Two months have passed since I awoke from that damned Crystal. Two months of being corralled by ponies and their precious Æsir. I want to hate them, I really do, but the ponies actually believe they are helping me. Everyday they greet me with the same smiles that barely hide their pity for me. They look at me and see nothing but a broken thing, something delicate that must be handled with care.

I’m starting to think they are right.

“Good morning Miss Fenrir!” Jerking back ever so slightly I try to play off the fact I was startled and caught off guard. Cracking an eye open I can see an energetic foal smiling up at me. Strangely it is a genuine smile, one of the few untainted by a belief I need to be fixed. With my chin resting on my paws I shift my head slightly so that I am looking directly at the foal and blow a small cloud of frost into their face. Rather than backing away in fear or gagging the filly instead laughs loudly and climbs up my paws and onto my muzzle. Thankfully their small frame is light and causes me no discomfort as they fully climb my head and perch themselves on my horns.

I humm softly and lift my head up much to the fillies delight. Slowly the rest of my body follows as I rise up from the patch of earth I'd been resting on and stretch all while she plays on my horns. It's almost funny how I don't mind her touching or even playing on my horns. Climbing me and then swinging from them like some playset that ponies build in their park things. Considering the last time someone touched them… Why does it not bother me when she out right plays on them?

"Mellow Marshes!" I hear the filly on my head yelp.

"Yes mama?" Turning to face the approaching mare I sigh. Shade Scale, my so-called teacher. I've known her for over a month and yet I still can't tell if I like her or not.

"How many times have I told you not to climb other ponies?" Two small hooves press down on my brow and inadvertently force me to close that eye.

"But Fenrir isn't a pony! She's a dragon like the princess!" The thestral mare slaps her muzzle with a hoof and seems to be holding back the urge to scream. I wonder how often I caused my own mother such frustration when I was that young? Wait, did she say dragon princess?

"Mellow no she's a… How many times have I told you?" Mellow shifts about on my head in what I assume is discomfort.

"Um… A lot…" The mare sighs.

“I’m sorry Fenrir I -”

“My name is Gaia.” Shade clears her throat and jumps into the air. Flying up to my head she picks up Mellow and brings her back to the ground. Thankfully she was careful enough to not touch my horns.

“Sorry Gaia… Come on, let's get going to your appointment. The sooner you get to it the sooner it will be over. Though I must warn you Princess Celestia will be there today. I know you have strong feelings about that but…” I growl quietly making Shade stop talking but still begrudgingly follow behind her as she walks. Every attempt to escape or even just avoid an appointment has led to nothing thanks to the bands I'm now forced to wear on my wrists and ankles. One of the only good things these damned things do is let me understand their language. The least that bitch can do after forcing this on me is to leave me alone.

Why is she going to be there, hasn't she done enough?

“I should also let you know that we may run into a few new faces you don’t know on our way to the appointment. We’re taking a different route this time because of what happened last week but all those you haven’t met have been briefed on what happened. They know to stand still and let you do what you need to do.” I shiver as I walk. My tail lashing out violently behind me and snapping a sapling in two.

“I will not spare any lives this time, I will shred any who attack me.” Shade flicks her tail and shuffles her wings in obvious discomfort, but nods nonetheless.

"Nopony was there to attack you, but I guess I can't really argue with you. Considering the history of the ponies you caught I wouldn't put it past them to try. A lot of ponies heard the news of your stay here at the castle and all they heard was the jingle of gold coins." I snort and shake myself making Mellow giggle. The sun bleeding through the trees reflecting off of my silver scales as I shake and according to Mellow makes me look like a giant disco ball. Whatever that is.

"The only thing the next intruder will gain for entering my territory will be a swift death. The idea that Jötuun hoard massive wealth is stupid. Where do they think I'd keep the damned treasures, up my vent?" Shade nearly trips and has to flare out her wings to catch herself.

“What did she say mama? I don’t know dragon yet like you.” Though she doesn’t look back, Shades' ears twitch and flick towards me.

“Umm… Well honey, Gaia just reminded me that she doesn't want to go by Fenrir anymore. She wants to be called Gaia. It just caught me off guard because she's told me before and I feel bad.” Mellow makes a quiet ‘oh’ sound before settling into the fluff on Shades' back. As I don’t feel the need to comment that Shade didn’t tell Mellow everything I said, the next few minutes go by in silence. Walking through the thickest parts of the expanded gardens we travel up the mountain side until we reach the visitors section. For whatever reason Celestia had an entire area of the mountaintop carved out solely for her massive gardens, baring it off from any expansions from the city proper. Considering how much space is actually available in this city of theirs it seems a bit strange, but I absolutely love it.

Crossing over the physical barrier that separates my area from the rest of the gardens it's only another minute before we are at the castle itself. I stop however as I see a massive hole in the walls that was not there previously and is currently swarmed by ponies. The scales along my spine bristle and I lower myself closer to the ground with a soft growl.

“It’s fine Gaia relax, this is what I was talking about. The entire castle is going through major renovations. This door in particular will lead us to a new area that has just been set up for you and any other creature that may match your size.” Shade whistles loudly making the ponies turn to us. Looking over the group carefully I’m able to identify all but one of the ponies. Swishing my tail I keep my eyes glued to this guard I don’t know as we approach.

“Good Morning Ma’am” The unfamiliar guard standing to the left of the ‘door’ slaps their hoof to their chest plate in a salute while the other guard, I think their name was Sterile, ushers the various ponies away. Shade however freezes and slowly turns her head to glare at the guard that saluted her.

“Corporal Sterling Shield.” The guard with the other ponies stops and turns sharply to face Shade. Hmm, not Sterile then.

“Yes Sergeant?” For the first time since I met the young foal her survival instincts kicked in and she carefully jumped down from her mothers back and trotted over to Sterling.

“Please bring my daughter ahead to the meeting room.” Sterling stomps his right hoof loudly on the tiled floor and grins.

“Come on Mellow, let's go and say hello to the Princess. I’ll even race you and if you win I’ll make sure you get a treat.” Grinning wide and nodding her head, Mellow squeals in delight as she takes off fast down the hall with Sterling on her heels. Turning my attention back to Shade and the other guard they are now nose to nose with Shade baring her fangs.

“Specialist Stone! If I wasn’t on my way to a meeting with the Princess herself it’d take me days to finish ripping you a new asshole! Instead you can consider this your lucky day as I am only giving you KP for the rest of the week! As soon as you finish your posting at this door I better find your pathetic flank in my office! Do you understand me Specialist!?” The idiot named Stone takes a moment to find his voice as the other ponies shamelessly laugh at his predicament.

“Y-yes Sergeant!” Snarling, Shade flicks her tail and shakes out her wings as she stomps off down the hall. Rather than follow Shade however I stop just before the guard and lower my head down to his level. Instantly he stiffened again at my glare and rather than look into my eyes he looked away. Growling and lashing my tail behind me the guard only shakes more.

“By the Gods you are dense aren’t you specialist!? First you forget who I am and now you can’t even remember the most basic thing from the briefing I gave only an hour ago!? Show her respect and look her in the eye’s you damned fool!” Breathing in deeply I don’t bother waiting for the pony to look back at me. Instead I take in his scent and do my best to burn it into my memory. When he finally does look back at me I give him the same respect he showed me and purposely chill my breath before blowing a large cloud of freezing frost into his face in disgust. Though I was sure not to hurt the stallion, it was more than enough to scare him as he fell to his flank and scrambled to get away from me.

“I’ll remember you Stone.” I stand back to my full height and pass through the door. Ignoring his panicked cries I take my place behind Shade. The mare only gave the downed stallion a passing glance and shook her head before starting down the hall again.

"I know you didn't really hurt him, but you have to be careful with that breath of yours Gaia. While I'm more than happy to let you take care of things as you see fit I better not ever hear of my ponies getting hurt because of it." Chilling my breath again so that frost leaves my mouth as I speak I snarl and glare at Shade.

"I'm more than capable of controlling my breath Shade. If they get hurt it is their own fault." Shade just shakes her head and stops beside two large doors.

"Yeah well it's because of comments like that I don't trust you around my daughter." Throwing the door open, Shade marches into the room without me. Muttering something under her breath I'm unable to catch what she says before Mellow pounces on her. Shade must have been expecting the attack however as she effortlessly caught her daughter with her wings and spun her around in a wide circle before throwing her back into the air only to catch her again in her hooves and wrap her into a tight hug.

"Mama I beat Sterling! Can I have ice cream now!?" Shade gasps in fake shock.

"What! You beat Sterling in a race? Well it looks like I'm going to have to drill him extra hard on his PT runs now. Come on let's go and get you that treat he promised you." Shifting around Shade places Mellow onto her back.

"It most certainly seems that way, Sergeant. Thank you again for going out and getting Fenrir, I greatly appreciate it." Shade dips down into a low bow to where Celestia must be sitting just out of my sight.

"Absolutely Princess. Come on Corporal, I think it's in our best interest to get out of here before the sparks fly." Standing back up and smiling, Shade motions to Sterling with a wing as she walks past him.

"Right behind you Sergeant." After bowing to Celestia Sterling falls into step behind Shade. Both ponies pay me no mind as they walk out of the room and pass me, only Mellow turning to acknowledge me with a wave as they pass.

"Bye Miss Gaia!" Flicking my tail I weakly wave back to the foal.

"Ah… Bye."

Author's Note

Hello again everyone! I just want to say the next chapter might be a little delayed as I am going in for a medical procedure in a few days. I do however plan on using the extra time off work to get more writing done so when the chapters are up again I'm planning on them being longer.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope that you continue to enjoy the journey as we go.