The Filly and the Dragon

Once upon a time, in a tiny nameless village, there lived a poor little unicorn filly and her family, they were so poor that most days they could not buy any food and had to beg for their meals, or else they’d go hungry. One sunny day, news came that a dragon had landed on a nearby mountain a few days ago and was now living there, everyone knew that dragons were a rare sight in their area, and that their scales were highly prized, as their bright colours and protective properties meant that the strongest armour and the best looking jewellery could be made from them. Because of their rarity, many ponies offered a large sum of bits for said scales.

The filly had an idea, if she could get just one of the dragon’s scales and bring it back to the village, her family could sell it and would get enough money to last them the rest of their lives. So, retrieving the old scrap metal sword the town blacksmith had made for her when she was younger and telling her mother that she was going exploring, the filly trotted proudly through the town. Bidding hello to the few townsponies that she knew, her mind flipped through thoughts of what the dragon would be like. Would it be big and scary, with lots of really sharp teeth? Would it try to eat her and use her horn as a toothpick?

Suddenly, the little filly felt as if her idea was not so grand, she paused mid-step, halting at the border between the tiny town and the old dirt road leading to the dragon’s mountain home. She thought and thought, looking between the mountain and home, eventually the little filly took a deep breath and, gathering her bravery, continued along the road. She walked for what felt like many hours but was only really half of one, until she reached the bottom of the mountain, it looked a whole lot bigger than it did back at the village. Shaking her head the little filly wandered around until she found a small rocky path that seemed to lead up the mountainside, getting onto it with a leap she walked along the steep path trying not to step or slip on one of the sharp rocks that littered the ground.

When she had finally managed to climb up the path and locate the entrance to the dragon’s cave the little filly was surprised to see that it was only as big as a cow and seemed nowhere near as scary as she had originally thought it to be, using her magic she poked the dragon with her sword until it turned its head to face her. “What do you want, little hatchling?” the dragon asked, smoke billowing out from between its sharp teeth.
The filly raised her sword and said “I have come for your scales.” The dragon stared at her blankly, and then stood
“Really? And how are you going to do that? A young hatchling like you couldn’t take a rock from me, let alone some of my scales.” it laughed loudly, and the little filly frowned “However, if you really think that you can, I’m not going to try and stop you. You can try for as long as you like.”

Channelling more of her magic and all of her strength, the little filly took a solid stance, then swung her sword at the dragon, who was so confident that it didn’t even try and move. The sword contacted with a resounding clang, but it simply slid off the dragon’s tough, armour-like scales. She tried again and again, her face twisted in concentration, the air was filled with the jarring sound of metal on scales, however, no matter how hard she tried the uninjured dragon simply seemed to become more amused. Finally with one last strike the filly’s magic gave out and her sword fell heavily to the rough stone floor.

The dragon lay back down, resting it’s head on a foreleg “Why did you stop, I almost felt those last two strikes.” It chuckled “You’re determined though, for a little hatchling, why do you want my scales so bad anyway?”
The filly sighed and sat down discouraged “I was going to take them back to my family, so we could get some money. We don’t have much, barely enough to survive on.” She explained, looking to the dragon who appeared rather surprised.
“If that was the reason, why didn’t you just ask?” Lifting a wing and turning its head into its side, the dragon pulled some scales off and handed them to the filly who gratefully put them into her saddlebags. “Just don’t tell any other dragons you may see, they are not all as nice as me.” the little filly smiled, apologised for trying to take them forcefully and thanked the dragon.

Standing up and retrieving her sword the little filly headed towards home, the dragon moved to the entrance of its cave and watched her descend back down the rocky mountain path, making sure she didn’t slip down. Once she arrived back at the village, the little unicorn filly galloped straight back to her family, proudly presenting to them the scales that the dragon gave her and telling to them her story. The members of the little filly’s family we all so proud of her, and excited that they would finally have enough money, a few days later, once the scales had been sold, the family had a small celebration, inviting all of their friends.

With the extra bits brought into circulation, as the years went on, the little town got bigger and better until eventually it began to thrive, bringing in ponies from all over Equestria. And, as the little filly grew into a young mare, she continued to take the old path into the mountain and visit the dragon, after a short while they become the best of friends.

And everypony lived happily ever after.

The End.