He's Coming... and He's Hungry
The Helberd Dragon
B_25
He's coming... and he's hungry.
Those were the words spoken from pony to pony, throughout the years, passed from generation to generation, and its meaning has not changed despite the countless iterations. If one thing has changed, it has not been the meaning, but rather, the threat itself.
Those who have been cursed with even a glance at the monstrosity have since changed the warning.
It's coming... and it's hungry.
The beast was known to few as Gogmazios, and today, it came to Ponyville.
Every time the beast so much as an inch, it's solid frame pressed further into the stone walls of the cave, sending cracks akin to spiderwebs throughout its length. Behind him, the entrance he came through was fully shaved off—a simple movement of the beast was enough to eradicate the side of a mountain if it so desired it.
The beast laid at the empty chamber of the cave, still and asleep, though, in the core of its being, emptiness crept into his system, the sensation seeping outward as the years passed. They were like seconds to him—shorter still when he slept.
And when he awoke, it was always for one reason, the one all feared.
He's coming... and he's hungry.
When the eyes of the beast snapped open, they revealed only two pools of utter black, tar-like liquid filled its iris. It continued to be still. It continued to be quiet. Then hunger set upon him. And his only desire in life blazed within him.
Gogmazios made the stone walls creak and crack and squeak as his frame lifted off the ground. By merely moving up, his frame cut through the cave, growing heavier as he rose—until his head broke through to the top of the mountain. Trees and dirt and gravel caved in along his massive body, little things falling along the expanse of his body.
And then the Gogmazios tilted his head back, all while the collapsing mountain fell along his frame, and he unsealed a roar to the world. The ground, the sky, the very earth itself shook in reverberation to his pitch.
As he roared, black tar seeped outward from within his body, pooling over his scales. It all then dripped off his frame, the ability of his body to consume all and dispel with anything useless—also while being harmful to others.
And when its jaws came together again, the sky was darkened, the clouds were grey and faint, and rain started to pour. It pelted against his tar, though sliding off, unable to mix. Gogmazios turned in place, his body erasing the what remained of the building as he connected to it. All that fell did so around him.
Two wings of black stretched up into the sky, keeping in place for a second, enjoying the wind and wetness against its tips. After a few seconds of silence, his wings beat against the air, his legs pounced from the ground, and its body flew into the sky.
Leaving a crumbled mountain in his wake, despite it not being his intent, or even being aware he had done such a thing.
He's coming... and he's hungry.
Gogmazios flew through the air, flat, brown land behind him, cut straight to the very glass itself. Once it had been a forest full of life and tall trees, though nothing of it remained. It was not a fire or force that removed all that was there — only jaws and tar and a stomach that still hungered.
It was through its black eyes that it saw the crystal in the distance. The sight was worthy enough for its gaze to narrow. Below it, houses and towered stood, though they tended to be hollow, and interested its stomach not.
But crystal? It was thick, dense, and filling.
And its tar mostly left it alone within its core.
The Gogmazios swayed in the air as it flew. Above, it roared, softly to it, on its impending arrival. It saw below a crowd of ponies and such things awaiting it. That was there one warning. Those who remained did so at the cost of enduring it.
Down from the sky, and along the streets, the ponies stared up at the beast. Many of the Royal Guard were there, dressed in golden, equipped with long spears. They stood in of fives, twenty going across, and with as many unicorns behind them all—every horn aglow in every color possible.
One stallion stepped in front of them all, the captain, stood in front of the attack. He glanced along at the rooftops, glancing at the cannons aimed at the sky, and the ponies with bows before them. Offering them a nod, he then turned his gaze to the sky.
Then wind struck his eyes.
The captain raised a foreleg to cover his eyes at once, feeling the dust and dirt pelt against his wrist, though he gazed underneath it. Two legs of utter black crushed into the open space, the ground crumbling inward from its weight, and only doing so more when the rest of the beast touched down.
“It's... it.” The captain muttered to himself as he stepped back, though not too far, keeping a few steps in front of his guard. When his foreleg lowered, it did so against his chest, where he could repress the beatings of his heart. “Out of all the places for it to feast, it's chosen Equestria's most valuable resource.”
He then shook his head, dropping his leg to the grass. “But no matter! We planned for the worst, and we're ready to face it!” The rest of the giant beast touched down on the ground, which had already impressed under its massive weight. “This battle will see your hunger being sated!”
The long head of the Gogmazios hovered far above the castle, though as it frame adjusted to the area, it then lowered his face. It was liking watching a black and long tower collapse high up in the air, its wide neck coiling and slithering through the air. Seconds later, the massive face of the beast set down before the guard, dwarfing him with its jaw.
The captain didn't even cover an inch of the beast.
And when the beast finally did open its mouth, nothing came out of it, but rather, everything went into the. The captain cried before the dragon could even roar. Above and one either side, the blast of the canons struck the air like thunder, blasting the beast fill of fire and led.
The ponies behind the guard chucked their spears, right to left, one after the other. While they coursed through the air, the magic of the unicorns imbued the end of the spears with their power, directing their course to the dragon's eyes.
And as all eyes set on it, the Gogmazios hadn't even blinked or closed its mouth. It took everything without emotions. When the canons stopped blasting, and the guards stopped throwing their spears, only then did the beast close its mouth.
“S-Sir!” One of the guards ran next to the captain, throwing his foreleg around his neck, pulling him back. “We did nothing do it! You have to get back. It might—“
Their fears came true. The gulp of the beast sounded throughout the town. A large bugle carried down its mighty throat. Seconds later, nothing happened, other than the rain that continued to drench all. Moments later, tar welled from the beast's being and spilled onto the streets.
And then the beast roared. It raised slightly into the air, its continuous roar cracking the ground further. Then, with its rage expressed, leaned its large body left, raising its claw into the air—and twisting to bring his swinging limb into the line of buildings.
The ponies above were thrown from the strike or sent tumbling downward.
“Unicorns!” The captain turned in place, feeling his hooves become heavy. “Catch them!”
The rows of unicorns bowed their heads as their magic concentrated at the tip of their horns. With shining light, their aura manifested in the air, catching every guard flung through the air. Slowly, they lowered them to the ground.
“Everypony! Watch around your hooves!” The captain shouted to his guard, and when he looked down, the black tar was flowing along the ground. At first, its depth was dim, but with every second, it rose higher along his ankles. “The first defense has fallen! Retreat to safe ground. Unicorns, alert the heroes!”
The Gogmazios rose its head high above the scene. It watched, through its black welling eyes, to the frantic ponies below. They tried to run in its sludge, its tar thickening around their legs, slowing down their movements. Knowing they were no longer a threat, it glanced to the right, seeing the crystal tree house.
Its stomach growled in approval.
A fitting appetizer before it ate the crystal castle next.
“Place the wounded in the left wing of the school!” Twilight shouted orders at the guards. Ponies rushed all around her. The only ones still were her friends, behind her.
They were the few to stand before the crystal tree—even though, in the blurry and dark distance, the black beast stalked its way through the town, crushing buildings into nothingness underneath its paws.
“Um, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash touched down from the air next to her. “You know it's not my style to cramp out at the last second, but are you, uh, sure about this one?” She gestured a hoof at the distant but nearing beast. “Don't you remember our first adventure together? When we had to kick out a normal dragon in a cave—and we all had out butts handed to us?”
“Except for Fluttershy!” Pinkie came in from nowhere, bouncing around the two in glee. “She told that dragon what was UP! Oooh! Maybe she can call this one DOWN?”
The three turned to the mare in question. Fluttershy stood far off, near the slope of the small hill, where she stared off into the distance. The sudden gust of cold wind lifted strands of her mane. But she did not shiver. She did not reply. She kept in place, watched, and waited.
“...think that was a one-time 'deal' as it were, darling.” Rarity had come to the left of Twilight, watching as Pinkie came into place. “That beast was simply looking to be left alone. This one is looking to devour—and secreting awful black tar while it does so.” She twisted her hoof into the dirt. “I swear, if anything of it touched my previous boutique!”
Fluttershy continued to watch the dragon, squinting, and keeping still.
“'Fraid to admit it myself, but hot-head here is playing it cool for once.” Applejack walked in next to Rainbow Dash, standing at her, while they both faced off against the distant threat. “No buck is gonna knock him out. Shiny weapons neither.”
Applejack's gaze swept over at Twilight. “Sorry ta lay the charge on ya always like Twilight, but it looks like magic is our only way out of this one.” The Gogmazios neared the tree, close enough, now, that its steps rocked the ground they were on. “Ya do have enough magic to stop somethin' like that, right?”
Twilight stepped forward, gulping. “Let's hope.”
It was when the beast appeared that everypony else had fled. Like whenever the stakes were at their highest, it was only the girls, left alone by the rest, that stood tightly together. Once more, the towering beast slowed when it noticed the ponies, its steps breaking into the ground.
Rarity shivered at the resounding thud. But Fluttershy only stared harder at the ground it impacted, noticing the shallowness of the resulting print when its leg then lifted. She then craned her head back, all the way that she could—only to see the large head of the beast lowering toward her.
“Flutters!” Rainbow cried. “Get away from there! Move! What in the hay do you think you're doing?!”
But Fluttershy kept still.
“The poor mare is probably shocked!” Rarity cried. “Twilight!”
“I'm already on it!” Twilight charged forward with open wings and a charging horn, finding herself staring into one of the dragon's eyes. Her heart pricked, and her legs nearly buckled—but seeing her friend stuck still was what kept her moving forward. “Fluttershy! Don't worry! I'm coming to save you!”
Fluttershy finally looked over her shoulder, staring at Twilight. Her expression wasn't scared. It wasn't even stoic. Her look was the one she had whenever silly things were happening around her. And behind her, the dragon's massive jaws pulled away from each other, revealing the gaping maw able to take the yellow mare without the dragon even noticing.
“Fluttershy, get out of the way!” Swirling wind sucked into the tips of Twilight's horn as the weight of the magic caused the ground beneath her hooves to crack. “I'll... feed him something that will keep him full for a long time!”
And then Fluttershy stood in front of her magic, blocking her sight, her aim, of the back of the beast's throat. “F-Fluttershy? What are you—“
“Stop your magic, Twilight.” Fluttershy turned around. “And tell everypony else not to worry.”
Twilight blinked. Her magic ceased at once. Her confusion thus began. “W-What is it? Did you figure something out?”
“Let's hope so.”
Twilight tilted her head at that, but stepped back all the same, hoping Fluttershy's plan wasn't to jump into the dragon's mouth.
Fluttershy stood before the beast, with its mouth open, and nodded her head at it. On either side of its maw, its eyes were set on her. Not demanding, but rather, begging. “I've heard the legends about you, mister. And none of them have been very good.”
The swirling blackness of its eyes darkened and thickened as they both became narrowed on her.
“It must be hard for you, isn't it?” Fluttershy looked over to her right, spotting a pebble. Scooping it up with her hoof, she tossed it onto the waiting tongue, which swirled underneath it. “Being so hungry all the time. It must drive a dragon like you crazy! And then the ponies say those horrible things about you.”
The dragon closed its mouth, where it then swallowed the offering, even though it wouldn't touch any walls of its throat. The act itself slowed the sludge leaking from its body, keeping to its body.
“But you're not a bad dragon, are you? You could have just wiped away this town, but you didn't.” Fluttershy smiled at the beast, and when she did, it ceased to be a beast. “You opened your mouth, and all those ponies attacked you. It's like they've never been really hungry in their life.”
The Gogmazios whimpered.
“Even when you walk, you don't put your full weight into it.” She giggled. “With how big you are, the ground should be breaking more! But you're only putting the lightest steps you can, but everypony still thinks you're out to destroy. And you only do that because you're reaaally hungry.”
The dragon nodded its massive head.
“I had a feeling that you would be coming soon, and that you would actually be a sweet dragon.” Fluttershy walked a bit to his jaw, where she laid a hoof against his scales, feeling the sludge collect in her fur, though she rubbed the spot anyways. “I already talked to a princess north of here. Her name is Cadance. I'll have a letter sent to her now.”
The dragon made a confused sound.
“They have chunks of dense crystals that they don't need anymore!” Fluttershy stepped back from him. “There should be enough there to help with your hunger. While you're eating, I'm sure the princesses will come together to find a way to resolve your hunger.”
Fluttershy then glanced, nearly glared, at Twilight from over her shoulder. “Isn't that right, Twilight?”
Twilight stepped back, glancing at the crystal tree, and then wincing. She looked back to the dragon, lowering her head while she did so. “You have my word as the Princess of Friendship that we will find a way to handle your needs. I... should have thought more on why you would eat so much.” She raised her head. “Please accept my apologies.”
The Gogmazios made a sound in return. It wasn't a roar, or a cry, or a whimper. Twilight gave a sheepish smile, nodding her head like she understood, but really, she was just happy that none of them or the tree would be ending up inside its maw.
Fluttershy then pointed over to Canterlot. “Fly north for a little while. You should see an empire made out of crystal. Land outside of it if you can. The princess herself will come and greet you. You don't have to worry about fighting or going hungry. She'll provide everything that you need.”
The dragon nodded at her and, lifting its head to the air above, then offered a strange kind of smile to the ponies below. With a mighty flap of its wings, the beast took to the sky, and when it did, the gust of its wings blew away the faint grey clouds, revealing some of a blue sky beyond them.
And then its heavy frame disappeared into the distance, the hungry beast coming to the Crystal Empire, something made only scary by the saying:
He's coming... and he's hungry.
“How in the HAY did you know something like that was friendly?” Rainbow Dash flew next to Fluttershy, tapping her on the shoulder. “I can get the last dragon. But this one? Look at all the hurt ponies and sludge stuff he was spewing!”
Fluttershy only shook her head with a smile. “I heard that adage when I was little, but my grandmother always used it to describe my grandfather!”
Rainbow scrunched her muzzle. “The heck do you mean by that?”
Now it was time for Fluttershy to roll her eyes. “My grandfather got moody when he was hungry. But my grandmother said he never meant to be like that. Being hungry made him do things he normally wouldn't.” Fluttershy looked up in the direction the dragon had left, smiling. “She always said that before we started cooking.”
All the girls stared at Fluttershy in amazement.
And before she trotted off, she left them with one last line.
“And that you should always prepare food for guests juuust in case they're hungry!”
