The next morning – both still in bed

Sharpy looked as Fluttershy was still sleeping next to him. It was such a peaceful sight and he felt how his heart started beating faster. They were lying close to each other and Sharpy could feel Fluttershy’s chest as she breathed. This was the perfect life. And this is how Sharpy would want to live his life. His thoughts of becoming a dragon again are long gone.

But as he thinks back on his previous life as a dragon he can feel something is calling for him. Wanting him to come back home. It’s his sister. He loved his sister and his life as a dragon. But it was nothing compared to his love for Fluttershy. And this peaceful life the ponies lived was far more satisfying than the life he had as a dragon. He hoped things would never change. He looked at Fluttershy and smiled.

About an hour later Fluttershy woke up. He sat up in the bed and looked around the room before she noticed Sharpy. At first it looked like she wondered why he was there but then quickly remembered.

“Good morning, Sharpy”, she said and smiled.

“Good morning, Fluttershy”, Sharpy answered as Fluttershy lay down again besides Sharpy. She gave him a hug that he gladly embraced. He stroked his hoof though her mane. Fluttershy’s mane was so soft and even though he had slept it didn’t get messy. Then he gave Fluttershy a kiss on her forehead before getting out of the bed to stretch. “It’s almost lunchtime. We better get up”. Fluttershy looked out of a nearby window. According to where the sun was, Sharpy seemed to be right. But then Fluttershy remembered something. She hadn’t taken care of the animals as she always did. It had been so late last night. And with Sharpy so close it made her feel secure. She couldn’t remember when she had slept so well. Those two combined was probably the reason she hadn’t woken up until now.

“Oh, my… I really need to take care of my animals”, she said worried. Hoping they wouldn’t be mad at her for being so late.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you”, Sharpy said when noticing Fluttershy’s expression. This would be just like yesterday morning, before they’d confessed their feeling for each other. Things had progressed so fast during the last days. From being complete strangers to… a couple. In just a few days. It was almost unbelievable. Not that it mattered though. Love at first look had

proven that it truly existed and in this case it ended up with the best possible outcome.

Nothing can possible destroy this relationship, Sharpy thought, before heading out of the bedroom together with Fluttershy. Now they had some animals to take care of.

When the animals were taken care they decided to go down to the village centre. It was too late for breakfast, but a brunch wouldn’t be too bad. As they walked down the street some ponies who attended to Pinkies party last night waved to them and gave them a wink. It felt strange to get this much attention. Especially for Fluttershy. She wasn’t used to this much attention, but in this case she didn’t mind. Sharpy and Fluttershy looked at each other and laughed. As they walked to a popular little café where they planned to eat they stopped when they heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, you two!” Rainbow Dash quickly flew down and landed in front of them. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you”.

“Oh. Hi Rainbow”, Fluttershy responded while Sharpy smiled and nodded. Sharpy remembered the light blue pegasus from the party. It was a nice pony. A little bit self-centered but not too bad. He wondered what she wanted.

“Why don’t you follow me to Applejacks place? It’s something we want to show you”, Rainbow said as she flew up in the air, waving her hoof as a sign that they should be following her. Fluttershy immediately too air but stopped halfway realizing Sharpy hadn’t taken off yet. He was still slowly flapping his wings in order to make sure they were okay. Fluttershy asked Rainbow to wait as she flew down to check out Sharpy.

“Is everything all right?” she asked worried.

“I think so”, Sharpy answered. Shorty after he took air. Things seemed all right. His wings were clearly weakened, but he still managed to fly around without any problems. Fluttershy war relived that everything was in order. Rainbow was satisfied that they could finally be on their way.

“So what have you been up to this morning?” Rainbow asked as they were flying towards Applejacks barn. Both Sharpy and Fluttershy laughed nervously before Sharpy decided to answer the question.

“We’ve actually been asleep until now. We went out to get something to eat”. Rainbow looked back at Sharpy and Fluttershy and smiled.

“That’s good. You might be able to get something to eat over at Applejack’s place”, Rainbow said and yawned. “I haven’t gotten too much sleep, so it will be nice to finally rest at the barn”.

“What is it you wanted to show us, anyway?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Well… ehh…” Rainbow didn’t know what to say and she had probably said too much already. It was supposed to be a surprise but she was already about to ruin it. “You’ll see when we get there, okay?”

Sharpy and Fluttershy looked at each other, wondering what it could be.

When they reached the Sweet Apple Acers, Applejack was outside waiting for them. She waved her hoof as the three pegasi landed in front of her. Sharpy could feel his right wing hurting a bit, but he wasn’t surprised. It was a pretty nasty wound he’d gotten and this was his first time even using his wings in a few days. Fluttershy noticed and gave him a supportive little push and rubbed her chin against his. Applejack smiled as she watched the two ponies while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. But she still felt glad for Fluttershy’s sake.

“All right, everypony”, Applejack broke the silence. “How about y’all come inside?” Sharpy and Fluttershy followed Applejack into the barn, eager to see what they were going to show them. Rainbow stayed outside, looking back for a second before heading inside.

Inside there was a long table was set up. A lot of delicious treats were on the table and a cake in the shape of a heart. All of Fluttershy’s friends were there and as they walked inside they all shouted: “SURPRISE!”

Sharpy and Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. Whatever it could have been Rainbow wanted to show them, this was the least expected. As Sharpy and Fluttershy stood there, completely dumbfounded, Rainbow started laughing at their reaction. But she suddenly stopped as Applejacks hoof went straight into her mouth as an attempt to silence her. Rarity walked up to the very surprised and confused couple.

“Hello there! As soon as it was clear you two had found a way to your beloved’s heart we just had to celebrate it”. Sharpy and Fluttershy looked from each other, to Rarity and then back again. Slowly a big smile grew on the two ponies faces. They knew that their friends knew about their relationship now. Their kiss wasn’t exactly discrete. But they never imagine they would throw another celebration.

“Why thank you. This is such a surprise”. Fluttershy said while giving Sharpy another look.

“Don’t mention it. When two ponies are in love, there is no reason we should congratulate them”, Rarity said, while Pinkie appeared behind her. “And Pinkie is the one you should thank. She’s the one who’s in charge of this celebration as well”.

“Yes! When everypony saw you two kiss, we all like: ‘aww’. It was so cute and then the idea hit me: ‘if these two now are officially together, we should have a celebration!’” Pinkie was excited as always as she jumped back to her seat at the table. But as Sharpy and Fluttershy looked over the room they noticed something was wrong. The purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle wasn’t there. And not the little baby dragon, Spike either. Fluttershy turned back to Applejack and Rainbow to ask them.

“Twilight and Spike doesn’t seem to be here”, Fluttershy asked, curious to know why. Applejack gave Rainbow a questioning look.

“Yeah, I asked Twilight if she wanted to come, but apparently she was doing something really important”. Applejack’s still looked at Rainbow with a look that told her she wasn’t satisfied with that answer and wanted to know more. “She wouldn’t tell me what she did, but she would come if everything seemed to be in order”. Applejack didn’t answer but looked to the ground trying to figure out what Twilight could be doing which was more important than one of her best friends getting a coltfriend. But Applejack quickly let those thought go and smiled towards Sharpy and Fluttershy.

“Now where are mah manners?” She said and gave Sharpy a pat on the back. “Let me show y’all to your seats”. There was room for two ponies at the table’s shot side and there was where Applejack placed them. But before they started to eat the delicious-looking cake, Rarity used her magic to levitate her glass and a small spoon. She hit the glass gently with the spoon in order to get everypony’s attention. When she’s gotten the rooms full attention she stood up.

“I just wanted to congratulate Fluttershy and Sharpy for finding the way to each other’s hearts”, Rarity still held the glass and she pointed the glass in their general direction. “Let’s all raise our glass for Fluttershy and Sharpy”. And so they did. Everypony picked up their glass and raised it. In choir they all said ‘to Fluttershy and Sharpy’ and then took a sip from the drink. It was the same drink as yesterday, but it didn’t matter. The drink was as good as any. As everypony putted down their glass, Rainbow was the first to speak.

“No offence, Fluttershy, but I was worried that you would never find somepony to spend your life with. But here you are the first of us. And you two really look tight”. And when Rainbow said that, Applejack couldn’t resist laughing a little.

“An’ if you two lovebirds get any closer to each other you’re gonna push each other to the floor”. Sharpy and Fluttershy didn’t even notice it themselves but they have apparently moved closer to each other. They were right now as close as could be. They both laughed and embraced each other with a hug.

The next moment the door opened. It was done so fast so everypony in the room jumped away in surprise. Twilight stood at the opened door, clearly worked out and completely out of her breath. Spike was sitting on her back with a mixed expression of fear and excitement.

Everypony looked at her and she looked back. She inhaled and exhaled slowly to calm herself down.

“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Sharpy need to come with me. Everypony else must evacuate to Canterlot immediately”, Twilight was shouting out orders really fast. There was no time to waste. Everypony had learned to trust Twilight completely, but sometimes she could be overreacting little. Therefore Applejack decided to ask.

“What’s goin’ on, Sugarcube?” she asked but before she could continue the question, Rainbow interrupted her with a question of her own.

“And why do you need all the pegasi to come with you?” Rainbow obviously didn’t like being dragged away like this. At least if she didn’t know what was going on.

Twilight gave everypony a quick look. She sighed; realizing she wouldn’t be able to get anypony out from the barn if she didn’t explained what was going on.

“There is a dragon near Ponyville and Princess Celestia thinks it’s going to attack at any moment now”. Everypony in the barn get really chocked by this. Especially Fluttershy. She squeaked and started backing off. Sharpy, however, got really excited and took a few steps forward.

“And we need all pegasi to help inform everypony in the village so that they can evacuate in time”, Twilight continued. Then she looked over at Fluttershy, realizing she was deadly afraid of dragons. “Fluttershy… I know you are afraid of dragons, but we really need your help. And besides, the dragon isn’t here yet”. These words calmed Fluttershy down a little. She nodded and reluctantly agreed to follow. But these words had a completely different effect on Sharpy. He had almost forgotten that Fluttershy was afraid of dragons and when he saw her now, shaking and with eyes telling that she was terrified, he didn’t feel too good. Even if he’s body were right now a pony; he was still a dragon by nature. He still remembered the taste of flesh and he could still feel some kind of fire, deep inside himself. He tried to shove that thought away, but it didn’t work. But he still had a job to do. They had to evacuate the villagers and perhaps they could reason with the dragon so that no violence is to be necessary. Because no sane dragon would attack a pony village alone. The ponies’ soldiers, or the Royal Guard as the ponies called them, were trained to withstand most of things. It would be suicide for a dragon to attack. The guard are probably stationed and prepared down at the village by now. Spike were not allowed to follow, which made him pretty irritated. But as Rarity asked him to come the problem was all gone. As Twilight and the three pegasi rushed to Ponyville the others went towards Canterlot.

As Sharpy predicted; the Royal Guard were waiting for the attack. They were already stationed at specific strategic areas. They were more than prepared.

The three pegasi and Twilight were now in the middle of the city and Twilight started giving out orders again.

“Rainbow! You’re the fastest, so you can cover the entire southern part of the village. See if there is anyone still left. When you are done, return here”. Rainbow saluted and took off. She flew as fast as she could without being careless of checking ever possible place somepony could be at. “Fluttershy and Sharpy! You two can cover the northern part of the city. The same goes for you. If you’re done, return here. And if Rainbow isn’t finished when you are, help her with the southern part, ok?” Fluttershy and Sharpy nodded and then they flew off. Twilight herself was going to check with the guards if there were any recent news. Her big brother weren’t here. He had his duty in Canterlot, but there was another captain, called Captain Badge, commanding the guards down here in Ponyville. Twilight walked to him and he greeted her with respect. Most ponies knew that Twilight was the Element of Magic, the princess price student and a very good strategist and therefore worth treating with respect. Twilight, however, didn’t think it was necessary but she didn’t question it.

“Any recent news on the dragon, Captain Badge?” She asked him, worried the dragon was closer than they wanted.

“As far as I know the dragon is moving closer and it doesn’t seem its stopping. The dragon should be here in about ten minutes”. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Nopony would want to end this day with violence, but if that dragon is heading for Ponyville there might not be another way out.

“Are you sure the dragon is here to attack us, Sir?” Twilight asked. Captain Badge looked at her for a moment before answering.

“Yes, it seems that the dragon is hostile. But if that’s the case, we’re ready”. The Captain pointed with his hoof on all the guards that were currently stationed around the village. There were a lot of them. And if the action would break loose, they were ready. More than ready.

Meanwhile Sharpy and Fluttershy were flying around in the northern part of the village. Most ponies had already packed their things and evacuated, but there were still some who haven’t got the message yet. But as soon as they were informed they left without question. As they were flying around Sharpy were asking Fluttershy some questions about her and her friends.

“So let me get this straight… You know the princess?” Sharpy asked.

“Yes, I do”, She answered. “I and my five friends are the Elements of Harmony too”. Sharpy nodded. He was really surprised and didn’t know what to say. Fluttershy looked at him, wondering when he was thinking of. “It’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, no!” Sharpy answered quickly. “I’m just surprised that’s all”.

The Elements of Harmony, he thought. He was of course aware of the Elements. It was with their magical power Discord got defeated. Twice! It’s said that their power could even penetrate a dragon’s natural magic defense. It wasn’t too much to ask her. At least he couldn’t think of anything. And they were busy looking for more lingering ponies, so there was not much time for talking, anyway.

After just five minutes they’d cover the entire northern part of the village. They were lucky. Almost everypony had already left. There has apparently been another team of pegasi before them so it wasn’t much to do. But as they were about to return to the rendezvous they heard a terrifying roar. The dragon was getting closer. Fluttershy screamed in surprise and fear as she heard the dragon. She started flying faster and so did Sharpy to be able to keep up with her.

Rainbow Dash was already waiting with Twilight when Sharpy and Fluttershy came. Twilight and Rainbow looked really worried and Fluttershy was still terrified. The only one who kept somewhat calm was Sharpy. He clung to the idea that he could be able to persuade the dragon to leave.

“The dragon will soon be here. Are you ready?” Twilight asked nervous. All the ponies nodded except Sharpy. Everypony looked confused at Sharpy.

“I’m going to try to persuade the dragon and see if I can make he or she leave without any violence”, Sharpy said confident. He didn’t want to see the dragon or the ponies get hurt.

“Are you really sure about this?” Fluttershy asked. She was clearly worried about Sharpy and didn’t think this sounded like a good idea at all.

“Of course! No sane dragon would ever attack the ponies in a city. The Royal Guard is far too good for an alone dragon to handle”. Rainbow apparently didn’t like this idea. She thought this plan was far too risky.

“But what if this dragon is… insane?” She said. “As you said, the Royal Guard can take care of that dragon”. Twilight hushed Rainbow, walked to Sharpy and putted her hoof on his shoulder.

“This is really brave of you. I will tell the Guard to stand by”, but then she got serious. “But if something happens, the Guard will attack”. Sharpy nodded. This seemed fair enough. If this dragon clearly was insane as Rainbow thought there really was no other way. Then they heard the roar again. Twilight used her magic to teleport away to tell the captain to stand by. Fluttershy hugged Sharpy, refusing to let go just yet.

“Just… just be careful, okay?” She said. Sharpy didn’t want her to worry, but he had to do this. He was a dragon and perhaps that would help him to communicate with this dragon.

As he flew to the edge of the village he could see the dragon in the distance. The dragon was getting closer by the second and soon he got a good look at the dragon. What he saw chocked him. The dragon was a female. She had crystal-blue scales and her spikes were almost as white as snow. From this distance you would guess the dragon would be about sixteen feet tall.

The name: Crystal…, went though Sharpy’s mind. He felt happy, but at the same time confused. What was she doing here? And how did she find me?

He flew slowly towards the blue-scaled dragon that stopped just outside the village.

Sharpy didn’t notice it, but behind him Rainbow Dash were sneaking. She didn’t want to be seen, but if anything would happen she wanted to be the first to act. Fluttershy was behind the defensive line of guards with Twilight. Twilight watched and noticed every single movement of the dragon. In case it would make a move, she would be prepared. Fluttershy, however just watched how Sharpy slowly flew over to the giant blue dragon. She was terrified. Not for herself, but for Sharpy. She was safe behind the guards, but Sharpy were right now face-to-face to the dragon.

Sharpy was now right in front of the dragon.

“Crystal…” he said while looking at her. “It’s me… Sharpy” She looked exactly like he remembered her; those crystal-blue scales which she’s named after, those white spikes which fitted almost too well with the blue scales. But still there was something wrong. Her eyes used to be the same red color as Sharpy’s. But now they were all blank. Nothing but anger could be seen in those eyes. But not normal anger, no. There was something different. When the blue dragon looked down at him, he could feel the cold coming from the eyes. The dragon’s eyes narrowed for a second before they struck wide-open. Sharpy could see the eyes changing color. They were not red, but pink. The dragon shook her head before looking down at the little green pegasi.

“Sharpy…” Crystal said slowly and quietly. “Is that…” But before Crystal could continue she apparently got hit by some serious pain. But it was nothing from the outside that could have hurt her. It seemed like it was coming from the inside. Crystal roared and faced Sharpy again. But now there was nothing in her eyes but unprovoked anger against everything that moved. Her eyes were once again blank and there was nothing left of the Crystal Sharpy once knew in his life as a dragon. He noticed her tail prepared for a strike, but didn’t have time to move before the tail sent him flying away. Fortunately, the hit didn’t hurt Sharpy too much but he was sent out of control towards the village. With this speed he would surely break every bone in his entire body. He knew it was no use to try and gain stability and control, so he just unfolded his wings, closed his eyes and prepared for the impact. But when the impact came it wasn’t as hard as he would have thought. He opened his wings and saw that Rainbow Dash had saved him.

“It was lucky I sneaked up on you”, Rainbow said while putting Sharpy down on the ground. “Otherwise you would have been crushed”. Sharpy was still in shock, but managed to thank Rainbow by putting a hoof on her shoulder and nodding approvingly. But when he looked up he saw, with fear, how Crystal went rampage on everything. She had already started to break one of the houses with her claws and igniting a second one.

“Don’t worry”, Rainbow said even though she sounded scared herself. “The guards will take care of the dragon”. And it appeared she was right. The guard had already started attacking the blue dragon from all sides. They stabbed her with their spears and were about to lure her into a trap so that they could tie her legs with a chain.

“That’s what I’m worried about”, Sharpy said quickly before taking off again. This would be a quick fight if Sharpy didn’t stop the guards. When he arrived he started waiving his front legs to get their attention.

“Stop! Don’t kill her!” he screamed, but it didn’t work. The guards didn’t listen. He could see how much pain Crystal was in now. She had just flown straight into the trap that the guards had set up to her. Tears started dripping down from Sharpy’s cheeks as he realized what was going to happen. Crystal’s legs were completely tied and the guards started pulling the chains and she immediately fell to the ground. But Crystal didn’t give up. She continued to wave her tail in all possible directions and she continued to breathe fire. Now Sharpy was overlooking the field outside Ponyville where they were fighting Crystal. The guards had lured her away from the village so that no more buildings would get damaged. He could see at least ten unconscious guards lying on the field. Luckily none appeared to be dead, but the situation didn’t look good for the blue dragon. Sharpy flew down to her as he realized one of the guards was going for her defenseless neck. He was a unicorn and was using his magic to levitate a spear. Sharpy flew forward as fast as he could. He just hoped he would be able to reach the guard in time before he stabbed Crystal in her throat. The guard raised his spear, preparing for the fatal blow. Sharpy realized he wouldn’t make it in time and began to shout something unnoticeable. The guard however paid no mind to Sharpy and stabbed the dragon in her throat. Sharpy could very well see the blood pouring out from the wound.

“NOOOO!” he screamed and the next moment he was there and kicked the guard away from the dragon. After doing this Sharpy flew to Crystal’s face, begging her to still be alive. The tears poured from Sharpy eyes.

“Crystal…” he sobbed. But then she opened her eyes with extreme exertion. Sharpy looked into her eyes. They were back to their normal reddish color. She looked back at him and made an attempt to speak.

“Sharpy… if that’s…you… …I’m sorry…” as Crystal spoke, more and more blood ran out from her mouth. “… Huffy… corrupted… …he’s… hiding… Shadowcliff…” Her entire body flexed and a last attempt to stay alive, but in vain. Sharpy saw her lifeless eyes as her body finally relaxed, for never to move again.

Sharpy closed his eyes. His entire body started shaking as his tears just never seemed to end. He had always felt some kind of fire, deep within himself. Even after Huffy turned him into a pony he still felt it, though it was severely weakened. But he felt the fire grow again. A pony hadn’t any natural defense against fire like a dragon, so it burned him from within. Sharpy screamed loudly, from both pain from the fire and sorrow of Crystal’s death. He could also feel the same pain he felt when he got turned into a pony. The transformation spell was weakening. When he opened his eyes it wasn’t the eyes of a pony anymore. His pupils had turned from the round eyes of a pony to the slim, reptile-like pupils of a dragon. He could feel how his teeth grew and became sharper. His mind was completely clouded by the sorrow of the dead dragon. He turned around and watched the guard who struck the finishing blow. Sharpy had completely lost all sense of reality, when only sorrow and hatred against the one who killed Crystal filled his mind. He flew up a few feet in the air, looking down at his victim. He stretched out his wings and all the guards witness in confusion how all the feathers fell off his wings together with a lot of blood. Under him there was a pile of green feathers covered in blood. Under the feathers, two dragon-like wings appeared. Sharpy’s tears never stopped even though his facial expression showed only anger. His mind still felt only sorrow… and the will for revenge.

Then, without warning, Sharpy plummeted towards the stunned guard and bashed him to the ground. The guard tried to use his magic to get rid of Sharpy, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. Then the guard saw Sharpy prepared to bite him with his new, sharp teeth. The guard couldn’t see any way out but to cover his throat with his front leg. But Sharpy didn’t stop. He buried his teeth deep into the guard’s front leg and felt his blood leave the guards body into Sharpy’s mouth. Sharpy swallowed the little blood that was in his mouth and released the guard’s leg. But then he quickly bashed the guard’s two front legs to the ground and prepared for another bite to the throat. The guard realized this and saw in fear what was about to happen. There was no way he could possibly counter Sharpy’s move. Sharpy quickly lowered his head to give the bite some extra force. But just an inch away from the guard’s throat he stopped.

“Sharpy!” he heard Fluttershy shout. He looked towards the village. And there was Fluttershy, standing between Twilight and Rainbow. She looked terrified. At that moment all anger disappeared from Sharpy’s mind. No one understood what was going on. The assaulted guard was the first one to make a move. He used Sharpy’s lack of concentration and headbutted Sharpy which knocked him unconscious.

Sharpy woke up in an unknown house. At least it was nothing Sharpy remembered. He was not tied and could move freely. The room was dark, but he could clearly see Twilight and Rainbow stand right in front of him. They both looked confused and angry at the same time. They clearly wanted to know what was going on. Behind them two guards were guarding something that must be the exit. But he couldn’t see Fluttershy right away. He looked around in the room to get his eyes used to the darkness. Then he saw her, standing in a corner, looking completely terrified and he could see tears dripping from her chins. Then he looked back at Twilight and Rainbow. He felt nothing, just emptiness.  Rainbow broke the silence.

“Who and what are you, exactly!?” She shouted and was more than worked up. “And who was that blue dragon!?” Sharpy just looked at her for a while before answering her question.

“I… am a…” he hesitated, unsure what the reaction would be if he told them the truth. But shortly he continued. “I’m a dragon… and that other dragon… Crystal… was my sister”. Everypony gasped and Sharpy could, again, feel how his eyes got filled with tears.

Next Chapter: Chapter 8: Sorrow and Regret Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 33 Minutes