That night, I dreamt of an inferno.

It was not a fast, flaming death of a quick volcanic death.

It was not a rapid immolation, fuelled by hunger and passion.

It was a slow, implacable monolith that ground all in its path into ashes and dust.

It was a strange flame, it didn’t burn more than it consumed.

I remember only fractures of the dream and I was glad. The concepts were indistinct and for lack of a better word, frightening.

Dithra once told my father that a dragon feared nothing more than dishonour. Dragons were… are a proud race. After an altercation that my father refused to talk about, though I pressured him quite insistently, Dithra had told my father that a dragon feared something more than dishonour.

A dragon feared nothing more than being casually swatted out of existence, like so much an insignificant insect. For a dragon, the epitome of their struggles, experiences, wisdom, knowledge, thought and power to be wiped clean without a second thought was a thought too terrible to contemplate.

In the war with the humans, a war my father had tried so desperately to prevent, dragons had fell with not a shred of casual resistance. Oh, they had fought hard and sacrificed much, but while dragons had patience and tenacity, humans excelled at violence and conflict. The horror of their inventions, their superiority of their tools and weaponry had quickly overwhelmed us. My father had been able to keep us alive long enough to escape the initial cleansing, but it had only been a matter of time.

I had hoped that the humans could accept us, that there was hope for co-existence within a race devoted to war and intolerance. Indeed in recent generations, there had been a marked change in their outlook. For some of the Elder dragons, they had seemed surprised at the humans. They were growing and in a positive direction.

Unfortunately, it was often that humans with the least wisdom retained the greatest power.

In an unspeakable tragedy and a landslide of misunderstanding that quickly spiralled out of control, the dragons had triggered a conflagration that consumed our entire race, dooming our existence with one fell swoop.

It only took a life. As it often does. One life to affect so many.

——

My sleep was fitful as always and I woke with a start. The horizon had a bruised purple glow to it and I realised that it was twilight, the breaking of a new dawn. My first one on this strange world. Whenever it had become cold I would stoke the rock-heater with my fiery breath. The stubby dragon beside me had slept through the oscillating changes in the temperature and he seemed to be content with sleeping through almost anything.

In spite of myself, I smiled. I’d say it was down to the refreshing experience of meeting a new dragon that didn’t want to kill me, use me, or wile their way through the ranks through me. I guess you could say it was a novel experience, even though I couldn’t be sure that this dragon was anywhere near the same sort of biology than the dragon I was or the dragons I was used to.

I did my morning stretches, as my father’s ever-present shadow would always remind me perform.

Relax, Stefan would tell me. A dragon must be flexible to meet all manner of resistance.

Did you learn that in the Russian training camps? I shot back snidely, but I instantly regretted it.

Stefan studied me, expressionless for a moment before his gaze turned sad. No, he had replied wearily. I learned that just living my life.

My musings were brought to an abrupt halt as the young drake beside me grumbled and mumbled, before joining me in the waking world.

“Good morning,” he greeted me, yawning. I inclined my head, giving my wings a final stretch before settling down.

“So, where are we going?

I scanned the surrounding region, favouring my right side. There wasn’t much I could do without the assistance of power. I pursed my lips, deep in thought.

Spike came around to my left side, looking at the blood-soaked bandage on my left foreleg.

“Oh,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t know you were hurt that badly.” He leaned in closer. “I think it’s time for me to fess up and get some help.”

I examined the purple drake curiously as he seemingly fished out a quill and a piece of paper… or was that parchment? I shook my head, he seemed to have a small pouch wrapped around his midsection. I blinked in surprise. I probably didn’t notice it because I was too busy saving both our lives.

I looked on, wondering how the small dragon would get help with just the parchment, quill and ink. Was he going to make a paper aeroplane out of it. I almost smiled at that. I tilted my head as he quickly scribbled on the parchment, rolled it up and to my amazement breathed fire over it.

What the heck?! I thought, completely taken aback. Did he just burn the parchment for no reason?!

My misgivings were eventually proven unfounded when the smoke from the flame coalesced into green smoke that wafted daintily on the breeze, quickly dispersing out of sight. I gaped at the dragon. What was that?! I didn’t even see any workings of Power around him. How was that even possible?!

Spike chuckled weakly at my expression.

“I sent a letter for some help. I think I know roughly where we are, but it’ll take them some time to find us.” He idly kicked a stone, his claws behind his back. He looked decidedly sheepish. “Sorry, I think I should have done this sooner.” He paused. “It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seen another dragon.” He smiled. “One that’s nice,” he added, though I snorted. If I was nice, I was also a Nigerian Princess.

He giggled softly at my reaction.

“You act mean,” he continued, reaching out with a clawed hand. I shied away again, giving him a glare. “But you saved me from the hydra and you kept me company overnight. I think you’re a nice pony on the inside.”

I grimly accepted that with a nod, but then a niggling thought snatched at the edges of my mind.

Wait a minute. I thought. Did he just say ‘pony’?

Author's Notes:

You'll notice the earlier chapters have been edited and updated to be consistent mainly with the new grammar and spelling I've adopted. If you've been following this before. Thanks for keeping up, but I'm afraid that the updates will still be just as infrequent. You'll also notice that in my recent fics I've gotten a lot more honest with my next chapter previews. Well... sometimes.

I'd like to personally thank you all for taking the time to read this. I'm chuffed that there are readers out there that enjoy my stories. I appreciate that, no matter where you are or who you are.

Thanks again.

Next Chapter: Twilight is not going to be happy to find out that Spike had gallivanted off without permission.

As always, my aesthetically pleasing and positioned readers, thanks for reading!