A History of Friendship Is Magic

“So you really think this will work? I mean dragons are very strong”. Rain Cloud was not convinced about Rose Bud’s idea. “Well it’s the only thing we've got, so we may as well try it”, Mist said peering out from behind the boulder where they had taken cover. The dragon, satisfied with it’s fiery blast, had retreated back to it’s cave. “So why can’t we just leave it in it’s cave and run away?” said Amber, who was still shaken from the whole experience. “It will wake up soon”, Mist said, “and then what will we do? This is our home, and we need to take it back”.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Midnight jumped up enthusiastically, happy with the realisation that he could do magic, and the relief of not having a bad element attached to him. “Everypony in position? You all know what to do. Lets get rid of this dragon!” With the final word from Mist, the ponies scattered from behind their boulder.

Rose Bud and Amber descended the mountain until they found where some plants were growing. They selected some long, thick vines and began to chew through them. Midnight Sky and Morning mist instead went up the mountain further, circling around to the opposite side of the cave. When they reached the top, they took position above the mouth of the cave and waited for the signal. Meanwhile, Rose Bud and Amber had returned to Rain Cloud and Emerald Leaf with the vines. They carefully tied each vine around the waists of the two ponies. They then tied the other ends to large rocks. Rain Cloud and Emerald looked at each other nervously, and began to walk slowly towards the cave.

Once they were in position, Emerald knocked her hoof against a nearby rock three times. The taps reverberated around the mountain and Midnight and Mist knew that that they were ready. Emerald and Rain Cloud stepped nervously onto the platform of rock outside the cave. Slowly, they made their way to the entrance. Looking into each other’s eyes for possibly the last time, they began shouting and stamping their hooves against the floor. From inside the cave, a weary dragon stood up looking even more angry, having being woken for a second time in one day. It saw the two ponies at the entrance and charged directly at them. The two ponies at the entrance waited until the last second before turning and running directly at the cliff behind them. As soon as Midnight saw them turn, he built up his anger against the dragon inside his chest. As soon as he felt that he had built up enough power, he released his grip and a dark purple beam erupted from his horn, aimed directly at the top of the cave. A large crack snaked across the rock reaching the entire width of the cave. Mist saw that the magic was not quite enough, so she flew at the rock and gave it a powerful kick. With that, the roof of the cave gave way.

Emerald and Rain Cloud reached the edge of the cliff. Without looking back, they jumped into the open expanse of air. The dragon followed them, which was followed a large mass of rocks sliding down the mountain. Emerald and Rain Cloud fell for a few seconds, but then they reached the length of their vines, and swung out to safety. Behind them, the dragon was desperately trying to grip the mountain with its claws. It got caught up in the rockslide, then the dragon and rocks fell with an almighty splash into the lake. All the ponies cheered as they saw the dragon hit the water. They watched nervously from above as it dragged itself out of the water. It gave one last look to the mountain, and walked off in the opposite direction, grunting and flapping its wings to try to dry them out. The ponies cheered again and then they helped to pull Emerald and Rain Cloud up from dangling above the cliff.

“We actually did it! I can’t believe it!”, Amber was jumping around squealing with delight. She ended up nestling into Rose Bud’s side with whispers of “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”.

All of the other ponies had collapsed onto the stony ground for a well earned rest. “Well, we wouldn't be here without Midnight. His quick thinking and magical powers have saved us all from a terrible threat”, Mist congratulated Midnight. They smiled at each other and then embraced. “I can’t take all of the credit, Mist. Without your leadership, we would all at a loss of what to do. Rain Cloud gave a disapproving cough, “And of course the plan would not have worked if it were not for Rain Cloud and Amber’s amazing bravery!” Midnight quickly added with a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face. “Oh, it was nothing”. Rain Cloud turned away from the group, but couldn’t keep the act up for long. He turned back with a large grin on his face and laughed “Come on, we should go back down the mountain. We need to find a place to stay for the night”.

They were about to leave the mountain top, when Emerald heard something from inside the dragon’s cave. She turned around and cautiously approached the cave, the other five waiting further back. “What are you doing Emerald?” Midnight called over to her, but she simply signalled for them to be quiet. Upon reaching the mouth of the cave, she abandoned all caution and trotted inside. The others were about to follow, when she emerged holding a small purple object in her mouth. “What is that?”, Mist asked, and Emerald simply dropped it at her feet. Mist suddenly jumped back once she realised what it was. “That’s a baby dragon!”, she exclaimed, falling over Amber who was standing behind her. “It must have only just hatched. We can’t just leave it here. It will never survive without its mother”, Emerald explained to the rest of the group. “Is it safe?” Amber asked nervously. “Of course it is. Just look at it”. All of the ponies gathered around the small, purple reptile. It was lying on its back looking up at each of them, whilst sucking its claw. “If we raise it as a pony, it won’t know how to be a dragon”. Reluctantly, they group agreed with Emerald, who put the dragon on her back. “Lets get off of this mountain”.

As they trotted down the steep slopes and across the plain, they were rewarded with Rain Cloud’s account of the entire battle with inputs from Midnight where he thought appropriate. The others of course knew the story, but a mixture of joy, relief and exhaustion stopped them from protesting. He had just got to the part where they were about to get into position for the final plan, when they reached the edge of the forest and a flustered looking mare burst out of the trees. “That was incredible! I have never seen so much bravery in all my life!”. She was joined now by a large group of ponies, and more were coming out of the trees and surrounding the group. They immediately recognised her as one of the leaders of the herd that they were part of before the eventful day. It had been a magnificent herd that grazed upon vast areas of land stretching from the mountains and the lake to deep in the forests. More and more ponies kept emerging from the undergrowth, and eventually the entire herd was crowding around the group trying to get a look at their new heroes. The herd leader continued before the six had a chance to reply: “Let’s have a cheer for our heroes, and the new leaders of this herd!”. An immense cheer and stamping of hooves erupted from the crowd, and the small group of ponies stood in amazement.

“But we can’t be the leaders of the herd! You have been the leader for as long as I can remember!” It had finally sunk in to Mist that the leader was being serious. While the others were basking in their newly found fame and Rain Cloud was being treated for his broken wing, Morning Mist was trying to argue with the leader of the herd. “How are we supposed to lead it? We don’t know anything about this!”.

“Mist, you must remember that nopony knows what has happened over the past day. We have changed as an entire race. Our needs will be different from what we needed before. You can lead us into a new age of prosperity, and as a group, you will be much stronger than I could have ever been. You have already proven that. Now go and get the others. We must announce this to the herd.” Reluctantly, Mist trotted back to the other five ponies and explained what the leader had said. Still in their heightened state of mind, they simply went along with it while waving to the crowds. They all followed the leader up onto a fallen tree, where she addressed the herd. “Fillies and gentlecolts. As it will not have escaped your attention, we are in the presence of heroes. These six ponies have showed great courage in the face of a foe that even the entire herd ran in fear of. They have proven themselves to be worthy of much more than I can offer, but, as a token of my sincerest gratitude, I hereby pass over my leadership of the herd to these six ponies.”