Dragon's Light

Chapter Three: The Cave Attack and The Talk

The next day eventually finally came and it went quite well for all of them indeed.

Starlight started to show more detailed private parts of the whole entire town including some caves that were very far off in the distance that served quite well as an excellent place to play hide and seek, but they would need more ponies with them to make that game any kind or sort of fun at all ever really.

But very slowly over time the whole entire town got to know Axel and Leo quite well indeed, for the ponies laughed at his jokes and all loved to play with Axel, scratch him, and only the youngest could get the chance and opportunity to fly on his back ever since he had decided to let one on just for some fun one day.

But now it seemed like every pony was starting to hop unto the very new trend.

“So how’s it going exactly?” Starlight said to Axel one day while he was at work.

“It could be better or worse instead, I don’t really complain all that much, ever.”

“Yeah, I can get that,” she said sighing as she very slowly moved on then now.

And with that said she slowly watched with her great big huge wide vast smile as she saw one of her new best friends fly up there high in the sky putting the needs and wants of others before his own, and she wished that she could be like that, as kind and nice and generous and as wise as a princess always was…

No, her dream was coming back to her, and she just didn’t know if that was a good thing anymore, she didn’t know if anything ever really was anymore.

She quickly brushed off this thought and idea and watched her best friends play. But eventually the time eventually finally came at the end of the day for them to leave, and afterwards the schedule and routine was the same with her reading a completely new and different story to them each and every night. But then they finally eventually figured that it was time to shake things up a little bit now then.

“Hey, can we go to a different town now and explore that instead?”

“Why would you ever want to do that? Surely you like it here already?”

“Well yes, we do, but we find it just a tiny little bit boring with the same old regular normal ordinary things and stuff, do you get what I’m saying here?”

“Yeah, I do,” Starlight said now then, “And I have something just perfect in mind, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll like or love it instead, just like anything in life at all ever, but even if you don’t at least we’ll know what you do and don’t like, and anything that’s a good teaching experience is very good in my book.”

“Well you should at least try it out first, right?” Axel said now then.

“Yeah, sure thing, come on, let’s go right now,” she said smiling now then.

And with that said they left the house and slowly followed Starlight very closely now then. “So, to where is it that we are going exactly?” Leo said now then.

“Oh, you’ll see very soon enough, I like to keep these things a surprise.”

And with that said they still continued on their way right behind her now then.

And very soon enough they came across a cave. “A cave? Really? Is that it?”

“Well yes, but it may not be all for today depending upon how I feel exactly.”

“Well yes, of course, duh, but what’s inside of that thing exactly anyways?”

“I don’t know really, it could be endless wonder or filled with adventure, peril, and danger, or even traps, maybe even pirates perhaps,” she said now then, “Come on, let’s go in and find out, or don’t you want to try to have any fun?”

“Alright, fine then, but let me go first, I can protect you from anything that might be dangerous in there,” he said taking the lead in front now then.

“And how would that be exactly?” Starlight said following closely behind him now then. “I have scales harder than any steel blade, and did I also mention the fact that I can breathe fire and have very sharp claws too as well?”

“No, you did not ever mention that before, but now I’m very glad to know that now,” Starlight said as some fear and nervousness slowly started to creep into her now then. “Don’t you worry, I don’t expect and danger, but then again I also always do at any moment so that way I am always ready and prepared for anything that might happen at all,” he said slowly leading the way for all of them. And they all very slowly made their way into the cave and eventually found nothing inside. “See? What did I tell you? Nothing dangerous here at all.”

“That is where you would be wrong, my little pony,” a voice said from behind them. And with that said they all turned to see a chimera standing there.

“Run, I’ll hold it off for you,” Axel said charging the beast very quickly now.

But when he saw that they weren’t running yet he repeated his phrase again.

“RUN!!!” he shouted as he came into contact with the creature, and with that said they decided to follow his words and they quickly ran out of the cave narrowly avoiding the monster. But once they were out they turned to see how the battle and fight was going, and it was going quite well for Axel indeed.

Whenever the chimera tried to bite him with its snake head Axel would swipe at it and the snake head would very quickly have to duck away to avoid not getting its head chopped off. The chimera’s claws were no match against Axel’s very thick skin and scales, and within a few swipes of his claw the beast was bleeding a lot on the ground, and then Axel slowly went up to the thing.

“Please don’t hurt me anymore, please,” it said whimpering now then.

“On one condition, you leave this town and cave and go somewhere very far away where I will never hear of you again even if only in whispers or rumors, because if I do then I will look for you, I will find you, and then I will kill you.”

“Yes sir, I understand, I won’t ever come back here again,” it said slowly leaving the cave trying to recover from its wound. “I would highly recommend a forest for you, it’s nice and thick and full of places that you can hide,” Axel said now then. “Thanks a lot for the advice, but I think I can handle myself from now on,” it said. And with that said they watched it slowly go off into the distance.

“That was quite impressive indeed,” Starlight said now then after the beast had finally left them. “It was nothing really, I’m a dragon, that chimera never stood a chance against me in the first place, but come on now, I think that we’ve had enough danger and peril for one day, and also exploring caves too as well, how about we all do something nice and relaxing that can fill us up with peace instead?” he said now then. “That sounds like a wonderful genius idea, and I think that I might just have the perfect place,” Starlight said smiling now then as she slowly led them to the town bowling alley where they started to play the game while she decided to have a talk with Axel about his behavior and actions. “So,” she said now then very carefully, “Care to explain your recent behavior and actions today? Because I don’t ever recall asking you to help protect me.”

“No, you didn’t, but I just felt like I needed to try to start doing something to repay you for your kindness and generosity, I mean you’re just so nice.”

“Thanks a lot for the compliment, but flattery won’t ever win me over.”

“Alright, fine then, what do you want to say exactly? That I was stupid, rash, and very foolish to act in such a way, to have these thoughts, feelings, ideas, and emotions within me? Because guess what, I don’t really care that much.”

“Well you should, and yes, that’s exactly what I was going to say to you before.”

“Look, I was trying to do what I thought was right and best for both you and all of us, and guess what, I was right, there was peril and danger, I mean what if I wasn’t there? What would you do against that thing then?” he said now then.

“Use my magic against it, duh,” she said now then. “And how well or great is your magic exactly?” he said smiling now then. “Not that great, I always needed my former previous best friend Sunburst to help me out with that, he always did seem better than me, and he always did seem to know the answers to everything, but he’s gone now and I have to try to move on with my life, okay?”

“Alright, fine then, I can respect that, I actually value it rather instead, but you have to learn something very important first, you can’t always protect or keep your friends, any of them at all, ever. And sometimes they have to protect each other, and you might think that protect your heart by shutting others out is a good idea, but it’s not, trust me, it can only ever hurt you in the end, it robs you of all the chances and opportunities to make new friends and learn even more than that which you already do, because there is always room for improvement by learning something new every day, no matter what it is or how tiny and little and small it is, or how big and huge it is either instead too,” he said now then.

“Well okay then, fine, I see your point, but why do you do it at all if you know that there’s the chance opportunity to get hurt? Why risk yourself for me?”

“Because that’s just what best friends do,” he said, “They don’t ask why, they don’t stop to question it either, they just think, do, and go, and they don’t ever bother to stop and look behind them when one of their best friends in in danger, because it doesn’t matter what happens to them so long as they know that they did their very best to protect the ones that they like and love, and that means you. That’s the real exact reason why I put myself in danger today for you.”

“Well then, thank you very much, but you don’t always have to do that for me.”

“But it is my great honor and privilege to serve you,” he said smiling now then.

“Oh, alright, fine then, be that way, I forgive you for your very recent behavior and actions today now that you have finally explained them to me, but for right now let’s just try having fun with this game, shall we?” she said smiling now then. “Gladly,” Axel said throwing his ball and getting a perfect strike now then. “How are you so good at this?” she said staring at his score which was all perfect strikes. “Claws help hold the ball, and being a dragon gives you a very good line of sight,” he said smiling now then as she tried to throw the ball straight like he did, but she only managed to knock over seven of the pins making a split that would be impossible to ever make a perfect score of ten on, and she grimaced when she saw it and looked at the scores seeing that Axel was still far ahead.

“Oh, nice try, but leave it up to the masters and experts honey,” he said throwing his last ball and getting a perfect strike and winning the game and also getting the maximum allowed number of points within the game too as well.

Even the manager got involved somehow. “We’ve never had a perfect score before by any pony, all except

the ones whose cutie mark is bowling of course.”

“Well do I get a special prize or award or trophy or something like that?” Axel said now then. “Uh, yes, you do,” the manager said, “You get this here trophy and also free food on your next visits depending upon how often you come here, oh, and you also get this discount card for the next games that you decide to play, just in case you want it,” the manager said smiling now then.

“Alright, fine, very good, thanks a lot,” Axel said smiling as he took his stuff and things, and then with that in his arms they decided to go back home now then. “But it’s so early, can’t we do another round of bowling ball?” Axel complained very loudly now then. “I don’t want my flank kicked the next time that I play, and I like you as a friend, but I also utterly despise you for your talent in bowling ball,” she said now then. “Oh alright, I’ll take it easy on you next time, would you still play with me then?” he said now then. “Please define taking it easy first,” she said now then. “Okay, fine then, you make a very fair point.”

“Yes, and I always do, you should remember that well next time.”

And with that said they finally reached their home now then and Starlight made sure that they were both settled in for the night now then. “Personally, I don’t think my score is that bad,” Leo said, “Especially considering that I never played bowling ball before, I mean I can’t believe that I ever came in second place.”

“And neither can I too as well,” Starlight said with a frown now then, she hated that she came in last because she always did like to be first in just about absolutely everything and anything that she tried, but she supposed that if she was going to have new best friends that she couldn’t be the absolute best as everything and anything at all, some would just be naturally better than her no matter what she tried to do, and she just had to focus on what she was good at right now, which wasn’t very much, but there was always room to learn and grow. “Well then, I have another very good old classic story for you tonight, but this time it’s going to be a bit different from the ones that you usually hear, because it won’t have a sad or happy ending for either of you two.”

“Oh, what’s it this time?” Leo said with much great excitement in his voice now then. “It’s called try to get to sleep without a story tonight,” she said smiling now then as she got up from the bed. “Really? You want us to try to go to sleep and get some rest without you telling us a bedtime story?” Leo said now then very curiously waiting for a reasonable answer and explanation to this new problem.

“Yes, and if you want to hear the other stories then you can read them to yourself when time permits, but there will be no more bedtime stories until further notice, and that’s because you’re always growing up and you won’t always have me around, so try thinking about something new and different and strange and unique instead, try to create your own story within your mind.”

“But what if we can’t? What then exactly?” Leo said now then.

Starlight smiled,” Dream big then I guess,” she said as she softly gently closed the door behind her thinking that she was doing the right thing, after all, they had to grow up and learn, and they couldn’t ever do that if she kept treating them like children. And with that thought in her mind she decided to read a book before bed and then eventually she finally fell to sleep letting her imagination run wild and free and living the dream like it was real life instead.