

The dragon roared and charged forward as I reared up on my back legs, trying to make myself appear bigger while I tried to shoot a ball of fire at the dragon, but before I even open my maw, I felt something clamp around my throat. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw the dragon’s maw around my throat. He wasn’t biting hard enough to puncture anything but I freaked a bit and began to struggle.

His jaws tightened slightly as I tried to free my neck. The feeling of something being torn from my body and an intense pain were the only things I could feel. I gasped as I felt warm blood running down my throat and chest and I could feel my skin crawl as his tongue lapped along my neck. In a moment of desperation my tail shot out from the side and stabbed him in one of his shoulders.

He immediately let go but not before I felt one of his claws raking down my neck and chest. I screamed in pain as more blood leaked down my chest. Before I could get back up and charge him again, I saw Beast Boy, in the form of a T-Rex, charge the dragon. His head connected with the head of the dragon which caused him to clutch his head.

Before the dragon could recover, Beast boy roared and sank his teeth into the base of the dragon's wings, causing him to roar in agony. Letting go, Beast Boy returned to his base form before he jumped away from the dragon, who was now spewing fire in anger.

“Pesky little rodent!” the dragon screeched.

I growled and lunged forward, my teeth closing around the dragon’s throat. He yelped and tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip and before I tore his windpipe out he said, “This isn’t how mating wor-” His claws raked my underside in his death throes, drawing more blood and pain. I screamed in pain again and spat out the chunk in my mouth, closing my jaws around his spine and crushing it.

I turned to Beast Boy and growled out, “I told you I had this under control!”

“Well excuse me for saving your life, I guess I should have just minded my own business and let that dragon kill you,” he said giving me his own growl.

I growled and took a step towards him, only to yelp as I collapsed from the pain. I grit my teeth and stood up, putting less weight on my right wing. “You didn’t help me as much as you seem to think, whelp!”

He nodded his head as he stroked his chin in thought. “So... when he had you pinned and I knocked him off, you didn’t need my help then?” he smirked as my frown only deepened.

“In case you didn’t notice I was going to tear his throat out, much like I did just now.” It was a lie, but there was no way I was going to acknowledge that he helped me. Not after the last time.

“Fine, so I didn’t help you,” he said holding his hands up, “Doesn’t matter now, what does matter is you’re bleeding and we need to stop it.”

I growled again and unconsciously took a step back. “We aren’t going to do anything. You are going to turn around and leave.”

“Oh so you’re an expert on this sort of thing? That’s good to know, tell me how long have you been away from home?”

I snarled as I thought over my options. There wasn’t really much I could do.... Except letting him help me out of this predicament or die because of one reason or another. My tail lashed out at a boulder and pulverized part of it as I lowered my head in defeat. “Fine. Tend to my wounds.”

He shook his head. “Not here, I don’t have any supplies and it’s too cold to do anything out here. I’ll take you to my cave and head for the nearest town to steal some supplies,” he said as he turned and headed back the way he had appeared from.

I gave his back a look of disgust before covering it up and saying, “May you please grab that wooden box for me?”

“Oh please? So you do have manners. That should make this easier,” he snarked before looking around and picking up the box with my coins.

“If it gets me free manual labor, yes.” I bent down and bit into the dragon’s carcass, intent on dragging it with us.

Trains & Ponies

I tapped my claws on the floor of the cave, my stomach growling reminding that I had eaten the rest of the dragon yesterday. Ugh, when will he be back? I bet he got lost and can’t find his way back. I looked over at the bones and patches of scale left over, trying to find a scrap of meat that I had missed. Nope, nothing on them. Just like the last few times I checked.

My mood fell as I thought again about this whole situation. I could still feel my wounds, I could feel the dried blood between my scales and how sticky it was.... I shuddered as I remembered how much the dragon’s claws hurt as they dug into my hide. The helmets are hard coded to reduce the pain the wearers feel while in a VR. But this.... This isn’t a VR, it hurts far too much.

Then there was this... boy who had helped me - is helping me. It rankled my pride to think that I actually needed help from anyone, but that’s the price you pay for not thinking you’d lose your very first fight. He stitched up the wounds I had gotten from the fight, and had flown off to get us some more food.

I looked outside and saw that the sun was higher in the sky then before. My stomach growled again and I growled with it.

“Fuck it! He knows I’m almost recovered enough to travel, he’s probably left me here to fend for myself,” I said as I stood shakily and walked out of the cave, yelping when I fell and slid down the side of the mountain. When I finally stopped sliding, the ground was rocky and I could feel new pain from my wounds. “Dammiiiit....”

I stood again and looked around me, I looked up to see the entrance of the cave, and noted the slope I had fallen down. Along the drag marks I made I saw spots of blood and looked down at where I had landed finding more blood. “Fuck, the fall must’ve broken some of the stitches. Oh well, not much I can do until Cyril gets back to the cave. And this time, I’ll make sure he wraps them.”

I turned to face down the mountainside, trying to find which way Cyril had flown off to. As I was looking around, I saw something that looked like a bridge over a gorge in the mountains. I doubt he went towards that, I thought as I looked around a bit more, my gaze wandering back to the strange bridge after a while. It... wouldn’t hurt to check it out, though.

The sun had made a noticeable shift towards the west, and the sky was starting to darken. It was still bright enough for me to see, but I found the slowly fading light aggravating, but after three hours of walking I had finally made it to the base of the mountain. Several times I had almost lost my footing in the steep snow, and slippery ice. VR’s had prepared me for the sudden shift in form, but it couldn’t match it exactly.

Once at the base of the mountain, I turned to see the strange bridge in front of me. I moved closer to get a better look. The appeared to be two extremely long pieces of metal, with wooden planks underneath them. The wooden planks weren’t even pressed against each other, which left several gaps in between. If this was a bridge, it was a poorly constructed one.

Something similar to a loud whistling blow drew my attention. Lifting my head and turning it to my left I watched as one of those old train things came around a bend far down the metal rails.

“.... What the fuck am I looking at?”

There in front of me was something out of one of those very old little girl shows. The train engine was mostly a soft shade of pink and there were hearts all over it - even the windshield was heart-shaped!

The screeching of metal on metal filled the air as the train slowed, stopping completely not even four inches from me. No sooner had the train stopped, did one of the doors open. Turning to peer around the trains engine, I watched as the pinkest fluffiest pony I had ever seen jumped out, of course she was the only pink pony I had ever seen but still I’m sure she set the standards. Following the pink pony out of the train was a blue pony who had wings and a rainbow mane and tail.

I raised an eyebrow and said, “Someone sure loves their gay pride.”

I watched as the rainbow pony, who looked pissed to begin with, scrunched her face. “I’m not gay!” She screeched as she took to the air and hovered above me. “and what are you doing on the train tracks? Hoping to collect something shiny for your hoard!” she accused pointing her hoof so close to my face I could bite it.

“Already getting into the specist slurs, I see.” I took two steps back, pulling my head and neck out from above the tracks. “I was investigating because I didn’t know what they were.-”

“They’re tracks silly! You’ve never seen train tracks?” The pink one asked, her voice unusually high.

“Not personally. I’d heard of trains and their iron tracks, but haven’t seen any until now.”

“Yeah well just because they shine don’t get any ideas,” The rainbow one replied still sounding pissed, I thought she needed to get laid.

“Just because I’m a dragon, doesn’t mea-” I look off to the side, my eyes wide. “OOOOH! Shiny thing!”

I heard the pink one snort in laughter while the rainbow one just huffed. “She told you Dashie,” the pink one said pointing to the rainbow mare.

I looked back at Rainbitch and gave her a smile. “What? Don’t like my humor? Maybe you just need a good lay. That’ll help you relax.”

The sounds of anger and speechlessness that followed were too funny. Laughing at her expression, I grunted in pain. I felt another stitch in my stomach pop, and I could feel the fresh drips of blood that escaped and fell onto the barely melted snow. The pink one seemed to spot my discomfort first as she stopped laughing herself.

“Well, it was fun messing with you two, but I need to continue looking for someone,” I said as I turned to leave.

“Yea good riddance, lous- ow Pinkie!” She shouted in pain as the pink pony jabbed a hoof in the rainbow mare’s side, before she could say anything, Pinkie pointed to me and then to the blood I had left behind.

“We can’t leave her Dashie, she’s hurt,” Pinkie said causing Dash to sigh in frustration.

“She’s a dragon, it’ll take more than that to kill her.”

“Plus my... companion is around somewhere,” I said. “I’ll find him sometime today.”

“See Pinkie Pie, there's another dragon around here to help her, let's go.”

“Hah! As if that green-skinned goblin could ever be a dragon,” I exclaimed as I picked a random direction and started walking.

I didn’t hear them say anything for a while, it seemed they were confused. “Green skin? You mean green scales...right?” Dash asked flying into my field of view.

I stopped and gave her a deadpan look. “Naw, I meant green fur. Of course I mean skin! I know the difference between scales and skin.”

Both Pinkie and Dash looked at each other a look passing between them before Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Tall, wears a black and purple outfit, has really long pointy ears and a tooth sticking out from his bottom jaw, really loves cupcakes and eating out of the trash?” Pinkie asked getting really specific

“Don’t know about that last one, but yeah. That’s Cyril.”

“Cyril?” Rainbitch asked “That’s his name? Anyways when you see him...tell him we said...thanks,” She mumbled the last word as if it physically hurt her.

“And let him know that if he’s ever in Ponyville again, I’ll throw him a ‘welcome to Ponyville/thanks for helping us get our cutiemarks back’ party.”

“Sure, I’ll also tell him the fairy king was looking for him to give him a giant cock,” I said as I stepped around Rainbitch and continued walking.

“Hey we’re serious!” Dash yelled as she tried to fly back in my path. “He really helped us out there, we might never have gotten our cutiemarks back if he hadn’t busted us out of that room!”

I gave her my most apathetic look. “And he already knows that. I’m not going to tell him something he knows, especially if it’s about him doing something good.”

“Rainbow, we can’t let her just walk off,” Pinkie Pie whispered rather loudly. “She might not find him in time.”

I sighed and lifted myself up onto my hind legs, showing them the stitches. “I’m not that badly hurt. A few stitches popped when I tried to exit the cave, yes, but I came looking for him because I was hungry and he was taking too long.”

I heard the rainbow one sigh before grabbed something from the train. Returning I saw she held a first aid kit with her. “Stitches or no stitches, that’ll get infected if you leave it like that. I’ll disinfect it, and wrap it and we can go our separate ways without me feeling like a jerk, okay?”

“Okay,” I said as I went back onto all fours. “I’d rather be helped by someone who knows what they’re doing than him.”

Dash shook her head. “I can’t stitch, but I can at least stop your bleeding,” She said though she sounded like she wasn’t happy with the idea.

A frown crossed my face, I was going to have to rely on that shape shifter again. “I guess I could have Cyril redo them then.” Ugh.... Wait, he had to get his supplies from somewhere. I could just try to find the town he found them in. I might not be trusted right away due to the reactions of these two mares, but I’m certain I can at least ask for help. With that thought, I settled down some and lay still for the blue mare.

The blue mare, or Dashie as her name was, approached me. Looking over the stitches she gave a curious grunt. “Seems you only popped a few stitches. You should be fine, but I’m going to disinfect this wound and wrap it.” She said, all business like. She didn’t even look up at me when she said it.

“He isn’t my friend. I’m forced to rely on him for help because a dragon attacked me,” I growled. Shit, I guess I have to keep a tighter lid on that.

“So if you’re not friends why’s he helping you? If he didn’t consider the two of you friends he’d have just left you alone,” Pinkie Pie asked. Tilting her head like a dog in confusion.

“I don’t know, why did he help you?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “As far as I can tell he puts on a show of being tough when in reality he has a soft heart and wants to help everyone.”

“So why aren’t you friends then?” Pinkie Pie asked smiling. “If he wants to help everyone why wouldn’t you want a friend like him? It’s better to have someone you can count on then do things on your own,”

I gave the pink mare a withering glare and said, “Because I hate males. I know they are necessary to bring new life into the universe, but I hate every last one of them.” With that, I turned my head away from them.

I heard hushed whispers between the two mares, but I tried to ignore it, already they were getting on my nerves. I would let the blue mare finish and then I’d be gone. “So you like other mares?” I heard Dashie say.

“What else could you get from that?” I said, trying to make my voice sound less annoyed than it already was. “‘S not like there’s a third gender or anything.”

There was silence for several long minutes, but as the blue mare worked on my wounds, I grew bored. I tried to take in my surroundings hoping to find something interesting to watch, but all I saw was mountains, the two mares, the train and what looked like a stallion who peered over the edge of the door to the engine of the train.

“There, I think I’m done,” Dashie said as she stood up and looked at her work. I looked down as well and saw the white bandages stick out from my red scales.

I nodded in approval and looked at the mare. “Thanks. I take it these will hold while I search for Cyril?”

I watched her give me a hesitant look. “I wouldn’t say that, but if you walk, instead of flying you’ll be fine.”

I chuckled softly. “Telling a dragon that doesn’t know how to fly not to.” I shook my head and turned to face the mountain away from the tracks. “There’s a joke there somewhere.” I started walking away before they could ask what I meant. Let them keep their questions. They’re lucky I told them as much as I did.

Town & Talks

It had been about an hour since I had left the train tracks, leaving the two mares standing there without looking back when I rested. Even more proof that I’m not in a VR, I thought as a laid down in the snow, breathing heavily. The developers had always retained some tiny details to make sure gamers knew it wasn’t real, not getting tired from just walking one of them.

“Damn.... Where is that town he found?” I asked myself as I looked around, trying to find manmade structures or something that at least looked like it had been made by someone intelligent. I growled as I saw only the mountains and snow. “Great, if I can’t find that I’ll have to go crawling back to Cyril.” My tail lashed out at the snowbank behind me, wiping it away and producing a peculiar scraping noise.

I sighed and turned some so I could see what that was. I was on what looked to be a cobblestone road that led up the mountain, if the rectangular evenness of the stones I saw were any indication. “.... I was walking on a road this whole time?”

Well, it’ll be relatively easy to clear this snow away with fire, I thought, drawing in a huge breath... only for nothing to come out when I exhaled. Wat. I-I followed the tutorial from the VR. Why didn’t it work!?

“Grrr.... It’s not likely I’m doing something wrong, so maybe-” My stomach growled then, interrupting me and bringing a blush to my cheeks. “.... Yeah, that.”

I sighed and looked to my right wing. Maybe I could try blowing the snow out of the way? .... It might unbalance me though and if that happens, I’ll be on my back and sliding down the mountain before I can recover. I shook my head and said, “No, I’ve done riskier things than this. Why let some snow and a bit of ice deter me?”

Rising on my back legs I use my front legs, which also happened to be attached to my wings, I began to flap them like a little kid would do when imitating the act of flying. I...was to hasty in my excitement and ended up putting too much force into flapping my wings. I noticed my shift in weight too late as I began to lean backwards. I flailed in an attempt to regain my balance but that only served to put me on my ass.

I was on an inclined hill and when I had fallen I hit a patch of ice. I began to slide down the hill, the snow not helping to slow me down in the slightest. I scream as I seemed to pick up speed and the hill seemed to grow steeper and stee- whoa, that was a sudden stop. I felt a tickle on my nose and crossed my eyes to see what the white stuff on the tip was. All I had time to think was, shit. Before what felt to be an entire snow bank fell on me.

“Fucking great,” I grumbled as I pushed my head up and out of the snow. “Someone’s laughing at me, I just know it....” I shook the snow off of my face, only to be greeted by screams of terror coming from a group of foals. “Um.... Sorry about crashing into your school. Heh, I kinda lost my balance and slid down the mountain.”

The group ran off, shouting about the big dragon squishing their teacher. .... Wait, what? I thought as I felt something move under my right wing... and in my wing. “Shiiiiit....” Trying my best to roll off of whoever was under me, I felt what was in my wing slide out and snow fall into the wound. I shuddered from how cold it was and looked to the pony I had landed on. She didn’t seem to be hurt other than being knocked out, but her horn and face were covered in my steaming blood. “Great, now I have another injury to take care of!”

“Halt dragon!” I heard someone shout. My head snapped in the direction of the voice. I saw three ponies wearing golden armor running at me with spears held in the air next to them, while three pegasi flew overhead.

The ponies on the ground stopped a good distance away from me, while the three pegasi began to fly in circles around me. The pony who lead the other two unicorns stepped forward and pointed his spear at my face.

“You are currently in violation of the dragon/pony citizen treaty. By order of Princess Celestia, you are to leave Rainbow falls immediately or face the consequences,” The unicorn said as he inched closer to me.

I stared at the spear tip as it rested not even half an inch from my nose as I said, “So because a pretty pony princess says so, I can’t get my wounds looked after?”

The guard’s eyes moved to look at my bandages around my chest and neck before his eyes moved to my punctured wing. A moment later he spoke. “It looks like you have someone taking care of you already, I won’t ask again, leave Rainbow Falls or we will be forced to remove you.” I saw the determination in his eyes, he wasn’t playing around.

I stared at the guard and let my mask fall for a moment, showing him all the disgust and hatred I had for pigs like him. “Now listen here you little prick! I just walked through all that snow, almost got run over by a train, and got even more hurt from my fall.” I bit the head of the spear off crushing it in my teeth and swallowing it before leaning forward and putting my face in his. “Now, I’m tired, irritable, and you’re looking like a tasty morsel, so either make your move or go get me a doctor!”

The pony commander shuffled back a bit before he turned to the other two unicorns. They exchanged a look and a nod. A moment later the pony whose spear head I had eaten used his magic to pull a sword from his side. The other two unicorns pointed their spears at me, and I heard the sound of metal scraping metal above me.

“Guards!” The commander shouted. “Force the dragon to retreat!”

“So be it,” I growled, my tail lashing the ground behind me and sending the mare flying into a deep bank of snow. “You wish to fight an injured dragon, you’ll face its teeth and claws!”

The guards on the ground spread out, the commander facing me, while the other two moved to flank either side of me, however I quickly flapped my wings sending snow into the air and blinding the guards on the ground. Lashing out with my tail, I sent the guard on my left crashing into the snow next to the unconscious mare, but before I could take care of the guard on my right, one of the pegasi dove at me.

Pain lanced across my back but I didn’t feel any blood. Turning I tried to catch the pegasi with my teeth, but he got away. The snow quickly settled down again, as the guard on my right tried to stab me with his spear. I moved out of the way and and blew a cloud of smoke into his face making him fall over coughing, again a pegasi dived and more pain shoot through my back. They must have been using some kind of billy club or something because while it hurt when they hit me, I couldn’t feel any blood.

The process of the pegasi diving at me and flying away before I could catch them went on for awhile. it seemed they were alternating who would attack and when, but they always aimed for my back.

I smirked as I figured out their plan of attack. As one of the guards attacked from the ground I went to bite at his spear, but immediately whipped my head up and knocked the pegasus that was going to hit me off his course. “It’ll take more than an annoyance to get rid of me!” I said as I lunged forward and bit the sword that was heading for me off down to the hilt.

The other two pegasi dove to get my attention. My response was to quickly turn around and roar at them before baring my teeth. As expected the guards had never fought a dragon before and roaring in their face’s had scared them making them crash to the ground instead. Blowing smoke from my nostrils I ensured they would get back up and turned to face the commander. I lowered my head so that my eyes were level with his own. “Now about that doctor....”

Thud

“...Dammit he fainted.” I growled in annoyance. “Oh well, I guess I should just try to find the hospi-” My stomach growled, interrupting me.

Turning to face the two pegasi I had scared I found that they had fled. I cursed and looked around to find that the other guards as well as the school teacher had mysteriously disappeared. Turning left and right I saw them retreating back towards the center of town.

“.... Maybe I should’ve gotten something to eat before I came here,” I muttered, walking towards where the ponies had fled to.

I didn’t get far before a shadow passed over me. Thinking it was more pegasi, I readied myself to snap at them, only to stop as I saw a green hawk. I frowned at Cyril and said, “You were taking so long to get back I had thought you had become food for something.”

“Screech!” Was his response before he landed on my back. His talons touched down on where the guards had hit me, making me wince a little.

I raised an eyebrow. “What, time to get back to the cave?”

“Screech!” he replied and pointed towards the mountains with a wing.

“Fine then, don’t talk to me,” I snarked as I started towards where he had pointed.

I watched him take to the sky again before he started to circle me. Turning to look behind me I saw the guard trying to get organized, I’d be long gone by the time they actually got done.

“The hell were you thinking?” Cyril yelled at me, his voice bouncing off the walls making him sound louder than he actually was. He was currently working to make sure my wing was stitched and bandaged.

“Well excuse me, princess. All I was trying to do was get out of your hair when they attacked me,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s like you actually want to take care of a dragon that does nothing but cause you trouble.”

“Shut the hell up!” he growled at me. “You still think this is some kind of game? Because it’s not! It’s hard to like a dragon when they tend to eat you!” I watched him shake his head as he pulled the bandages tight around my wing.

I glared at Cyril. “I know this isn’t a game! Before I slid into that town I almost got ran over by a girly-looking train and two ponies helped me by bandaging my wounds, the pink one said I should give ponies a chance to be nice so I did.” I paused and held back a wince from him tightening a bandage too much. “I held back from killing those ponies because I knew it would lead to too much trouble.”

I heard him sigh before sitting back, his face looked tired and he seemed to be under stress. “You went about it wrong. Those ponies have a herd mentality. You want to make nice with them, you have to do it one at a time.” I watched him stand and move towards the fire, his back facing me. “As for why I’m helping you... When I first showed up here, I was confused and didn’t have anyone to tell me these things.”

I stared at him for a moment before snorting in amusement, a lick of flame coming from my nostrils and surprising me. “You actually think I care what you’ve gone through?”

There was his anger again as he turned to face me. His eyes burning not from the fire light but with rage. “I’ve come so close to dying so many times I’ve lost count, I’ve broken bones and had to reset them myself so they wouldn’t heal wrong. I’ve had to hunt and kill and hide just to stay alive!” He was practically screaming now. “If I hadn’t shown up when I did that dragon would have killed you and you know it! So stop being a snarky asshole and just accept my help before you get yourself killed!”

I kept up my glare as I spoke in a low tone, “I am accepting your help, whether I like it or not you are the only one that seems to want to help me. I’m being as nice as I can to a male like you so I don’t end up freezing to death out here!”

He turned to face the fire again seemingly trying to ignore me. The silence between the two of us lasted for what seemed like minutes. “Two mares helped you earlier? What did they look like?”

“One was completely pink, the other was a rainbitch called Dashie.”

His head snapped up but he didn’t turn to me this time. “Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were around here? You didn’t tell them where we were did you?”

“Why, you scared of little mares like them?” I chuckled. “No, I didn’t, but they did ask about you.”

“What did you tell them?”

“Only your name.” I rolled my eyes and stepped over to the entrance of the cave. “Geez, it’s like you actually are afraid of them.”

“...They are two of the most powerful mares in this world. They’ve battled a corrupted king, a mad god, a warring Queen and a tyrannical centaur bent on world domination, and they once tried to catch me. I think being cautious is a more accurate word for how I feel right now.”

I chuckled as I laid down.“So I insulted what amounts to Goku, eh? They didn’t seem like they’d attack anything indiscriminately, so I think we’re okay for now.”

“If they’re not looking for me then why were they out here?” He whispered more to himself. “Did they say where they were headed or what they were doing out here?”

“No, they were on the train that almost ran me over. Seriously, didn’t you pay attention to what I was saying?”

A sigh left him and he seemed to calm down a bit. “So long as they aren’t near me I think I’ll be fine.” Again silence reigned in the cave as we both had nothing else to say.

Heh, he’s definitely afraid of them, I thought as I watched out the mouth of the cave. Now what was that with the fire earlier? The only thing I can think of is the metal from the spear and sword being the difference. Maybe that’s how dragons actually breathe fire? They eat different metals and what they eat determines how hot their flames are? Maybe part of their diet as well since I’m not as hungry as I was before.

“Glad to know I can just bring you any metal I find instead of hunting for enough rabbits for the two of us.”

I stiffened slightly and turned to look at Cyril, embarrassed that I had spoken my thoughts. “Not just any metal. I’m not going to eat anything that has rust on it or is brittle.”

He nodded poking one of the coals before he sighed and spoke up. “How did you get here?”

“.... You led me here...?”

“Equestria not this cave.” He deadpanned.

I shrugged and turned to look back outside the cave. “Dunno. I was in a tournament for a reboot of an extremely old game, like before the disappearances. I won the tournament and when I went to take the prize I was suddenly in that valley where you found me.”

“Disappearances?” He asked his ears perking up. “What disappearances?”

“Some gamers from over a hundred years ago disappeared from a ‘con. My dad thought it would be a good idea to host his first in the same building.”

“You happen to know any of the names of the people who disappeared?” he sounded fearful.

I looked up in thought, trying to remember the names from the wall in front of the convention hall. “Now that you mention it, I did see the name Cyril among the ones who had disappeared.”

“You said the disappearances happened a hundred years ago?”

“Yeah, a hundred thirty-two to be exact.”

“Oh....I see.” he said dejectedly.

I rolled my eyes and watched out the cave. Great, now I have to deal with him being depressed, I thought, making sure I wasn’t accidentally saying what was on my mind. Well, he must’ve had friends.... Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on him.

Hearing movement behind me, I turned to watch Cyril retreat further into the cave. “Call me if you need something alright.” he said before he took the form of a large bear and curled up against the back wall.

.... I’ll stop treating him so badly for now, I thought as I turned my gaze back to the entrance. He might just leave me here like this if he gets too miserable. He really is my only hope of surviving right now, so I better not screw this up. I sighed and laid my head on the ground, looking at the case of coins near the fire. I wish I could be smaller and actually stand on two feet....

Uncertain Goodbyes

“You know you’re going to end up hurting yourself again, and your stitches have only just healed,” Cyril said as he looked up from the fire to scold me like a child.

I glared at him, hoping to tell him how foolish he was with only that. “I won’t. I’ve told you before that Angelus could modify her body to suit her surroundings,” I said as I lifted myself up on my hind legs. “Besides, these legs are fully grown and stronger than you.”

Six days ago I had noticed two lumps that were growing from my sides after I had gone to bed wishing I had four legs instead of just two. Obviously Cyril overreacted and thought he had done something wrong until I told him that it was natural for my character to change with her environment.

“How much practice do you have with those legs?” He asked as he eyed the new attractions with a bit of skepticism.

I gave him a half-hearted glare. “That’s why I’m testing them. After your little freak out when they first appeared, I thought it would be best to wait until they were fully formed before standing on them.”

I watched as he shook his head in embarrassment, his green cheeks lighting red for a moment. “Hey in my defense I’ve never seen someone grow new limbs without being exposed to radiation,” he replied before clearing his throat and straightening a bit. “So you sure you want to leave tomorrow?”

I lowered myself to where my new forelegs bent when they touched the ground, getting used to the muscles as I supported myself on my wings still. “If I didn’t need to learn how to use these legs, I’d leave today. These mountains are too cold and too sparsely populated to support a dragon for more than passing through to better places.”

He nodded his head as he turned back to the fire. I watched as a frown worked it’s way on his face, like he was disappointed that I was leaving. I didn’t understand why, maybe he liked babying me, but whatever the reason I needed to get out of here and stretch my wings. The need to fly and learn as much as I could about my new body and my abilities was making me restless. Already I had learned to breathe fire, although the results were disappointing as I had only managed a small sized fire.

“Yeah I guess that makes sense. Just remember, the ponies here are a little jumpy so try not to intentionally scare them otherwise you might find them chasing after you,” he offered.

I rolled my eyes as I set my weight fully onto my forelegs. “What is it with you and avoiding ponies? It’s like you want to live as an animal.”

He was chuckling lightly as he turned to face me again. “It’s nothing like that, though living like an animal here isn’t the same as living like an animal back home. I’m avoiding the ponies because I don’t want them to come after me.” he paused for a moment as he collected his thoughts. “There’s a race here called changelings. They’re nasty little shapeshifters who drain the love of ponies. Now look at me, a shapeshifter who eats meat, a practice I’m sure is frowned upon by a society of mostly herbivores, back home what’s the first assumption people would make about the two of us?”

“I’m sure as long as we kept the meat eating out of sight, and our attitudes in check, we’ll be able to gain their trust some.” I stamped the ground with each leg before testing to see if I could stand on them separately.

“Well it might also have something to do with the fact that I’ve already been a lab specimen…” He commented not bothering to look at me this time.

I snorted in amusement. “So you were poked and prodded while you were in a cage. I’ve played a VR or two where that happens. Always escaped in the most bloody and gore-filled way I could find.”

He sighed in mild frustration, it seemed I still had the power to get on his nerves and I intended to use that power as much as I could. “Firstly I wasn’t in a VR. Sure I wanted to bite that mare, but I didn’t want to seriously hurt her, second her teacher, the most powerful creature in this world was standing right there.”

I gave his back a glare. “I wasn’t saying you had been in a VR, I was trying to relate to you by saying I had been in the same situation, yet reacted differently.”

“Ah I see,” He said before standing up and stretching. “So how are those new legs then? They giving you any trouble?”

I yelp as I fall, my chin hitting the ground. “Not until you asked.”

“oh...well then this is awkward…” Cyril replied going quiet.

“Ya think?” I muttered as I stood up again. Feeling my forelegs shake a little I sighed and laid down. “So your powers are just like Beast Boy’s?”

I watched him turn to me a bit surprised. In all our time together we hadn’t spoken much about who we were supposed to be dressed as, of course judging by his outfit I thought he looked a little old fashioned and I wanted to see how his powers as an old incarnation of the character had changed based on what I had seen growing up as a kid.

“Uh, yeah pretty much. I mean I can change into any animal I’ve seen in real life or in books, and I can heal faster than a normal human. I’ve got increased strength and reflexes and a better sense of smell but...that’s about all.”

“So basically exactly like Beast Boy.” I pulled my right foreleg up and rested my chin on it. “Can you change into creatures such as unicorns or gryphons?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “What you mean like the one’s that live here?”

“Yeah. It’ll be even better if you could turn into a dragon.” I glanced towards the cave mouth, looking back at Cyril when I didn’t notice anything.

He paused for a moment as he thought about that, a small frown working it’s way back onto his face. I had to smirk as I realized that the thought to transform into a pony or a Gryphon had never crossed his mind. “I’ve, actually never tried it no,” I watched as he face palmed. “That could have made things so much easier.”

“So you’re a bit too slow to realize that without someone helping you to think about it?” I chuckled and shook my head. “Maybe you should just stick to being an animal.”

“Hey I…!” he began before he cut himself off and sat back down, a sad frown spreading on his face. “I don’t use my powers except to hunt, fight or get away from danger. I’ve never used them for anything other than surviving.”

I rolled my eyes and gave him my best ‘friendly’ smile. “That’s the difference, then. I’m thinking up ways to use my fire and scales to try to get accepted into pony society, while you - not having been brought up to think long term - are trying to not ‘become corrupted’ by your powers.”

“I’m not trying to prevent being ‘corrupted’, I’m trying to prevent being dissected in someone’s lab.”

“Well how will they know if you look and act just like a pony, or a gryphon, or even a minotaur?”

“Well with a pony it would be harder for them to notice,” he admitted, “But as a gryphon or a minotaur, it would be easy to spot me. Green fur isn’t usually an inherited color of either species.”

I suddenly get a thought, one that I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it before. “Can you change your gender?”

“....”

“...”

“...I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.” Was his only response, his cheeks growing bright red.

I snorted in derision. “It’d make you easier to be around if you could. Plus it would make it even harder for those two mares... what were their names? Floyd and Gayness?”

“Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.” he deadpanned. “In what incarnation of the character Beast boy was he ever able to change his gender? This is Beast boy not Gender bender!” he yelled his cheeks still burning bright red.

I shrugged. “I guess the producers never thought to bring it up except for one episode.”

He shook his head, why? My guess was to dislodge that idea from his head. “Your future’s messed up cartoons aside, no I highly doubt I can change genders, and if it were possible I would never change into a female. It’s just too weird.” Sighing and brushed his hair out of his face. “Now about transforming into a pony, that I can try.”

Closing his eyes, I watched as he sat in silence, a look of concentration on his face. I waited for several minutes hoping to see something happen however when nothing did I let out an aggravated sigh. “So this is all that’s going to happen? You’re going to stand there with your eyes closed?”

“I’m trying to find the right instincts so I can see if I can transform into a unicorn. Not every transformation is instantaneous, I have to use a form multiply times in order to use it at will.” he replied his tone sounding a bit harsh.

I huffed and set my head on my forelegs, waiting for him to find his ‘instincts’.

The room remained quiet for several more minutes before anything of note happened. Slowly I watched as his form began to change. It started out with his arms slowly lengthening as well as his legs, before his bone structure started to change. At first it looked like he was succeeding with the transformation, until it became apparent that he was growing too large to be considered a pony here. I watched as soon he became a full sized horse before a green horn slowly pushed it’s way out of his forehead.

Cyril give a whinny of annoyance and stomped one of his hooves before turning in a tight circle to try and examine himself. His nostrils gave a puff of steam as more neighing and whinneys escaped him.

“Heh, guess you found the wrong ones. You’re supposed to be half that tall and be able to talk.”

He gave me another snort of annoyance as he closed his eyes to try and focus again. This transformation took just as long as the last. Having managed to shrink his size, he now looked like a gryphon, though his features looked too realistic and his fur/feathers were still green. Opening his mouth he gave a hawks screech before he quickly closed it and looked down at himself. Another screech, this time in anger, left his beak as he stomped his taloned forelegs on the ground.

I smirk. “Guess you can’t talk while you’re transformed.”

Again he closed his eyes in concentration, and just as before it took much too long, but when he started to transform I took note that his body was shrinking at a fast rate, before his body was engulfed in green flames. Watching as the fire died down, and standing where Cyril had been was a green bird whose feathers seemed to radiate with heat. The bird gave a screech and flapped it’s wings a few times lifting itself into the air.It’s feathers moved in a way that made the bird appear as if it were on fire before it quickly landed and shook it’s whole body as if dislodging something from between its feathers.

“Well look at that, a green Phoenix. You have any copper in you?”

Returning to normal I noted the deep frown on his face, as he sat crossed legged and mumbled something about Equestria and it’s stupid magic.

“You aren’t going to try a dragon next?”

Cyril shook his head as he turned to me, his frown still firmly planted on his face. “Don’t need to. One of the incarnations of Beast boy allowed him to transform into mythical creatures. Already I’ve turned into a unicorn, a gryphon and a Phoenix.” he sighed lying back on the cold ground. “I think my powers only let me transform into non-sapient animals, trying to blend in with the ponies isn’t going to happen.”

“You haven’t tried a dragon yet, though. There’s a chance you’ll still be able to talk.”

“Not likely but I can always give it a shot, after all I know just about as much as you do about my powers.” he replied as he closed his eyes again.

As more time passed I began to wonder something about Cyril. Every time he transformed into a different animal, he never seemed to lose any energy. I found it odd as I figured transforming into larger creatures would expend more energy, while transforming into smaller creatures would expend less, but this didn’t seem to be the case in either situation.

Shaking my head to rouse myself from my thoughts I noticed that Cyril was only half done with his transformation. Already his arms and legs had grown bigger, and his head began to elongate, his skull resembling a more triangular shape, his tail was just starting to grow out and I could see two nubs growing out of his back where his wings would no doubt be. I watched in mild fascination as scales seemed to grow up out of his skin, and horns and spines pushed themselves out of his skull. The whole process looked painful but thankfully it was over in a matter of seconds.

Looking down at himself again to take in his new form, he opened his mouth to say something only for a small roar to take place of his words. I stood there and stared at him as my mind processes something I wasn’t yet aware of, but quickly I caught on to what it was I was missing.

“.... You’re shorter than me,” I said with a bit of amusement.

He gave a small snort and roared again in anger. I imagined he tried to defend himself but I couldn’t help but laugh at his utter confusion and annoyance.

“Seems like you can’t talk as a dragon either. I do like how strong you look, though.”

A quick tilt of his head, it reminded me of a dog, and a sudden red tint coming to his cheeks later and he was turning to walk out of the cave. His walking though was off and he nearly tripped and got a face full of snow.

Oh, so now he’s getting flustered be...cause.... I thought, my cheeks warming some. “Did I just....” I chuckled awkwardly. “No, that couldn’t be what I meant.”

I stood outside the cave, my wings spread and ready to take off. I was finally going to fly, to be among the clouds and escape gravity.... If Cyril would shut up about how to use thermal winds.

“...for the most part you can just use them to glide over long distances, which comes in handy since flapping your wings endlessly wears you out pretty quickly, they also have an added bonus of lifting you higher, but that only really happens if it’s a stronger thermal wind coming from some source like a volcano or a geyser,” He droned on as he started walking around the small snowed in valley.

I glowered at him as he walked. I’ve done so many different tutorials on flying and he thinks I need a refresher course? I thought, blowing a puff of smoke in his direction.

He coughed as he waved his hands in front of himself as he tried to blow the smoke away from himself. I had to giggle as his nose was covered in black soot, but he only glared back up at me. “Look, I’m trying to help you. The first time I flew I got distracted and nearly crashed headfirst into a tree.” he said as he grabbed some snow to wash his face with.

“And I know everything you’re telling me,” I said. “I’ll learn nothing new from you when it comes to flying.”

Grunting in annoyance, he threw his hands up. “So sorry, I was only trying to be helpful.” he said as he walked well out of my wing span. “So you’re going to leave today then? Any clue where you’re going or what you’ll do?” he asked calmly.

“Yes, I am.” I stretched my wings a bit. “Like I said yesterday, these mountains are too cold and too sparsely populated by animals to support a dragon. A better place would be a forest or some plains.”

He nodded for a second thinking about something for a moment before he snapped his fingers. “Just some friendly advice, if you head southeast, there’s a big city called Baltimare, right next to it, is a forest. As far as I know, there aren’t any dangerous animals that could get the jump on you.”

“Hah, as if something smaller than me could hurt me.” I sniffed in disdain. “I think I’ll head southwest, though.”

“There’s a place out there called Los Pegasus, I think Vanhoover is also in that general direction,” he said aloud more to himself than to me.

“So where are you going to head?” I asked, more to know where I should stay away from.

He paused for a minute. “I hadn’t really thought about it, before you showed up I was planning on heading to the Crystal Empire just a ways west of here, but I’m not planning to make my home there. It’s still cold and they’ve got a princess living there.”

I scoff and roll my eyes. “Really? Even more princesses? Why are there no kings or queens that I’ve heard of?”

“Because females outnumber males five to one plus as far as I know the four princesses are all alicorns so they’re pretty much immortal. Who better to run an entire country than the one who’s watched it grow through it’s good and bad spots?” Cyril said getting all scholarly on me all of a sudden.

“If that’s the case why not call themselves queens?”

“I don’t know, maybe they can’t be Queens until they get married or something” he replied before he stopped to think about something. “Although Cadence is married to Shining Armor and she still has the title princess…”

I shake my head and sigh, “I don’t get this world’s politics. Anyways, I might as well get going.”

Cyril nodded as something flashed across his face, but it was gone just as fast as it had appeared. Taking a deep breath Cyril gave me a smile before transforming into a hawk and taking off west leaving me to stand at the mouth of the cave alone.

I watched him fly off until I couldn’t see him anymore, a little sad to be parting ways. I paused and shook my head. Why am I sad to see him leave? I’ve always been alone, I thought as my expression hardened. “I’m alone and free, because no one likes the real me.”

As I took off somewhat ungracefully, I felt a pain in my chest. One I hadn’t felt for ten years.

Royal Talks and A Dark Past

Author's Note

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER GETS DARKER THAN A BLACK HOLE

.... Don't say I didn't warn you.

Royal Talks and A Dark Past

Three hours after I left the cave, I found myself sitting on a cloud staring at the most inexplicable thing I had ever seen. “How the fuck is this city staying there!?”

I had seen a city stuck to the side of a mountain and, thinking it was just a mirage, decided to investigate. What I saw almost convinced me I was in a VR.

It was a huge city made of marble and gold. Towers dotted the skyline and nearest to the mountain I could see a castle and gardens. In fact, the castle and gardens were the only part actually on the mountain! Everything else was just... hanging there off the cliff, not supported by anything.

I shook my head, marveling at how it was still in one piece after me staring at it for so long. “I have to know how this place is staying here.”

Taking off, I flew over to the edge closest to me and landed on the edge, not really fond of how hard the landing was. “Damn thing....” As I walked away from the edge I made sure not to show any of the fear I was feeling as I looked around at the buildings and at the ponies who stood and stared at me.

The ponies in question were wide eyed and I could see fear in their eyes, however, it was clear they were frozen in place by their fear. It reminded me of the ponies at that other village, Rainbow falls, I think Cyril had called it. As I looked at the ponies and the city itself one detail made itself known to me. Rainbow falls while seeming like a well off little village, didn’t have the sort of style and luxury, that this city had, if anything Rainbow Falls could be considered poor in comparison to this city, and yet, I couldn’t see a guard anywhere.

“Halt!” Came a sudden voice to my right, making me turn. I wondered if it was upon thinking about the guards that made them show up or if it was by chance, but whatever the reason, running down the street headed straight for me was a small battalion of guards dressed up in gold armor. The guard who had shouted, and was currently leading the battalion, was a mare with a white coat. Honestly it was almost to hard to tell that she was a mare, her white coat made her look exactly like the stallion who ran just behind her.

I stopped and turned slightly towards them saying, “Hello there. By any chance, could you lead me to someone who knows how this city is... well, frankly how it even exists.”

To say that the guards were shocked was an understatement. As they left the street they had come from in favor of the one I was in, they all stopped to look at me in confusion, and fear. The moment passed however as the mare quickly barked out orders and I found myself surrounded by unicorns and regular ponies, while pegasi hovered around me. Turning to the mare who seemed in charge I saw her level a hard glare at me.

“You are in violation of the Eques/Dragon treaty. Unless you are here as a designated ambassador from the dragon territories, you must leave immediately or we will be forced to drive you out of our city. Speak now dragon.” The mare said, her tone all business and no play.

Sighing, I shook my head. “I only came here to learn how this city was hanging off the side of the mountain. I didn’t want any trouble.” I sat down, trying to make it seem I was non-threatening. “Besides, I am not part of the dragon territories. I’m not even part of this world.”

“A spy!” A voice hissed.

“Crazy.” Another replied.

More and more hushed whispers went through the guards, some even seemed scared enough that they took a half step towards me, spears getting way too close for comfort. “Quiet you lot!” The mare in charge barked, getting absolute silence from the other guards, before she turned back to me. “I’ve no time for games dragon, so you're going to answer a few questions before we answer any of yours.” She said, it was clear there was no arguing with her.

“Alright,” I said, relaxing a bit more even though I should listen to my gut and just take off.

The mare nodded and seemed to relax a bit. “Good, first, how old are you? You look like a bit too young and in over your head.”

“I’ll be turning thirty-three in seven months and four days. I don’t know the actual date is on your calendar, though.”

“Bullshit!” A guard said as he moved in closer.

“Hold!” The mare yelled at the offending guard, making him slowly move back in position, though he was glaring at me still. “You don’t really expect us to believe that do you? We’ve not seen a lot of dragons but even the dullest of my guards know that a dragon at that age should be half your size.”

I shrug. “Well, I didn’t have much of a choice with what size I am. Didn’t even have a choice of whether I wanted to come to this planet either.”

The mare eyed me suspiciously before speaking again. “Are you touched in the head or something or are you trying to play us for foals?” She asked venomously.

“Neither.” I thought for a moment before saying, “Are there any lie-detecting spells?”

The mare again eyed me suspiciously. “There are, but the only one strong enough to cast such a spell on a dragon is Princess Celestia.”

I smiled, making sure to keep my mouth closed. “Why don’t you have one of your guards try anyways?”

“It would be a waste of time and energy, and I’m done with these games of yours. Tell us why you came to Canterlot now!” The mare said suddenly getting very aggressive, in response her guards took another half step forward, those with spears quickly aimed them at me, while the unicorns all charged their horns ready to cast a spell.

My smile faded faster than it had appeared, replaced by an almost hurt expression. “I told you, I don’t know how this city is physically staying where it is and I’d like to find out.”

The mare didn’t seem to accept my answer because she quickly turned to her guards. “Prepare to drive the dragon out, non lethal spells and watch your spear work.” She commanded, the guards all nodded and several unicorns readied their horns to fire their spells.

“That won’t be necessary Major. I think our guest has more than proved she’s harmless,” a new voice said. Turning, I watched as a mare twice as tall as the one in front of me, walked down the street. She had both wings and a horn, and her mane reminded me of the aurora borealis, and it seemed to flow in an invisible wind.

“Princess Celestia!” The mare squeaked out as she watched the new mare. Princess Celestia moved with grace and authority and right away I could tell, this mare, while holding a kind smile, was greatly respected. “What are you doing out here Princess?” The mare asked.

“A dragon shows up in my home, and scares my little ponies and I’m expected to sit on my throne and watch?” Celestia asked, a small smile played across her lips and I could swear I saw a twinkle of mischief for the briefest of moments.

“N-no, o-of course not P-Princess,” The mare stuttered as Celestia came to a stop beside her. Looking at the rest of the guards she frowned briefly.

“Please lower your weapons, if our guest has not yet attacked, it is unlikely that she will do so now.” At her request, the guards quickly lowered their spears and look to her in confusion. “Thank you, now..” She said as she turned to look at me. “Allow me to welcome you to Canterlot …” she paused.

“Angelus. Angelus Martin,” I said as I stuck out a claw for her to shake.

The guards tensed and nearly leveled their spears at me again, but with a single wave of her hoof they froze. “A dragon with a last name? Most peculiar, but nonetheless, welcome to Canterlot miss Martin. I am Princess Celestia, of Equestria.” She said as she raised her hoof to my clawed hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

I smiled, keeping my mouth closed like before. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Princess, and please, call me Angelus. Miss Martin is my mother.”

The Princess smiled. “Only if you call me Celestia. Between you and me, being called Princess for the past 2000 years gets so annoying.” She whispered, so her guards wouldn’t hear.

I nodded almost imperceptibly. “So how is it this city is staying where it is? It doesn’t have any supports underneath that I saw.”

At this the princess seemed to giggle. “That you can see,” she said suggestively.

I paused for a moment, thinking that over before both of my claws met my face.

The Princess giggled more at my reaction before she finally spoke. “I must say you’re most unusual for a dragon, most would have attacked my guards by now.”

Sighing, I put my claws back on the ground. “It helps that the idiotic... stallions are following a mare.” I then muttered, “I doubt I’ll get used to that terminology.”

The Princess looked at me with a question in her eyes. “I’m sorry I’m not sure I follow.”

I shook my head. “Just something that happened at the last town I tried to visit.”

“Ah I see. You wouldn’t happen to be the reason I got a report from Rainbow Falls are you?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately I have a severe dislike of males and... may have let my temper get the better of me.”

A slight frown worked it’s way on her face, and for a moment I saw something dangerous in her eyes, before it faded. “Yes well, I have many questions that I’d like to ask, however the fact still remains that you are violating an important treaty. Dragons are suppose to send word of their arrival a day or so ahead of them,” She said. She didn’t sound unkind but it was clear that we had quickly left the novelty of the situation and the Princess was no longer giggling.

“I didn’t know of that treaty until the guards at Rainbow Falls mentioned it in passing right before they proceeded to try driving me away.” I shrugged and continued, “I hadn’t been doing much more than trying to get treatment for my wounds before they showed up.”

“Wounds?” She asked, her tone changed and she began to eye me more closely, stopping at certain points of my body. “Were they fatal?”

“No, but they were bad enough that I couldn’t move for a few days after I received them.”

“There was no mention in any of the reports that you were seeking medical aid, or that you had even received it.” She said her tone taking on a mystified tone as she tried to figure something out.

“I did get aid, though not from the town. See, a few days before I tried to get help from Rainbow Falls, I had gotten into a fight with a green dragon. I was new to my body, so I was clumsy with my movements and I had to have help from Cyril to finish the fight.”

“Cyril? One of my ponies?”

“No, he’s like me. A visitor to this world.”

“Interesting. Perhaps you can tell me more about this other visitor and yourself? Back at the palace perhaps?”

I smiled and stood. “I’d be honored to be your guest for the evening.”

“Princess you can’t be serious?” The mare from before said as she tried to argue.

Raising a single hoof the Princess silenced the mare. “I am serious. Angelus is a guest, not only in Equestria.” Turning to me she smiled again before addressing the rest of the guard. “Please escort her to the palace.”

The guards hesitated for a moment before they sighed and nodded. The pegasi that hovered above my head took up a formation around me, while the ponies on the ground did the same. Princess Celestia smiled for a moment before her horn lit up and she was gone in the flash of a light, the guards meanwhile began marching up the streets towards the large castle which sat near the side of the mountain.

The walk was fairly uneventful, a few ponies peeked out from their blinds and from alleys to watch as we moved by but otherwise nothing exciting happened. Arriving at the main gate the guards who stood watch quickly opened the golden gate door and stepped aside. Looking at the large entryway I was glad to note that I’d be able to fit through it, but only just barely. It wasn’t long before the guards led me to a second pair of large doors and I was quickly ushered inside them as well, again I was glad I didn’t have to struggle to fit through.

The room I entered was large, larger than the hallway we had just left behind, where I had to lower my head somewhat so that I wouldn’t hit the support beams near the top, this room however I could stand at my full height and my head was nowhere near the ceiling. Looking around I saw the long red carpet with golden trim which led up to a set of stairs where a throne sat at the top. The Princess sat atop of the throne and flashed me a warm smile before dismissing my escort.

“Welcome to my throne room Angelus,” Princess Celestia said as she ruffled her wings a bit to get into a more comfortable position.

I glanced at the stained glass windows and said, “Oh, hey. Those two look like the ponies I met before the incident at Rainbow Falls.”

Turning to look at the window I had gestured to, she instantly recognised who I was talking about. “Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Yes, they were headed out to Griffonstone around the time of the Rainbow Falls incident.”

“Yeah, I accidentally stopped their train since I was almost standing on the tracks. I hadn’t ever seen a train that required actual tracks before that day since they were all decommissioned except in museums or historical places.” I gestured to the base of the stairs leading up to her throne. “May I?”

“You may.” She replied giggling a bit.

I smile and sit down at the base of the stairs. “You said you wished to know more about I and Cyril, yes?”

“Yes that was true, though maybe we should start with you first.” Her calm tone while still there now held a sense of seriousness. “I overheard you saying to my guards that you’re not from this world? Could you tell me what you meant exactly?”

“I mean exactly that. I was at a convention and had just won a tournament when I was... somehow transported to a valley over near Rainbow Falls somewhere.”

Celestia nodded her head in understanding. “I see, your race of dragons must be very different than those here in Equestria.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t even a dragon before I came here. I was a human,” I said, hoping that she knew what they were. Her blank look told me she had no idea what a human was.

“Um.... Think like a hairless Minotaur with feet and only a little shorter than you at their tallest. And without horns.”

“I see. We don’t have these humans in Equestria, though your description leaves me intrigued, but onto another question. If you were not born a dragon, how is it you became one now?”

“I have no idea. I was stepping up to receive the set of coins that were the prize for winning the tournament from my father when I was suddenly in that valley as a dragon.”

“So how long have you been in Equestria then?”

I thought back to when I first arrived, counting the days that had passed. “Fifteen days. Most of that time was spent with me healing from my wounds in a cave.”

“Yes you mentioned something about being injured, how did that happen again?”

I shifted a bit and looked down towards the stairs in embarrassment. “Well, I had thought I was in a game when I appeared in that valley, so I had thought that since I was a dragon that meant that I was supposed to defeat other dragons and build up a hoard.” I chuckled a bit. “Imagine my surprise when I felt actual pain from my wounds and could really taste my blood on my tongue.”

Celestia seemed a bit confused at my mention of a game, but she didn’t question it, just as well since I doubt I could really describe it to her. “Now this...Cyril was his name?” She asked rolling the name on her tongue as if it was a new flavor. “How did you come to meet him, and why is he important to you?”

“He isn’t important to me at all, except in the capacity that he helped me heal and helped me defeat that dragon I foolishly attacked in my delusion." I looked back up at Celestia, a scowl on my face. “I owe him my life several times over and I hate that fact. But... I guess you could say I’m at least halfway tolerant of him.”

Celestia openly smiled at that. “I suppose you’ve made a friend during your short stay here. So who is this Cyril? is he a pony, or Gryphon?”

“Neither. He’s a human, though he has green skin and can turn into any animal he wishes.”

“He’s...green?” She seemed to ponder something for a second before she spoke up. “When he transforms into an animal, his fur wouldn’t happen to be green as well would it?”

“Yes, it is.”

Celestia didn’t speak for several seconds as she seemed to process what I had just told her. A moment later a piece of paper, a Quill and an inkwell appeared before she began to write something down. Once she was done the quill and ink disappeared while she touched the paper to her horn. The paper caught on fire turning to green smoke before it quickly flew out of the nearby window, which was for some reason open.

“Sorry for that, but I needed to write my student a letter. Please tell me more about Cyril.”

“Well, when I finally got bored enough to actually talk with him, I found out that he was one of the people who disappeared from the very same building I had about a hundred thirty years earlier.”

Celestia gasped in surprise as I began to go into detail about the difference in time between Equestria and home. I told her how Cyril had told me about the month he had spent in Equestria before he found me. “Such a difference in time between our world would mean…” She started to say before she stopped and thought about her words carefully. “I’m sorry for your unfortunate situation.”

I shrugged and scratched my chin. “I didn’t have any real friends, and my dad and I had never been close, what with him having to run a business that was worth well over four hundred billion. The only real thing I had were VR games.”

“Still, to lose family, must be difficult, and to enter a world you know nothing about with a body you are unfamiliar with...it is not something I can understand.” She said, somberly.

“Actually, the VR’s I’ve played were almost as immersive as real life. We’ve managed to keep a firm line between physical and fake, but my experience with them helped me with coping.”

Again she looked confused about what I mean when I said VR’s but she choose not to question it, instead she cleared her throat to collect her thoughts. “And what about Cyril? Did he accompany you on your trip?”

I snorted in amusement. “Staying with him for two weeks while I healed was almost more than I could stand. We went our separate ways a few hours ago.”

Celestia seemed a bit confused by my statement. “So you left the only person who might understand what you’re going through all because why again?”

“He can’t understand what I’ve went through.” My expression darkened and I shifted my gaze to Celestia’s right. “If I hadn’t needed his help, I would’ve sent him on his way without so much as a fare thee well.”

Celestia gave me a hard look, her warm smile now gone, replaced with a dissatisfied frown and a hint of...disappointment? “In my many years of ruling, I’ve seen a lot of things that would cause my little ponies great discomfort, and through that time I’ve gained several lifetimes worth of wisdom, some so simple that it baffles me how I did not see it before, and how ponies...and yourself it would seem, cannot see it now.”

I closed my eyes and calmed myself before I looked at her again and said, “What do you mean by that?”

Her frown was replaced by a motherly smile. “You need to trust someone if you want to make life easier. I run a country but I do not do it alone. I have my sister, my neice and my student to help me and I trust them all.”

“Try giving others trust after you’ve had someone close to you rip away the one thing that could give you what you wanted. You’ll understand why I trust no one but myself.”

“Believe it or not, I have had someone close do what you’ve described.”

I raised an eyeridge and thought, .... Really? I can’t see her ever having a boyfriend. I glanced around to see if there were any guards in the room, seeing none I looked back to Celestia. Y’know what? Screw it. “Is there a way to make sure we have complete privacy?”

Her horn lit up for a brief moment and the windows and door were enveloped in a golden glow. “Go ahead the room has been completely soundproofed.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting it out slowly as my head tilted downward. “Aside from the initial investigation, I’ve never spoken of what I’m about to tell you. Please don’t tell anyone about what I’m going to tell you.”

“A Princess must have the trust of her entire kingdom if she ever hopes to rule in peace. So long as anything you tell me doesn’t endanger any of my ponies I can assure you that it will not be repeated.”

I swallowed and raised my eyes to meet hers. “I had a boyfriend once. Twelve years ago he and I got together and for two whole years we had a wonderful relationship. He was the first guy I’d ever loved, but the night I decided to sleep with him he drugged me, cut out my womb, and then kept me in his basement for almost an entire week with four other girls whom he had done the same thing to-” My voice cracked and I could feel tears running down my face as I slowly sank to the floor. “He’d had those other girls down there since far before he met me.... He raped all five of us, and when any of us struggled he beat us....”

The look of surprise and disgust on Celestia’s face said it all. She’d never seen or heard of such cruelty before. The implications of such an act against not one, but multiple people spoke degrees about the individuals depravity and instability. Taking a moment to collect herself, her mask of calm and serenity having slipped during my story, Celestia used a wing to wipe away a few tears of her own. “I’m so sorry you had to go through such a thing. I can see how you would be hesitant to trust someone after such a thing.”

I chuckled mirthlessly. “Oh, I’m not done. You see, where I’m from we have technology that can keep things such as a heart or a lung frozen for transport and once the lung is thawed, it’ll still work if it’s properly attached inside of someone. It’s mostly for trying to save lives, but.... Anthony used that tech to keep our wombs as trophies and as a way to prevent us from trying to escape.... I did though, and because I did he burned my womb in front of the other girls.”

“I’ve witnessed cruelty before, but none like what you’ve described, however if I may since transforming into a dragon, it could be possible for your womb to have grown back. A simple spell is all it would take to be sure, if you wanted to know?”

I gave Celestia a glare through my tears. “And give me a reason to hate males even more? No. It’s bad enough that I lost my temper in Rainbow Falls, I don’t want to burn the next guy I see that looks at me wrong to ash.”

“I’m only saying that with time, you may come to change your mind, and if that is the case wouldn’t you like to know for certain? As a dragon your life expectancy should be much longer than what you’re used to.” She replied calmly, not at all fazed by my glare.

“If there comes a time when I like a guy, then I’ll ask if you could.” I drop my glare with a sigh, rubbing my temples. “Could I get something hard to drink, please?”

“I don’t know how well it would work for you, a dragon of your size would have a large tolerance, but I could have a barrel of hard cider brought if it would help?”

“I forgot about that.” I sighed in frustration. “Dammit, the one time I really need a drink it’ll take too much for me to ask for!”