Smolder walked sluggishly through town, following Ember's steps as she led the young dragon towards the market. Smolder had planned to sleep in today because class is on hold until the staff returns, but the dragon lord needed her for something, so she was pulled right out of bed by Ember. Smolder doesn't know what the older dragon wanted to do, all Ember had told her was a secret, well it better be worth it. Soon both dragons arrived at Carrot Top's stall, Smolder and the pony nodded to each other, still remembering what had transpired yesterday.

"Morning, uh..." Ember tried to greet the pony, but she could not remember the name.

"Carrot Top." The pony said.

"Right, sorry. Anyways, got any more of those meat pies?"

The mare nodded before she ducked down below the counter to bring out what Ember had requested. Fresh from the oven, the scent struck both dragons like a bat to the temple, and Smolder felt her mouth water once the scent of something very delicious hit her nose. Right in front of her was a dozen meat pies that almost made Smolder cry, never had she felt hungry ever before and she would've just eaten one of them if it weren't for her strong will.

"What is that?" Smolder asked before taking another whiff of the pies, she licked her lips excitedly.

Carrot Top smiled proudly. "Meat Pies, my best ones yet!"

"Meat? I haven't had any for a long time!"

Ember grabbed half of the pies and passed it over to Smolder to hold, the young drake nearly fell over from the sudden move, the pies stacked perfectly in her arms and would tilt slightly to the left. Smolder was careful not to lose balance or she risked dropping all six pies.

Ember looked over to Carrot Top and handed her a small pouch of bits. "Thanks again Carrot Top, have a good one!" She said before equally stacking the rest of the pies on her claws and left the carrot stand to look for a certain dragon, Smolder quickly followed the older drake but she was still careful not to drop the pies. It was bad enough that she was tempted to eat them there and now, the scent of meat was making her mind go crazy. She could only hope that it wouldn't take long until she could sink her teeth in them.

"So..." Ember began. "How's Krieg?"

Smolder frowned from behind the stack of pies. "Ember, what do you see in a guy like Krieg?"

Ember was caught off guard with her question, the pies in her arms nearly fell as she flinched. She pondered for a second, her mind returned to the day where she met Krieg. Her heart started to mimic the same speed when she first saw the Psycho, the way her knees stiffened by his mere presence.

"He's strong." She answered. "Everything a dragon should be, strong, tough, and big. I haven't seen his hoard, but I can tell that he definitely has a large pile. And I'll be honest, I won't ignore the fact, he defeated me so quickly and so easily, that I'm sure. That if he had answered the dragon lord's call, then he would be the one ruling over the dragons."

Smolder absorbed the information that Ember gave her. Smolder understood the idea of being attracted to a dragon's strength, she knows the appeal. But Smolder wasn't much like other dragons, she learned to like someone differently. Not like she had anyone in mind right now.

Sadly, Krieg is entirely something else, he's someone you shouldn't be in a serious relationship. Especially the fact that he was mentally unhinged.

"But you gotta reconsider, Ember..."

Ember glared towards the younger drake. "Now why should I?"

"Krieg isn't a normal dragon, he's too dangerous and I'm worried that one day he'll do something, and I won't be able to do anything."

"Smolder." Ember sighed. "I know that he's not really well in the head, but I just can't... what did that shiny one say again? Oh, right! I can't just ignore my heart, and let it bloom like a beautiful... uh... an apple?"

Smolder groaned, she felt like she wasn't getting through Ember, she thought about other ways to change Ember's mind. Then an idea had come into her mind, but it was a terrible one, so much that Smolder would probably risk Krieg's safety. But she needed to change Ember's mind or else it would be already too late.

"Ember..." She swallowed the guilt in her throat. "Krieg isn't my brother..."

"You mean..." Smolder waited for Ember to finish her sentence, she waited for the question that would come. "You and him are in a relationship!?"

"WHAT!?" Smolder nearly drops the pies right then and there out of shock from Ember's speculation. "Hell. No!"

"Oh..." Was all Ember could utter as Smolder continued.

"We are not in a damn relationship! I would rather take a bullet to the face than even be with that guy! He's a total psycho!"

Smolder stopped herself, she would have gone into some hate-filled rant about how she wouldn't even breathe the same air as Krieg.

She gritted her teeth as she began to explain. "What I'm trying to say is, he's not my brother, because he's some kind of monster that was put to sleep for over a thousand years by Celestia. And me and my friends woke him up, but now Celestia and the whole country is looking for him. Are you getting it now!?"

Ember laughed at the idea of Krieg being some kind of war animal. "Really Smolder? The way I see it, you're just jealous."

"Jealous!? Why in the world would I be jealous!?"

"Well, he's your brother, and I get the feeling that you're afraid that I would take him away from you."

If Smolder had a free hand, it would've wound up on her face right now. "Ember, I'm not lying because he's my brother, he's not. He's just some guy from an underground prison right below Ponyville. And let me tell you where he was the day you left to check on our home, he was at the Crystal Empire, slaughtering bandits left and right! He's an unchained monster Ember, and he had already tried to kill me."

"Smolder..."

"Up to this day, Gallus and I couldn't get used to Krieg. Whenever we look at him, we always feel small in comparison, and our hearts just start pumping blood like we're about to die. You must have felt the same when you first met him, right?" Smolder snorted a short laugh. "What am I saying? You're scared of him, maybe that's why you think you're in love, all because of fear."

Disbelief was written on all over Ember's face. "This... is really unbelievable. Why would he even do that? And what did Krieg do to receive such a punishment?"

The young drake looked away from her and avoided Ember's puzzled gaze. "His job..."

Before Ember could even ask, she continued.

"Remember that war between the griffins and the ponies? Well, Celestia threw him at the griffins, and let me tell you, I've seen what Krieg could do. And I imagined that the griffins were just child's play to him. You want a strong dragon? Then sure, Krieg is the guy you want! Heck, he even killed hundreds of our kind! Dragons, Ember! He hunted our kind for sport!"

Smolder allowed Ember to take a minute just to digest everything she had just said as they walked silently towards Twilight's castle. It was certainly a heavy load of information, something that you just don't hear everyday.

"Are you sure?"

"You can ask the others, even Spike knows about it."

"Spike..?"

They spent the rest of their journey back in silence, not another was said as they walked along the streets with pies in their arms.

"Hammer the shammer!" Krieg yelled at Ocellus.

"H-hammer the shammer!" The changeling repeated, but she stuttered a little at the start.

"Hammer the shammer!"

"Hammer t-the shammer!"

Smolder couldn't understand what she was even seeing. Krieg towered over Ocellus and was screaming random words at her just outside the castle. As to why, she's going to find out. Meanwhile, the rest of the group except Gallus were just sitting and watching the two screaming at each other.

The young drake sets down the pies on a picnic table that Spike had brought out. Ember had followed her example, but she remained silent as she cast a conflicted glance over to Krieg.

Smolder approached the blue griffin, Gallus was busy working on the rifle again. But thankfully, it was as quiet as Ember right now.

"What's that about?" Smolder pointed a thumb over her shoulder and at the screaming duo.

"Krieg is trying to teach her the ways of a Psycho." He blatantly spoke.

"Uh, that's not what we called him for, we asked him to help her be normal! Not to be weird!"

"That's what we tried to tell him, but he just ignored us and wouldn't leave Ocellus alone. Then he bit his own arm and ripped it off, which was horrifying, mind you. After that, he offered it to Ocellus to eat, but we managed to convince him to keep it, thankfully it just attached itself once Krieg placed it back on his shoulder."

"And we just let Krieg teach Ocellus some stuff so he wouldn't just hurt himself." Spike finished for Gallus as the tiny dragon walked over to the table "What are these anyways?"

"Meat pies. You should give them a try Spike." Smolder took a pie from the top and tossed it over to Spike. "Apparently, Carrot Top started making them, and I guess it's all because of the cult's influence."

"Wait..." Spike eyed Smolder for a second, his tiny little brain connected all the dots. After all, Spike learned a lot of things from Krieg, and one of them was his taste for flesh. "Doesn't that mean... that these things are made of people?"

Smolder stared back at Spike, her face was neutral and her body was rigid. Then she frowned as she took one of the pies and bit a chunk of it. She stared at Spike as he and Gallus watched her with their eyes wide open. Smolder did not speak as she ate the pie. Only when she was done that two finally could hear her speak.

"Whatever." She said nonchalantly as she swiped another pie.

"Yeah, I'm not eating this." Spike placed the pie back on the table.

"Ditto." Gallus went back to tinkering on the gun.

"Come on, it's good! If you ignore the thought of it being made from a person, then it practically tastes like normal meat!" Smolder tried to sway her friends over.

"Really Smolder?" Gallus shuddered, Smolder tempted him to take a bite out of the pie.

Gallus tried to keep the pie away, but Smolder had begun to fan her claws over the pie, and the sweet aroma slowly assaulted Gallus' senses.

"Come on, just one bite, and I promise that you'll definitely enjoy it."

"Fight it Gallus! Don't be tempted!" Spike tried to help the griffon.

"Fight it? What about you!?" Gallus raised a talon towards the tiny dragon, within Spikes claws was a half eaten pie.

"Me? No!" Spike wailed as he raised his arms towards the sky. Spike then collapsed onto his knees as he mimicked sobbing noises. "M-my purity! Gone! The soul of an innocent dragon is corrupted just like that!"

Then his emotion shifted.

"Eh, it isn't that bad. Just hope I don't get addicted I guess..." He said before continuing eating the pie. "You should try it Gallus, it isn't so bad once you get past the guilt."

"When did our morals sink so low?" Gallus said just as he crumbled under temptation.

Smolder smugly tossed a pie over to the griffin, and Gallus scarfed it down, his instincts had taken over just for a second. And then he felt shame once the pie was gone, but sadly, there were more on the table.

"See? It's the best!" Smolder held her head high, she felt proud of her victory over Gallus' and Spike's pride and morals.

"Is that pie?" Sandbar asked enthusiastically as he rushed over to the table. But was soon stopped by Smolder who held him by his tail.

"It's meat, so none for you herbivores."

"Aw, what? Dang, never thought you dudes would find meat in Ponyville."

Smolder shrugged her shoulders. "It's from Carrot Top."

"Wait... isn't she crazy like Krieg? Doesn't that mean..."

"Yes! They are what you think they are!" Smolder cuts Sandbar off, and the pony gasped upon learning the truth. "Yeah yeah, whatever, just go ask the others for something else to eat."

"Oh, alright." But just as Sandbar was about to walk away, he looked back to Smolder with a puzzled look. "Hey, what's up with lord Ember anyways? She's been... quiet."

Smolder sighed deeply, she knew she was going to regret her choice, but the others would find out sooner or later. "I... told her the truth about Krieg."

The three gasped.

"You monster!" The rifle finally spoke. "How could you hurt your own friend's feeling like that!?"

"Shut up! You're just trying to take advantage and make me feel guilty! But sorry, I won't listen to a word you say, you piece of junk."

"Smolder, why did you have to tell her?" Sandbar couldn't help but ask.

"She needed to know! Or else she'll get hurt someday, by Krieg or his enemies!" She explained herself.

Gallus shook his head. "Smolder, you should've accounted for Ember's feelings. I mean, look at her!" Gallus raised a claw towards the silent dragon, she stood just a few feet away from Krieg, and her eyes were focused on the beast himself.

"Gallus is right," Spike agreed with the griffin. "she looked like me when I lost a tasty sapphire down a storm drain in Canterlot."

Gallus coughed into his fist. "Not really the best example, but you get the idea Smolder. At least, you should've talked to us first, we would have thought of a way to break the ice, one where we wouldn't get her feelings hurt."

"You do realize that her feelings will get hurt either way right?" Smolder scoffed.

"Well-" Gallus' words were cut short as he was shoved to the side by Krieg.

"PIE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Uh... pie?" Ocellus attempted to mimic the monster, but she couldn't just reach the same decimals as the Psycho, nope, she was too shy to be able to do so.

Krieg took two off the top and waved one towards the changeling. "Fuel the engines! Let the blood flow!"

"Uh... sure..." Ocellus reached for the pie and was about to take a bite, but Smolder's hand had cupped her mouth shut.

"You don't want to eat those." She warned Ocellus with eyes filled with dread.

"I'll pass, Krieg." Ocellus heeded Smolder's words.

"The lonely bat screams!" Krieg retracted his arm, he looked around the place and his eyes had landed on a certain blue dragon who stood a little too far from the others.

Ember froze as she met Krieg's eye, she became stiff as a statue as Krieg grew closer to her. Smolder's claims still lingered in Ember's mind. She spared a glance over to her close friend, Spike. There she saw a strange look on his face, something she had never seen before. She could tell that Smolder had already informed them about what she knew.

Just as she remembered to breathe, Krieg was already standing over her, an aura of hatred and terror circulated all around him.

Ember tried not to panic, but her palms were shaking. And when Krieg shifted just a little, her body had acted on its own and her hand shot up instinctively.

Krieg stared at her for a second, long enough for the pie he had offered to hit the ground. The Psycho then looked at the pie itself and the rest did the same. Spike became worried for Ember, so do the others. A few more seconds had passed, then the unthinkable happened, Krieg slammed the pie in his hand right on his own face.

"Dig deep into the grave!" He yelled out before he scooped up the pie on the ground, along with the dirt and grass, then he threw it at Spike.

His throw was so precise, that Krieg caught Spike with his mouth open.

"Ew!" Everyone exclaimed as they watched Spike clawing his tongue.

Krieg was the only one laughing at Spike's situation. The beast wrapped an arm around, he didn't notice her flinching from his touch. "Six feet in the mud! Bones and all!"

"Krieg, that was gross!" Spike said as he cleaned his mouth with a tasty pie, not caring if it was a person anymore.

"Vladof roulette, bloody winner!"

"What kind of game do people play where they toss dirt into each other's mouths!?" Spike inquired about Krieg's words.

Krieg looked over to the dragon in his arm. "Smell the gunpowder, and taste the lead!"

Ember couldn't handle it anymore, she harshly pushed him away. "Let go of me!"

The dragon lord took a few steps and distanced herself from the beast. She had noticed that all eyes were now on her, Ember fidgeted on the spot. Then she felt the giant loomed over her, Ember didn't even see him move. He raised a hand towards her and she backed away.

"The skag and it's brother!"

"W-what?" She never did understand him, now that she remembered, he barely talked straight or properly.

Spike rushed over to their side, just to translate for Krieg. "He's asking if you're alright. Because you seemed... jumpy." Spike knew exactly why, but he feigned ignorance as an attempt to be on even ground with Ember.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong Spike." Ember shook her head a little clearer. "I just need some time to think about something."

Her wings outstretched itself, and before Spike could protest, she took to the skies. Krieg stared at her as she flew away from them.

"Ember, wait!" Spike tried to chase after her, but a massive hand had wrapped itself around his leg as he hovered above the ground. His eyes went over to Krieg, the Psycho seemed to be entranced. "Krieg, let me go! She needs me more than ever!"

"Digesting the heart!" Krieg then released Spike and allowed him to land back on the ground.

"Give her time? But..."

"Bleed straight from the veins!" He argued back. "Broadcast in the sun!"

"Uh, what did he say?" Gallus asked the small dragon as he walked over to the two dragons.

"He said that she'll get over it, and also he wants me to eat the pies with him." Spike translated for Krieg.

"Great." Gallus could sighed deeply. "What now?"

"Eat! Eat! Eat!" Krieg had suggested to Gallus.

Smolder approached them, once she was close enough, all she could feel was guilt. She had a hand in this situation, probably broke Ember's heart in the process. "Do you even know what happened Krieg?"

"Nope! I want pie!"

Smolder could only sigh as the Psycho ran straight towards the rest of the pies. The worst thing of all, is that her friends might have some complaints about her decision. She could already feel Gallus' judgemental gaze. Hopefully this would all blow over and Ember would just forget Krieg and go back to their home to rule over the dragons like nothing had ever happened.

Author's Note

Heard that there would be a Krieg DLC. As much as I hate the story of BL3 and a certain character, this piqued my interest. But I won't really get my hopes up.

Though the new mask is kinda cool.