It was a slow day in Ponyville. Or at least it felt slow and uninteresting to Mute. The changeling had his first day of guard duty which meant he had to dress up in armor (without the helmet since none fit him) and watch over the market. Mute found it exceedingly boring to stand by a street corner and keep an eye on the market stalls, but he had no choice in the matter. He tried to entertain himself by watching the ponies, but what he saw just convinced him further it was an unremarkable day. There were ponies trading in the market, mares gossiping at the cafe, and construction workers ran around to fetch building materials and tools. An ordinary day in pony society, and that made him want to sleep.

As the morning hours passed Mute eventually tried to distract himself by observing the market, but he soon grew annoyed as he saw bits exchange hooves several times. The changeling still did not get it. The concept of coinage was still weird to him. He could count the damn bits and give them to a merchant if he tried, but he still didn’t get it.

“Ah, still annoyed by capitalism I see,” Zarathon mused from his perch behind Mute’s horn. “You know it was quite the revolutionizing invention back in the day. Of course, it was not the same. Child labor was extremely lucrative but now there are ‘laws and regulations' and ponies keep refusing my business ideas because ‘children need education'. Humbug, I say! When I was a child I was sent to make arrowheads for the army and oil the soldiers' swords! Hard labor builds character!”

Mute let out a snort at the pebble’s words.

“Why are you laughing? I am completely serious.”

Mute tried his best to ignore Zarathon and he turned his gaze to the cafe. He tried to listen to what the mares were talking about. Some gossiped that something big was being planned in Canterlot. Another talked about the mare that had been submitted to the hospital after she’d been possessed. Another talked excitedly about someone named Ms. Cake and her pregnancy. The mares were oblivious to his ears bending in their direction until one mare noticed him staring. She mumbled to her friends and they quickly paid for their food and left.

“Well… I suppose I was a bit brash during the party,” Zarathon admitted sheepishly. “I do not blame them for fearing me. Of course, they should fear and respect me. But how are you to find a proper mate if no mare dare thread near me?”

Mute shook his head to rattle around the pebble, to which Zarathon let out curses.

“I apologize! But you must find a wife eventually! You can not—”

Mute rattled around the pebble some more until the talk of wives and mates stopped.

Holy Vow would eventually join the pair by the street corner overlooking the market. The pegasus yawned and held a cup of coffee with his wing. He observed the market stalls for a second before he gave the changeling and pebble a nod. “Morning. Is everything well?”

“Not a single dispute. No arguments, no curses, and no excitement. It is dreadfully boring standing here,” Zarathon mumbled.

Holy chuckled. “Yeah… It is a lot more fun watching the Everfree forest. You get to see a lot of animals walk past thanks to Miss Fluttershy having her cabin near the watch tower. Though I think you two should be happy that it is a calm day. Ponyville tends to get roped into all kinds of trouble.”

Mute piqued up and pulled out his notebook. ‘What kind?’

“Well… We have had an Ursa Minor almost crush the town once. That was fun… Then there was that time we were invaded by parasprites. The little buggers chewed down half my bed and were only stopped by Miss Pie leading them away with music. We also had a chaos god briefly show up and take control of everything. Not to mention the many monsters that try to walk into town from the Everfree every week… There are many kinds of trouble Ponyville finds itself involved with.”

Zarathon hummed in amusement. “I and my compatriot saw some of Discord’s handiwork in Manehattan during his return. I was quite impressed, though I will admit I felt great terror at his horrible sense of color. No hue fit with another…”

Holy Vow took a sip from his coffee. “I say you should enjoy these quiet days where you just watch the streets. There aren’t any monsters or gods here right now to muck everything up.”

At that moment a small purple dragon passed them by. The dragon wore a white hat with a red feather and he bounced along a blue and yellow ball. Mute tilted his head at the sight of the baby dragon while Holy smiled and waved at it.

“Afternoon, Spike! Happy birthday!”

The baby dragon turned to face them with a grin that bordered on mischievous. “Thanks, Holy Vow! Say you wouldn’t—”

Spike, as the dragon was aptly named, stopped as he noticed Mute and Zarathon. He stared at the changeling at a loss for words until Zarathon let out a deep chuckle.

“Congratulations, young one. I see you have been given a few gifts already,” the pebble said.

“I… Uh yeah! Miss Cheerlie was nice and gave me this hat! And Lickity Split gave me this ball! And before all that I got a lot of gifts! Today has been great!” Spike said. “Though… I think Twilight told me not to speak with you…”

“Nonsense! I have done no harm to the Sun Goddess’ pupil and I am quite fond of children. You have nothing to fear. In fact… Mute don’t we have something we could give to Spike?”

Mute shrugged and pulled his saddlebags from his back. The changeling opened them and pulled out a pouch of bits. He threw it to the baby dragon with a smile and a nod. Mute had always been fond of the broodlings in the Hive and he supposed the dragon reminded him a bit about them.

Spike caught the pouch of coins and looked at it with a wide smile before he looked up at the changeling. “Thank you!”

Mute gave the dragon a nod.

“Well I wish I had something to give you as well, Spike, but I’m afraid I got nothing. Unlike the ‘Lords’ here I don’t have a mountain of bits stashed away in a mansion,” Holy said with a mirthful smile.

Zarahon scoffed. “Mansion? It is our Grand Palace! At least call it by its proper title, Private!”

“Yeah, yeah. Grand Palace.”

“A mountain of bits you say?...” Spike mumbled. “Well I have to get going, but I’ll talk to you later!”

Zarathon chuckled as Spike ran off and the pebble seemed very pleased with himself. “We did a good thing, Mute. We have helped that dragon start his hoard. He will grow mighty indeed.”

Mute looked up towards his horn in confusion. ‘Hoard?’

“Aye! He is a Zenkai after all! They grow their size and the strength of their flames by hoarding objects. Marvelous creatures dragons are! Of course, it takes them many years to grow in size considering the competitive nature of their kind, but I find it an admirable trait. I should light a candle for Spike when we return to the Grand Palace. I believe the traditional blessing of luck would be advantageous. After all, one of the noble Zenkai being raised in an environment like this? It is bound to cause some problems,” Zarathon mused.

Holy gave the burning pebble a questioning look. “You saying Miss Sparkle isn’t taking good care of him?”

“Hum? Oh no, that is not what I am saying. He looks healthy. You ponies just often forget that the other races are not like you. The Quirani worshipped the flames, may they be of the bonfire or war. The griffons valued wealth and valor until their love for the first became the destruction of the other. The yaks are brutes, stubborn, and tribal, but loyal to a fault. Dragons are greedy and strong, their might is matched by few, and their will is matched by none. Ponies are prone to bicker over little things, but they are quick to forgive and when unified can accomplish great feats. Changelings are meritocratic, hate instability, slow to change, and slow to trust. All the races that walk this realm differ from the others.”

“I suppose you might have a point on the bickering…” Holy said dryly and observed a mare in the market argue with a fruit vendor. “Let’s hope those two don’t come to blows.”

Mute pondered on Zarathon’s words. Were changelings slow to change? It had seemed to him that the Queen had implemented her plans swiftly and effectively, breeding new legions of Warriors, Infiltrators, Workers, and Praetorians. The great expansion of the Hive had even prompted an expansion of the Archivists to help with the added logistical issues. The changelings had quickly adapted to that. Or at least it had seemed as such when Mute was a broodling. The older Warriors had often complained about how impatient and fast the Hive seemed to have gotten. Mute just remembered the speed and stress as something usual.

‘What about the Hive?’ Mute wrote down in his book.

Zarathon was quiet for a few seconds. “An anomaly, but an anomaly still bound to the castes. Expansion and construction were swift, but did your race change in any other way?”

‘No, I suppose not. Not yet anyway.’

“Then I am still correct.”

Holy Vow eyed Mute and Zarathon for a second like he was looking for the correct words to say. Then he tentatively approached the subject. “I know I asked this during the train ride to Canterlot, but I have so many questions about you two. One day you show up in the market, poorly haggling with Silver Wind for a spider necklace—”

“That was perfectly fine haggling!”

“You then build a mansion in a few minutes—”

Zarathon snorted in anger. “Grand. Palace. It is not some paltry estate of a low noble! It is a building benefiting my and my friend’s greatness! And I’ll have you know it took more than a few minutes! The interior wasn’t done!”

Holy shook his head in amusement. “You then show up to one of Miss Pie’s welcoming parties, demand that we vassalize ourselves, and then go on to defeat a large shadow monster. And throughout it all, I am more and more confused as to who and what you are.”

Mute found himself somewhat amused by the pegasus’ confusion. He supposed it was strange from a pony’s perspective to see a changeling and talking pebble. Especially since Holy Vow did not know about Zarathon’s merits as a leader. Mute had expected the vassalization to work because Zarathon had assumed such. However ancestral ties and merit did not mean much without an army.

‘Zarathon already described my race,’ Mute wrote down and yawned.

“And if you were to describe the changelings? How would you do it?”

Mute thought for a second before he began to quickly write down a paragraph in the book. ‘Changelings are loyal and unified. They follow the will of the Queen and royal family, with a few exceptions. There are circumstances where one may bend the rules, but these are rare and must only be done if it furthers the prosperity or unity of the Hive as a whole. Changelings also value other changelings in their caste. A brood brother’s life must be defended.’

“So you have a Queen… Well, what about these castes and brood brothers?” Holy asked.

‘Changelings are separated into castes based on our biology. Their society is structured around them and all must obey the limitations and restrictions it imposes. The Queen rules them all and they must take her into account for every decision they make. Below her are the Praetorians, they are generals and the commanders. Below the Praetorians stand the Warriors, Infiltrators, and Scouts. Below them are the Workers who expand and repair the Hive. At the bottom of it all are Outsiders and Exiles, those without any say or place in the Hive. I was a Warrior, which you can see by my build and trinary horn. Seniority and skill are very important things in the Hive, and such I answered to older Warriors, Infiltrators, and Scouts. They in turn answer to the Praetorians and the Queen. Well, technically all answer to the Praetorians and the Queen, but you get the point.’

Holy looked impressed as he finished reading. “My sister would love to see your race. She loves to explore other places and cultures. I probably wouldn’t like it though. I am too fond of Canterlot and Ponyville to stray far. Though I have to ask, why are you here? Why are you running around with Zarathon instead of being with the Hive?”

Mute looked away and closed his eyes. His face twisted with pain and he shook his head at the pony. He couldn’t. He did not have the strength to think about it right now. Mute felt the urge to light a candle for the shrine back home and he let out a shuddering breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

“Some things should be addressed later, Private. Such as what I and Mute did before coming to Ponyville. Other things should not be spoken of at all,” Zarathon huffed. “Unless Mute deems them worthy of discussion.”

Mute shook his head at that. They were certainly not worth discussing now!

Holy gave the pebble and changeling an uncertain nod. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry I asked.”

The pegasus placed himself next to Mute and awkwardly watched the market. The rest of the shift passed without any real noteworthy event, the exception being Spike running back and forth with an assortment of items that kept building. Zarathon just thought it was amusing and when asked by Holy Vow if they should do something about it the pebble just said that everything would be fine. Mute was pretty certain Zarathon just said so because he found the dragon’s cleptomania funny, but the changeling ignored it. When their shift ended Mute quickly bowed his head goodbye to Holy and hurried home. The changeling wanted to sleep.

Mute was assigned to the Everfree watchtower the following day together with Thorne. The wooden structure stood at the edge of town and overlooked the forest perimeter and from it, Fluttershy’s cabin was partially visible. According to Thorne, the structure had only recently been erected after an ever-increasing influx of monsters came from the Everfree. Now with the threat of shades, it seemed more vital than ever. At the top of the tower, they had access to an alarm that would blare if any monster came from the woods and they also had access to a crossbow if need be. Zarathon had requested that Lieutenant Sword add a trebuchet or ballista to the tower weaponry, something the unicorn had rejected. So they simply sat in the tower and waited for something to happen.

“Are the ponies giving you stares?” Thorne asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the tower.

“Well of course they are! They are impressed by my luster and—”

“I was speaking to the changeling,” she interjected with a sharp look.

“How rude…” Zarthon mumbled.

Mute eyed the rune-covered earth pony with curiosity and shrugged. He was not one to take notice of ill-treatment or stares. Ponies had always stared once he began to travel with Zarathon. He took out his notebook and placed it on the table in the middle of the floor. ‘They do, but they always have.’

“Don’t let it get to you. They always stare when they see something new or unusual. A few have requested that the Lieutenant have the both of you sent away somewhere, but he has rejected those requests. They will get used to you in time. Eventually, the giant bug and talking burning rock will just be yet another common sight for them,” Thorne said and took out a pack of cigarettes. She grabbed one with her mouth and pressed it against a rune on her foreleg. The rune glowed red until the cigarette suddenly lit up. She breathed in the nicotine smoke and puffed it out her nose.

Mute gave the mare a thankful nod and observed her body. The runes had been deliberately made and taken much precision. Just how the mare had endured carving them onto herself he couldn’t figure out for the life of him.

“Miss Thorne, may I ask you about the runes?” Zarathon asked.

The mare gave the two and small grin and flexed her muscles, showing off the many marks across her body. “These? They are my weapons and shields. I got them during the conflicts in Luna Bay. Pirates and bandits found a way to make runes work on their bodies, something that was unheard of before that point. And the fact a bunch of pirates figured it out only added insult to injury. I learn how they did it when I was stationed in the Diamond Isles and found that the runes agreed with me.”

Zarathon’s flames flickered slowly from side to side, a sign he was thinking deeply about something. “Tell me is Luna Bay the sea to the northwest?”

Mute grabbed Zarathon from behind his horn and put him down on the table. He wondered where the pebble was going with this.

“Hum? Yeah, what about it?” Thorne asked.

“The art of inscribing runes on living flesh to grant it further power was invented by a Quiran by the name of Vazlan. Zaivuira—that would be Lord of Cinders in your tongue—Vazlan of House Hozten, my ancestor. You see, our runes are complicated, superior to others, and intrinsically linked to life itself. No, it is more factual to say they are linked to the fire of creation itself. Vazlan followed their connection to life and through years of research infused himself with a rune to shield him from all blows. The ivu orin, or holy rune or First-Rune. That rune was lost after some tragic events so just ignore it. The most important fact is that our runes were interwoven with living things. That was why my ancestors struggled for quite some time to make our runes work with non-living materials. Yet despite the fact, your runes lack this connection to the Ember you have made it work with the harsh pony runes…”

Thorne grinned at the pebble. “I don’t know anything about Quirans or fires of creation, but I can tell you we have no problems with our runes. Maybe your runes aren’t as superior as you think?”

“Maybe pony… Maybe…” Zarathon mumbled thoughtfully.

That was when their conversation was interrupted by a large roar. The sound pierced the air akin to a javelin and Mute ducked for cover with Zarathon clutched to his chest. Soon he looked up and saw Thorne stare in disbelief at the town. Mute turned his eyes towards Ponyville and stared with an annoyed expression. It was the kind of low annoyance one had when reality seemed to offend one’s sensibilities.

‘Why is a dragon in the middle of town?’ he wrote down on in his book and pressed it into Thorne’s face.

The mare just continued to stare forward in disbelief, frozen.

Meanwhile, Zarathon cackled with pure excitement and it downright sounded maniacal. “Oh, I am getting my ballista now! I am getting my ballista!!!”

Chaos came in many forms. The divine kind is delivered by gods such as Discord. The natural kind happened in the Everfree and Prowl. And then there was the stupid kind, like when a dragon suddenly rampaged through a small town.

“How are we supposed to!?—”

“Help! Help!!!”

“Someone stop it!”

Mute watched it all as the dragon ran across town. It almost trampled several ponies, destroyed a blaring alarm, and then it approached the carousel-shaped shop. It reached in through a window and pulled out a familiar white unicorn (Mute tried to remember her name and landed on Medium Rare). The beast curled its tail around her and carried her along. The changeling watched as the dragon then eyed the items it was holding with uncertainty before it was struck by an idea. It hurried to a water silo and grabbed it. The water released flooded the streets and washed away ponies as well as debris. The dragon damaged walls and scaffoldings as it moved until it came to stop in the town’s main square where the market was usually kept.

The Ponyville guard looked on from a street close to the market. They stood unmoving, no one certain what to do with a dragon that could crush them with one step.

“What do we do?...” Holy asked and shifted his spear back and forth between his wings.

Mute shrugged.

“Get a ballista! A real large one!” Zarathon said with a giddy laugh.

‘I thought dragons were holy to Quirans?’ Mute wrote down and held up the book for Zarathon to read.

“There is no law against fighting them! A dragon slayer is also revered for defeating a creature of such might! Imagine the glory, Mute! Onward! We must attack!

“No ballista and no attacking! That is Miss Sparkle’s dragon, you lunatic! And he has a hostage!” Adamantine Will said with a growl.

Lieutenant Sword balked at that. “That’s Spike!?”

Zarathon stopped his mad laughter and his flames leaned forward as if to get a better look. The warm sensation from the flames enveloping Mute’s horn was quite nice to the changeling.

“...It seems she is correct, Mute. I retract my orders on the ballista. I suggest a large hammer and a blow to the back of Spike’s head instead.”

“I don’t think we got a big enough hammer, Lord Zarathon…” Arcane Song said and hid behind Iron Hoof.

As they discussed amongst themselves how to deal with the giant firebreathing lizard of death two ponies took it upon themselves to do it for them. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (Mute was surprised he remembered their names) flew up to the dragon’s head and began to tell it to let its hostage go. Rainbow Dash tried the assertive approach while Fluttershy attempted soft-spoken diplomacy.

Mute wrote up two columns in his notebook and wrote Rainbow’s name over one and Fluttershy’s name over the other.

“Ah! Perfect idea, Mute! Everyone we are now taking bets on who will be eaten first! I will add a modest sum of twenty bits to the pot that the yellow one will become kibble,” Zarathon said.

‘The blue one has a grating voice though,’ Mute wrote under the columns.

“...point taken. Twenty bits on the blue one!”

“Ten on Fluttershy,” Iron Hoof said nonchalantly.

“Stop messing around! We need to focus on helping them! Private fly up and get them away from Spike! The rest of you help me lead him away from town!” Lieutenant Sword yelled.

Just as they began to move Spike roared and began to swat at the two pegasi with his tail. The guards watched as Rainbow and Fluttershy tried to dodge the attacks only to get caught on Medium Rare’s cape. The cape was torn off and the two pegasi fell toward the earth, completely enveloped in the pink cloth.

“Holy, now!” the Lieutenant said.

Holy Vow dropped his weapon and gave a mighty flap with his wings. He threw up a mighty gust as he soared through the air toward the falling cloth only to catch it at the last minute before it hit the ground. The pegasus managed to get it away from Spike’s feet before its weight became too much and it hit the ground, dragging Holy down with it. The pegasus stallion was launched straight into what remained of a fruit stall and he crawled out covered in sticky fruit juices. Fluttershy and Rainbow got up from the bundle of cloth and stumbled, both helping Holy onto his hooves.

Mute would have given the rescue ten points if he had any signs.

It was then Rainbow Dash excitedly pointed to the sky and Mute watched as three pegasi clad in tight-fitting blue outfits swooped down from the sky to take a swing at the dragon. Three. The Sun Goddess had sent three pegasi to defeat a dragon.

“Finally… The Wonderbolts can handle it,” Adamantine Will said smugly. “This is what Canterlot stock can do.”

“...Can I change my bet? Those three pegasi seem like much more likely candidates now,” Zarathon whispered to Mute.

As the guards filtered into the square Adamantine hurried along with Iron Hoof and Arcane Song to the opposite end of the open space. The Duchess yelled that they needed to keep Spike in the square and distract him. The Lieutenant nodded at the mare’s words and shouted orders for Mute and Thorne to stand with him. Zarathon let out a shrill whistle towards Holy Vow and the rescued pegasi mares (how the pebble produced such sounds was still a mystery to Mute) and Holy practically dragged the two mares with him towards the Lieutenant.

While the guards did their best to spread out across the ground the Wonderbolts flew back and forth near Spike’s head. The large dragon dodged the pegasi the best he could and roared in frustration as they avoided his grasp. Though the dragon soon laid his eyes on a mountain not too far away from the town and took a step toward it. Unfortunately for him, the path was blocked by Adamantine Will’s group.

“No, you don’t!” The Duchess yelled as the dragon tried to leave the square and she sent a blast of magic into his stomach.

Spike stumbled back at the sudden attack and he peered down at the unicorn mare with a glare. He huffed and black smoke escaped his nostrils. As the Wonderbolts swooped in to take another swing at the dragon’s head he grabbed one of them, a stallion with a black mane, and he hurled him at Adamantine.

To be fair to the Duchess she did catch the stallion with a levitation spell before he hit her. Unfortunately for her, that was all the distraction Spike needed and he ran past the group. Mute could have sworn he saw Arcane Song faint as Spike stepped over them on his way toward the mountain. Lieutenant Sword cursed and began to run, following the dragon. Thorne and Holy followed him along with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. However Mute just trotted after them, adding more names to the “first eaten by the rampaging dragon” chart.

“I do believe we should also be on the list, just in case,” Zarathon mused.

Mute scoffed in amusement and followed the Lieutenant as they picked up Adamantine’s group (excluding Arcane Song who they had to leave with Iron Hoof. She actually had fainted). They took the main road towards the river next to the town and passed some familiar ponies that watched the commotion from the bridge. Rainbow and Fluttershy quickly joined their friends while Adamantine stopped and grabbed hold of Twilight Sparkle with a growl.

“How do we get him to stop!?” she demanded of the purple unicorn.

“I— I don’t know! He is completely out of control! He began to hoard more and more stuff and he just kept growing!” Twilight said.

“Well, this sort of growth is not natural. A dragon doesn’t usually find such a large hoard in a day, but you ponies are a generous sort. I suggest we call on the Sun Goddess,” Zarathon said.

Rainbow Dash flew right up to Mute’s face, or rather his horn, and glared at the pebble. “Why don’t you do something!? You got all that special fire magic stuff!”

“With all due respect, blue one, I don’t have a ward or spell that would leave the dragon unharmed. Unless of course, you want me to harm him? I can tell Mute to get started on a ballista and the proper wards right away!” the pebble said with excitement.

Fluttershy gasped and flew up to them. “No ballista! You can’t hurt him!”

“What Miss Fluttershy said! No ballista, dammit!” The Lieutenant huffed.

Twilight glared at the pebble. “I will not let you hurt Spike, is that understood?”

Zarathon’s flames flickered out for a second and he huffed. “You ponies are no fun.”

While Spike at first headed for the mountain the dragon suddenly spotted something in the Everfree. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly ran towards the woods and reached down towards… Mute’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open in horror. The great crash of stained glass and wooden beams made the changeling slam his head into the stone railing of the bridge.

“THAT IS THE GRAND PALACE YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD! LEAVE IT ALONE!” Zarathon screamed with indignant rage.

Spike would retrieve several valuable items from the Grand Palace all the while he dodged and swatted at the Wonderbolts. He grabbed golden candle sticks, rare books that thrummed with magical energy, sacks full of bits, a mirror with a silver frame, most of Zarathon’s wardrobe, some of Adamantine’s belongings (never before had Mute seen a unicorn puff up with absolute rage), and...

Mute let out a screech so loud it made the ponies jump from fright and the changeling set off towards the dragon while angry hisses and gargled yells escaped his throat.

Spike had taken the shrine. He had taken the shrine with all the offerings and finely crafted gifts. Mute was going to kill him.

“Mute! Stop! There is no point! We can’t fight him without the others!” Zarathon yelled and a wall of fire erupted in front of Mute.

The changeling stopped and gave the pebble a hateful hiss.

“Calm yourself! What would she think if she saw you acting like a rabid animal? Now go back to the others, we need a plan!” the pebble yelled.

Mute looked to Spike as he hurried towards the mountain and the changeling took a deep and calming breath. Zarathon was right, there was no point chasing after the dragon alone. Mute ran back toward the group of ponies with a determined look.

Spike managed to make it to the mountain and began to scale it before the Wonderbolts caught up. The dragon dug his claws into the rock and climbed up towards its peak. The Wonderbolts once again swooped down to take a swipe at Spike. This time they managed to cut off some of the dragon’s spikes, which just looked like they had given it an impromptu haircut. Spike, very likely annoyed that he had been given a catastrophic hairdo, hurried up to a cave and deposited everything he had in the water silo into it. Including the shrine. He covered the cave with his own body as the Wonderbolts swooped down one more time and narrowly missed Spike’s neck. This time the dragon looked furious. Mute could only give an unimpressed stare as the Wonderbolts flew down once more and landed straight in the water silo. Spike then promptly smashed the open end of the silo into the mountain to lock away the flying pests.

“Canterlot stock you said?” Zarathon said to Adamantine.

“Be quiet, you pompous rock!” The Duchess growled. “Everyone we need to move now!”

Mute grabbed the unicorn mare before she could run and shook his head. He pointed towards how far up Spike had gotten and gave her a questioning look. They needed some plan to get to the dragon first.

“My compatriot raises a good point, how would we fight him? We do not have enough pegasi for this. Not even Quiran wards would be able to reach him.”

Adamantine growled and watched the mountain with worry. “We must do something! Thorne, does any of your runes help with this!?”

“What? Against a dragon!? Are you mad, Duchess!?” Thorne yelled.

“What about a ward that acts a bit like a trebuchet?” Zarathon suggested.

Mute gave an enthusiastic nod at that. Just give him a chance and he’d deck the dragon so hard Spike would wake up the next Tuesday.

“How would that be any better than a ballista?...” Radiant Sword groaned.

“Well since we don’t have a big enough hammer we need to deliver blunt force trauma some way!”

“No weapons!” Twilight yelled.

As the group argued on what to do Mute noticed that Medium Rare spoke to the dragon. The mare gestured and showed off her ruined cape which only seemed to annoy the dragon who cast aside the ruined cloth. Mute watched then as the dragon stared at the mare and paused, seemingly entrenched by something he saw. It did not take long before Spike shook his head and began to shake. And then the very large dragon suddenly transformed into a baby dragon once more. The problem that immediately appeared was that Spike and Medium Rare now plummeted towards the earth.

Pinkie Pie—who had spent her time eyeing it all through binoculars—gasped and fell into her back. “Someone do something!”

“On it!” Both Holy Vow and Rainbow Dash said at the same time.

The two pegasi threw themselves toward the falling pair and flew as fast as they could. Holy grabbed Medium Rare and circled back while Rainbow did the same for Spike. As they landed Medium Rare was swamped by her friends who embraced her. Meanwhile, the water silo fell away from the mountain and allowed the Wonderbolts to flee. Truly they were Canterlot stock.

Mute did watch as Spike walked up to the edge of the bridge and sat down. The changeling walked up to the dragon and watched as he compared his claws to a large footprint next to the river. Mute placed his forelegs on the edge and leaned forward to eye the dragon. Mute couldn’t help but give him the stink eye.

“Are you alright, young one?” Zarathon asked.

“I guess…” Spike mumbled.

“Spike, I just have to tell you how absolutely proud I am of you.”

Mute and Spike both turned around and saw Medium Rare. The white unicorn gave the baby dragon a proud smile.

“Proud of me?” Spike asked.

“Yes. It was you who stopped… Well, you, from destroying Ponyville. You’re my hero Spikey Wikey,” Medium Rare said and kissed the dragon’s cheek.

Mute did find Spike’s bashful smile quite adorable. Though he did wonder how they were gonna repair the extensive property damage and retrieve all their belongings. His heart ached for the safety of the shrine. Zarathon also seemed to wonder about this considering his next words.

“So who will pay for the repairs? And how are gonna get down our belongings?”

Holy Vow eyed the burning Pebble. “Well, we can fly up and get it. But you are sitting on a small mountain of gold, are you not? When we have retrieved it that is. And you knew about the hoarding but didn’t tell Miss Twilight about it.”

“So did you, Private!” Zarathon said in shock.

“Because you told me it was nothing to worry about!” Holy huffed.

“Zarathon knew!?” Adamantine hissed.

Twilight stared at Zarathon in shock. “You could have stopped this yesterday!”

“I only knew that is how dragons grow! I never would have imagined this! It is not my fault you can not accommodate a dragon’s needs!” the pebble huffed.

The Duchess gave the pebble an unimpressed look. “You know, nobility in the Canterlot court pays taxes proportionate to their wealth. And you two seem to have a lot of wealth.”

“No taxation without representation! This is discriminatory against all Quirani!”

Mute felt a great bit of dread at the thought of his hard-earned bits being dragged away by the tax collectors. Though the ponies did have a point… Zarathon had allowed the hoarding to continue to amuse himself. And that had allowed the shrine to end up in a cave atop a mountain. Mute put down Zarathon the stone railing and gave him an unimpressed look and pointed towards the mountain.

The ponies present all glared at the pebble until his flames were tiny. Zarathon cleared his throat and his flames rebounded. “I, the gracious and generous Zarathon, shall rebuild Ponyville at my own expense! And I shall have your shrine returned to you as soon as possible, Mute.”

The tension in the air eased and the ponies discussed amongst themselves what to do next. Adamantine and Lieutenant Sword pulled Spike aside and gave him a proper scolding for his actions. Meanwhile, Zarathon eyed the main six. The pebble’s flames waved slowly from side to side and he spoke in hushed tones to Mute.

“I believe it might be in our best interest to be more proactive and engage more with those six. They each hold an Element of Harmony and as such are very valuable allies. I suggest we befriend the yellow one first, she lives closest to the Grand Palace. Or what's left of it... Furthermore, it might allow us to avoid situations like this in the future.”

Mute gave the pebble an annoyed look and wrote in his notebook. ‘You are at fault for what happened today though.’

“This would have happened with or without me, Mute! But in the future, I will do my best to ensure we are spared from chaos like this. Just trust me, my friend.”

Mute sighed and gave the pebble a nod before he eyed the far-off cave.

‘You better pay respect at her shrine later or I swear upon the Seamstress I will throw you in the river.’

Zarathon snorted at that. “Of course, my friend. I'll procure some expensive tea or incense to offer as well.”

Mute just grunted in response and looked at Fluttershy. For a second the yellow pegasus noticed his stare and she hid behind Rainbow Dash. Once the cyan-colored pegasus noticed her friend's distress she threw the pebble and changeling a stink eye. Rainbow spoke in a hushed tone and soon the six pony mares (and Spike) left the bridge. Mute let out a deep sigh through his nose and stared at the group. That was going to pose a problem.

Author's Note

I hope you had fun reading today's chapter of "A changeling named Mute"! I will be incorporating a few of the episodes of season 2 into the story but they will probably be spread out between original chapters as well as flashbacks and tales. I just hope you all don't think anyone was too out of character. With that said have a great weekend!

(Also you know what I said about keeping the chapters at 3 words? Yeah... Me too.)