Outside the Ashlands

Cinder walked along the beach on edge. The sand felt nice and warm, just like the ash that covered the insides of the caves back home. That, at least, felt familiar to her. Everything else however, was strange and foreign. The rocks which occasionally dotted the beach were a warm brown, nothing like the light gray that permeated the dark halls of her home, and the roar of the ocean behind her kept her from being able to focus on hearing if anything was sneaking up on her. Even then, Cinder kept her head held high as she held onto her backpack straps, an overexaggerated jaunt in her steps.

She felt she was ready for anything. "Rocs, Hydras, Tatzelwurms... Come on! I can beat em. I don't even need Ash!" She lied to herself. She needed it to feel better.

A large pinch on one of her feet caused her to jump into the air with a loud 'Eep!' She screamed and ran behind a rock. A monster was clearly here on the beach!

When she looked back she saw what had pinched her was merely a small red crab, whose shell she had rudely stepped on. "Phew..." She sighed, turning to walk away. "Sorry about that!"

The small dragon then came face to face with another sight which stole the breath from her lungs. Something to add to the ever-growing list of new experiences for her. Before the little drake, was a large mass of brown pillars sticking out of the ground. Green... fluff covered the tops of the pillars, and a similar colored fluff covered the ground. The weird green stuff covered the sky, not nearly enough to block out the sun, but enough to provide a comfortable amount of shade.

Cinder hesitantly stepped onto the green stuff below the pillars. She pulled her foot back, eyes widened when she felt it. It was.... Cool. Cool, wet to the touch and fairly comfortable to walk on? Surely she was imagining things right? She stepped her foot back onto the fuzz
and kept walking. She liked it!

Cinder smiled and resumed her jaunt into the wilderness, careful to not bump head first into one of the brown pillars. This was also the first time she managed to focus on her senses besides touch and sight. The air smelled so... so... clear. It was fresh. Not stuffy and smelly like her room and the tunnels below the dragon lands. She stopped and took a moment to smell the wondrous odors around her.

The morning dew, the aroma of flowers, all of this was so new to her. She could see why the Dragonlord and the General wanted to conquer the surface now. If this was even one percent of the wonders the surface had, then she would want to own it too.

She was so distracted in her wonder and amazement, she failed to notice an even smaller creature in front of her.

"Woah!" She heard, causing her to turn her head in alarm to said creature. They were about half her size and just plain bizarre in appearance. It stood on four legs, and had a curved horn on the top of its head. Its flesh looked like a bug's but covered in a small coat of fur. It was purpleish in color and had two compact, magenta eyes. Curly purplish hair covered the top of her head, and in place of a tail she had a bug like wing.

"You're a dragon!" The strange thing said in a high pitched voice which was vaguely undercut by a buzzing.

Cinder looked at it wide eyed. What was this thing? Was she even supposed to be seen? This was bad! The sounds of clopping hooves forced her to quickly dive into a bush. She certainly didn't want to be seen by any more creatures barring this one.

"Butterfly! There you are!" Came a feminine voice. Cinder's scaly fingers pushed apart the twigs and leaves, her blue eyes squinting through, seeing two more creatures enter the area.

The first one, who had just talked, was obviously a pony. She was tall, twice Cinder's height, and ran up to the smaller creature from before scooping her up. She was pink in color and also had purplish hair, but she lacked any of the bug like traits of the smaller one.

The other was best described as a bug pony. It also stood on four legs, and was of the same height as the pink pony. She couldn't really tell it's gender, only that is had a blue carapace like skin, had two yellow eyes. It also had a curved horn like the small one. It looked incredibly concerned as it ran up next to the pink pony and small creature.

The pony spread two bird like wings as she sat on her haunches. "What were you doing out here! It's dangerous in these woods! You had me worried sick!"

"Mommy Mommy!" 'Butterfly' said shaking her hooves and pointing at the bush Cinder was hiding in. "I saw a dragon!"

Cinder quietly whimpered and shrank down as she stared at the three.

"A dragon? Really Butterfly? Are you just making this up to get out of your chores?" Came a masculine voice from the bug pony.

"No Papa! It's right in that bush!" Butterfly said again pointing once more.

'Papa' sighed and sat down. "What are we ever going to do with you little one?"

"Oh come off it Pupa. She isn't as bad as your son." 'Mommy' said rolling he normal eyes.

The bug pony gave an exasperated sigh, glancing to Butterfly with a forced smile before looking back to the mare. "Not in front of Butterfly, Magenta."

'Mommy' or 'Magenta', which ever her name was, sighed deeply and stood up, putting Butterfly onto her back. "Whatever you say dear." She said, beginning to walk away from Cinder. "Let's go home, ok?"

"Aww... but what about the Dragon?" Butterfly complained, before the group fell out of earshot.

Cinder waited a good five or ten minutes before timidly stepping out of the bush, holding her claws close to her chest and nervously tapping the tips together. She started to walk in the opposite direction of the pony and bug thing. She didn't want to run into something again. What even were those bug things?