I looked over at Melinda and tried to see her through eyes that had not looked upon her form for a long time. Being a Violet Sandscale, it was a given that her wings, tail, limbs, and head were detailed in a deep purple. Streaks of it covered most of the free space on her body where her creamy scales did not. She was about twenty feet long and five feet at the shoulder. Her head would reach the floor of a second story building if she raised it, and atop that head were three horns. One sprouted from her forehead like a unicorn, while the other two swept backwards over her back like Nilak’s. All three were pure white and gleamed in the sun like polished pearls. Her creamy scales covered her body along the top and sides of her neck, continuing down to cover her back and flanks. They ran down her legs in thin strips, terminating just above her ankle and formed a raised ridge along the top of her tail. The violet hide that was not covered with scales was as smooth as a satin pillow, and highly sensitive to physical contact. Her wings were more elegant in shape then Nilak’s, though given her feminine status I wasn’t surprised. Her form was similar in build to Nilak, just more curved and less prominently muscled. Lastly, her burgundy eyes, which seemed to be part violet and part crimson depending on the light, glowed with love as she rested her head on Lucky’s shoulder to have her cheeks rubbed.

Ivy was too busy with Winx to notice Nilak’s reaction, the red Pixie Glider happy to be with her master. Winx was far smaller than Melinda or Nilak. In fact she was just barely big enough for a pony to ride. Her shoulder only came up to Ivy’s neck and her head would barely tap the top of a doorframe. However, what she lacked for in size she more than made up for in style. As per usual for her breed, Winx sported three sets of frills that sprouted from her head like fins. Each set sat behind the last and was slightly larger. Thin bones that could be moved threaded through the semi-transparent flesh that allowed Pixie Gliders to raise and lower their frills. Right now Winx’s were on full display due to her excitement of being with Ivy and having Nilak in front of her. When a Pixie Glider’s frills were extended, they made the dragon’s head effectively three times bigger, so most believed it had been used to either scare off bigger dragons, or to attract a mate. Winx’s frills were solid silver in contrast to the dark red of the rest of her body, matching the silver highlights on her wings in stunning relief. A Pixie Glider’s wings were just as flashy as their frills, each wing sporting long lobes of skin that hung down like ornaments on a Hearth’s Warming tree. In fully grown Pixie Gliders the lobes could be six feet long, while youngsters usually sported ones about a foot or two in length. Winx was no exception for her teenage status, her lobes reaching about a foot and a half below the trailing edge of her wing, barely scraping the ground. Winx had her eyes closed as Ivy rubbed the highly sensitive frills with her hoof, but I knew she had eyes like small suns to match the rest of her body in flare.

Nilak was looking Melinda up and down, his jaw hanging slightly as he took in her form. His eyes lingered on the collar around her neck and for a split second a flash of rage flared in his eyes. Thankfully he got it under control and did not do something stupid, but I was once again reminded that Nilak was free to do anything he wanted. If he did something stupid out of anger or self-defense there would be nothing I could do to stop it.

Lucky turned around and smiled at me, “Now that we’re all acquainted, how about going for a flight? I know a great spot we can go to and relax in the sunlight.”

Nilak snickered under his breath as I tried to work my way out of the idea, “Umm, you see, I’ve been in the air for a while and I’m as bit sore. Do you think we could just go for a walk instead?”

Ivy looked over at me with a smirk, “You’ll never get over saddle sore if you stay out of the saddle. Hop on your dragon and let’s get out of here, I’m feeling the need for some fresh air.”

Without waiting for an answer, both mares hopped onto their dragons and leapt into the sky, leaving me to scramble up onto Nilak to give chase.

As we flew in pursuit of the girls, Nilak spoke in my head urgently, Silver, that dragon is Melindaria Lavenda. I used to call her Mel for short when we would play together as kids. A few years before I came here on my mission, Mel was chosen to go for the same reason. We never heard back from her and assumed she had been killed. For her to be alive is a miracle in itself, but her collar is fully functional. She didn’t recognize me and my attempts at speaking into her mind were met with a blank slate. She is lost to me unless I can get that collar off of her.

Now hold on just a minute, I thought back, if you break off her collar she might attack Lucky or Ivy out of revenge. We need to find a way to get her alone so we can do it without the risk of harming the girls. I know she means a lot to you, but we need to do this carefully or ponies could die.

He growled in the back of my head, Damn it! I hate it when you make sense! Alright, but I’m not going to wait forever to set her free. She would be a great ally in our cause and in order to have her we need the collar to be deactivated.

Give me some time to figure out a plan. I think we can free her without letting Lucky or Ivy know, but we need to do it right or
everything could fall apart before it even begins. I cut the connection and started thinking of ways to free Mel from the collar without destroying it. Maybe if I used a small tool I could cut the connection without having to cut the collar off. The problem bounced around in my head for the entire flight out of the city, until the slight jerk of Nilak landing pulled me out of my head and back to reality.

I looked around and saw we had landed at the hill that overlooked the city as you came down the East Road. Off to the side of the hill was an ancient oak that had to be over a hundred years old. The massive trunk was so big around that even with all three of us touching hooves we couldn’t reach all the way. Dozens of major branches split into hundreds and then thousands of smaller ones, spreading out to make a shadow that covered enough space to cool half a city block. We had landed at the top of the hill so our heads were even with the topmost branches, though the height of the hill belied how massive the tree was up close. Lucky and Ivy walked Mel and Winx down the hillside, Nilak and I following close behind as the branches of the tree blocked out the sun. Once we reached the base of the trunk Lucky and Ivy slid off of their dragons, sitting with their backs against the bark as Mel and Winx curled up farther out. I slid down Nilak’s flank and walked over to the girls, snatching looks at Mel as I walked past her. I could imagine the spark of life that once shined within her blank eyes. Even though the burgundy irises shined in the sun like twin fireballs, there was no intelligence behind that wonderful gaze. I glanced back at Nilak and could only imagine the pain he was going through, having seen the light in her eyes long ago and now seeing nothing.

I took a seat next to the girls and watched Nilak slowly step up to Mel’s side, his eyes narrowed in concentration as I imagined him trying to connect to the dragon within Mel’s mind that had been locked away. He must have failed again because he sighed and walked over to her side, lying down so their flanks touched and his head could rest next to hers. Mel made no indication that she recognized him, but she did not move away. I figured that was at least a small victory.

“What’s up with your dragon?” Lucky asked once Nilak was settled, “He looks like his heart has been broken in hundreds of pieces and then stepped on with cleats.”

“Yeah,” Ivy agreed, “I’ve never seen a dragon with that much emotion in their expression.” She looked over at me, “What breed is he? I’ve never seen another dragon like him.”

I shrugged, “The guy at the market told me he was a Gryphonwing, though I’ve never heard of such a thing. I think he might be a miss-breed that couldn’t be sold somewhere else. I tell you I got him for so little money I thought they were going to add an extra zero to the price just to break even.” I bent my legs under my chest and watched Nilak as he lay next to Mel, “He’s certainly one of a kind, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Ooh, a one-of-a-kind dragon!” Ivy leaned forward to look at me with a grin in her eyes, “So typical of you, getting the awesome stuff while we get the dregs.”

“Oh shut it Ivy.” Lucky said with a wave of her hoof, “I think they’re cute together. Hey Silver, do you think we might be able to buy some collars and have Melinda mate with, oh, by the way, what’s your dragon’s name?”

Had I been drinking a glass of something it would have come out in a spray I was so shocked. “What did you say?” I was sure I had misheard.

She looked at me like I was stupid, “I asked if we could have your dragon mate with Melinda so we could raise the babies ourselves.” She flushed a bright red as she looked back at the dragons, “We could pretend they were our foals instead of our dragons’.”

I so very hoped Nilak hadn’t heard what Lucky had said, but one look at his furious face told me he had. His eyes were so narrow I couldn’t see his pupil, and thin wisps of smoke curled from his jaw. I looked back at Lucky and chose my next words very carefully, knowing saying the wrong thing could cause a scene, “His name is Nilak and I’m not interested in having him breed with any dragons. It’s not anything against you, I just don’t think I’m ready to think about raising a baby of any kind for a long time. I just got him today and I haven’t even gotten used to having him around the house. Adding a clutch of baby dragons to the mix would be like pouring fuel on a bonfire. I’m going to have to politely decline your offer, at least for the time being.”

She nodded, seeming to forget my shock at her question, “Okay, I can see your point. I won’t bring it up again until you are ready.” She looked back forward and stared at the sunset, allowing me to catch Nilak’s gaze so we could talk to one another.

If she wasn’t so clueless I would have barbequed her for that comment. I could tell he was still steamed over her insinuation, Next time she says something like that I’m not sure I can hold back from frying her sorry hide.

You do that and the whole plan of going after Mythic goes up in smoke too. I tried to keep my mental voice calm, Don’t worry, we’ll get Mel out of this mess at some point, you just have to be patient with me until I can come up with something.

He growled in my head, You’d better, or the first head I’m going to remove will be yours. With that he lowered his head next to Mel’s and closed his eyes, though I knew he wouldn’t go to sleep with his foalhood friend lying right next to him.

We sat in the fading light for a while, Lucky and Ivy falling asleep against the tree like it was a pillow. I couldn’t sleep out of worry for Nilak, even after the sun had set completely and the sky was filled with millions of stars. After an hour or so the moon began its lazy trek across the sky, turning everything silver in its pale light.

Nilak hadn’t moved from Mel’s side, and I decided it was time to put my plan into action. As soon as the mares had fallen asleep, I knew there was a chance we could free Mel from the collar if we could get her away and out of sight. Under the cover of night we could slip away and be back before the girls knew we were gone, hopefully being able to free Mel in that time.

I crept up to Nilak and tapped his nose twice, his eyes opening swiftly at my touch. “I have an idea on how to free Mel.” I said it barely louder than a whisper so as not to wake up the girls, “If we can get her away from the tree and around the other side of the hill I think I can work on the collar. If I’m right we can free Mel and be back before the girls know we were gone. Are you up for it?”

He nodded, You know I’m up for anything if it gets Mel out of that collar. How do you plan on getting her to follow us without taking Lucky? I don’t think she’ll leave her master behind. He spat the last word in my mind like it left a bad taste in his mouth, If we can’t get her alone then the whole thing falls apart.

Leave that part to me. I said with more confidence than I felt, I had such a strong bond with dragons when I was six that even the ranch hands couldn’t get the dragon to listen. I’m sure some of that connecting ability is still there. I just need to tap into it and we should be fine.

I stood up and stepped over to Mel’s head, kneeling down to run my hoof gently across her neck so as not to startle her. Her eyes opened slowly, indicating she had been truly asleep, before latching onto me as I continued to stroke her neck. Her hide was just as smooth as it looked where there were no scales, and I knew it was highly sensitive to touch.

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Melinda, can you follow me for a little bit? I have something we need to do. It’s a surprise for Lucky and we can’t have her see. All we need to do is go around the other side of the hill, no further. Lucky will be right here and they’ll have Winx to take care of them if they get into trouble. Now, I need you to stand up so we can go.” I hoped and prayed that she would listen, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief when she grunted and pushed herself stiffly into a standing position. “Good girl, now follow us. We’re just going to go around the hill and be back again soon. Follow me.” I beckoned with my forehoof and she slowly started to follow, albeit glancing back at Lucky every third step.

We made it around the hill without any problems, though when the girls disappeared from sight around the hill Mel gave a soft whine. It took several minutes of coaxing, but I finally managed to get her all the way around the back of the hill. She lay down under my instruction and watched me with wide eyes, her ears perked and listening for any sign of trouble over the hill. I knew she wanted to return to Lucky badly, so I had to make it quick.

I pulled out the small pack of tools that I always had in my saddlebags for emergencies and rummaged around until I found a thin pick. I fit it against the access panel of the collar and sent a quick thought to Nilak, Pray this works.

I popped the panel and wires met my vision of every shape and color imaginable. Through my tinkering with Nilak’s collar I knew the general purpose of each wire and what it controlled, but I had no idea if by simply cutting a few wires I would be able to release the suppressant magic contained within. I put the pick back in the pouch and pulled out a small pair of wire cutters. I reached in slowly, knowing that cutting the wrong wire could make the collar tighten until it choked Mel to death. A drop of sweat dripped off of my chin and I wiped my face as I cut the light green wire. It was one of the ones I had not been able to fix in Nilak’s so it could possibly be the one controlling the magic.

I waited for a moment, but nothing happened. I sighed and cut the ocean blue one next to it. This time Mel reacted slightly, almost as if something had tapped her head. She curved her neck to look at what I was doing over my shoulder, and I dearly hoped she wouldn’t bite my head off if we broke the collar’s control. I took a deep breath and reached for the last wire, a stark white one about half an inch thick. This was the last one that I hadn’t repaired in Nilak’s so if this didn’t free Mel, nothing short of cutting it off would break the spell. I sawed at the wire for a few minutes, working through the braided metal after I cut through the plastic coating. Filament by filament the wire was cut, until it finally split with a slight Pop sound. The reaction in Mel was immediate and dramatic. She jerked away from me and stumbled back, shaking her head like there was a fly buzzing around it and swatting at her face with her front paws. As she thrashed around a female voice began to reach my mind, first in bits and pieces and then in full sentences. It took only a moment to realize it was Mel’s voice. It had worked, I had freed her from the collar’s control. After a moment her movements slowed and she lowered her paws to the ground, her eyes opening to look around with a confused expression.

Where, where am I? Her voice was soft and smooth, much like her personality. She looked at me, What did you do to me?

Nilak stepped forward and stood next to me, He freed you from enslavement Mel, and he is working with me.

Mel looked at Nilak and seemed to not recognize him for a moment, but then her eyes flew wide open and she tackled him to the ground, her front paws pinning Nilak on his back with her on top of him. Her mind speech was going so fast I couldn’t make out single words, but the general message of complete disbelief came through loud and clear. She took us both by surprise when she pulled back just far enough to look Nilak in the face, and then pressed her lips to his as she closed her eyes. My jaw dropped as Nilak’s eyes went wide, but he only stayed in shock for a split second before he returned the kiss. I decided to give them some privacy and turned my back, listening to the mental chatter with half of my attention. It wasn’t until I heard Nilak call me in my head that I deemed it okay to turn around.

Nilak was sitting on his haunches with Mel at his side, their heads pressed together and their eyes closed. Their shoulders kept bumping and their tails had wound around each other, ever the image of dragons in love. He opened his eyes and nudged Mel with his muzzle, Mel, this is Silver Spirit. He’s the one I teamed up with so we could go after Mythic Song. He’s the one who freed you from the collar and is helping me get into the Dragon Circuit.

She turned her lavender gaze on me, the spark of emotion and intelligence once more shining within their depths, Thank you Silver Spirit. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for what you have done for me. I would have been a slave for the rest of my life if you hadn’t freed me, so I pledge to you now that I will join you on your quest to fight Mythic Song.

What about Lucky? I asked, She still believes you are her partner and friend. If you leave all of a sudden it will draw suspicion to us that we can’t afford. We need to figure out a way to have Lucky come with us or we won’t get anywhere.

She nodded, I understand the reasons behind your request, but must I let that little female ride me and use this horrid saddle? It chafes my skin even though she takes care of the wounds, and being a beast of burden grates at my pride.

Hay do you sound like Nilak right now. I’ll tell you what, if you can figure out a way for us to have you tag along without drawing suspicion, you can leave Lucky. I interrupted her before she could say anything, However, Lucky loves you, even if that love is misplaced. If you leave her she will be crushed and I don’t want that to happen to one of my closest friends. I think it would be a much better idea to include her and Ivy in our little plan. If I do the same thing to Winx’s collar we’d have three dragons with free will and the ability to race in the Dagon Circuit. If we play our cards right we could have a small fighting group instead of having to go it alone. I don’t know about you but that sounds like it has a lot better chance of succeeding.

Nilak shared a look with Mel, and she looked back at me with a questioning gaze, What if they turn us in once they find out? If we trust them with the secret and they betray us, then all of this would have been for nothing. We need to know if we can trust those mares before we tell them about what we plan on doing.

So break it to them slowly. I offered, Don’t tell them about killing Mythic or anything like that. Tell them at first the truth about dragons and what Lord Song plans on using the collars for. Don’t tell them how we plan on stopping him, or make something up if they ask. If they prove themselves later, then we’ll tell them the whole story. Make it sound like a plea for help instead of a call to arms. I have a feeling they will sympathize with your plight if you make it sound like you are the victims.

Mel shared another look with Nilak, and when he nodded she looked back at me, Very well, but let me try and talk to Lucky on my own first. Don’t react when I start to talk to her. Make it seem like she’s the only one who knows. If she accepts me then you can join in on the conversation. Silver, you can use Nilak as a conduit to speak into Lucky’s mind. If we can do this right, I agree that it would give us a stronger chance of succeeding than we would ever have separately.

She stood up and walked around the hill again, with Nilak and I following behind. She lay down next to the trunk of the tree with her muzzle just inches from Lucky’s curled up form. Nilak and I took up positions a few feet away, my back against the tree with Nilak resting his head on my side. I ran my hoof through his feathers to calm my nerves, and it seemed to help him as well. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Mel taped Lucky on her side with the end of her muzzle. At first Lucky didn’t wake up, but after a few more taps, she blearily opened her eyes and looked up at Mel. She smiled but it only lasted until Mel sent out her first thought words.

Hello Lucky.

Author's Notes:

So here's chapter three as promised. I plan on getting four and five out tomorrow for you guys, so hang on and I'll get it rolling as soon as possible. Hope you like what you've read so far, and please let me know what you think of my work. I really appreciate the feedback from you guys and use it to better my work in the future.
See you all next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.