You quickly unzip your backpack, pulling out a medium sized first aid kit as well as a bottle of water. You close it back up and rush over to Sentinel, crouching next to him as you open up the first aid kit.

Where the hell did the albino dragon go? He just... left. You wonder, taking a quick look over your shoulder to where the albino dragon was the last time you saw him, Poor guy must've been terrified after everything that happened.

"Alright man, let me take a look at your eye."

Sentinel slowly uncovers his hoof from the side of his bleeding face, blinking rapidly as more blood begins to blind his wounded eye, making him hiss and almost try to cover it back up. You stop him from doing so and quickly get to work, pulling out a small bottle of sterile saline and using a small gauze pad to douse the saline with.

Should have shot the blond dragon first... fuck.

"This is gonna sting a little, but it'll help." You reassure Sentinel, who just nods and braces, doing his best to keep his wounded eye open. You quickly but carefully begin to tend to his wound, flushing the eye and the cut with the saline. Sentinel hisses loudly but keeps still nonetheless.

"You know- rrrgh, fuck... you know, I think I'm beginning to regret what I said about dragons." He mutters, chuckling a little as you begin to prepare another patch of gauze, "Not exactly the best first impression for you, I'm guessing?"

"Could've been worse, honestly. " You say, tending to the large gash on his face with antiseptic wipes, being extra careful to avoid his eye. As you do this, you take a closer look at the eye itself, feeling a bit relieved that it actually wasn't as bad as you expected, "You're actually kinda lucky too. Only the white part of your eye was clawed, and it doesn't look that deep. Still, you need to get to a hospital, ASAP. I doubt the infirmary at base camp can treat wounds like this."

"Damn it... should've worn my helmet." Sentinel mutters to himself, berating himself for packing light armor and no helmet due to the heat near the Badlands.

You finish wrapping up a bandage around his head, creating an eyepatch of sorts over his wound, "That should serve you well. At least 'till we get to base camp."

"You're quite the jack of all trades, aren't you?" He smiles and you shrug. He attempts to stand up, but you stop him from doing so and instead hand him the bottle of water you took from your pack.

"Don't even try. You need all the rest you can get. Last thing I need is for you to get more fucked up than what you already are." You explain as your partner sighs and reluctantly takes the bottle of water.

"Okay, dad. Whatever you say." He rolls his eyes as he opens the bottle, drinking a decent amount in a couple of seconds. You stand up and store your first aid kit back into your pack, then walk towards the tent you and Sentinel set up. As you begin to undo the tent and take out the sleeping bags from inside, you look over your shoulder towards your partner.

"Hey, did you see where the albino dragon went? Y'know, before those two assholes bailed."

He nods and closes the water bottle, setting it beside him, "Yeah, I did. I saw him run into the forest after the blonde dragon fucker was preparing to take a chunk out of you."

"He kept staring at you after you threw that Garble dude off of him. His eyes were wide as all heck, and teary. But damn, I've never seen a bruise that bad on anypony, or anyone after they were punched. Garble was ready to go off on the poor dragon."

"I actually felt kinda bad for him." He looked down at the ground, shaking his head, before groaning and trying his best not to touch his patched up eye, "ugh, this still hurts like a motherfucker. I'm really gonna have to miss this deployment because of a cut?"

"Better safe than sorry. If you get an infection, gods forbid, you can say goodbye to your eyesight." You say sternly, while Sentinel just sighs and nods.

"Yeah... guess you're right."

You pick up on the heavy tone of disappointment in your friend's voice, making you feel a bit guilty, "Hey, c'mon. At least you'll have a hell of a scar. With a pretty damn good story to tell too." You smile, trying to look at the brighter side of the situation.

"...You know what? You're right." He smiles genuinely at you, very lightly touching his patch, "Besides, bitches love scars, right?"

You chuckle a little and nod as you roll up the sleeping bags, "Heheh, exactly man."

Though I doubt your marefriend will. You think to yourself with a small smirk.

As you begin to undo the tent, you take another last look at where you saw the albino dragon, sighing softly, "...Honestly, I kinda hoped he'd stick around. Wish I could've at least thanked him before he flew off."

"What for? You weren't gonna die either way because of the flames. Remember the potion?" Sentinel reminds you and you nod.

"Yes, but that dragon actually risked his safety to help me regardless. I highly doubt he knew about the potion we drank, but he still went out of his way to do something that risky. I mean, that was probably the most extreme case of insubordination I've ever seen in my life, but... there's something about what he did that really touches me, you know?"

"Plus, I'm sure the dragon knew the risk of hitting that Garble dragon to a degree. Since he looked like the leader of the trio."

"I guess I can understand why," He continued, "I mean, you're still not over me saving you the first time you got here." He smirks a little, standing up as he takes his saddlebags and pack, though it's much lighter than how it was before, since you're the only one doing the heavy lifting this time.

"Honestly Anon, I think your gratitude is your biggest flaw." He finishes, standing beside you as you put out the campfire. You roll your eyes and sigh.

"Maybe so, but the point is, if there's anyone worthy of my respect right now, it's him. Just wish he was here so I could at least thank him."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say dude. I saw the way you looked at him when Garble pushed him towards you. I'm not that blind." Sentinel teased, a huge shit-eating grin on his face. Fortunately for you, he didn't notice your reddening face thanks to you snuffing out the campfire before he finished.

"Wh-whatever you say dude... let's get your pirate looking ass back to base camp." You retort, both of you walking back towards the path you took to get here. Sentinel snickers quietly and follows along at the same pace.

"I'm gonna have to change your patch every half hour or so, by the way. Tell me if you need more water or anything."

Sentinel nods, double checking the bandages that keep his eyepatch together, taking note than one of them is already beginning to loosen just a little bit.

"...How the heck were you even able to suplex a dragon like that?" He asks suddenly as the two of you continue down the path, caving in at his attempt to start a conversation.

A soft, quiet sniffle comes from the bushes and trees just a bit out on the edge of the camp. Fizzle coughs softly and rubs his incredibly sore and painful bruise, wincing and whimpering quietly when he presses into it even the slightest bit.

Fizzle's breathing has calmed down slightly, no longer rapid and shallow, but he was still shaking... his wings were wrapped around his body tightly, but he was still in a slight state of shock, still not having come to terms with what just happened.

With what he just did.

He was lost in his thoughts, as they went a mile a second through his head. He just couldn't help but blame himself for everything that happened. From when Garble started to burn that... tall guard guy... to when Garble and Fume were hit by the weapon he had...

Fizzle began to cry softly again, biting his lip hard as to not make any noise, save for a tiny whimper that escaped his lips now and then. He didn't mean for anything bad to happen at all. It all just blew apart. He didn't even want to come here in the first place...

But after Garble and Fume threatened to steal what little he had left of his horde, he didn't really have any choice unless he wanted to starve...

He would have explained it all to the two guards... but he just couldn't speak up. Even more so when Garble shoved him in front of the tall guard...

...I've never seen anything, or anyone like him. I've been out in these forests a bunch of times... more than I'd like to admit, and I've seen my fair share of odd, unique creatures. Both beautiful and horrifying...

Yet I've never seen anything like him before. He did look quite scary at first... with how he didn't even flinch at Garble's attempt to assert dominance, but then I saw the mean, hard look on his face soften when he looked at me more... it... i-it even seemed like the tall guard was checking me out...

A small voice in the back of his mind tells him that he did look kinda cute, despite the tough demeanor he was putting on.

...A-as gay as that seemed...

Fizzle shook his head a little. N-now's not the time... He mentally scolded himself, ignoring his burning cheeks. He then peeked very slightly out of the bushes that were hiding him, seeing the tall guardsman tend to his wounded friend. Seeing this only made him feel even more guilty and he looked down at the ground, his mind clouded in guilt.

He looked down at the ground. Despite what he did, he didn't necessarily regret what he did to Garble... even though he possibly would if he saw Garble again... but he did regret how out of hand it all got. It could have all been avoided.

Fizzle knew why Garble did it though... with how hard he's been trying to climb up the dragon hierarchy all these years, if the Dragon Lord was told about this, it would really hurt his chances of becoming anything more than a small pack leader. Or even worse, he could be exiled. Like what happened to a couple of dragons after they had a deadly skirmish with some Guards... back when he was a hatchling...

But that didn't excuse what Garble had tried to do. He hated seeing anyone get hurt... and felt even worse seeing Garble hurt someone. Even fellow dragons... and the fact that he tried to... k...k-kill...

He swallowed hard, his eyes watering as he tried not to vomit at the thought of Garble willing to do something so gruesome and out of line... he knew that most other dragons weren't the nicest... and that Garble wasn't always the nicest dragon by any means... but... this would forever change his perspective on him.

It just... shocked him. Right to the core. He didn't even know any guardsponies, let alone the tall one. But it was just... it... wasn't right.

It. Wasn't. Right. He kept telling himself, trying further to justify what he did.

C-c'mon Fizzle, you idiot... y-you know you did the right th-thing... Or at least he tried to tell himself that...

...

Now that he thinks about it more... the tall guardsman doesn't even looked like he's injured. At all. From the burns anyway.

...but how though? Did it have magic? Like, some sort of fire proof spell?

I thought only Unicorn ponies were capable of magic to any degree... He thought, completely confused, before the memory of him being stunned and looking at the guardsman after the fire attack from Garble all came back to him much more clearly.

...So...

Does that mean what he did... didn't even matter in the end? Did the guard even appreciate what he did?

"Did I really just... e-end up making things worse...?" Fizzle mutters meeply to himself. Tears begin to form out of the corners of his eyes.

...

As usual. Garble would say if he were here...

He quickly hides further into the bushes as the tall guardsman comes a bit closer to the bushes. As you see that they've finished packing up their equipment at a rather quick pace, you can now hear them better.

"-wish I could have at least thanked him."

"What for? You weren't gonna die either way because of the flames. Remember the potion?"

"Yes, but that dragon actually risked his safety to help me regardless. I highly doubt he knew about the potion we drank, but he still went out of his way to do something that risky. I mean, that was probably the most extreme case of insubordination I've ever seen in my life, but... there's something about what he did that really touches me, you know?"

"Honestly Anon, I think your gratitude is your biggest flaw."

"Maybe so, but the point is, if there's anyone worthy of my respect right now, it's him. Just wish he was here so I could at least thank him."

Fizzle sits there his mind trying to comprehend what the guardsman just said. If it were really what he just heard. His mouth was open in shock as he looked down, his eyes wide.

S...so the guardsman was grateful... r-really grateful, from the s-sound of that...

...He didn't necessarily know how to feel, but his chest did feel a bit tighter...and his eyes felt a bit watery, though not because of pain this time.

Fizzle had never been 'respected' per se. He'd always been an outcast of sorts, even within the small pack he was part of. Always the one of least importance. The Omega as it was officially called. Or other... things...

He'd always tried to aim to please... but it always backfired on him. Always. Whether it was him trying his best to get a really rare gem out of a cave, only to have it stolen, or sharing what little he had of his horde, it never brought him anything but insults about his weakness. His submission to other dragons, even when he was just tried to be nice.

Even to the point where Garble referred to Fizzle as more of a pony than a dragon... he didn't know how to take that... but it still hurt him.

So, to say that this kind of praise... gratitude... whatever it was called, was almost unknown to him, would be a bit of an understatement.

Fizzle also began to remember how the tall guardsman lifted Garble off of him... as if he weighed almost nothing... although he didn't exactly know if he did it to either save Fizzle from more harm, or due to sheer anger... he assumed from the looks that the guardsman gave him when he first saw him that it was probably more towards the first reason.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say dude. I saw the way you looked at him when Garble pushed him towards you. I'm not that blind."

Fizzle's thoughts are suddenly cut off when his ears pick up on what the guardspony just said. He looks back at the two, his eyes wide and his curiosity at its peak.

"Wh-whatever you say, dude... let's get your pirate looking ass back to base camp."

He immediately feels his face burn, his cheeks more red than the magma he bathes in. Though instead of being in pure shock like always, he actually feels a bit... warm. Warm as in... comforting. Almost unnatural. Definitely not unpleasant. But confusing...

Nonetheless, he slowly pressed his claws against his chest, and he actually felt a small genuine smile form on his face. His stomach felt odd and his chest was tight, as if he was about to cry, but... not cry out of pain or sadness. But before he could ponder on these odd feelings more, he looked up again and back to the two Guards.

Only to see that they weren't anywhere to be seen.

Fizzle gasped a little when he saw that they weren't there anymore. All that was left was a burnt out pile of firewood and footsteps.

He began to look around, slightly panicked. He then saw a makeshift trail near him, as well as foot and hoofsteps walking towards it. After a couple seconds of hesitation, he slowly and quietly crawled out of the bushes, looking around, before cautiously making his own way down the trail, sticking close to the bushes and trees, fully intent on following the two guardsmen.

Author's Note

This is my first time doing a POV of Fizzle, and it won't be the last. Though it will be slightly different next time I do this. Future chapters will have different character perspectives, especially when Fizzle and Anon become more... intimate. But as always, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter is already in the works!

Notes:
Dragon packs (at least in this story) follow a similar hierarchy to that of wolf packs, like Alphas, Betas, Omegas, ect.