Hunger snorted, "His name is Alden, and yes, he indeed spoke your language."

Alden put a wing in his mouth, "I did?"

Gilda looked flabbergasted, "And you could have done that all this time?"

Hunger was about to deny it, but then he stay silent for a moment, "technically no, since I can't con... I can't hire him unless he also agrees to it."

Star manage to close her mouth, then she spoke, "that... I didn't see your horns glowing when you did it."

Hunger smiled, "That was because I didn't use my horns to cast the spell, I use my foreleg, also speaking of forelegs, Alden could you get off?"

Elden just noticed that the foreleg of Hunger was trembling, "Ho! sorry." He proceeded to land In the only horn of Hunger.

Flare spoke, "b-but how it is possible? you have to be lying, after all, you have horns! is only normal that you can cast magic!"

Hunger snorted and looked at Alden only using his eyes, "my friend, try to look in my mind so I may teach you how to use telekinesis."

Alden looked down at the eyes of Hunger, "And how I do that?"

Hunger ponders a little the answer, "Try to think really hard about me and also how you want to speak to me."

Alden closes his eyes for a moment then he opens his eyes wide, 'h-hello?'

Hunger smiled, 'There, now you can hear my thoughts, now I will try to give you a memory and a feeling, don't resist it, remain relaxed'

Alden tries to do what he said, a sudden flood of images slowly appears in his head, his head hurt a bit when Hunger finished, but after some seconds he knew what to do. Extending a wing while his tongue goes out in concentration, he tries to pick up the sheets of Hunger, slowly the tips of his wings become blue and the sheets are engulfed in a magical aura, the sudden sensation of his magic working surprised him a bit, which cause him to put to much magic in his spell, making the sheets to shoot up.

Alden let a squawk in surprise because of how light-headed he felt all of a sudden, his magic turning off.

While Star and Flare open their mouth wide in surprise, while the sheet slowly falls on top of Gilda, (who she catches in her claws in reflex), surprised but less than the others thanks to getting used to it at this point, she smiled "Awesome, please tell me that you are going to teach me to do magic too!"

Hunger shrugs, "Maybe, but only if you want to, is not an easy thing."

Before Gilda could respond, Star slam her hoofs on the table, "So if I were to do the same thing I could get magic too!?"

Hunger flinched a the sudden outburst, Alden felt how Hunger felt, it was a sudden spike of fear, and he knew that he should probably ask about that later.

When Hunger recuperate from the sudden outburst he looked at her, "Technically yes, but I don't do con... I don't like that kind of deal with people, since is a lot more invasive than if it were an animal." Star looked crestfallen at that, but Hunger just shrugs, "If you show you are trustworthy, I will give you active magic later." Star looked shaken, "Is not the same as I did with Alden, is a method with a lot less string attached."

She started to vibrate and let a low pitch **eeeee!**, while Flare raised her hoof, "Me too! I can't wait to show canterlot cretins that they are not that special!" Dusk was smiling, probably enjoying the fact that someday maybe he would be able to use magic too.

Hunger deadpan, "I said that I will only give you to you when you show you are trustworthy, I will not teach magic to the ones that literally discard me when they saw my stature."

The three bat ponys flinched at that, Hunger was expecting them to be defensive, to put excuses, but then they looked at each other and nodded, they all saluted and stand up, and Flare spoke, "sorry for the delay Sir, If were not for your warnings and coming to our aid in a crucial moment, we all would be probably dead in that place."

Star spoke, "We let our temper get the better of us, and we were thinking of leaving service because of how much we buck up, but when we heard from princess Luna that there were not any other bat ponys that could attend to your service, we decided to come back again... that and princess Luna gave us the biggest stern talking to that I had in my life."

Dusk spoke, "I misjudge your capabilities only by your stature, when we arrive we heard from the ponys how demons were seen close to the exit of the forest, and how sometimes some of them would try to grab small foals, ending in a few injured ponys, even when we arrive and tried to keep them at bay, they always came back, but since you arrive there had not been any accident... For that I'm sorry for thinking that you only were a foal, now that I see how big you had gotten and heard of Princess Luna's first hoof and how she told us that in truth, you are a very old creature, I have noticed how much of A fool I was."

Star spoke again, "I may not be confident in you sir, but since was a little foal I was taught to believe and serve princess Luna, and If she says that you are trustworthy, then I shall believe in her word."

Flare grimace in a memory, "Even If she was kinda harsh of how much insisted to believe in you... And the consequences if she were to hear that we did something as stupid as last time."

They remain silent, Hunger blinked 'Wow, so Luna told them my approx age, Kinda fuck up, but I guess that makes things a lot easier if they know that... I still will not trust them completely, but it is a start.' Hunger's expression remains neutral, "Well, I hope you all don't expect me to forgive you all just like that, because one thing is saying that and another is actually doing it."

All their looks remain serious, Dusk speaks, "We understand sir, we shall not let you down"

Hunger nodded, "Good, now go and grab me a map, if we don't apply this in the next 6 hours, things may get messy."

"So what are you doing?" without any previous word, when he just finished giving the tasks to his squad, Gilda grab him and proceeded to take him to her room.

Gilda scoffed, "Dweeb, I literally saw how your body was, and I still remember when you told me that my body needed to rest so it may heal."

Hunger scoffed, "Good excuse Gilda, If you wanted to sleep with me, you should just say so."

Since Hunger was being carried like a true baby and was in her chest, he manage to see how her face blushed a little and how her muscles stiffened, "please dweeb, don't flatter yourself, I will only be there to make sure you are resting."

Hunger just smiled, "I also missed your warm to Gilda, and I must admit, having a big, strong, capable-" With each word, she seem to inflate a little more, feeding slowly her ego, "And most of all, having an attractive and sexy griffon by my side will help me sleep better."

When he finished the last part Gilda squawked in surprise at the sudden more personal compliments, it almost cause her to lose her footing, but she manage to regain her balance using her wings, when she manages to recuperate her composure she huffed in faux annoyance, "please dweeb, don't be such a tease..." she trail of in the end, and murmurs only to herself, "Only do it in the bedroom... or when we become a couple."

Hunger snorted, which causes Gilda's blush to deepen, the last part was something that he was not meant to hear, "I will think about it, but you make it really hard when you don't follow your own logic."

Gilda just gave him a sour look and roll her eyes, "Don't make me make YOU eat me out to shut you up."

Hunger snorted, "sorry, no blowjobs until my back legs are not dying."

Gilda looked... disappointed(?), but then shook his head when she remember that he would sleep by her side anyways.

After that friendly banter, they finally arrive at her room, which still had stuff scattered all around it, "remember me to tidy up this place."

Gilda put him gently in bed and murmured "No promises." without warning she took the sheets Fluttershy off him, and before Hunger could ask what she was doing, she just put him under her sheets and enter the bed beside him, "You don't need that sheets, you have mines and me this night."

Hunger smiled and raised an eyebrow, "are you sure is not because it smells like a pony and you are territorial to your potential m-"

Before he could finish, Gilda use her most effective tactic to shut him up, slamming his face in her big chest fluff, "Shut up, that is not true."

Hunger just couldn't help himself and started to laugh, and when he felt how she unconsciously started to rub herself into him he laugh harder. But since he was muffled and Gilda didn't look like wanted to hear his comments, for now, he just decided to take a quick nap... he suddenly felt something get up the bed.

"What?" he felt how Gilda's head stood up for a second to see something, judging from the Hunger, he could guess it was Lynn, "The cat?... whatever, I don't have the energy to deal with this."

And so she put herself in a position to sleep again, which meant she had her face buried in the top of his head, sniffing his odor, she didn't care that he smell a little how Fluttershy smelled thanks to the fact that he was inside of one of her sheets, since she knew very well that the creature under her claws was not even a pony.

She didn't care how hurt he was anymore, even if she felt how his back legs were unnaturally cold, or how when she pass over her claws on his back she could find probably fractures... she didn't care how one of his horns was missing.

Why?

Because now he was engulfed by her because he was now safe and in 'home'... with her.

Later she fell asleep with a smile on her face, Hunger could feel how her breath got even and her hold relax a little.

He felt bad about how much safer he felt now, compared to when he slept with Fluttershy, now his body was totally relaxed and he didn't mind the pain at all.

He kinda regrets the fact that he said he wouldn't eat her out, but he didn't want to end more hurt by accident, and by experience, he knew that Gilda got rough when his tongue was on the game, the last thing he needed was for her to brake his already delicate neck.

when he was letting his mind slip into slumber, he suddenly felt a paw on his back... a paw, not a claw.

He felt a soft "please." and so he wired some love into her, she let out a sigh of satisfaction as she pass out.

'I have to actually have a conversation with her... maybe I can tell Gilda I can bathe myself? then she comes with me and I use the runes to mute us... yea, that probably should work... or use Alden'

Then Hunger suddenly felt a ping, telling him that someone was dreaming with his image in mind... for him was always weird that he could feel even when someone was "dreaming" of him, but he didn't feel it when someone was "thinking" of him.

maybe because of how accurate is his form in the dream? but that didn't matter, who was having a dream with him? he concentrated really hard and feeling the general direction he felt it was coming from Fluttershy cottage... and concentrating hard enough he was able to feel the general demeanor of his image... it was friendly, she was probably dreaming of his possible visit.

He smiled, he could try to enter the dream, but he prefer to let her have her privacy, as much fun as it would be, he still needed to speak with Luna.

And without further delay, he fell asleep.

Again the nightmares claim him, it was one of the freshest traumas that he had, maybe thanks to the fact of how Panther told him about the bowl of acid...

His mind was more clear, he was suffering but he knew that this probably was not real... probably.

So he tried to disperse it, but of course, he failed, because his 'brain' only responded to him with he was full of dread that someone would see one of his nightmares.

He really hated sleeping when his mind was already rested...

When he was about to force himself to awake, he felt someone peeking into his dream, Hunger mentally scream and by pure instinct, he manage to grab the dream and destroy it.

When he was in the void again and he was starting to lose his head, he looked up to see the moon... then luna descend from it.

"Hunger... what was that pool full of greenish stuff?"

She was expecting Hunger to be scared or nervous about the comment, but he looked angry, when she was about to ask if something was wrong, she winced when she heard the hatred in his voice, "You promise me that you wouldn't enter my nightmares."

She flinched, but manage to recuperate some of her composure, nevertheless, it was obvious that she was nervous, "We told you that we wouldn't enter if you answered our question..."

Hunger snarled, "And I DID ANSWER THEM, that is not an excuse!" Luna looked ashamed, she started to bite her lip trying to find an excuse, "if you want to enter you knock first or purge the nightmare before entering!"

Luna furrowed her eyebrow, her shame becoming in rage, "is that how thou thanks us?! we are the princess of the night! we can enter in the dreams of our subjects if we deem it necessary!"

Hunger didn't even flinch, he even looked pissed, "And you don't accept the blame?!" Luna was taken aback, and when she was about to fire back, Hunger continued, "I trusted you! I wanted to believe that you would respect my boundaries if I asked you to!" Tears started to roll from his eyes, his breath quickening until the point that he was hyperventilating, so be it in the dream world or in real life.

'Did I commit a mistake, is she like the other ponys? IS SHE LIKE HER SISTER? she broke her word!'

It was a sore spot that someone would betray him, even with how small it was.

Luna noticed how the dreamworld was starting to fall apart, and after he explained why he was so hurt, she stopped being defensive instantly, her voice becoming softer, "Hunger please, I'm sorry, let me explain."

He wanted to tell her to 'fuck off', to force his mind and body to wake up and stay all night awake, to take the easy path and enjoy being in Gildas claws for the rest of the night, to take the secure one and take measures so Luna may never enter his dreams again.

How he couldn't? after all, he expected her to actually keep her word, he thought that they were like kindred souls, the two of them seal away because of that person's whim, 'But she is a pony too! SHE IS A PONY TOO!' She already broke her word so early, how he could believe her now? he was fine to give her some access to his mind because he believed that if he ask her to stop she would truly stop.

'Fucking ponys!' 'I should have known better!' 'Layer!'

He noticed how in his panic Luna grabbed his head and make her look at him, her look full of worry, "Please Hunger, just listen to me, I just wanted to help!"

He felt how some pieces of himself scream in the background 'LIES' 'DON'T BELIVE HER' 'Of course, she only meant "well"'

She looked like she wanted to cry, "Please listen, I normally visit the dream of my ponys so I may be a spiritual guide for them! And you asked me to help you to not have nightmares! I just wanted to see if I could solve your problems!"

His fury wavered for a moment, it was true, he remember that he asked her that, and he didn't specify how... but he never told her that she could enter his nightmares.

He pushed her, getting her hoofs out of him, Luna panicked for a moment, Thinking that maybe he still was not back to his senses, but then she noticed how his breathing was going back to normal, "Yes, but I never asked you to enter my dreams so you may become my bloody therapist..." Luna sighed in relief once she hear how his voice had gone a little back to normal, Hunger then let out a long breath that he didn't even know he was holding, "I guess I gotta be grateful that you enter into one of the less private ones..."

Luna winced from the inside. knowing fully well that probably one of the more private ones was the one of last night, but maintaining her face neutral, she knew that Hunger wouldn't like the fact that she violated his privacy not only once, but twice, "Yes, I'm sorry, from now on I will make sure to let my presence know so you may disperse the dream, in the worse case I will disperse them myself."

"..."

Luna cleared her throat, hoping to change the subject, "so, did your squad arrived?"

Hunger nodded, "yes they did, I have them working now, when my body is in better condition I will only sleep once every 3 days, maybe more, depending on how much of my power I got back."

Luna grimaced once she hear how much he would sleep, "I really should send you a magic candle too..."

Hunger ponders this for a moment, "right since you did send me my payment by magical means... I should able to send letters too if I manage to make my core again... but I think I have another idea for instant communication, one that should be effective in case I'm in a remote place."

Luna twists her head, "Really? after all, magic candles of dragon fire are quite expensive and hard to get to... the dragons apparently only recently started to export their magical products." Luna ponders this for a moment, "Hunger... when did they start to have magic? I tried to ask tia, but she told me she didn't know."

Hunger started to sweat, "Why, the dragon didn't tell you how they got it?"

Thankfully, she was too deep in thought to notice how nervous Hunger was, Luna, nodded, "Before my exile, they didn't have 'that' kind of magic, is true that they had their dragon fire, which could have different properties, but now they have practically the same magic that unicorns have." She puts a hoof over her mouth, "but they have been very secretive of their methods, until the point that Tia is starting to fear that they are stealing the magic of unicorns..."

In a moment, Hunger's nervousness becomes immediately disgusted, "Luna, not because your kind committed war crimes means that other species will commit the same war crimes on you."

Luna flinched at the sudden jab, "Yes, we are aware that comparing them to the earth ponys of old..." then she suddenly noticed the implication, "Wait, you sounded a little too sure about what you said... did you know how they did it?"

Hunger huffed, fully knowing that he indeed spoke too much, "I know that probably the reason why they don't tell you how did they do it, is because they aren't fully sure themself or they don't know how to explain it..."

Luna narrow her eyes, "You didn't respond to my direct question..."

Hunger mutter under his breath 'Of course her mind is so sharp.' Then he cleared his throat, "Yes, I Know how they did it." Luna's eyes open wide, and before she could ask, Hunger continued, "And for the security of everyone, I will keep the secret."

Luna narrowed her eyes, "why?"

Hunger narrows his, "Because I'm not sure if you will tell your sister."

She looked like she wanted to deny it, but then close her mouth, then spoke, "I will tell her only if they do it by dangerous means."

Hunger keeps his stern expression, "Dangerous for pony kind if I had to guess?" Luna didn't respond, she only bites her lip, then nodded, Hunger just sighed, and move one of his forehooves dismissively "Technically, if they don't try to awaken magic power on a pony, the method is not dangerous for pony kind, or any pony get hurt during the process."

Luna sighed in relief, "well, now I can say to Tia that she does not have to worry."

Hunger rolls his eyes, "No, you can't."

Luna blinked, clearly confused, "Excuse me?"

Hunger shrugs, "If you tell her that I said that, she is probably gonna think the worst possible outcome."

Luna blinked, her face contorted to one of understanding, "I... You are probably right, I will have to find another believable source if I wish to say something to her..."

Hunger shook his head, "Whatever, the point is I will send a mail envelope that should work like some kind of dragon fire, if it works right, once you closed it, whatever is inside will appear in another mail envelope just like the one you used."

Luna blinked, "Well, I guess that works too, I will pay attention to the mail then."

Hunger nodded, "Yes, I will send it by the name 'Fast mail'"

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Hunger roll his eyes, "Because if Celestia were to find it, she probably gonna confiscated it because it was 'suspicious mail', since she hates me."

Luna looked like she wanted to defend her sister, but then close her mouth, she sighed, "yes, I can guess you are right."

Hunger shook his head and cleared his throat, "also Luna, Is there a way to hire a griffin that I meet? She will help me while I can't walk on my own and she also aid me in caring for the injured animals I have, tomorrow she also is gonna help me in training the bat ponys."

Luna raised an eyebrow, "and you can vouch for this griffon?"

Hunger nodded, "yes, she has been caring for me every time I been badly hurt... And also she is the one that obligated me to practically sleep every time I have a chance when I'm hurt."

Luna chuckled at that, "Well, I believe that is really what you need... Shouldn't you be able to hire new guards too?"

Hunger just shrugged, "Is not like the castle sent me a budget to actually hire help."

Luna just sighed in defeat, "Of course, they didn't, not only they send you to a base understaffed, but they also don't give you the means to hire more ponys..."

Hunger put a hoof under his chin, "Yes, I will probably have to start to actually do lucrative side jobs so I can get all the stuff I need to keep the town safe."

Luna just raised an eyebrow, "You will not act like a mercenary, right?"

Hunger shook his head, "Nah, probably gonna write some books with my knowledge, or maybe gonna heal sickness or problems to rich people in exchange for bits."

Luna looked a little conflicted about this, then nodded, "A, yes, we were made aware that you heal your squad well enough so they may reach the professionals without permanent damage, that and you have made us aware how good are you at healing your body by unconventional means... You should be aware that in some practice of medicine you need a diploma, if not, it may be illegal."

Hunger moles his cheek, trying to remember all the laws that he saw before, then he nodded, "There are some 'healing' procedures that are not illegal since they are not stipulated as even possible, so yea, I know some things that I could legally use my medical expertise without getting in trouble."

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Such as?"

Hunger snorted, "If you put me in the spot, I can't think of any... The only important thing you have to know is that I will not 'break' the law or hurt directly any ponys."

Luna looked curious, but then shook her head, "I shall trust in your judgment, but what do you mean by 'directly'?"

Hunger shrugs, "Is not like I can control any of my clients..." luna raises an eyebrow, and Hunger rolls his eyes, "for example, if I were to save the life of someone that accidentally the day later would hurt someone, it was my fault? probably not, but I indirectly cause harm to another."

Now Luna was the one to roll her eyes, "please, that hardly makes you any guilty of the actions of another, I can believe If you ask or insinuate for some pony to hurt another, but just because you save some pony does not mean that you are guilty of their free thinking."

Hunger bites the inside of his cheek, then sighed, "I think I will wake up now."

Luna looked perplexed, "W-why? Don't you want to talk?"

Luna noticed how his mood had gotten even sourer at that last part, "I... Really bad memories are coming to mind, and..." 'Fuck, I can't say to her that I want to be held...' "And also would like to check in my body."

Luna manages to notice the doubt in the last statement, "Hunger, Why...?" She took a deep sigh, "I understand, But may you stay for a little bit longer? I have to leave to guard the dream realm again shortly anyways."

Hunger nodded, "yes I can do that"

Luna smiled.

After some time, Hunger woke up, his mind already in the best-rested condition even if he only sleep three hours.

And even if his face was fully smothered into Gilda's chest fluff, he could see, the only discomfort that he felt was the need to close his eyes that his brain was saying to him, and of course, he decided to turn off that need.

Here he could feel her heartbeat, her breathing, and her embrace, his fur shifting any time she move.

'I'm really starving for physical attention, huh?'

He knew it very well, after all, humans were hard-wired to be social creatures, and even if he was now in the body of a ram and have 80% the soul of a demon, his 'mind' still was human.

And his human mind liked the company that he so badly needed.

After a while, he entered a trance, his mind totally blank while he enjoyed the now, In his deep meditative state he felt an interference far away, if he was not mistaken, the location was close to one of the biggest mountains around the zone...

He knew this signature, this hunger for gems, this greed for everything shiny, and the need to knead it and not use it...

'Why in the fuck is there a dragon so close to the pony lands?' He took a deep breath and accidentally took a big wif of Gilda's fragrance, even when she was covered in sweat and dirt from probably when she was trying to find him, her smell was pleasant, and the small tinge of ozone smell was welcome, it kinda makes him want to hug her, but he didn't want to wake her up.

When he was more relaxed, he let his imagination try to aid him in the task of knowing why was the dragon there.

Did they find him? probably not, if that were true, the dragon should be knocking on the front door, not going into the mountain.

treasure? doubtful, why there will be treasure at the top of a mountain? If so, he would have felt it if there was enough to call the presence of the dragon.

New lair? maybe, but why not better just make one in the dragon lands? the last time he was there, there were a lot of lands to reside in... well, it was not strange for them to find a home outside of the dragon lands, but normally they would be in pretty well-hidden zones or not very accessible to the common people.

'...Maybe?' he snorted, the idea would be very strange, is true that the dragon had positive ties with ponys, but that doesn't mean there weren't criminals, Hunger knew this very well...

After all, he knew very well how low some of them could fall, to the point that it kinda remember him of humanity... except that these 'humans' had magic at their disposal.

'...huh?'

Thanks to using the big presence of the dragon as a landmark, he manages to notice the presence of gold...

'So... a new lair?'

But then something strange happened... The dragon just flew away.

'Huuuuuu...' He just remained still for a moment, he even stopped breathing, 'Did... did he just leave the gold unprotected?'

...

...

'How low have I fallen?'

Hunger proceeds to remember his position.

Being a glorified slave with incredibly low resources, with a body broken, and without his book full of artifacts.

...

'pretty low I guess, Maybe I should visit him and give him some food...'

Then he remembers something important... how big the appetite of the 'dragon lord' was.

'Maybe... I don't have to steal a lot of money, just enough to make a feast and then sell it to him... I still have a lot of extra meat left, so just maybe...'

Well, 'selling' his services is a lot better than just taking a lot of money without giving something back.

He could only hope that the dragon had a lot of money.

anyways, first, he needed the money.

Using his new link to Alden, he spoke to his mind, 'Hey, are you awake?'

He felt surprised, then he heard the voice of his new familiar, 'Y-Yes, for some reason I can't fall asleep, Is like the time I drank from that bitter drink that Gilda usually drinks'

Hunger thought for a moment, he was thankful that the had enough control over his mind to not send all the things that he was thinking, after some seconds more he spoke, 'Yea, that is probably your body being invigorated thanks to the all extra magic it got and also to my powers taking effect in you, maybe you are subconsciously affecting your body so you may be awake as long like me.'

Alden remain silent, he felt conflicted, Hunger felt passing thoughts that probably were not meant for him, 'That does mean that I will be awake alone all night unless there are night creatures here? that sounds boring... but I guess is not that bad.'

Hunger gave him a mental scoff, 'I'm really that boring? Or do you forget that I also do not sleep every night?'

Alden felt surprised with a tinge of sheepishness, 'Eee, sorry... Is there a way not to send you all things I'm thinking of?'

Hunger chuckled, "yes, you only have to think that you don't want to send me what you are thinking, is kinda hard to get used to it, but later you would do as casual like breathing'

Alden felt relieved, 'thanks, Also do you feel like speaking? is kinda boring to see all animals sleeping alone.'

'That depends, do you feel like doing a midnight fly?'

Silence, later he felt curiosity and intrigued, 'Go on...'

Hunger smiled, 'Well, you see...'

After explaining the situation, Alden felt fear, 'So you want me to fly to a dragon lair and... eat some gold?'

Hunger chuckles, 'Yes, as much as it is weird to hear someone else say that, I can secure you that you will be totally fine, after all, your body got enchanted with my aspect, maybe your pocket dimension stomach is not as big as mine, but you should still be able to hold quite a bit before you start feeling the weight.'

Alden felt very confused, '...Really?'

Hunger just mentally scoffed, 'Yes, you should be able to feel it.' there was silence for a moment, Hunger felt that Alden was about to try something, so he hastily added, 'Also while you eat the thing you are eating, imagine that is not touching any stomachal acid and your throat is wider than the object, or things may get messy.', Hunger could practically felt that Alden gag into something, he gave a mental groan, 'You know what? I'm going in.'

Concentrating on the bond that he had with the raven, he looked through his eyes, when he saw, he notice how Elden was eating a tongue depressor in the infirmary, Hunger mentally blinked and decided to unite more of his senses to Alden, he immediately felt how he was choking a little on it, he was clearing panicking, 'H-help!'.

Containing his own gag reflexes, he proceeded to check how he was using his powers, when he noticed that they were a little wrong, he was still visualizing a stretch passage where the tongue depressor was passing. he forces his will into him and makes it wider, and works very much as a serpent throat would work.

in an instant, the tongue suppressor is swallowed whole, then Alden coughs, and spoke loudly, "no way... I actually did it!" Alden gets hit by something, when he looks in the direction where he got hit, he looks how one of the animals curses at him, "Ho... sorry, didn't mean to wake you up." without saying other words, he leaves the room, after making sure that he is not close to any sleeping place, he jumps in joy, "Yes! I actually did it! and I don't feel it in my stomach!"

Hunger chuckles in his head, "You are pretty happy for someone who was choking not long ago."

Hunger noticed a sudden heat in his cheeks... no, in the cheeks of Alden, which confirmed the fact that he can blush too, it was hard for Hunger to notice since he had black feathers, "Wait... I didn't say that inside my head!"

Hunger laughs in his head, 'Well, yes, I have most of my senses in you now, so I can feel most of the things you can, that includes your own voice'

Alden felt nervous and a little bit excited, "Woah, that is... a little creepy, but I don't mind... But try to ask first please."

Hunger smiles, 'Sorry, it was kinda an emergency, I didn't want you to die in the first test of my powers that you had.'

Alden blushed harder, "Yes, I had that in mind... so do I really have to go there?"

'Yes, is kinda emergency, don't worry, I will be on high alert so you may not be caught with your... wing in the cookie jar.'

The anxiety in Alden dropped a little, "Well, that's very reassuring, It would be more if you were not in so much of a bad state..."

Alden felt a snort in his head, it was still a bit disconcerting how he could do that, having in mind that he literally was in his head, 'Ho come on, you aren't a normal crow anymore, you should be as hard to kill like me.'

"Really?"

'Yes, being the servant of a sane demon is pretty neat... If you are an "animal" because if you are "more" than that, it gets a little too intrusive'

Alden proceeded to fly to the front door, "like how?"

'For example, if I didn't word it well and the person were to do something that he felt was treason to me, it would physically harm them until they stopped, That... and they would be passively brainwashed into being totally loyal to me, in some cases into insanity'

Alden gulped, "That... won't happen to me, right?"

Hunger softly chuckle, 'Nah, it's a lot less restrictive in "animals" the only thing that it would have done, is that you saw my orders as absolute, and thanks to how I worded it and how it meant to me, it should work only if I know that "you" are ok with that order,'

Alden sighed in relief, "Thanks."

'No worries, is the minimum I could do.'

After some seconds more, Alden arrives at the door, "So... how do I open this?"

'Don't worry, I add all of the people of the base to the "magic" signature, so you should be fine, even more, now that you also have a "piece" of my magic, you should be able to open it without trouble'

When Alden heard the word magic, he slap his face with his wing and proceeded to fly and try to use magic, he forgot to flap his wings for a moment when he pointed with them a the doorknob, but before he fall to the ground, the door opens and he flyes again, "woah, before I couldn't even open it! that is pretty neat"

'Indeed it is

Before Hunger started to scream in desperation because of how high they were flying, he told Alden where to go.

"Woah, Now That I remember, I can see a lot better now"

Hunger chuckles, it was strange to hear the sound of the winds passing by, but it was better than confessing to Alden that he feared heights, 'Probably thanks to my sensitive eyes.'

They remain silent for a moment, "Sow why I'm doing this?"

'Because you believe in my judgment?'

Alden chuckles, "not that, I mean why do you want me to do this"

Hunger accidentally snorted in real life, which causes Gilda to stir for a moment, when she stopped, he spoke in his head, 'I need the money, like, I really really need it.'

"shouldn't the guard give you funds?"

Hunger chuckles mentally, 'They should, but also I need it for some personal projects that I doubt Celestia or Luna would fund'

Alden felt curious, "why not?"

Hunger thoughts for a moment, then speak in his head, 'Because it is not exactly "family-friendly" and I'm tired of being a quadruped'

"huh?"

'I show you later, it shouldn't take more than a week to make a prototype.'

Alden felt confused and a little fearful, "Well, I don't mind being kept in the dark, but is not really reassuring the way you say it."

Hunger chuckles, 'If it makes you feel better, the only one that will be suffering is gonna be me.'

For some reason, Hunger felt how Elden feels an incredible quantity of preoccupation and sadness, "Hunger..."

Hunger felt confused, 'Yes?'

The tone of voice of the raven was neutral, "that only makes me feel worse."

'...'

"..."

Hunger clear his throat, 'Sorry, I will keep that in mind'

Alden felt flabergaster, "That is not...! That really is not the point, if you are suffering, please for the bare minimum don't do it alone, you have me now, right?"

Hunger sighed, he didn't know how to say this, every time he tried telling someone about his "work", it always ended badly, he couldn't blame them, after all, if someone that he care about said the same things that he was doing to "himself", then he probably would have the same reaction, 'Look, If I really need help and Is safe for other to aid me, then you will be the first to come to mind to ask for help, but I will tell you right now that I know what I'm doing, and 90% of the times I don't feel any type of pain anymore.'

Alden remain silent, then sighed, "Please, just try to be careful ok? I don't want to lose you..."

Hunger smiled, 'As I said, I know what I'm doing, the only way I will die will be if someone else kills me, so don't worry, now concentrate on flying, I don't want you to crash into something"

Alden snorted, "I will let you know that I also know what I am d- SQUAK"

Hunger blinked, and against his better judgment looked through his eyes, he barely manage to see how Alden just falls from a cloud house, leaving a raven hole in it, 'I... I will not comment on that.'

Alden manage to take flight again to start flying away, he let out an awkward chuckle, "Yes please..."

Hunger manages to hear the voice of Rainbow dash, "Who the buck just crash into my home!? I could hear you speak you know!"

Alden starts to fly away faster while Hunger starts to laugh in his head, "It is not funny!"

"AHA! I heard ya!" in a gust of wind, the pegasus was by his side, Alden again squawk in surprise while Hunger let an involuntary scream when he saw the floor.

For the sake of his sanity, he turned off the connection to Alden's eyes, in that moment he noticed that Gilda was stirring, she took off a little the head of her chest, and Hunger instinctively practically close his eyes to fake that he was sleeping, the beak of Gilda moved and she opens her eyes a little, he was a little rusty in reading beak movement, but he was pretty sure that she said: "mmmm? Dweeb? are you ok?"

Hunger kept the appearance of being asleep, which was incredibly hard having in mind that he heard the voice of the tomboyish pegasus by his side, "What? A crow?"

Alden scoffed and kept flying away while he tried to keep a straight face, 'I'm a Raven, Thank you very much.'

"weird, I could swear I heard someone speak... a well, I'm too tired to deal with this, and knowing that dumb Ram, he probably will know If I stay out too long."

Hunger contain his need to laugh, If she knew that he was there, she would lose her head, Thankfully, technically she was not in front of him, so he didn't need to persecute further charges.

... he probably would have to deal with this with the help of Luna or find a judge in ponyville by himself.

Gilda woke up when she felt a muffled scream and a flinch of the creature in her chest, before she could lose her shit because she was hugging someone, she notice who it was...

'Hmm? why did he scream?' she took his head out of her fluff and looked at his face, it was scrunched up and she noticed how he was trembling with fear, she softly spoke to see if he was awake, "are you, ok dweeb?"

When she didn't feel any further response, she guessed that he was asleep, which made her question why did he scream in the first place, 'Maybe a nightmare?' She blinked out the grogginess of her eyes... 'or it was too dark in my chest?'

She wanted to slap her face with her claw, 'Fuck... Buck, how in the buck I expect to have a chance with him If I'm this inconsiderate!'

She narrowed her eyes trying to think of a way to not obscure his vision.

'I could do like the other time and sleep in his chest...'

Gilda blushed at that though, her feathers standing up unconsciously, 'nope, He will never let me live it down if he found me like that again... probably'

...

...

She thought really hard, since she hated the option to just stop hugging him... she could make him sleep looking up and put his side against him... but that didn't feel right, so she keep thinking.

Then finally she remember something very important, she was bigger than him.

She gave a devilish smile and turn him around, effectively spooning him...

It felt too right, like, he was meant to be there since the beginning...

His mate under her, being fully protected so no bitch could come and take him from her...

She fell to sleep in an instant, enjoying the smell of his maybe future mate.

Hunger would lie if he said that he hated this.

actually, he would lie if he said that he only "liked" this.

Having the breath of Gilda over his head, feeling how her soft chest moved in his back, feeling wrapped up in an almost possessive grip... ok, maybe he didn't like the last part, but thankfully the warmth and security that it granted it made up for it.

It was almost comical how much of a good experience he had with the griffon race, so much that he knew that the Griffons of old would never betray him, maybe it change with time, but his mind still was full of memories of every time they kept they word and fight with honor... He really hoped that they kept this attitude because if not, he will have soon a bad experience with a slit-up throat.

Hunger felt a ping of someone dreaming about him... that was right by his side.

Before he could look into the dreams of Gilda, he heard the voice of Alden, 'Hunger, are you there?'

Hunger woke up from his trance, 'Yes, I'm now.'

'Sorry, It's just that you didn't answer when I spoke aloud...'

Hunger mentally chuckles, 'Sorry about that, something was happening at my end.'

Alden felt amused, 'Really? I guess is nice knowing I'm not the only one having a bad time...'

Hunger just rolls his eyes, 'I wouldn't call it bad, but whatever floats your boat.'

After a while, Alden reach the top of the mountain easily thanks to his wings, after a short moment he saw the cave, and after Hunger confirm that the dragon was not there and after arriving to the conclusion to only speak in their heads just in case that the dragon was to sneak up on the Alden enters to the cave while Hunger connected back to his senses.

There was a decent hoard of gold, but since the dragon was not there, Hunger guessed that it was not complete, 'Sooo, how much do I need to pick up?'

Hunger thought for a moment, then spoke in his head, 'Until you start to feel the weight.'

Alden felt confused, 'Hunger, I may like shiny things as much as the next Raven, but that would be too much? I mean, I saw you swallow before entires bags full of groceries and walk away like it was nothing.'

Hunger snorted, 'yeah, but you have second-hand powers and you are a lot smaller, so you should feel the weight a lot faster than me.'

Alden felt a little disillusioned, 'Well, that is a bummer.'

Hunger mentally scoffed, sounding a little too defensive, 'Sorry for being so disconnected and seal to my aspect that I only had 13% to spare' Alden felt very guilty all of the sudden, but before he could speak, Hunger continued, 'But don't worry, the more used you get to the power, the stronger they will get-'

Alden quickly but in, 'I didn't mean it like that! I'm totally fine with the power that I got, sorry for sounding disrespectful!'

Hunger sighed, 'Sorry, It is just annoying to not be able to access my powers, so yea, don't worry, just eat as many gold coins as you can and get out of there.'

Alden cleared his throat, 'Sure.' and then landed in the pile of gold, 'So do I just start eating them whole?'

'Yes, and remember to visualize that it is falling to an empty stomach without acid or digestive system, I will aid you in the image and controlling your powers, but if you help it would be nice. '

Alden proceeded to pick up a coin, then try to swallow it only to spit it out, 'Ewww, it tasted like metal!'

Hunger chuckles, 'Yes, but believe me, it acquires taste the more you eat it.'

'What?'

'Just keep eating and you will see.'

Alden blinked, and against his better judgment, he proceeded to keep eating the gold, practically fighting his need to puke, but after eating 12 of them and thinking that maybe it was time that they started to taste better... for some reason indeed started to taste different, 'w-what is this taste?'

'I don't know, it really depends on my mood and how much I eat of it... It really not a hard science, the dragon that made me notice this said it tasted like fries or cheese, sometimes like corn... or to be precise corn flakes.'

Alden kept swallowing them whole, 'wow, that is so weird, why does this happen?'

'Well at the beginning I couldn't taste anything in most not eatable stuff... And by that, I mean things that I didn't think someone or something might eat, but all changed when I meet my first dragon, it was kinda crazy that they show me how they could eat most minerals, and for them, it tasted like actual food, geez, it may say that it was kinda fun to get my first taste of gems and gold when I had this new look in things.'

'That sounds like something fun to experience... and also brings more questions than answers.'

Hunger chuckled, 'Well, to be fair, I'm the aspect of "eating", so technically I make the rules, and a rule that says that "If you can eat it, it tastes like actual food" make a lot of sense to me... having in mind that some hay burgers taste just like meat burgers, it only depends if you can actually eat them.'

Alden was about to comment on that, when he felt finally the taste made sense... it tasted like french fries, 'I... I guess it makes sense.'

'Yup, now keep eating, I can feel how in some minutes you will reach your limit, so it shouldn't take too long.'

After a while, Alden started to feel how his stomach start to weigh more than normal, 'I'm done?'

'Yes, I think so anyway... but you should probably hide, The dragon is pretty close.'

"W-what!?" Alden covers his mouth and flies quickly behind a pile of gold, 'Why didn't you tell me before!?'

'Well, I just notice his presence, and you could probably have gotten away by flying really quick, but I really prefer not to put you at unnecessary risks to-'

'Says the guy which told me to go to a dragon cave to steal gold!?'

Hunger mentally scoffed, 'First, I didn't tell you to go, I ask you, which is very different, second, you should be fine if he founds you Just tell him that you are a demon and he should leave you alone... If he doesn't ask too many questions

Alden's face winged, 'That is not very reassuring at all.'

'Ho just stay quiet you big baby and have confidence in your friend.'

Alden sighed, 'fine, I really hope you know what are you doing.'

After some moments more, a big red dragon enters the cave with a big pile of gold under his claws, when it lands he proceeds to drop his entire load into the already big pile of gold, Alden could swear that in the back of his head he heard Hunger say 'No fuking way...'

But for some reason, the dragon narrows his eyes and starts to look at his pile of gold and treasure from all angles, then he proceeds to scratch his head, "I could swear that it should be bigger... maybe some gold fall when I came here? Ho well..."

A sudden scream jolts Alden from his hidden spot, 'YOOOOOOOOO'

The dragon lets out a snarl and looks in the direction of the sound, "Who the fuck is there!?'

'Hunger, what the fuck!?' Alden covers his own mouth, even when he cursed mentally he still thinks it is bad.

'Alden, you have to give me control over your body, please! I beg you!'

Alden started to panic and tried to hide from the inquisitive glare of the dragon, 'W-what? why!'

'No time to explain, just trust me in this, ok?

"I said who is there!? Don't make me smoke you out!"

Alden swallowed, hard, it was true that he believes in Hunger, but could he trust him in this?... He let out a heavy sigh and ask, 'And how do I do that?'

Hunger smiled, 'Just don't resist.' Alden didn't know what he meant until he felt a foreign and also familiar presence entering him, he was about to tense up when the words of Hunger got in the front of his mind... and so he let himself be taken to copilot seat.

When Hunger takes control, he almost falls, if it were not for his instincts of Alden, he would be a messy pile of limbs right now, but he didn't have time for practicing how to perfectly move, so using his magic, he made Alden float while he loudly spoke, "No fuking way! Ignacio!? is that you!?

'HUNGER, PLEASE DON'T CURSE USING MY BEAK'

'SORRY! If I don't do it he will probably not remember me.'

The dragon looked like it was ready to breathe fire, but then it stopped, "Igna-...? My fuking name is IGNEOUS you bloody r..." then he suddenly froze, Alden felt the need to take control again and fly away, but Hunger hold steady while he floats looking a the dragon, "wait, there just only one retard that called me by that name." suddenly the dragon put at eye-level with the raven, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, Ignacio is a lot easy to say, so tough luck, you fat lizard."

Igneous eyes open wide, "You fuking asshole, there is no way..." When he got closer, he could feel his smell, "it is you! Anonymous!? What in the hell happened to you!? why are you a raven? why are you so small!?"

Hunger raised an eyebrow, "It is Hunger, and yes, it is me."

The dragon looked confused and shook his head, not caring into knowing what he meant.

'Hunger... why do you know this dragon?'

He ignore him for the time being, and since Hunger noticed how he was starting to get short in magic, he landed in the nose of Igneous, "But the point is, Man, it is a long fuking history..."

'Hunger...'

'Look, if I mentally blur out any cursed word that we say from now on will it will better?'

'Actually yes, please do, If you can make it permanent I will thank you a lot.'

'Sure...'

Igneous just snorted and shook his head, "We thought that you were dead! the dragon lord literally has a reward for the one that manages to track you down!" Igneous proceeded to rest in his pile of gold, "why would you disappear like that?!"

Hunger scoffed, "believe me, it was not because I wanted to, I can't speak details, but I was living under a fuking pool all these years."

Igneous just snorted a cloud of smoked which made the body of Alden cough, "What, did you lose the born of princess amber because you took the longest lava bath of history?"

Even if he was coughing a lot, Hunger managed to chuckle, "Ho geez, I would have loved it if it was lava because believe me, the equivalent was much MUCH worse."

Igneous raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure it is not worse to call upon the dragon lord's wrath? I mean, he was quite insistent that he wanted YOU to make the banquet... or to be present at all."

Hunger groans, "Of course he wanted that, As much I would like the pay, It would be practically impossible for me to cook for so many big dragons..."" Hunger then sighed, "I could swear that I was pretty adamant that I wouldn't come for the hatch of his daughter, I mean, I know that it was practically thanks to me that she was born, but he kept insisting that I gave her a chance so I may become her mate."

Igneous rolled his eyes, "You are still with the age difference thing?"

"Don't you roll your **** eyes at me! I tell you it would be ***** weird to meet her when she just is a hatchling and later she would have a shoot to be my special one!"

Igneous just narrow his eyes, "And I'm sure I kept telling you that it doesn't work like that for us dragon..."

Hunger pointed Alden's wing accusingly to Igneous, "Of course it ***** doesn't! your race lives for over 4000 years! even more! that and your born rate was pretty bad at that time because only 'adults' can have children and it's hard for insemination to occur! if you were to play by my standards you would probably be close to being extinct now!"

Igneous raised an eyebrow, "If you understand it, then why are you so against the idea?"

Hunger groans in desperation, "because just no, Ok!? my original species didn't have to deal with the dilemma of living for more than 100 years, the simple idea of how relations would morally work for species that live so long can't work in my monkey brain! so please leave it at that."

Igneous gave him a deadpan and looked, "First of all, you know that we don't fuck hatchlings, right? they have to be over one or two centuries old if they want to date an older dragon, second, You know that I will have to tell him that you are alive, right?"

Hunger groans harder, "Please no, If he summons me to the dragon lands... unless I have to deal with demons and he asks Celestia, I can't go."

Igneous gave a defeated sigh, "Sorry, but he ordered all of us to go tell him the first chance we got that you are alive or dead and where you were, The only reason I can still be here is that that order is very old and I know he'd love to know where the hell you have been all this time."

Hunger groans even harder, "for the love of god... how mad is he now?"

Igneous just snorted, "now? I'm not sure, but after her daughter was born and he remember that necklace you gave him, he mellow out a lot... that was because we thought you were dead and also probably fatherhood, you told us that if the gem was broken was because you were no longer in the mortal realm, but you didn't tell us what did it mean if it lost its color."

Hunger remained silent for a while, then made an O with his beak, "Right, I guess it made sense that it would had lose its color having in mind in what state my powers were no long ago."

Igneous raised an eyebrow, "Really, what the fuck happened to you? why are you a raven and not a dragon? I think Amber will be very disappointed if she founds out that you look like this now"

Hunger rolls his eyes, "Don't worry, I'm in this body only temporally and I can change my form... wait, what do you mean she will be very disappointed?"

Igneous chuckles, "well, ever since she was able to think straight his father tells him the story of how she was able to be born and the fight that you two had... and let's say that she does not have the same problem that you have with the age difference."

Hunger scoffed, "Ho please, she must be very much in her 'adult' stage by now, right?"

Igneous gave him a toothy smile, "so that is the problem? You don't like a mate that is not able to lay your eggs?"

Hunger instinctively peaked at his head, which didn't do too much to the scaled lizard, "Is not that, you *******, I would be fine if I had met her when she was at a decent age, but if I Had to meet her before, I would probably foster more a niece to uncle relation, geez, I have seen how dragons hatchlings look like and changing to 'aawww, that is adorable' to 'A yes, I wish to have a romantic relationship with this and probably fuck in the future' would be ****** strange." The dragon raised an eyebrow, "And before you come with dragon logic, first, **** off, is not my fault that in my original species practically all were the same size and reached that size and shape at the same age, second, I already struggle for 100 years with the idea of dating a 'mortal' that was younger than me, geez, the only reason why I'm open to the idea of dating a dragon is because of how long they can live, I mean, If I were to date someone I will expect them to live with me until external means kill one of us... and species that are not naturally gifted with a long life-span usually end at the conclusion to not wanting to live more than 10 times their life-span."

Igneous just raised an eyebrow even more, "So you weren't joking when you told me you could theoretically make someone live forever."

Hunger chuckled, which turned into a sad smile, "Yes, and I know very well that literally shoving the pill of immortality to my love one is not very cool of me... but losing another loved one is not something I'm ready to handle."

Igneous chuckles, "then is a good thing that amber is a tough ***** ****, even if she is very small, her magic potential so high that even if she has not been awakened, the magic that flows through her is so high that makes her very resistant to everything! I mean, Her father usually slaps her around (Just like he did with you) and she just shrugs the hits like it is nothing!"

Hunger just raised an eyebrow, "I... I don't know how to feel by what you just said... they are not still with the thing of 'only size and strength matters' right?"

Igneous just rolls his eyes, "no, well, not after you wake up the magic powers of so many dragons... that and the 6 days of battles that you had with Torch."

Alden decided to speak up, '6 days of what?'

Hunger gets a faraway look, 'I tell you the story later.'

"The only good thing that gets out of that is that Torch is a lot more respectful with creatures smaller than him... and even then he probably is not good to your standards."

Hunger chuckles, "good to know that the energy that I was saving for Celestia didn't come to waste... Also, I have noticed that you have matured a lot too before You would have ignored me like I was just a fly... or your would try to take my shiny stuff."

Igneus just gave him a deadpan stare, "Hunger the last time I tried to be in your way, you throw me THROUGH a mountain... I must say that I was not any better than torch in that department, but after seeing something so small managing to do that feat of strength, it kinda gave me a new perspective."

Alden felt fablergaster 'Youd did what!?'

Hunger just snorted, 'Maybe later.' then he cleared his throat, "Well, to be fair you DID try to burn me down to a crisp... then you tried to stomp me, then you tried to hit me through a wall..."

Igneous just laugh at that, "Yes, I do still remember the small bipedal dragon/ram trying to have an audience with the dragon lord, only for me and another guard to be sent flying into oblivion..."

'Hunger, seriously, what?'

Hunger laughed, "well... you tried to really hurt me... And the other dragons weren't very nice hostesses, I swear that half of them wanted to eat me to become stronger and the other half just wanted to eat because of how different I was"

Igneous just rolls his eyes, "Well, the point is that now we can't really calculate how strong someone is by size alone... actually, I think the only reason why Prince's Amber wants to see you so much is so you may wake her safely since she is quite small for her age... also you know what happened to that seven dragons that tried to be awakened by other dragons."

Hunger just cover his face with a wing, "So they still don't figure out, huh?"

Igneous nodded, "yes, WE still don't figure it out, it is true that you leave books in case they wanted to try again, but later our magic becomes something that only close family could use, having in mind that the dragon lord prohibited us to try to awake anyone... not since the accident"

Hunger shudders, "Please don't remind me, I tried to forget it for decades..."

The dragon over 15 meters tall shudders in pure fear of what happened, "I still can remember the mist of blood..."

'What?'

"Shut up..."

"It was everywhere-"

'WHAT!?'

"PLEASE SHUT UP."

The dragon shook his head, which provoke To Hunger to almost fall from his snout, "Yes, sorry, somethings are better left unspoken... But back to the point, so you will be able to go back to your normal form in how long?"

Hunger thinks for a moment, "With enough materials and funds, less than a month."

Igneous looks at the pile of gold for a moment, "Do you..."

Hunger rolls his eyes, "yes, I will gladly take your money, but knowing that is your horde, I think I'm good..."

'But you are ok by taking his money without permission?'

'Yes... he would be cool with it anyways... probably, but I prefer not to temp fate.' "Sorry for being a cookie scout, but would you like to buy my enchanted food?"

Igneous started to salivate, "So you are not taking charity, he? sounds good to me, it has been too long since I actually had eaten something good... and eating your food once is not enough."

Hunger gave his best to do a fist bump with the wing of Alden, "nice, I really need the funds... it may take some time to get the stuff I need to actually cook food for someone of your size, but I should be able to do it. "

Then Igneous started to move around trying to find something in his hoard, "Well then, since I apparently will stay here for a while, I guessed I used the dragon fire to actually send a letter to Torch, I really hate when I started to ich because I don't obey him... or that my body starts to move on my own."

Hunger gulped, "How long it takes to fly from the dragon's lands to here?"

Igneous stopped for a second, "well, it really depends on your size, but for some dragon of my size, should take around a week if I take my time... and two if I dodge any pony settlements, why?"

While he responded Igneous started to rummage around again, Hunger sounded a little desperate now, "You don't think he would come personally, would you?"

Igneous stopped again, "You mean one of the biggest dragons that are still alive? A monarch in pony territory without any political reason?"

"Also one of the worse tempers that I have ever seen..."

Igneous blinked, then looked to one side, "Well, probably not, at the worse he probably send a Dragomancer not much taller than a pony, which should take a lot longer to come here... probably."

Hunger sighed, "Can you hold sending the letter until I sell you the food?"

Igneous just gave him a deadpan, "I just told you about hating the itching and my body moving on its own..."

Alden spoke, 'Tell me about it...'

'I'm about to finish.' Hunger clears his throat, "Can you like, resist it a little? I mean, supposedly the older you are the more resistant you are to the commands of the blood scepter, right?"

Igneous started to scratch his neck, "Well that is true, but that is normally because the dragon lord excludes us since for us moving around at his command is not really an option... But I do feel how is escalating very slowly compared to other times."

Hunger sounded hopeful, "Then how about you take a nap for now? that should probably be slower, even more, the speed, I mean, that is how it worked for someone that was unconscious the last time I check."

Igneous scratched his chin, "I guess that can work, for now, I still have to collect some of my hoard though, I don't want some dragon trying to take my stuff away while I'm gone..."

'Like us?'

'Shush' Hunger nodded, "Then is settled, now If you care I have to prepare the stuff."

Igneous nodded, "sounds good."

Hunger was about to give a command back to Alden, then stopped, "also, who else had gotten my foul mouth?"

'My ears will never be the same...'

Igneous smirked, "A lot of dragons actually, mostly the ones that heard you cursed all the time... and for my side, I got it thanks I wasted so much time with you."

Hunger put his wings under his chest, "aaawww, I care about you too... No homo of course."

Igneous rolled his eyes, "Shut up, I will let you know that 80% of the dragons would have puked at that."

Hunger chuckled, "You still don't drop the stuff of looking tough?"

"no, and probably we will not do it for a very long time."

Hunger proceeded to walk to the point of his snout, "Well, Thanks Ignacio, It was nice talking with you."

Hunger proceeded to give full command back to Alden, which shook his head at the sudden sensation of being back in control, before he could do anything the dragon jerked his nose to make him fly off, "FOR THE 1421 TIME, MY NAME IS IGNEOUS YOU ****** *******."

Alden felt Hunger laughing his ass off in his head while he flies away, "man... I'm really starting to worry about what I signed for..."

Author's Note

I finally muster my strength to check the chapter that I have in the oven, also I'm making a alternative time line were Hunger was not "seal", which I'm also cheeking.

sorry for the wait.