Chapter 1
Blood and Black Scales

Mornings in Ponyville, like any rural area, started early and seemed a little more than chaotic. It was the same all over. The Golden Oaks Library was chaotic, but it was organized chaos. Sweet Apple Acres was less than quite in the mornings. Even the crowded home of Fluttershy was loud and anarchic in the morning.

It was a struggle for her to rein in her many animal friends, but it was possible. On many days, like this one in particular, she was free to leave home when she was done taking care of her friends. Fluttershy skipped across the grassy fields outside of Ponyville, humming a cheerful tune. It was a relaxing start to her day to go out for a walk after taking care of her crowded household. She stopped every so often to smell the flowers and to admire a cloud or two, but they never stopped her for too long. …But, then she noticed something that could.

The fields that she explored were amazingly extensive. They stretched the gap between the Everfree Forest and Ponyville. There were plenty of sparse trees between the two and even fewer bushes. …But there was one bush in particular that garnered attention.

A very large bush seemed out of the ordinary. It was too large for the area and it seemed out of place with the thorns covering it. …And the blood seeping from under it.

Noting the odd sight, Fluttershy curiously approached. It wouldn’t do for her to pass up the opportunity to help an injured animal. …But, that didn’t include certain reptiles. With a squeak, she flinched away from the bush, getting her distance before its inhabitant could attack her! …But, when it didn’t she approached once more.

Inside the bush was a dragon! It was smaller than even Fluttershy and it looked odd as far as dragons went. Its arms and wings were one and the same and its tail was covered with sharp quills. It was also out cold and badly injured.

Fluttershy gawked at the little dragon for a moment before actually helping. She poked its tail, making sure it was still asleep and even the groan it gave made sure it was still alive! She braved the thorns of the bush and pulled him out, receiving only a few scratches on her forelegs. Again, she looked over the dragon’s body.

Upon further inspection, the dragon was found to be male! He was badly injured. A deep gash in his side marred his pure black scales. Another one to his left leg would definitely keep him from walking normally. But, the worst were the two in his right wing. There was a cut all the way up to his hand and another closer to his armpit that didn’t stretch as far. The two cuts would keep him from ever flying if they were left untreated.

Seeing how badly injured he was, Fluttershy pushed her fear down and helped him. Pulling him onto her back, she started back toward her home, hoping to get there before he bled out completely.

“So, you just found him there?” Twilight Sparkle asked, “No one else was with him or even anywhere around?”

“N-no, he was alone,” Fluttershy stated, letting Twilight clean the blood off of her coat. She couldn’t fathom why he’d be like that: injured, alone and thrown into a bramble bush. It didn’t make any sense!

“Well, whatever happened to him, it was bad.” Twilight looked up toward Fluttershy’s room, the same place they’d left the dragon after treating his wounds. It was amazing to see that he was still alive. Much longer and he’d have bled out completely! She dismissed the thought and went back to Fluttershy. “Do you mind keeping him for a while?”

“Not at all,” the kind pegasus cooed. She actually did want to see more of this little dragon. How lucky was she to see both a baby dragon and an adolescent in the same town?

“Thank you, Fluttershy,” the lavender unicorn chirped, heading toward the door. Maybe she could get some advice from her friends or the princess.

After a quick goodbye, Fluttershy absently trotted through her home, tending to the worried animals all around. They could smell blood and it had them as panicked as she was. Slowly, she made her way through the cottage and to the dragon’s quarters. Peaking in, she could see that he was still sound asleep as though nothing had happened. With any luck, she’d be able to talk to him when he woke up.

A slight sound—something that any pony could miss—awoke Fluttershy. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it woke her up all the same. Opening her eyes to the darkness of three am, she couldn’t see much of anything. …Aside from a pair of glowing green eyes catching the moonlight. She managed to suppress a squeak and to stay still under the scrutiny of the large green eyes in the dark. Either she was getting better at managing her fight of flight response, or she was scared stiff.

“I-I’m sorry!” a high pitched, but definitely male voice announced, “I just… Needed something to drink…”

Fluttershy, albeit clumsily, got to her hooves and trotted toward to the voice’s owner. “I didn’t know you were awake,” she stated. She squinted at the sudden light of a flame lighting a candle. From that light, she could see that it was just as she’d expected: the dragon had awoken.

He was shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm, trying to keep from making eye contact with the pegasus. He was nervous that was certain.

Looking him over, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice the tea cup hanging off of his tail’s largest quill as well. She quietly got a glass and water from a pitcher near her kitchen’s window. As soon as she turned back to him, she spotted the tea cup on the kitchen table.

“Thanks,” he chirped as he took the glass. With his blood loss, a glass of water was just as precious to him now as if he’d run a marathon.

She politely waited until he’d finished his water before asking her next question. “Um, i-if you don’t mind, I don’t know your name.”

“Hm?” He seemed to steady himself, if only a little bit. “My name’s Neliel Tsu Valshte. …It’s probably easier if you just call me Nel, though… What’s your name?” he asked, turning the subject back on the timid pegasus.

“I-I’m Fluttershy…” She trailed off slightly at the end, nervously averting her eyes. Spike was one of the only other dragons she’d spoken to so casually.

“Fluttershy,” he repeated, rolling the name off of his forked tongue. “Kinda makes my name sound like gibberish…” He cleared his throat. “Are you the one that helped me?”

“Yes, I am,” she chirped with a wide grin. “I didn’t think it was right to just leave you there.” She thought it would be a bad idea to tell him about the way he’d almost bled out without her help.

“Thanks for the help,” he purred, but then looked out the window at the pitch black sky. Simply from looking outside, he could tell the time of night. Three am was a distinctive time for him. “Huh… Wow, it’s pretty late…” He turned his glowing green eyes back to Fluttershy before averting them once more. “Uh, sorry for waking you up like that… I’m usually a lot more ninja than this.”

Fluttershy grinned at the comment. “You should get some sleep,” she stated, “You lost a lot of blood and you need your rest.”

“Aw!” he complained playfully, “Okay…” He passed by her, giving her a brotherly nudge. “But, it’s only because you’re nice about it.”

A smile crossed Fluttershy’s face. At least he had a good sense of humor.

For one of the first times ever, Fluttershy’s morning was blanketed by an odd sense of calm. As opposed to the intense chaos that enveloped the cottage normally, it was a pleasant change, but it was definitely something to think about.

Fluttershy awoke to the calming silence. It was nice of Angel to avoid waking her for once. Instead, she noticed something else that didn’t match up.

The black dragon, Nel, was curled up beside her on the couch! With his size, he quite comfortably fit between her legs almost as if he was waiting for her to hug him.

The pegasus shifted slightly, looking around the room. Whatever had happened, it hadn’t happened on its own.

The entire room was in quite tranquility. The small animals she kept were scurrying about on their own, making their own dealings. There were several piles of food all around waiting for them to retrieve and they seemed to be getting along the same as if Fluttershy was sitting over them! Whatever happened, it was different.

This was definitely strange, even for this house. Fluttershy could barely believe this! Before noon, it was usually total anarchy in her home! Now… Now everything was as calm as she wished it could be. She moved slightly, trying to get around the young dragon.

As soon as her hoof brushed over his onyx colored scales, he stirred. It was just a slight groan, nothing really to worry about. …Until he tried to roll over that is. Before Fluttershy could catch him, the dragon fell off the couch and onto his injured wing. “OW!!” He jumped up, taking pressure off of his arm. Even without the extra weight, he still had a throbbing pain in his wing.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy was immediately by his side. “Are you alright?” The sight of more blood didn’t exactly put her mind to rest.

He opened his wing as best he could, making sure not to put too much stress on his stitches. “Huh… It’s not the stitches…” He gently plucked a splinter from his wing. Most of his body was covered in protective scales, but his wings were not. The webbing was completely vulnerable, though.

She let out a short sigh, calming her nerves as much as possible. He wasn’t hurt that badly. It was only then that she noticed that the calm quiet of her home had turned into a terse silence.

The small animals all around had become very interested in the sudden yelp the wyvern let out. It was very obvious that they were worried about whatever had happened to him.

Nel was the first to react. “Sorry about the noise,” he meowed, “There’s nothing to worry about.”
With a little bit of hesitation, the many small animals wandered off, going back to their own business.

Amazing. It was nothing short of amazing! This little dragon had almost as perfect an understanding with animals as Fluttershy did! And here the timid pegasus thought that she was the only one who could do that.

Nel read the look on her face and responded immediately. “I really don’t know why I’m so good with animals,” he stated, “My brother and sister say it’s ‘cause I’m so nice.”

“They’re right about you,” she cooed, trotting off to the kitchen to make breakfast. Even if dragons were omnivores, she still wondered if he’d appreciate fresh fruit like her.

“Oh no!!”

Fluttershy nearly tripped with as abruptly as she stopped. Looking back, she found the black wyvern searching frantically for something. “I-is something wrong?”

“Before I passed out, I had a bag with me…” He looked under the couch and even went to go and check the room he awoke in the night before. “I really need that bag!” Darting back down to the living room, his next immediate thought was the bush. If the thorny bush was enough to turn away wayward souls, how long would it be until his bag was found?

“Oh! I-I can take you back to where I found you if it helps.” Odd. When she found him in that bush, she hadn’t seen a bag. …But, then again, she was distracted by the pool of blood around him.

“Thanks! There’s a lot of valuable stuff in there…” As they left the cottage, he just hoped that the valuable possessions he’d brought with him were still there.

It was normal for Rainbow Dash to lounge almost every day after her work with the weather patrol. Seeing as she and her fellow Pegasi controlled the weather, she felt that this gave just about all Pegasi the right to lounge whenever they weren’t working. She sat atop one of the many fluffy clouds she and her friends from the weather patrol took care of so very often, relaxing as she did all the time. The only thing that worried her was that her cloud was so low. That pretty much opened her up to an attack from Pinkie Pie. …But, today, it left her to question the odd voices on the ground.

“Ah!! I don’t see it!” one cried in distress.

“Um, m-maybe it fell somewhere else? O-or maybe an animal came and took it?” That voice was familiar. It was too quiet and gentle to be any pony else! It had to be Fluttershy!

Rainbow peeked over the edge of her cloud, looking down toward the ground. She wasn’t surprised to see her foal hood friend wandering around, but the sight of a new figure puzzled her. That was either a very large, very shiny tiger, or it was something else all together. “Fluttershy?” she mused and spread her wings to investigate.

The timid pegasus flew from bush to bush, searching each one for the thorn bush she’d found him in.

“Him,” as the case may have it, was the black wyvern, Nel. He’d completely tossed caution to the wind and was practically diving into each and every throne bush he could find. Unlike Fluttershy, his stronger-than-steel scales kept him from getting even the slightest of scratches. He jumped into another thorn bush, sniffing the soil and each leaf around him. “This is the one!” he announced, poking his head out to call to Fluttershy, “This was the bush I was in!”

“Oh, thank goodness!” She rushed over to the bush, looking in as Nel toiled in its branches. Whatever he was looking for must have been very important for him to simply dive into a bramble bush like that.

“Fluttershy!”

The timid pegasus was almost surprised to hear such a familiar voice. Turning to the source, she found her good friend Rainbow Dash flying toward them. “Oh, hello, Rainbow,” she chirped.

“Hey,” she landed in front of her friend and looked at the moving bush. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“Ow!!”

The two Pegasi turned curious looks to the bush, finding the young wyvern pealing a long vine of thorns from around one of his feline ears. “Huh? Who’re you?” Rainbow asked, looking the young dragon over.

The wyvern looked the rainbow pegasus up and down as well, but a grin quickly found its way to his face. “My name is Neliel Tsu Valshte,” he announced, “It’s nice to meet you. …Uh, you can just call me Nel… I know the whole thing’s kind of a mouthful…”

“Nice to meet ya, little guy,” Rainbow chimed, “I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria!”

He paused for a moment in his search. He swiftly jumped out of the bush, looking at the Pegasus’s every feature. “The same Rainbow Dash that did the Sonic Rainboom in Cloudsdale?” A large grin crossed his face when he saw her Cutie Mark. “Oh my gosh! I need you to sign my headphones!!” His grin melted off with that statement. “And that just gives me more incentive to find my bag…”

The two Pegasi couldn’t help but to find some humor in that statement. “Hey, was it an old brown bag with gold buckles on the side?”

“Yeah, it was,” he sighed, looking through the bush once more. “Wait…” He looked back at her. “Did you see it somewhere? And please tell me it wasn’t in the mouth of something big and scary…”

Both gave him a look of confusion. “No, it was our friend, Twilight. She found your bag in the bushes.” She read the excited look on his face. If nothing else, she was an amazing judge of character. She could see the excitement in his eyes even before he opened his mouth. “Ya know, I can take you to the library to get it.”

“That’d be great!” he meowed, but then he hesitated, turning to Fluttershy. It was almost as though he’d just remembered that he was still only a child and thought to treat Fluttershy as a guardian. “Uh, is it okay if I go?”

Though it was surprising that he’d be asking permission, Fluttershy didn’t show her amazement. “So long as you don’t try to fly, you’ll be fine.” If not only for his well being, she didn’t want to hear anything about all the hard work she and Twilight had put into wrapping him up going to waste because he was overconfident.

“Alright!” Rainbow took up a knee. “Hop aboard, little guy!” She was almost surprised with how warm the little wyvern was. As compared to the only other dragon that had ever ridden on her back, she couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t able to sit quite as comfortably with his size. “We’ll be back soon, Fluttershy!” Without any more hesitation, she spread her wings and took to the air! The only reason she slowed down was because of the black dragon struggling to hold onto her. She was sure she’d be able to have as much fun with him as she did with Fluttershy.

Days like this were normal for the Golden Oaks Library. There was a steady flow of patrons going in and out, the ponies were politely searching through books and such, and even the librarians Twilight and Spike seemed to be having a good time tending to their influx of patrons and guests. …But, there was always Twilight’s eagerness to learn.

Ever since finding the bag in the bushes, she’d been curious about its contents: a CD player, a pair of custom made headphones with a familiar cloud and rainbow bolt on the sides, a camera, a small notebook, and a strange piece of jewelry. The jewelry had stumped her by far. It seemed like the Elements of Harmony. Either way, it would have to wait. For now, she had to deal with the sudden appearance of a rainbow pegasus.

Rainbow Dash trotted in happily. She didn’t even seem fazed by the creature on her back arguing with her.

“Can we please never go that fast again?” he asked shakily, “Ugh! My legs feel like jelly!”

“Oh, come on!” she complained, playfully, “That wasn’t even my top speed!”

“I know,” he purred cheerfully, “But, never with me. Please.”

Ever since the Daring Doo incident, it wasn’t uncommon to see Rainbow Dash at the Golden Oaks Library, but it was odd to see her giving some pony a ride. …And it was even stranger to see that she wasn’t giving a pony a ride.

A small dragon, a young wyvern, climbed off of the cyan pegasus, stepping shakily onto the wood floors of the library. He was visibly older than the resident dragon, Spike, but he definitely wasn’t an adult. He was even smaller than an average mare! His black scales had a particular shine to them, but the light only proved to show the minute scratches on them. “I heard about your Sonic Rainboom, but I don’t think I ever want to be on your back when you do one…” He let out a heavy sigh, regaining his balance. “My species can’t fly that fast.”

“Nah, you’ve just never tried!” Her enthusiasm seemed to be contagious, spreading to the young dragon as well.

“I haven’t, but a friend of mine did and she broke a wing. Learn from the mistakes of others, as they say.” He flinched slightly, nearly running into Twilight Sparkle. “Oops… Hi…?” He tried to smile, but his sharp, carnivore’s teeth made him seem a little animalistic. Again, just like when he’d met Fluttershy, he felt nervous under this unicorn’s scrutiny.

Twilight couldn’t help but examine him. This was the first black wyvern she’d ever seen, and he was quite the sight. …But, where were her manners? She quickly returned the smile with a welcoming grin of her own. “Hello,” she chirped, “My name is—”

“Twilight Sparkle,” he said immediately, cutting her off. Once he did, he returned to his nervous behavior, backing away from her as if she was about to hit him. “Er, sorry… I heard about you in Canterlot…”

“Sorry about him, Twilight,” Rainbow interjected. She motioned to her temple with a hoof in a circular motion. “He’s kinda weird…”

“You’re one to talk!” he accused. He quickly turned his large green eyes back to Twilight with a wide grin on his face. “Uh, since I already know your name, my name’s Nel. I heard that you had something of mine?”

She knew exactly what he meant. After what Fluttershy told her, it was no mystery as to who the odd bag belonged to. “Yes, I do,” she stated, levitating the bag to the young dragon. “I was just wondering about what’s in it…”

The young dragon happily looked through the bag’s contents, pausing only for Twilight’s request. “S-sure… What did you want to know?”

“The necklace in that bag,” she began cautiously, slightly wondering if he’d take offense to her snooping in his belongings, “What is it?” It seemed so familiar to her, but it wasn’t.

He quickly retrieved the necklace in question. “This?” he asked, “Well, I’m not sure exactly, but it’s really important to some really interesting creatures.” He looked back at Rainbow. “And, yes, it is something big and scary.”

That almost worried the ponies. Whatever it was that he’d gotten that pendant from, it was obviously dangerous. And that also begged the question: what had he gotten it from?

Spike, though, wasn’t concerned about the necklace. He missed most of the conversation and was just amazed to see another dragon, and one that was almost as old as him at that! “Whoa,” he mused as he gawked, “Are you a wyvern?”

Nel was surprised to see another dragon too, but it was more the fact that this was a town full of ponies instead of a village full of dragons like he was used to. A wide grin crossed his face. “Sure am!” he purred, opening one of his wings for the younger dragon to admire. The only thing keeping him from opening both was the two gashes that marred his other wing’s webbing.

“That’s cool!” Spike gushed. He’d never seen a dragon like Nel and it was even amazing to see the shimmer of his onyx black scales and that shine of… Whatever that was on the edge of his wings.

“Yeah, but some pony,” he turned his gaze to Rainbow Dash, “Seems to think that I should be trying to fly faster.” He closed his wing, sympathetically rubbing it. “I’d rather not end up like my friends did.”

“But, you shouldn’t be flying yet,” Twilight stated, “Fluttershy told me about your wing. You shouldn’t be able to fly for a while.”

The luster in his eyes seemed to fade once he realized what she was saying. “Oh, yeah…” He opened his injured wing, showing the stitches across the cuts. “I can’t fly until this is healed… I can’t put much stress on it either…”

“Whoa… So, when can you fly again?” the younger dragon asked.

“I don’t know,” he sighed, “The last Narga I saw with an injury like this, there was no one to stitch it closed, but, if I had to guess, I’d say about a week with my magic at work.”

“Really? Only a week?” Rainbow asked. For an injury like that, she’d be down for months! Would it really take such a short amount of time for him?

“Yup!” he chirped, “With the stitches, I can’t use the spell I had in mind, but I’ve already got another one at work now. Without that spell, I’d be down for little over a month.”

That sounded more like the draconic healing process that Twilight and Spike had read about. …But, that also begged a question: he knew draconic magic?

The only thing that stopped their conversation was a door opening. The door was opened by a familiar unicorn: Rarity. “Hello, Twilight, Spike,” she cooed cheerfully, “I thought that today would be a good day to drop off those books I borrowed.”

Both Spike and Nel swooned over the alabaster unicorn, but in two different ways. Spike basked in her beauty as he always did, but Nel seemed to be in control of his interest in her. She did have a very particular shine to her, the same as Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy, but hers was as unique as theirs were.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Twilight chirped, taking the books from her unicorn friend. It was always good to get a visit from her friends, but she never expected to see so many in one day. The only thing that would make it perfect would be news of Pinkie Pie throwing another random party.

“Rarity,” Nel muttered, rolling the name off of his tongue, but as soon as he spoke, he found the unicorn’s large azure eyes on him. He hadn’t even spoken loud enough for any pony to hear!

“Oh, my!” Rarity squealed. Before anyone could stop her, she was at Nel’s side, opening his wing with her magic. “What is this on your wing?! It’s positively beautiful!!”

That was surprising. If nothing else, he wasn’t expecting that. “Uh… It’s… Obsidian… M-my species grows natural obsidian on their wings… We sharpen and file it down to blades…” He reclaimed his wing, relaxing the muscle to separate the five segments of the blade. “It separates like this when we sleep, but I can do it because of muscle control.” With a slight twinge, the blade snapped back together. “It also doesn’t come off without a little blood, so I can’t really give you any. …Sorry…”

“That’s fine,” she sighed, but she had a pouty look on her face, “I couldn’t ask you for something like that.” She quickly snatched Spike up instead. “And I couldn’t do that to my little Spiky-wiky either.”

“Spiky-wiky?” he thought, trying to keep from laughing. A quick shrug would have to suffice instead of questioning the nickname aloud. “That’s good to know.” He quickly slung his bag on. “Thanks for hanging onto my stuff, Ms. Sparkle, but I must be going.” He quickly went to the door. “Some bad stuff’s been following me since I got this necklace…”

Rarity was the first to question that. “Something bad is following you? I hope that isn’t a literal statement.”

His feline ears drooped slightly. “You’d be surprised, actually…” He flinched slightly at a sudden thud.

The sound was hard and heavy. It was more than just a pony falling or something. It was much larger than that and it was causing a reaction outside as well.

“On second thought,” Nel muttered, turning large, fearful eyes to the door, “You might be seeing something bad now…” He quickly opened the door, but it was to a terrifying sight.

Something from the bowels of nightmares had made its way into Ponyville. It was a monster at least three times the size of Ponyville’s largest inhabitant. It was a purely massive monster. It was covered in matted brown fur, but it took on qualities of plenty of monsters. Its tail belonged to a reptile covered in green scales, its legs belonged to a dog covered in black fur, its torso was that of a gorilla and its head was something of undesirable descent. …But, oddly enough, its left eye had deep gashes over it that sealed it shut and even a harsh burn on its right arm. “Where are you?” it growled, “You have to be here, little dragon… Your scent leads right to this town…” It slammed a hand to the ground, revealing the claws that tipped its massive hands. “Come out here and face me you little coward!!” It slammed a stand, destroying it like a toy.

“That’s…” Nel stared at the monster. It couldn’t be. Was that thing really there? “It can’t be…”

“Nel? What’s wrong?” Twilight was immediately at his side. With the way he was staring—not to say it wasn’t warranted with a monster like that before them—wasn’t normal for anyone, dragon or pony.

The monster seemed to go on a rampage, roaring and crying out as it slammed the venders’ stands all around. “Come out, little kitty,” it snarled, its voice dripping with malevolent venom, “I only want to pet you…”

Nel swallowed dryly, watching as the monster destroyed everything around it. “T-that thing…” He took a step outside, past the door’s threshold. “That monster’s… That’s the thing that ruined my wing…”

Author's Note

As with anything I write and post, I'd like everyone's help. Please tell me if there's an error or a typo anywhere in my work and I'll fix it immediately.
Thank you.