Tsundere Travels

"This is not good...not good at all."

Princess Luna turned to the Pie family patriarch, one Igneous Rock Pie, who had brought her deep into the Pie Family Mine that evening to show her something that only she could help with.

"When Pinkie Pie's letter stated that you were experiencing troubles with a Star Beast, I expected perhaps an Ursa Major or a Scorpious. But this...this one shall be much more troublesome."

"We thank ye for any help ye can give, Princess. Does this Star Beast have a name?"

"Yes, it does.

"Draco.

"Let us return to your humble abode so we may discuss this further with thy family."

The midnight-blue alicorn waited while the elder earth pony reached down to the lantern resting on the floor of the tunnel. He picked up the handle with his teeth; the handle creaked slightly as he stood up, then the stallion turned to trot back up the tunnel the way they came. The lantern’s meager light splashed over the rock walls as the elder Pie trotted away. Luna did not fear the dark - in fact, she longed for the oncoming darkness with a dark and sinister part of her soul. But, courtesy demanded she stay with the stallion and his light. So instead, she followed him along the tunnel as it sloped upwards.

It was so quiet in the Pie Family Mine that one could almost hear their own heart beating. The elder Pie’s hoof beats, normally quiet outside the mine, echoed faintly off the narrow tunnel walls. The Moon Princess could even hear her metal shoes grind against the rock floor, and they were heavily enchanted to be as silent as possible. The air did not seem stale, and the mare noted that she was not feeling light-headed from lack of oxygen. So she was certain the Pies were pumping air into the mine somehow.

As the two ponies slowly made their way to the surface, Princess Luna found her thoughts going back to earlier that evening. During the nightly meal she shared with her sister, Celestia had received a Dragonfire Delivery from Princess Twilight's drake, Spike. After briefly reading the scroll, Celestia passed it to her sister without saying a word. Her curiosity piqued, she unfurled the scroll and began to read. The scroll had been written by Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of Laughter. Strangely enough, the scroll did not explode with confetti as soon as Celestia had opened it. That in and of itself was concerning. The note stated that Pinkie’s family had run into some trouble on their rock farm near the town of Rockville. The mine on their property had been dug deeper and deeper over the years, and had served the family well. But the Pies had delved too greedily and too deep. They had uncovered a sleeping Star Beast, and were asking for her help in removing it.

The Lunar Princess ducked under a low-hanging wooden beam that the shorter Pie Patriarch easily passed under. She briefly contemplated teleporting the two of them to the surface, but did not want to risk offending the stallion. True, HE should be the one worrying about offending HER as she was a princess and he was not. However, most earth ponies preferred not to use magic in their daily lives and Celestia had convinced her that her public image was important. So she resigned herself to travel with the stallion like a commoner until they reached the surface.

The two reached a t-junction, with a well-worn rail track leading both left and right. The track was made of two narrow metal beams with wooden railroad ties supporting the metal from underneath. Much like a larger railroad track, the structure was designed for strength and longevity. The elder Pie did not hesitate at the junction and turned left to follow the tracks. The new tunnel was not wide enough for Luna to walk beside the stallion, so she continued following him as he trotted on. Large wooden beams stretched across the ceiling every so often, with each beam supported by a separate pair of beams that stretched to the floor. From what Luna remembered, these beams were used to help protect against cave-ins. The air smelled a bit fresher here, and Luna could feel a very slight breeze across her wings even though they were held snug up against her body.

Luna’s thoughts went back to the letter, and her presumptions on the risks contained therein. At the time, she had thought the beast to be as simple as a slumbering Ursa Major. While formidable when enraged, they are easily treatied with and might have become an asset to the farmers and their mine. Emboldened by her assumptions, she decided to leave immediately in hopes of catching the Pie family before they retired for the evening. Upon her arrival, Igneous Pie had agreed to lead her into the mine where she had made her ill-fated discovery.

The narrow tunnel the ponies were in had led them into a larger cave. The Lunar Princess trotted up to the elder Pie’s side so she could speak with him.

"It is good that you did not wake the beast, Igneous Rock. Draco was known to have quite the temper in his day."

"As you say, Princess. In all fairness, it was by the grace of Celestia that we did not awaken the beast."

Luna frowned at the farmer's use of her sister's name. While she did not mind Celestia being seen as a goddess, it reminded her that her name was normally used in curses and other derogatory fashions.

"How did you discover the beast?"

The two ponies reached a ramp that led up to a higher section of the cave. The ramp snaked up and across a tall wall, perhaps two or three stories tall, and was not wide enough for both ponies to walk abreast. As before, Igneous Rock led and Princess Luna followed. The stallion courteously waited at the top of the ramp for the alicorn princess to join him. Together, they began to cross an open area while the Elder Pie answered Luna’s question.

"My daughter Limestone Pie had been chasing a vein of ruby gems for a number of days. One afternoon, she came running out of the mine with a large gemstone in her hooves. It was a Dragon's Eye Ruby, almost three hooves' wide."

Luna was familiar with that type of gem. Dragon's Eye gems had a dark flaw in the middle of the precious stone, which made the jewel resemble the slit of a dragon's eye - thus the name. They were highly valued by collectors, and by those looking for something out of the ordinary.

"How fortunate. I believe the largest Dragon's Eye Ruby in the Canterlot Museum is just over three hooves in width."

"Yes, Princess. All Dragon's Eye gemstones fetch a large sum at auction, but most are not much larger than a single hoof. When Limestone claimed to have found more Dragon's Eye gems, I brought my entire family to have a look."

Luna noted several rail tracks entered the cave from other tunnels, and the tracks all merged together up ahead. Two of those tracks then led away and into a well-traveled tunnel that disappeared into the ceiling. Igneous Pie led them to that same tunnel and began to trot up the leftmost set of tracks, using the wooden railroad ties as steps. Luna began to ascend the other set of tracks the same way, and had to admit that the dual usage of the rail tracks was quite efficient. The tunnel sloped upwards at a reasonably sharp angle, so using the railroad ties as steps meant that a separate staircase did not need to be built. Luna noted that the tunnel continued upwards for quite a long way, and mused that the trip did not seem to take so long going in. She shook her head to dispel the thought, then turned back to the elder Pie.

"Your entire family being yourself, your wife Cloudy Quartz, and daughters Marble and Limestone?"

"Correct, Princess. My other daughters Maud and Pinkie live in Ponyville."

"I begin to see the connection. What happened next?"

"Well, Limestone is not a pony that tells lies; my dear wife and I raised her well. We indeed found many small Dragon's Eye gems in the surrounding rock. All four of us marvelled at our lucky find, and began to excavate the gems. The more we dug, the more Dragon's Eye gems we found. As you can tell by my current excitement, we were very pleased."

Luna looked over at the stallion, and could not find an ounce of excitement in his voice, expression or even in his step. It was as if he was made out of the surrounding rock.

"Our digging revealed a large wall made out of individual gems. Limestone had discovered a large Dragon's Eye sapphire embedded in that wall, resting about head high. She worked it free, and found a hole behind the gemstone. She held the lantern up to the hole, and from the hole came a blinding light. Once our eyes adjusted, we realised the light seemed so bright because we had been working in near darkness for so long. Limestone peered into the light and saw the Star Beast. We stopped our digging in fear of awakening it, then returned to the surface right away.”

The two ponies reached the top of the long tunnel, and entered a gigantic cave filled with crystals large and small. Luna walked around a large wooden winch with a considerable amount of rope wound around it, then followed the stallion along a winding path between the crystals. She remembered from the journey into the mine, that the path they were on led to the mine’s entrance.

"While we were reluctant to disturb you Princess, we knew that the Star Beasts were of your domain. So we sent a letter to our daughter Pinkie, who we presume sent a letter to you."

"You presume correctly, Igneous Pie. In fact, I received the Bearer of Laughter's letter this evening at dinner."

"We are honored you responded so quickly, Princess."

"Nay, dear Igneous. As you said, the Star Beasts are my responsibility and I shall never neglect my duty to the citizenry. However, I had expected this task to be an easy one. I did not expect to encounter Draco again."

"If I may ask Princess, who is Draco?"

Luna sighed audibly before composing her reply.

"Draco is no mere Star Beast. He is a Star Warrior pulled down from the heavens by Nightmare Moon. It was he that destroyed the Castle of the Two Sisters, in an attempt to cripple the capital. Considering that the nation’s capital is now in Canterlot, he succeeded.”

"That is strange. Celestia's teachings say that you first became Nightmare Moon in front of her, then after a short battle she defeated you and sent you to the moon."

The two ponies exited the mine into the cool night air. The entrance to the crystal mine was at the bottom of another mine, one of a large open pit design. Luna presumed the Pie family had started with the open-pit mine, then followed a vein of gems into the crystal mine they had just left. The Moon Princess smiled to herself as soon as she walked out into her night sky again. The two continued their conversation as they walked to a nearby ramp that led to the surface. Fortunately, this ramp was wide enough that they could walk abreast and continue their conversation.

"While that is technically true Igneous Pie, it is only part of the story. After becoming Nightmare Moon, I raised an army and laid siege to Equestria for a score of months. I had sent Draco to attack my sister's castle, but called him back when he became too destructive. I then sent him away, to await until I called him forth again. Not long after, I confronted my sister in the manner her story suggests and was defeated.

"I presume that Draco discovered that Nightmare Moon had been defeated and decided to hibernate until her return. Fortunately for all of us, he remained sleeping when Nightmare Moon did return some years back."

"I think I see, Princess. Can ye not return him to the night sky once again?"

Both Luna and the elder Pie reached the top of the ramp and entered the farm proper. The two trotted toward the Pie’s home, a small farmhouse nearby. A cool breeze pleasantly ruffled her fur and feathers as they crossed the farmlands. Luna could see the Pie matriarch, Cloudy Quartz, waiting for them on the front porch.

"Sadly, I cannot. It was as Nightmare Moon that I pulled him down, using dark magic that I no longer possess. He would no longer recognize me as his mistress."

"Then, we can do nothing. We must close the mine, in fear that we may wake up the beast."

"Not necessarily. Draco is a true dragon, though made of stars and magic instead of flesh and blood. The Dragon Princess may be able to help us in this endeavor."

Igneous Pie stepped on to his front porch, then turned to face his princess with a surprised look on his face.

"Eh? The dragons have a PRINCESS ruling them?"

"Yes. Her name is Ember, daughter of Torch."

Two alicorns stood in the largest open field on the Pie Rock Farm, not long after Celestia’s sun had risen. The cloudless sky gave the two an unobstructed view for miles around. Several days had passed since Princess Luna’s last visit to the farm, and all had been quiet since then. Considering who lay in slumber underneath the farm, Luna prayed that this day would be just as peaceful. But in her heart, she greatly feared it would not.

"Are you certain that the dragon princess stated that she would arrive today? Thou insisted that she would arrive not long after breakfast, and yet we have been waiting for two hours."

"Absolutely, Princess Luna! Her letter very clearly said that she would arrive this morning!"

"Twilight, you have been a princess for some time. We are equals now, so you may simply call me Luna."

"I'm sorry Prin - er, I mean Luna. Even though I have these wings and lots of responsibilities, I still feel like Celestia's student most of the time."

"I understand. Humility does make a good princess."

Time passed on the Pie Rock Farm, as Princess Luna and Princess Twilight waited for Dragon Lord Ember to arrive. The minutes and hours slowly ticked by, until Luna spoke up again.

"She is late."

"It's a long flight from the Dragon Lands. Maybe she got held up?"

"Tardiness is unbecoming of a Princess."

"While I agree, you try telling a dragon that. Especially a grown one."

"Excellent point, Twilight."

“And technically, Ember is the Dragon Lord - not a princess.”

“She rules her subjects, thus she is a Princess.”

“If she were ruling in Equestria, you would be correct. But the dragons call their ruler the Dragon Lord. It would be rude to call her a princess, especially since we’re asking her a favor.”

“I see. Very well, Twilight. I shall call her Dragon Lord. But to me, she shall remain a princess.”

More time passed. The lack of clouds and any sort of a breeze meant that Celestia’s sun bathed the two princesses in the summer heat. Fortunately, both mares knew spells to keep a pony cool when there was no shade nearby. And so they waited, feeling cool and refreshed. The sun had noticeably dipped from its peak in the sky before Luna’s keen eyes spotted something in the distance.

"I see flyers approaching from the direction of the Dragon Lands, Twilight."

"Oh, that must be Ember. Wait, you said flyers? Plural?"

"Aye. My eyes spy two flyers, where there should be just one."

"Hmm. Her letter didn't say anything about a guest. Maybe it's a guard?"

"Mayhaps. I can now see that they are dragons; the wing profile and flap speed is unmistakable, even at this distance.

"There seems to be a third dragon, 'twixt the other two. The middle one seems to shine and sparkle in the sunlight, while the left dragon is colored black and the right one is red."

"The middle one should be Ember; she owns a set of golden armor. I don't know about the other two.

"Oh! I can see them now. Your eyes must be very good, Luna."

"It is merely a spell of far-seeing, Twilight. I shall teach you the spell at some other time."

"Ooh, a new spell!"

Twilight lit up her horn, and a quill and piece of parchment floated out of her saddlebags which were resting on the ground next to her. Quill at the ready, the purple pedagogic pony prepared to take notes.

"What can you tell me about this spell, Luna?"

"Another time, Twilight. Our guests will be arriving soon."

"Really?"

Twilight looked over her parchment to see that the three dragons had grown noticeably bigger in the sky, and were getting bigger every moment.

"Oh! You're right!"

The quill and parchment floated back into Twilight's saddlebags.

“Goodness gracious! Those other dragons look so BIG next to Ember!”

“They are, Twilight. It seems our young dragon princess either prefers large guards, or she is preparing for a fight. Possibly both.”

In no time, the dragons arrived. Ember was wearing her set of gold and leather armor, the same set that she wore during the Dragon’s Gauntlet. She also carried the Bloodstone Scepter, which gave Ember the power of a Dragon King. Or Queen, in this case. The three dragons alighted gently upon the ground, all the more impressive due to the size of Ember’s guards. Their heads alone were the size of several ponies, and the rest of their bodies were simply enormous. Twilight tried to get a good look at the immense dragons as they landed, but she was having a difficult time due to their sheer size. However, she was sure that the red one was familiar from somewhere.

“Twilight!”

“Ember!”

Twilight reared up on her hind legs, and the two friends embraced.

“It’s good to see you again, Ember. Thanks for answering my letter.”

“Of course! If a dragon is causing you ponies trouble, it’s my job to take care of them.”

“Speaking of dragons, can you introduce us to your guards?”

“Sure. The black one here is Obsidian, and the red one is Loethar. You might recognize Loethar, he took a nap near Ponyville and covered the town with smoke.”

Twilight looked up at the large red dragon, and her eyes lit up in recognition.

“I thought you looked familiar!”

Loethar dipped his head in apology.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble, Princess. I didn’t realize my snoring let out so much smoke.”

Loethar’s voice surprised Twilight. She expected him to be very loud, due to his size. But he was speaking at a normal pony volume, even though his voice had a deep rumble to it.

“It’s okay Loethar, we know you didn’t mean any harm.”

“And Twilight, they’re not my guards. They’re here in case this dragon of yours decides not to play nice.”

“An excellent plan, Dragon Lord Ember. I am glad that we can finally meet, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

Ember turned to Princes Luna, and a smile slowly stretched over her scaled muzzle.

“Nah, it’s cool. And it’s an honor to meet the Awesome Princess!”

“‘Awesome’, am I? You flatter me. But I assure you, my sister is just as awesome.”

“Celestia? Eh, she’s cool and all. But she’s like, the princess of prissy parties while you’re the badass Warrior Princess of dragon legend. You’re much cooler.”

“I thank you, kind Ember. I hope I do not disappoint.

“And it is my sincere hope that your large companions will not be needed, as a fight with Draco will most definitely destroy the farm that we stand in.”

“We also wish for a peaceful ending to this problem, Princess.”

Luna turned to see that the Pie family had joined them in the field. The one to speak was the Pie patriarch, Igneous Pie. His wife, Cloudy Quartz, was at his side. Behind him were two of his daughters, Limestone and Marble. Marble was currently hiding behind Limestone.

Igneous Rock turned to Ember, then looked up at the gigantic dragons as he spoke.

“My family and I welcome ye to the Pie Rock Farm, and we thank ye for your help. Though it is my hope that we can resolve this peacefully, as a fight between dragons will likely destroy my farm and my home.”

“We’ll be as careful as we can, Mr. Pie.”

Ember looked up at her very large companions.

“Right, boys?”

Both dragons nodded, and Obsidian spoke up. As with Loethar, his voice was lowered to pony volume levels.

“Yes, my brother and I will try to be careful. But if this ‘Draco’ wants a fight, I can make no promises.”

The Pie patriarch nodded sagely.

“I understand, and I thank ye for your consideration.”

Luna chose that moment to speak.

“I believe this would be a good time to ‘lay out my plan’, as it were. We have asked Dragon Lord Ember to come here in hopes that she can speak to Draco and convince him to leave for the Dragon Lands. We hope that this will come to a peaceful end, but Draco was made for war and he may not cooperate with the plan.

“If he wishes not to cooperate, or if he chooses to attack us, then Twilight and I will have no choice but to greet him with force. If we fail to best him, which is likely, it will be up to Ember’s warriors to hopefully vanquish him.”

Both dragons reared back slightly, and looked somewhat offended. Loethar spoke up to defend his honor.

“When my brother and I fight side-by-side Princess, there is nothing of this world that we cannot defeat.”

“I do not doubt your prowess, young drake. But Draco is a Star Beast, and not of this world. He will prove to be a formidable opponent for any creature. As such, you and your brother may well get your chance to prove your mettle this day.”

“Young?! We are over five hundred years old!”

“Compared to me and my many millenia upon this planet, along with my thousand-year banishment to the moon, you are a young drake indeed. Please be reassured, I meant no offense. I am certain that the two of you are up to the task.”

Luna solemnly focused on the Pie family.

"I require a Pie family member to guide us through the mines to Draco."

Igneous Rock turned to his daughters.

“Limestone, escort our guests through the mine.”

“Yeah, alright.”

Limestone took a few steps towards the open-pit mine to her right, then stopped.

“Follow me, princesses.

“The big dragons ain’t gonna fit, unless they can shrink to pony size or somethin’?”

Ember chuckled as she answered the mare.

“No, they don’t shrink. They’ll wait out here in case the other dragon tries to break out and escape. I’ll be going down there with the pony princesses.”

Limestone took a moment to size Ember up and down.

“Yeah, you’ll fit princess. Though you might have to duck down some. Come on.”

Limestone Pie began to walk towards the mine without another word.

Luna, Twilight and Ember looked at each other, somewhat surprised at the young Limestone’s brusqueness. Ember shrugged her shoulders and spoke her mind.

“Eh, works for me.”

She then set out to catch up to Limestone with Luna and Twilight close behind.

Limestone was right; Ember did have to squeeze her way through several narrow passages that were just big enough for a pony. It would have been a more miserable trip if she didn’t have excellent night vision, as the only illumination was from their guide’s lantern. Even so, the shadows thrown from that meager light made it very difficult to see what was shadow and what was rock. With how often the dragoness had hit her head or stubbed her toes on a rock hidden in those shadows, she swore that the cave was trying to kill her. Her lava-hot temper was one small rock from exploding, until she noticed that Luna was having similar problems. The alicorn was taller than the other two mares, and had to dip her head often so her horn would not scrape against the ceiling. Yet not once had the midnight mare complained. Ember decided that, if the Warrior Princess could put up with this then so could she. The dragoness made an effort to cool her temper down, and vowed to make the rest of the trip in silence. And so she did.

Ember’s patience had worn very thin by the time their guide hung her lantern on a convenient hook and called for a halt.

“Alright, we’re here.”

“O thank Faust, I thought we were going to hit the molten core of the planet before we found this dragon’s cave.”

“Nay, fair Ember. We would have to travel many months to reach the core, presuming the Pie’s mine went that far. Yet we have been walking for less than an hour.

“But I do understand, the trip does feel much longer than it truly is. And this is my second time down here.”

“Whatever. So, where’s this dragon?”

Limestone Pie pointed to a jagged hole in the rock near her head.

“You can see him through here, princess.”

Ember was at the back of the group in the too-small tunnel, so she had to squeeze past all three mares to get to the hole in the wall. Which was way too touchy-feely for her, but she had no choice. And even worse, the hole was at waist height. So to see anything, she had to crouch down in a very undignified way. But again, no choice. Once she was close enough, she could see the hole was roughly 4 inches in diameter. Just barely big though to see through.

“Here, you can’t see anything without the lantern.”

“I can see in the dark, get that thing away from me.”

“Fine, no need to get prissy.”

“Dragons don’t do prissy, now let me look.”

Ember tried to look through the small hole, but her long muzzle got in the way. So she turned her head to the right, and looked through with one eye. With a growl, she twisted her head around so she could look through the hole with her other eye.

“Rargh!”

The blue dragoness stood back up, and with a glow from her scepter she slammed her shoulder into the wall! The thick rock wall crumbled under the onslaught, and Ember walked through the wall like it was made of paper-mache and cardboard. Once in the cave proper, she paused for a moment to look around. Then strode confidently off to her right.

“What did you do that for?! You’ll wake him up!”

Ember replied without stopping her march.

“That’s the idea, pony! Besides, that wouldn’t wake up a slumbering dragon of this size. Now let me work.”

Ember kept walking, and quickly disappeared into the darkness beyond the limited light given off by the lantern.

“What should we do, Prin - I mean, Luna?”

“Perhaps some light would help us, fair Twilight.”

“Oh! Of course!”

A white bolt of magic shot out from Twilight’s horn towards the top of the cavern, and exploded into several sparkling shards like a firework. The shards spread out and up towards the vast ceiling, which was much higher up than anypony had expected. In an instant, the large cavern was illuminated.

The first thing Twilight noticed was the twinkling. The rock walls were covered in gems of all sizes, and in the light spell she just cast the gems all twinkled like stars in the nighttime sky. But in this case, the stars shone in all the colors of the spectrum. From red to yellow, blue green and purple, the lights were nearly an orgasm for the eyes. The sight quite simply took her breath away. If it wasn’t for the gigantic coiled dragon in the middle of the vast room, the purple pedagogic pony would have burst into the cave to catalogue all of the gems immediately.

Ah yes, the dragon. Its scales appeared to be an orangish-gold, but the lights from the gems playing over its form made it difficult to tell if that was the dragon’s true color or just an illusion. The dragon appeared to be a serpent in shape, as three coils of its body could be seen stacked upon each other. Each coil was taller than two ponies, perhaps even taller than Ember’s Bloodstone Scepter. The dragon’s body was perhaps 20 or 30 feet from the hole in the wall, where the ponies were standing. Neither its head nor the end of its tail could be seen.

Looking up, Twilight could see that the ceiling rose high above the dragon’s body. A quick mental estimation told her that the cave was about two hundred feet in height. The walls were curved and the ceiling was domed, with twinkling gems all over its surface. Ember could be seen down at the far end of the cave, and as they watched the dragoness disappeared around the other side of the dragon’s coils. Twilight gauged the length of the dragon’s den to be as long as it was tall, so another two hundred feet. As a matter of fact, the entire cavern looked to be a half-sphere in scale.

The cave was completely silent. Ember’s footsteps had already faded away, and left nothing to replace them with. Twilight had expected to hear the star beast breathing or snoring, but there was nothing to be heard.

“Found it!”

Twilight jumped as Ember’s voice suddenly echoed across the chamber. Twilight looked up at Princess Luna, who motioned her head in the direction of Ember. The mare smiled sheepishly, then trotted out into the cave. Luna followed immediately after her. Several seconds later, a frightened Limestone Pie quickly scampered after the pony princesses.

The three mares soon rounded the dragon’s body to see Ember standing at the back at the cavern’s wall. The dragoness was looking up above the star dragon’s coils. They followed her gaze upwards, and spied a large and gray knurled horn along with the tip of a large orange ear. The rest of the dragon’s head could not be seen. Once the ponies reached Ember’s side, she spoke up.

“Like I said, it’s hard to wake up a dragon when they’re sleeping. Especially one that’s been sleeping for over a thousand years. I’m gonna have to use the scepter to wake him.”

The dragoness held the Bloodstone Scepter out in front of her body, and grasped it in both hands. A look of concentration washed over her face, and the gem in the scepter lit up.

Then nothing.

More nothing.

Twilight and Luna gave each other a worried look.

“Um, can we help--”

“Shut up! I’m concentrating.”

“But nothing’s--”

“He’s deep asleep! If I wake him up too fast he’ll awaken in a blood rage and attack us.

“Gotta do it slow…”

A deep intake of breath echoed through the gem-encrusted cave. And with it, the horn above the snake coils moved slightly. It was followed soon after by a slow exhale, along with a low rumble that almost sounded like words. The immense snake coils shifted in place, and the dragon’s head lifted into view.

Its muzzle was low and flat, with two prominent nostrils on the end. Ridges of scales rippled down its snout, and ended at its closed eyes which faced forward like a predator’s. The ponies could see that the dragon had two knurled horns, one on each side of its head. Its gleaming orange-gold scales shimmered in an unbroken sea across its head and down its neck as far as the ponies could see. The dragon yawned again, showing off rows of sharp teeth that were ideal for skewering tasty ponies. Its nose sniffed once, then twice. Then it opened its eyes and turned to face the ponies. Twin orbs that shone like polished emeralds looked down at those that had disturbed its rest. Another low rumbling was heard, and the ponies realized that the dragon was TALKING to them.

“Uh, can you understand it Luna?”

“Aye, Twilight. But I cannot easily translate his words into Ponish. Fair Ember?”

“Can’t understand it myself. Maybe my dad would know, if he were here. Let me try the scepter again.”

The gem in the Bloodstone Scepter lit again. The gemstone flickered in time with Ember’s words, and hopefully translating their meaning to the immense dragon.

“Oh great Draco, I apologize for waking you from your great slumber.”

Draco gave a short grumble in response.

"I am here to bring you to the Dragon Lands, where you may live with your fellow dragons."

Another rumble, that sounded like a question.

“Ponies are mining around here, and they didn’t want you going on a rampage if they woke you up.”

A dismissive grumble, this time.

“They’re not going to mine somewhere else! They live right above us! Besides, wouldn’t you rather be with your fellow dragons?”

A snort of amusement, and a short mumble.

"What do you mean, 'you're better than a simple dragon'? You must obey me! I hold the Bloodstone Scepter!"

A grumble in a deeper tone, then Draco closed his eyes and rested his head on his coils. Ember turned to the ponies, anger written all over her face.

"He won't listen to me! Says he's better than us dragons and he's not going anywhere until his Mistress calls for him!"

Princess Luna sighed softly. "I was most worried that that would be his answer. His mistress was Nightmare Moon, and she no longer exists."

"Well, you were Nightmare Moon. Can't you just order him to leave or something?"

"Nay, Limestone Pie. While I still know the spells to control Draco, my magic is different now that I have been reformed. It is likely that my attempt would enrage him and cause him to destroy your family farm."

Limestone hung her head low, and whispered to herself: "Stupid unicorn magic."

Princess Luna's sharper alicorn hearing picked up Limestone's words, but she understood the mare's frustration and chose to ignore the slight.

"However, all that is left to do is try. And hope my creation will listen.”

Princess Luna bowed her head, and took a deep breath. She then lifted her head up, and somehow shouted a mumble up at the slumbering dragon. A mumble that sounded just like the mumbles that Draco had been speaking in. Draco’s head snapped up, his eyes opened wide, and he turned to look directly at the midnight blue alicorn.

"Woah, I didn't know you spoke ancient dragon, Princess!"

"I know many dead and dying languages, Dragon Lord Ember. Now, let me concentrate."

Luna shouted a mumble at Draco again. Drago returned the command with a deeper mumble of his own. The two continued to speak together in this way, while Ember ushered the other two ponies several steps back towards the entrance. That way, she could bring Twilight and Limestone up to date without having to shout.
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"So, the Bloodstone Scepter isn't translating their words into Ponish, the language is too old. But it can tell me the meaning of the words."

"Oh, how interesting! I'd love to study it, if you'd let me!"

"You may not get that chance, Twilight. Princess Luna is trying to command Draco there, but like she said he's not taking the commands. He's saying something like, ‘Luna feels like his mistress but isn't his mistress’. Does that make sense?"

"Oh dear. It sounds like Luna was right, her magic has changed too much."

"Riiight. Oh hey, she's telling him that she was Nightmare Moon, and Nightmare Moon was defeated. And...oh, he's not looking happy--"

The humongous dragon let out a gigantic roar! Faster than his humongous bulk would imply, Draco's tail snaked out from behind his coils and slapped Princess Luna! His tail hit the midnight mare with such force that she smashed into the wall behind her! Her body disappeared behind a cloud of gem dust.

“PRINCESS!!”

Twilight ran towards Princess Luna, with no thought to her own safety. Draco’s coils began to shift and slide, as the gigantic dragon began to un-coil himself. Ember and Limestone Pie ran back towards the tunnel entrance, but were stopped when one of Draco’s coils blocked the tunnel entrance. The two could only stand there and hope that Draco didn’t notice them.

Suddenly, a blue beam of magic fired out of the dust cloud and slapped into Draco’s muzzle. Luna charged out of the dust cloud and followed her horn blast with a solid right hook. The dragon’s head snapped off to Twilight’s left, but turned back and let out a mighty roar!

A large, three-fingered hand covered in orange-gold scales abruptly rose above Draco’s coils and slapped Princess Luna as she hovered in the air. But this time, she recovered before hitting the wall. Instead, she simply hovered in place.

“Twilight! Hit him with a stun spell, mayhaps we can send him back into slumber!”

“O-of course, Princess!”

Both alicorns charged their horns, and sent twin beams of magic into Draco. The dragon sagged on his scales for a few suspenseful moments, then shook his head and let out another angry roar! He swiped a clawed hand at Princess Luna, who simply flew over it. At the same time, his tail swung at Twilight who yelped and used her wings to jump over it. The purple pony then took to the air to attack Draco from above.

It became quickly apparent that none of the alicorn’s attacks were having any effect on Draco. All they were doing was getting him madder and madder. The gigantic dragon thrashed and slammed his body against the walls of his cave, causing the ground to shake and quake. Ember and Limestone were still trapped in the cave, and even though Draco wasn’t targeting them directly they still had their hands (and hooves) full dodging Draco’s coils.

It was bound to happen. Limestone zigged when she should have zagged, and one of Draco’s coils knocked the gray pony off of her hooves. With a yell of fright, Limestone landed on her side and skidded across the rock floor. Her yell drew Twilight’s attention for a moment, and realized that the dragoness and farm pony were in serious danger.

“Luna! Ember and Limestone are trapped in here! They’ll get hurt if we don’t stop Draco!”

Luna ducked under a flailing claw before she could reply.

“And we have had no luck calming Draco down! We will need the help of the large drakes outside to defeat him!”

“Okay, I’ll try to teleport him to the surface!”

“I shall keep our foe busy! HAVE AT THEE!”

While Luna made a frenzied assault upon Draco, Twilight hovered in the air and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow, and as she charged her spell her horn increased in brightness three separate times. At last, the spell was charged.

“READY!”

Princess Luna immediately flew back from Draco. At the same time, Twilight pointed her horn towards Draco’s immense body. However, the dragon had also heard Twilight’s cry. Draco’s tail came up and slapped Twilight across her muzzle, and the sudden shock caused Twilight to lose her focus. But instead of losing the spell, she released it instead. The teleportation spell fired off harmlessly towards the ceiling. But as luck would have it, the beam of magic hit a gemstone on the roof of the cave. The spell was then reflected down towards the floor. Right where a certain dragoness was helping a certain farm mare to her hooves...

The magical beam struck both Ember and Limestone Pie at the same time. Screams were heard from the two as the beam tore down at them. In a big bright flash, it was all over. Ember’s Bloodstone Scepter and empty golden armor clattered noisily to the ground. But the two females were no longer there.