Just A Slice

Aeroga pushed hard on his spread of aura, attempting to push it past the Equestrian border. "Remember, a dragon's will is his greatest strength, you have to will your senses to spread out farther. Use your will, grip it like a stone and use it." Aeroga pushed harder and his head began to hurt slightly, His exhausted body couldn't take much more of the incredible duress on its fortitude. Time had vanished in the dragon's keep, Aeroga remaining in constant meditation before his massive teacher beyond days and into several weeks at once. He felt the presence of thousands of ponies at the walls of the city and his concentration shattered like glass as a pony burst through the doors. "Repay him for breaking your mental focus, confuse him and impress me."

"Yes master." Delving back into his mental energies, he pulled on his master's aura and bent the walls around him, squeezing the frantic pony behind him into a prison of impossible size. He could sense the earth pony panic, feeling as if he was being crushed by the very walls that en rounded him. Aeroga withdrew the walls, forcing blazing hot chains to erupt from the floor and wrap around the pony like a python as they burned into his hide. The dragon opened up the ceiling with his mind and brine gushed forward like the floodgates of Tartarus, pouring onto the helpless pony and making the chains contract as they rapidly cooled, squeezing the pony into further suffocation.

"That is enough. I am impressed with your skill, but I disagree with the method you have chosen and remember this is practice. Should I ever sense you actually doing these things to another without cause, I will crush your mind and inflict doubly what you have done." Aeroga released the unharmed pony from his mental grip and stepped from his levitating position in the air, uncrossing his legs.

The pony laid on the ground gasping for breath, and scrambled to his feet as he spotted Aeroga. "Mighty Dragon." He said with a bow to the Patriarch, obviously used to such tests. His words blared like a foghorn to Aeroga who had not heard any actual sound for a month. "Mighty Dragon, there is an army from Equestria at the gates requesting a diplomat. They stand almost fifteen thousand strong, and bear siege weapons." The Patriarch hummed, his emotions the only ones Aeroga had ever been unable to sense. He had felt the changeling queen Chrysalis brood in her cave, sensed the emotions of Celestia with ease, but the mighty dragon before him retained such control that he could even limit the amount of aura he emitted.

"My child will go as my diplomat and representative. I see that it is the alicorn Luna and I believe that it is time to test his control." Aeroga looked at the Patriarch, not comprehending the words that rang true in his head. Luna was here with an army? To attack Dragonheim? If that was the case, then they had no hope of even breaking the walls, no matter the amount of siege they had prepared, nopony could stand to the Patriarch, and he knew that an attack was the only thing that could cause his teacher to rise from the tower, bearing his massive power over all the world unto the helpless masses below him. "Go Aeroga, and I will speak through you."

"Yes Master." the aprentice responded as he followed the pony from the tower. As they emerged from the tower, the sun burned Aeroga's eyes like hot steel, and he formed a barrier to dull the sun's glare around them. The pony shirked at the change in atmosphere, but pushed on, leading the green dragon through the city. The crowds parted before them and bowed to Aeroga as his talons clicked against the cobblestones. Under the gate, the portcullis rose and allowed them to pass outside the walls.

The field in front of the walls was covered in a blanket of soldiers. Aeroga sensed the front line's fear as they spotted his serpentine figure, and the words flooded through the army in a wave, soon every pony dressed in armor quivered in fear, such was the power that was his, the power of the dragons. A small open tent stood erected in between the army and the walls, and standing under it was Luna and another familiar presence, eying him warily. Luna gasped aloud when she identified him, but he ignored her as he approached, only casting his gaze on the deep red stallion embroidered in medals pinned on his military uniform, flashing the familiar set of military chevrons and badges of honor and accomplishment. Aeroga spoke aloud for the first time in weeks, his tongue slightly heavy, but the unpracticed appendage still produced his deep, resonant voice clearly, "Hello Father." He said with very slight malice. A heavy gasp made him erupt in a blast of fury and anger. Aeroga picked up the unicorn in his aura and flung him across the ground. He hit the ground hard and bounced for several feet, legs flailing, before skidding to a stop. The dragon walked over to his former father and picked him up by his neck and charged hard into his fragile pony mind. He tore through it and ripped at it with mental claws, sharper than his physical ones, pulling up memories and sensations and pouring through them with an analytic eye. The stallion remained paralyzed during the onslaught while Luna struggled to move through her surprised stupor, unable to form simple thoughts or emotions, much less able to move.

Aeroga pulled at the memory of his father throwing himself and Flare from the house and fused it together with his own version, forcing the unicorn to feel the both sides of the memory as he hammered it into his mind, He would never forget that moment, no spell would penetrate the memory shield Aeroga created around his mind. Nothing would erase the horror, the torment, the damage from his mind. When he finished and his father began weeping in the steel grip about his throat and Aeroga flung him back to Luna, who caught the unicorn in mid-air and deposited him in the dirt. "Surprised Father? I now bear more power than you could ever dream of, I will haunt your every waking and sleeping moment. Forever you will feel the terror that grips you now. Until the day you die you will truly understand what you did.

The heap of fur spluttered broken sobs into the dirt, unable to even lift his head from the dust. Aeroga walked closer to Luna, trapping her under a hypnotic glare, holding her like a vice without even using his powers, merely his gaze. Luna wished in that moment that she could return to the moon if it meant that the dragon would cease his merciless leer that held her, petrified. Aeroga felt his mind be swept aside with a rush of power, and he dropped to all fours, struggling to breath.

"Give me your mouth, hatchling." He was commanded. He had not a chance to relinquish his body before his master took control entirely, not pausing to wait for comprehension. Aloud, Aeroga's mouth spoke not of his will, forming foreign words with an alien voice, "Forgive my student, he is young and does not have complete control over his emotions. I am the Patriarch, Father Dragon and the first creature to ever walk the earth and master of Dragonheim. I know your mind Luna, and yes you may make camp outside the city. Your soldiers are allowed to enter the city for food, entertainment, and accommodation provided they do not disturb the peace, for I will bring judgement as if they were of my own city." Luna barely responded to the booming voice that was like the winds of a hurricane, it resounded in her very soul shattering all her protections and safeguards in a single sound. Her battered ears sighed with relief when the speech was concluded.

Aeroga regained control of his body in a flash of searing pain in the back of his head. "Princess Luna, my master commands me to accompany the army to repay my attack and to hunt down the Dark Lord." Luna nodded fearfully and invited him to her tent to "Discuss things." The dour dragon walked silently behind her, sending the messenger back into the city.

A small purple dragon was helping himself to some small pieces of diamond as Luna and Aeroga entered the tent. Aeroga stood at the entrance, forming shields and protections around him, including a magic reflection spell he had recently mastered, as Luna sent the startled dragon from the tent, leaving them alone. "Aeroga-"

The dragon held a clawed hand up, silencing her and responding to her swirling emotions, "Luna I don't hate you anymore and Master has asked me to stay with the army and lead you to the Dark Lord." Luna sat down on her bed and sighed with relief. She felt so alleviated that he had forgiven her, even if on terms. "Dragonheim is not the city that attacked Canterlot, even though the Dark Lord had his base in the city. He was cast out two decades ago for trying to usurp the throne from the Patriarch and was banished from the city. He took control of the Three Sisters, Geirn, Angholm, and Stalthion, which are three cities to the west of here, about two days flight to the closest one. Those are the cities that he rules, and those are the cities that we must strike. Angholm means impenetrable in the ancient language and is the citadel in which the Dark Lord resides. Fortunately, that is the third, and final city we will reach, as Geirn and Stalthion are in between us and the citadel in that order. Geirn is a warrior city, a city where the occupation of soldier consists of over eighty percent of the work force. Stalthion is an island city, but is a trade hub because of the rivers that run off of it to almost every city in Ordonia." Luna put her head in her hooves, trying and failing to absorb everything.

'What is Ordonia?"

Aeroga explained that it was the country that Dragonheim and the other cities were a part of before resuming his lecture. "Stalthion is famous for their smugglers and is able to withstand both blockade and siege for several years. It will be a problem but we will cross that bridge when we come to it." He laughed at his own joke and sat cross legged in the dirt. Luna sat silently on her bed for several minutes before asking what happened after Aeroga flew away.

"Well before I burned Flare, I was thinking of what I was going to do. I decided to fly for Dragoheim to learn how to be a dragon from an actual one, the Patriarch. Once I arrived I began training immediately, meditating for days on end while I was fed information by my master. During meditation, I..." He frowned and sighed. "Look, I apologize for lashing out at you Luna. I was emotionally distraught and wasn't thinking straight. I don't hate you anymore and I forgive you, you couldn't have known the powers that the Dark Lord possesses. It's not much, but It's the best I can do right now. Now, check this out. Still sitting with his legs crossed, he held his palm out and began charging his aura. A little sphere of pure energy took shape in his hand, glowing a resplendent blue and pulsating with power. He aimed at a suit of armor on a rack and fired the ball of energy. It flashed across the tent and hit the steel in the middle of the breast plate which exploded in a shower of burning metal. Luna screamed and the guard outside rushed in to protect her. He leveled his spear at Aeroga and jabbed at him, yelling for more men to come. The steel tip collided with his scales and the blade was gripped in the dragon's palm. he wrenched it from the guards hold and incinerated it in a burst of fire from his maw.

Seeing this as an aggressive act, the guard drew his sword and swung it hard at the dragon before him. The edge bounced harmlessly off his belly and Aeroga threw up a wall in between them. The guard instantly began beating on the wall, desperately trying to get to Luna. Three more walls sprouted from the ground around him and Aeroga thrust a command into the ponies mind. He stopped and looked around in confusion at the four surrounding walls. Letting the illusions fade, Aeroga turned to the calmed Luna. "You didn't have to freak out, I wasn't trying to hurt you." Luna only nodded, terrified, and sat quietly on her bed. Aeroga filled his horn with power, and gently poured a happy emotion into the glum princess who' eyes lit up with reluctant joy at the feeling. He returned her smile and left the tent for the forest a few miles from Dragonheim, he was hungry and grass wasn't something that would appease his appetite.

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The repeated stomp of fifteen thousand marching ponies drawled a tedious beat in his head. In order to entertain himself, he made an effort to step out of beat, but was disappointed when his feet landed in correlation with the marching hoofbeats. He walked on the edge of the column, away from the frightened soldiers who shied away from him and broke formation to keep away. Occasionally he took to the skies and worked on spreading his senses while having to fly. High up in midair, he spotted a stag rummage for acorns in the brush along the side of the road while his belly grumbled a complaint. Sliding into it's mind, he slowly took control of it's body without it noticing, and walked it out into the open. He flapped hard on his wings and bolted for the deer, landing hard on its back, snapping the fragile spine. He clamped a toothy maw on the neck just behind its head and dragged the corpse to a small cluster of grass and set it down with a limp thump. He inhaled deeply and breathed a steady flame over his kill. The flesh sizzled and popped under the fire until it was very well cooked. Shutting off his fire, he reared his head and drove his mouth into the juicy meat in the shoulder and tore at it, slivers of succulent venison sliding down his gullet.

Lost in his feeding, several soldiers nearest the carnage panicked and broke formation, the column suddenly forming a stitch in its rows. Luna spied the feeding dragon from afar and flew for him to get him to stop scaring her soldiers. As she landed, she very nearly turned her insides out as the bloody dragon drove his head inside the chest cavity of a deer, lifted his head, and swallowed a long gulp of meat before diving back into the carnage. Luna felt like Fluttershy as she addressed Aeroga timidly. He ignored her and continued feasting, spraying drops of blood over Luna's coat. Stronger, "Aeroga, look at me." Still he didn't hear her and continued in his frenzy. Getting an idea, Luna both spoke and shouted with her mind at the dragon to stop. This time he stopped and looked at her, blood dripping from his snout and a hunk of torn meat dangling from his jaws, making her stomach roil once again. She suppressed the gag and asked him to take the body somewhere else to eat it. "You are scaring my soldiers, I-I don't think they have ever seen something get eaten before. Any of them." He dropped the slab of flesh which landed with a splash in a pool of blood, throwing more of the thick liquid onto her coat.

"I don't ask you to take your flower sandwich away from me when you eat that. Why should I take this somewhere else?" He asked indignantly.

"Aeroga can't you sense their fear? Can't you tell that they are terrified of you?"

"Well they are soldiers, I can bet they have seen blood before."

"But they have not seen somepony actually eat an-an animal." Aeroga sighed, swallowing another piece of meat with a wet slurp. He rose to all fours and bit down behind the deer's head, dragging it towards the woods. His voice sounded in her head, "Very well. I will eat out of sight, but do not ask me to stop the battle because some coward gets scared during the fight."

The dragon and the officers, minus one mentally disabled unicorn, pored over a map of Ordonia that Aeroga had conjured, much to the ponies surprise, out of thin air. It showed all fifty-one cities that littered the landscape. He took a quill and circled the Three Sisters.
"Gentlecolts, these are the three cities that stand between us and victory. The first is Geirn, which we should arrive at in one, maybe two days. It is a basic city, but their men are not to be underestimated. They are chosen at birth and are trained from the day they can hold a sword. These are by all means ferocious warriors and I can guarantee you that we will lose the better part of our army if we do not attack their weaknesses."

Riga, a mahogany offensive-strategist, asked, "And those are?" Aeroga considered for a moment before answering.

"They really don't have any. These ponies are deadly, perhaps too deadly, so I will lead the army into the breach and perhaps give us a fighting chance. Odds are, we may even lose this fight anyway." The officers all stared at him, mouths agape.

"You can't be serious."

Aeroga turned to the one who had spoken, a very large hulking pegasus, muscles tumbling out from his too-small uniform. "Dead serious." he answered. "And that is what we will be if we don't take this war seriously. Equestria hasn't been at war for several centuries, we need to realize that this isn't a game, but it is much more then that with higher stakes than you realize. These are not brawlers, these are not rioters causing an uproar, these are trained soldiers that can just as easily kill one of our own as we can them. Even with my help, we will still lose many soldiers." The officers looked at the map silently, trying to think of something they could do, but the dragon had a valid point and they knew it.

Nopony spoke until Luna walked in from raising the moon and asked them if they had formulated a strategy. Aeroga reiterated his advice to Luna and when he had finished, Luna sat heavily on a chair pulled up to the table. "Is there anything we can do to reduce our casualties?"

One pony mentioned going around the city, but Aeroga rebutted his idea quickly, "If we just skip them, they will hit our flank. We would be trapped between two armies, both of which can prove a challenge to our forces on their own. Together though? No, we would be obliterated and our heads would adorn the walls of Angholm and the Dark Lord will have won. The lives of the hundreds his army killed would not be avenged, they may just be some of the many. No, we must destroy Geirn, it is our only option." The ponies pondered the dragon's reasoning, attempting to find another solution and finding none.

They all retired to their tents for the night upon deciding that an attack on the city was their only option, and a violet unicorn and a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane entered the tent. The latter, Aeroga recognized instantly and could barely contain his excitement, but that was a ponies emotions, those of the past. He pushed them aside and introduced himself.

The violet unicorn greeted him and introduced herself as Twilight as Rainbow Dash introduced herself. Aeroga nodded to them and called out to the presence waiting outside. "Go ahead and come in Spike."

The infant dragon peeked inside the tent sheepishly, nervous in the presence of the strange dragon, and entered quietly. "How do you know my name?"

Aeroga laughed, "I heard Twilight tell the princess Luna you would be along, so I just put two and two together." He held out a paw and spike gripped it gingerly making Aeroga laugh again. "Do not fear little Spike, I don't bite. Hard." He conjured a diamond out of the air and handed it to the bewildered Spike, who held it in front of his nose, sniffing it. He took a hesitant bite and the smile that spread on his face confirmed that the gem was real. He finished the gem and headed over to his basket bed. Rummaging around, he pulled an aquamarine from the blankets and handed it to Aeroga.

the green dragon himself was surprised, having never tried a gem before and not expecting such a return. Spike looked at him expectantly as he tossed the entire thing into his mouth. It tasted sweet and a little sour, but was moderately tasty, nothing like the meat of the buck he had devoured earlier. In Spikes mind he made him a promise, "It was good, but later I will show you something even better." Spike looked at the bigger dragon curiously and Aeroga winked at him.

"Those are my favorite. Aquamarine. Twilight found one once and let me try it and they are the best." Aeroga nodded to him and turned to the ponies watching the exchange. "If you will excuse us dragons, I believe an adventure in the moonlight would be an adequate finishing touch for the day, so I bid you good night." He picked up Spike in his hand, and deposited him on his back between two spikes lining his spine as they exited the tent. Aeroga looked into the moonlight and asked, "Have you ever been flying before little buddy?"

"No." Came the response from his rider. Then hold on, he thought as he opened his wide wings and shot into the air.

Aeroga felt Spike scramble for the spine in front of him and grab hold tightly more with his body than his mind. The cool air rushed about them as the ground spun way and he sensed Rainbow Dash take off and follow, but he ignored her. If Twilight was worried about Spike, that was her right. He flew ever higher, creating air bubbles around his and Spikes noses as the air thinned and he proceeded to climb. The air grew colder and colder as their altitude increased, causing little icicles to form on his scales, he shook them off and pushed his body ever higher. Aeroga sensed Spike look down at the ground below and a wave of panic set into the flightless dragon. Aeroga reassured him, and drove his wings higher, feeling Rainbow cease her ascent as she couldn't draw in air in the thin atmosphere. Still Aeroga continued his climb until Spike poked his scales. He twisted his head back to look at him and Spike pointed down and pressed his hands together, like he was pleading to go down. Aeroga nodded and drew up to hover in the thin air, looking down on the arching horizon and able to see the curve of the very earth itself.

"Hold on tight little one." he intoned in Spikes mind, making the little dragon grip the spike in front of him harder. Aeroga cast an air splitting spell in front of his snout, making the air much easier to break. He flapped up in a short back flip and felt gravity pull him downward. He shifted to the perfect angle and flapped hard, exploding with speed towards the earth. He could hear Spike screaming his little head off with glee over the whistle of air in his ears. Aeroga flapped harder and harder shooting down faster and faster until he bolted past Rainbow's astonished face. Spreading his wings, his speed increased to the point where it pulled at his feathers and threatened to tear his wings off. The air ahead of him split with a visible streak flying past his eyes and behind him. Only a few meters from the ground, he flicked his wings upwards and he hit a perfect horizontal glide.

His speed did not slow, nor did he even need to flap. He sensed Rainbow struggling to keep up behind him, but failing as only a dragon had the aerodynamics to move at the speed he did. He lifted his right wing and began a slow arch, gradually shifting his angle toward the numerous tents in the far distance. Spotting a glade ahead he performed a rather dangerous maneuver. He thrust his wings in opposite directions, making his body spiral like a corkscrew, his head barely missing the ground and he landed on his feet with a loud thud. Spike tumbled from his back as the inertia settled and hobbled to his shaky feet. "That... was...awesome!!" He cried excited. "Do you do that all the time? Like, every time you fly?"

Aeroga sat on his haunches, "I used to a long time ago, I moved faster than I did then so it was a relatively new experience for both of us. Now I want to show you what I promised you in Luna's tent."

Stretching out with his mind, he found a family of rabbits sleeping soundly in their burrow nearby. He picked up the two fattest, and gently brought them out of their earthen home and laid them gently in the grass in between the two dragons. Spike looked at him questioningly, "What's so special about these two rabbits? They look like normal ones to me."

Aeroga smiled at the little one's ignorance, "Remember when you said that aquamarine was your favorite gem? This-"

Spike stood up quickly, holding his hands out in front of him, "Oh no, you aren't going to eat them are you? That's barbaric and disgusting. How could you kill these innocent creatures? They never did anything to you."

Aeroga sighed, taken aback by the small dragon's refusal without even trying. "Look, I know it's different, I could barely do it my first time either, but trust me, it is so much better than gems." With that he drew in a deep breath and bathed the sleeping rabbits in fire as he crushed their minds. They roasted quickly and were ready in a matter of seconds. Looking at Spike he nodded to the charred meat and waited for him. Spike looked at him in disgust, unable to comprehend the thing he was being asked to do. "Just try it Spike. If you don't like it I promise I will erase your memory of you eating it." Spike reluctantly agreed, and sat down slowly in the grass while he picked up the cooked meat. The fur and skin had been completely disintegrated, leaving only charred flesh all over.

He took a tentative bite and his mouth exploded with flavor like a sonic rainboom. He chewed slowly, savoring the unique taste and texture, before taking another hungry bite. It was just as sweet as aquamarine, but had the potency of a Fire Ruby, and for what his two favorite gems lacked, this meat had both. It was much more filling than them as well, where several gems would disappear down his gullet, he couldn't even finish the rabbit, leaving a leg and breast behind on the ground. He leaned back on his paws, sighing contentedly as Aeroga looked at his expectantly.

"Well? How was it?"

After a burp and wick of fire, Spike only nodded, a happy smile across his face. The green dragon laughed again, a sound like thunder, and snatched up his own and what was left of Spike's, swallowing them both in one gulp. "Don't make judgment based on a personal bias, but rather try new things with an open mind, you will find that the world is full of amazing things if you are willing to try them." Spike's belly bulged as he struggled to his feet. "What did you mean by: 'The first time I tried it'?" Aeroga sighed with the realization that the little dragon didn't know his origins. "Well, a long time ago I used to be a pony. Ask Luna about it sometime, I don't feel up to telling the story right now." He stood on all fours and walked with Spike back to camp under the ghostly moon above.

Rainbow Dash darted back to Luna's pavilion. She could not believe what she had just seen. First, somepony that was actually faster than her, and not just by a bit, but much, much faster than her. Second, The dragon had tricked Spike into eating meat! A little rabbit! And the little dragon had liked it! Rainbow had thrown up after she saw the act and flew straight for the camp. She burst into the pavilion, startling Twilight and Princess Luna who were reading books on Luna's bed together. All her words came out in a burst, "Spike... Spi... He ate! Aeroga trick... Spike, meat!" Twilight looked at her with a confused expression while Luna told her to calm down and take a breath. Once she had, Rainbow told them all that she had seen. Luna gasped and Twilight dropped her book in disbelief, her jaw hanging like a loose swing. They just stared at Rainbow for what seemed like forever. "Well?" Her word snapped them out of their stupor, but with less than desirable results. Twilight started crying like a foal and Luna put a hoof on her back, stroking her mane and trying to calm her down while she just stared at the ground. Twilight continued bawling, tears flowing like rivers down her face.

Rainbow sank down on her bed and put her head in her hooves, rubbing her temples slowly, trying to forget the horrible memories. All the blood gushing onto the ground, Spike's sigh of contentment, it wasn't the blood, but the consummation of it that sickened her. She felt bile rise in her throat again and she rushed outside and threw up all over the ground, the soldier standing outside the tent, eying her suspiciously. Her sides heaving and her mouth tasting like vomit, she panted over the ground for a few minutes until the two dragons arrived at the pavilion, coming up silently behind her.

Spike asked what was wrong and Rainbow gave a squeak as she shot back into the tent. The two dragons entered to find a unicorn bawling her eyes out, a pegasus burying her head in pillows and sheets, and an alicorn staring slack-jawed at the ground. They looked at each other, bewildered and asked what had happened.

"Spike! How could you?!"

"W-what?" the little dragon asked bewildered.

Twilight's eyes turned slightly crooked and her pupils dilated to small dots, as she spluttered through rampant tears running down her face, "Dash told me you ate a rabbit! A helpless little bunny! How could you eat meat? You have never in all your life eaten meat before, and You!" She burst out, turning to Aeroga and walking up to him, prepared to give him the greatest lecture of his life, "And you tricked him into doing it! Why would you prey on a baby dragon to force your horrid concepts, your-your barbarism on his infantile mind? You are a dragon for crying out loud, don't you like gems?"

Aeroga saw holes in her accusations all over the place and he shot them down like practice targets for his aura pulses, "First off, I gave him a choice. Second, my 'concepts' as you call them, are in our very natures. I am astonished that he has never tried it before. Third, he is not infantile, yes a baby, but he still has the capabilities to make decisions on his own, and to presume that I like gems because I am a dragon is a bias that has absolutely no logical base. Because one likes something, does not mean another like him appreciates the same thing." Twilight's eyes dilated even more and her face took on a crazed expression as her accusations were destroyed on both logic, reason, and even practicality.

"How can you even kill those poor creatures so cruelly? They never did anything to you! They were just living their lives and you butchered them like the-" His rage began to build, this unicorn was annoying him to no end with her petty and false notions.

"They feel no pain when I kill my food. I break spines when I pounce, and crush the minds of those that are small. They feel nothing when their lives end."

"You are a barbarian!" She started screaming at him now, "A horrible, stinking, cruel, tyrannical-"

"SILENCE!!" He roared in both mind and body, making Twilight flinch and Luna break from her stupor while Rainbow only squeaked under the pillows and blankets that covered her head. His nostrils belched black smoke, and he almost let a flame slide over his tongue as his temper broke. "You do not grudge the wolf or falcon to take their prey, and neither will you begrudge Spike and I, or any dragon for that matter, our very own nature. We are carnivores whether you approve or not." He threw back the entrance flap of the tent and walked out angrily, his long talons carving deep divots in the earth.

Spike looked up at Twilight ashamedly, "Gosh Twi, you didn't have to take it so far." And with that he trotted outside and followed Aeroga as well as he could on his short legs.

For every step Aeroga took, the little dragon had to take five, completely dwarfed by the green reptile. Spike was practically running to keep up and Aeroga showed no signs of slowing down, walking steadily through the thick brush that overgrew the ground. After a while the larger dragon stopped in a glade that lay open to the moon as the little ran from the mini-forest that covered the ground underneath the canopy of the actual one, his sides pulsing like a set of bellows as he collapsed to the ground. Aeroga looked up at the moon that hung over them like a watchful sentinel and snorted out the heat that tickled his throat. The small clearing brightened significantly for a split second, and returned to its former darkness and shadow after the flames retracted. He was so angry, he couldn't focus and he struggled to push his senses past his own body. He brooded, shooting little spheres of energy at choice leaves, until the moon stood on the opposite side of the sky as it had when they first sat down. Spike sat up after he caught his breath and watched Aeroga fire the little projectiles with amazing accuracy and precision at various objects. He heard a twig break on the other side of the clearing and jumped to his feet.

Turning, he saw Aeroga did not notice the sound, but continued to launch streaks of light at the trees. Spike grabbed the lost dragon's tail and tugged on it. He got his attention as he knew he would and the little ragon pointed at the far side of the glade. Aeroga looked in the indicated direction, and took a more athletic stance, spreading his feet over the ground. He hissed at the shadows and shot an energy ball at the bushes.

Something moved amongst the foliage just before the ball hit with a small explosion that obliterated the bushes around its point of impact. Standing in the spot where there was once been greenery, stood a shadowy Pegasus, his features concealed by the shadows."Now, now," Came a gravelly voice. "Let us not get too violent before our introductions."

He stepped into a shaft of moonlight, revealing not only wings, but a spiraled horn that stood erect over a bright red eye and what was left of the other eye. His face was gnarled and contorted from several long slashes over where his eye used to be. His stark white chest bore a large red burn and his sides were littered with bare patches among deep cuts and scars. The tip of his left wing was missing, as was the entirety of his tail, only a small, burned stump in its place. "Greetings dragons. My name is Kalthorn, your bane and woe for the rest of your short lives. The Dark Lord sends his regards, Aeroga."

Blind to the taunt, the green dragon roared and rushed forward, slashing with long claws at the alicorn's throat. His claws cut easily through the air, and a hard hoof rammed his back, throwing him face-first into the ground. Aeroga loosed a concussive blast of energy the moment he hit the dirt, throwing the startled stranger across the entire length of the clearing into a thick oak tree. He landed with a sickening crunch and slid to the ground. Aeroga rose from the ground and faced the motionless alicorn. He spread out his aura and felt the life force of Kalthorn pulsing hard. He was playing dead, but was in for a nasty surprise.

Drawing on the aura of Kalthion himself, Aeroga formed a ball of energy between his hands, but did not let it go. He continued to push energy into it, filling it up like a violent balloon as its diameter increased with the power filling it. The alicorn sagged visibly from the withdrawal of energy and realized his mistake. Aeroga loosed the ball of energy, more then three feet wide now, at the stirring pony and it soared with lightning speed, but only struck the tree on which the alicorn was formerly laying against. In a flash of white, a bright, shimmering sword collided with Aeroga's wingblade. Kalthion swung again and Aeroga parried with a swat of his hand and countered with the other, leaving a fresh wound on the tip of the alicorn's snout. Hissing, he recoiled and swung the sword again, only to be parried and countered again in a similar fashion, gleaning a long scratch along his shoulder. Aeroga took to the offensive and thrust his head forward, his horns jutting hard into their target in a feral headbutt.

Flying, through the air from the blow, the alicorn did a wing-assisted back flip and landed firmly on his hooves before lashing out with strong magic, a whip of fire slicing through the air. Aeroga conjured a shield to block the spell and duplicated himself several times, the doppelgangers fanning out beside him. With a synchronized "POP!", the apparitions teleported all at once to several different positions around the alicorn.

Slashing frantically with his sword, several bursts of fire leaped at him from all directions. However only one jet actually burned its target, erasing skin and fur on his right flank, the rest of the flames passing harmlessly over his body. He growled in pain and whirled to the actual assailant. Another pop filled the air and the alicorn passed through Aeroga as if he wasn't there. A streak of green shot from the sky and Aeroga landed on top of Kalthion, pinning him to the ground with a hand over his throat, and the other clamped down on his horn. The dragon dove into his mind like a swimmer, but with a much more violent intent. He rampaged through the ponies terrified mind, gyrating his mental grip as it butchered the mind of the alicorn. Mentally screaming in agony as his body remained rigid and silent, all his thoughts, knowledge, and memories were drawn and quartered, being analyzed with careful precision. His memories of the slayer academy in Angholm were pondered over much more than the others, his first dragon, graduation, all the dragons and wounds he had experienced over the years were poured into Aeroga's mind.

He withdrew from Kalthion and looked into the blood-red eye, a stream of literal blood trickling from the new cuts on his face. "Tell him I said 'Hi' ." He said before gripping his neck in his mouth and giving a sharp jerk which produced a wet snap. He crawled off the fallen dragon slayer and turned to Spike. "Better get back to camp little one." He said, picking up the corpse and slinging it over his shoulder. The last thought of the alicorn passed through his mind over and over again, he didn't even know what Kalthion had meant by it: "This is just the beginning."