The banking companies had tried many different things to get through her land undetected, whether that was sending more guards, painting over the tell tale writing on the carts or any number of different schemes. This one though was a bit smarter, in that they simply tried a different, albeit longer, route. In her three months patrolling the area, none of these fool ponies had tried anything as simple as taking a different path. It didn't change anything though she would still kill them and take the gold for herself, she only hoped they would continue to send ponies this way.

The path this convoy traveled went over the eastern side of her territory which was a cold area populated with small hills and dense pine trees. If you were to stand atop one of these hills you could still see her beautiful mountain in the distance. She was perched on a hill that overlooked the ponies below, they had made the decision to camp at the foot of this hill.

The ponies were wary of everything during the day, keeping their eyes to the sky, ground and horizon so she had to keep low during the day. But at night they had to sleep, everything had to sleep eventually, even she had to sleep and that was when she decided she would strike.

She knew they weren't sure of what it was that was attacking their gold carts but they equipped them with better weapons and more guards each time they came again, what she didn't know was that the companies were trying to keep her attacks under wraps so they wouldn't lose business.

The ponies with this group had come with spears which were much more effective on dragons than the swords they normally used, the only reason spears were so effective was because the way the penetrated her thick scales allowed them to be driven deeply into her body causing fatal damage. This was another reason she decided to wait till night to attack, if they could get their spears and use them effectively then she might obtain some more than painful wounds.

She had been watching them from the top of the hill since the last light of the sun disappeared and one by one over the next couple of hours they fell asleep, even the guard they put on watch duty fell asleep. The only reason they didn't notice her was because of something she learned long ago, her dark scales were a blessing. It meant she could fly unnoticed in the night sky and in situations such as this, she looked like a part of a hill when against the moonlit night sky. The hill they were sleeping by was an odd one, it was mostly normal except that the side facing the path was like a cliff in that it had a dirt cut off.

The last pony below her finally fell asleep, which signaled to her it was time to strike. She counted the amount of ponies under her and found that there were ten in all, five of which slept on her side of the path up against the dirt wall of the hill. The rest of the ponies slept next to the cart opposite of her on the path. They had no idea what was coming.

She thought about pouncing on the ones below her, then got an even better idea. Positioning herself sideways along the side of the cutoff she dug her tail beneath the grass of the hill and swung outwards. More than six hundred pounds of dirt and grass fell on the ponies below, the ones that weren't crushed would suffocate in a few moments.

"What the fuck?" The noise of the falling debris woke up the pony that was supposed to be on watch across the path, taking instant action she jumped off the hill and swooped down. The pony stood groggily and rubbed his eyes, turning he saw the back of her throat through her gaping maw.

She clamped down on her target before he could react and flew up. His legs hung out of her mouth kicking wildly. Biting down her teeth ripped through his body, blood splattered outwards and the flailing form inside her mouth ceased moving. Satisfied he was dead she let him go, his body falling through the air. Turning herself around she positioned her wings back and dived down at the ground quickly speeding past the falling body.

She picked out her next two victims, they were sleeping next to each other in front of the cart. Diving and crushing was her favorite way to kill prey, the spray of bloody mist that came up from their bodies when she landed on top of them made her ever so excited. Before landing she threw her lower body weight down maximizing her strength. The sound of her hitting the ground, accompanied by that delightful blood spray was much to entertaining for her and so she let out a joyous roar. The remaining two ponies who were already awakened by her initial landing shot up on their feet at sound of her deafening roar.

They looked around eyes widening at the sight before them, she could tell they were about to run. The body of their friend landed in front of them with a satisfying noise and they took off without even looking back,"Like frightened children," She muttered, if there was one thing she hated it was cowards. It didn't matter that they weren't even an eighth her size, cowards were cowards in her eyes.

Breathing in she pulled her head back before thrusting it forward, her flames coated the fleeing figures and they didn't even have time to scream before being incinerated. All that was left of them was ash that drifted off into the wind.

Turning herself to the cart she quickly retrieved the chest of gold off the back of it, the ropes snapping sharply. Tucking it under herself and holding it against her chest she took off into the night. Her hoard was growing at an exhilarating rate, hopefully it would attract challengers. She wanted a good fight.

~

Valkyrie had progressed well over the past three months, she could use a sword and shield fairly well. Her skills in parrying, cutting and lunging impressed him, normally it took longer for people to learn those skills but she was a quick learner. Sure she was nowhere near ready for a real fight but give her six or seven more months and he will have made her a proficient fighter.

Since she had been doing so well he made good on his promise and forged her a set of armor with weapons. He made her padding and a set of chainmail like his, she got Rarity to make her a dark blue surcoat to go over the chainmail along with a thick red cloth that she wore around her neck to protect it.

Sam even managed to get his hands on real leather for her gloves and boots, allowing her to learn mordhau. Now since she was a Pegasus and couldn't wear a full suit of plate armor on top of what she already had without giving up the ability to fly, he only made plate armor for specific areas of her body. He made her a set of pauldrons (Shoulder plate armor) and her legs had plate grieves on top of her leather boots that led up to her knees.

Valkyrie was fairly well protected from arrows and sword cuts what with the chainmail and padding but to compensate for the small amount of plates Sam made her a roman stlye shield. When on the ground it came up all the way to her waist, providing her with adequate protection when she used it.

Since she preferred short swords to long or broad swords Sam gave her two choices when it came swords, a Roman gladius or a Roman spatha. She chose the spatha over the gladius for the fact that it's a dedicated cutting sword that's extremely dangerous in close quarters and she preferred cutting to thrusting.

They'd had fun making her gear, she liked watching him use the forge and he enjoyed teaching her how to look for good armor as well as how to look for bad armor. Sam had to admit that he was enjoying her company more than he initially thought he would.

Right now it was early September and fall was setting in, Sam trained Valkyrie every night after work for at least two hours and sometimes even five hours at a time. The farmwork had suited Valkyrie nicely, it was similar to the work she did back home and because she worked so hard the Apple family quickly befriended her. In fact most of the girls had become quick friends with her, she was especially good friends with Rarity ever since Rarity had helped her get Sam to train her.

The day was overcast and Sam was trying to fix a broken wood bucket, since the harvest season was over the work became more of just maintenance on the farm and such. This bucket had broken after it fell off a shelf in the barn and it was giving him more trouble than it was worth.

"Sam!" Applejack's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He looked up to see Applejack coming towards him from the orchard, her expression doleful,"Yeah, what is it?"

Applejack stopped in front of him a few feet away, crossing her arms,"Princess Celestia is in town right now, she's staying at Twilight's castle."

He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head,"Okay, uh, I'll say hi if she's still there after work."

Applejack shook her head,"She came to town to look for you." She pointed at him,"Said she had something she wanted you to do."

"What does she want from me?" He pointed to himself.

She shrugged,"I don't know, Rainbow flew over while I was working the orchard and told me she was looking for ya." She lowered her hands to her hips,"Ah think it'd be good if you headed over there now, it might be something important."

"You sure about that? There's nothing you need me to do?"

She shook her head and smiled,"You can always take care of the bucket later, but other than that there ain't nothing that we can't handle, if I really need help I'll just go get Valkyrie and Mac ta help."

"Alright then, if Valkyrie wants to know where I am just tell her for me would you?" He set the bucket down against the barn wall.

"I will Sam," He turned around and started walking, she grabbed his shoulder as he walked by to stop him and her expression became one of concern,"If she wants you to do somethin' like fightin' in that armor of yours again then make sure you tell us, last time you dint' say nothin'."

"I...," His features softened at her concern,"I will."

She nodded and let go of his shoulder, a faint smile making its way onto her face,"You better, cause' if you die without saying goodbye, I'll kill you."

Sam smiled wryly and turned to go on his way.

~

"How can you be sure of this princess? What if your right and it kills him?!"

"Twilight please, I simply want him to investigate the area, it's only a hunch and I could very well be entirely wrong."

Sam brow furrowed when he heared the two princesses arguing from the other side of the throne room door, Twilight almost never argued with Celestia. The royal guards Celestia placed at the door stepped aside and let him walk through the door.

Twilight stood at left side of the cutie map, she was bent over the map with her arms supporting her and her face bore a frustrated expression. Celestia was on the other side of the map arms crossed, she had a neutral look on her face. They both looked over when Sam opened the door.

Twilight straightened up and cleared her throat when he entered and Celestia's mouth twisted into a pleasant smile,"Samuel, It's so nice to see you again, Twilight and I were just talking about you."

"Oh uh, it's nice to see you too Celestia," he stepped over to a side of the map where he was positioned between the two princesses,"It's good to see you as well Twilight."

She nodded and sighed,"Hi Sam."

"So," Celestia maintained her smile and clasped her hands in front of her stomach then cocked her head,"You heard I was looking for you correct?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask, what did you want to see me for?" He looked at her unsure of what she might want.

"Well before I tell you what I want, I believe Twilight might need to explain the situation first." She smiled politely,"Otherwise you would be completely lost as to what we're talking about."

"I guess I should tell you, here's what happening," She pointed to an area on the western side of the map, in between Los Pegasus and Vanhoover,"In between these two cities is an area used by banking companies to transport money by cart for their more wealthy customers, customers who don't wish to have their money moved by train."

"Why do they want their money moved by cart instead of by train?"

She looked up from the map,"Well recently there's been a great increase in train robberies, so money moved by cart is more safe than it used to be because criminals are more focused on trains," Twilight explained,"And so if you have the money to pay for it to be moved by cart than it's a much safer bet than using a train to move it."

Sam nodded,"That makes sense."

"Now right here," she circled an area with her finger,"Is a four mile radius in which they all go through, the banks after failing to make a delivery in the past three months have finally released the information about why they failed to be delivered last week. Every gold convoy passing through here has been destroyed." She let a breath out through her nose," we've sent guards to search the areas of the destroyed cart and from the details of the reports, we have found that all the escorts sent with them have been found dead in varying states and the carts they were escorting smashed to pieces." She straightened up and crossed her arms," The gold being transported was taken, at least that's what we believe, the chests that the banks generally put them in haven't been found. Which is why I believe it's common criminals doing it." She looked at Celestia with a frown,"The princess belives it's something else."

Sam looked to over to Celestia with a raised brow,"What do you think it is?"

She smirked,"A dragon."

"A dragon?"

"Yes, that is what I believe."

"And it's a totally unfounded belief!" Twilight cut in,"Ember doesn't allow dragons to attack ponies!"

"Twilight please, let me finish," she held her hand up with a patient smile,"Sam, I believe it's a dragon because of the states of the poor victims of these crimes."

"The bodies? What states were they found in?" He asked.

"Some were crushed by extreme weight, others look as though they were flung hundreds of feet into the air and a few were completely incinerated by extreme heat." Her face became deathly serious,"I have only ever seen bodies like that after a dragon attack."

He lowered his hands halfway into his pockets,"Your convincing me so far, but I have to ask why would a dragon attack these men and steal gold, especially when lord Ember forbids dragons from attacking ponies?"

"Well," Her eyes became grim,"They were all carrying gold, dragons have an odd need to build a hoard and fill it with exotic or valuable items. What's more valuable than gold?"

He sighed, looking at the map,"Your still convincing me."

"Now, I have heard some dragons never accepted any of the dragon lords that have come into power. These dragons are supposed to be extremely dangerous because they have to fight with the dragon lord and win in order refuse them." She looked to Twilight,"That is why I think it's a dragon, because Ember may say what she want, but if there are dragons that don't follow her, then they won't listen to her."

Twilight's eyes widened and she opened her mouth in realization of what Celestia was saying,"I... I didn't know that," she looked down,"Maybe, maybe your right, I mean the rest of your argument makes sense and if what you say is true..." She looked up and snapped her fingers,"I'll send Ember a letter, maybe she can tell us if what you've heard princess is true. Maybe we can work the problem out!"

"That's good idea Twilight." Celestia smiled,"I'm glad you understand what I'm getting at now."

"Princess, I'm sorry for getting so upset with you, I just thought that every dragon listened to Ember is all." She stepped back from the table,"I just didn't think that dragons would do that till you told me otherwise."

"Oh it's no trouble Twilight, now go and write your letter." Twilight nodded and turned to the door.

"So Sam," Celestia looked to him while Twilight left,"I wanted you here because I know that it's a dragon, I didn't come here to figure it out, the bodies and missing gold told me everything I needed to know. I just needed Twilight out of here so I could talk to you."

He nodded,"Alright, so there's a dragon that doesn't follow the dragon lord and it's decided to make a home in Equestria. What do you want me to do, kill it?" He smiled while chuckling,"Cause I don't know if I can kill a dragon."

She shook her head a smile gracing her lips,"No I will not ask you to kill it, I want you to investigate the area to see where the dragon is so that I may send my guards to kill it."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow in thought,"Before I accept or decline, I would like to know a few things."

She nodded,"Of course you do, I wouldn't expect you to put yourself in danger without knowing why first."

He smiled at how understanding she was,"So why can't you just solve this by forbidding ponies from entering the dragon's territory anymore?"

Celestia lowered her hands to her hips,"Well," she looked off and continued,"If we do that then the dragon might go farther off looking for gold and what with two cities so near, it could be disastrous."

He nodded,"Alright I'll give you that, now my next question is why do you have to kill it? Why can't you send Fluttershy with your guards to stare it down like she did to the one here?"

Celestia smiled and bit her lip to hold back a laugh,"Now Fluttershy's stare is very powerful but... that dragon was total puss," She broke out into laughter and had to place a hand on the cutie map to steady herself.

Sam smiled and laughed along with her,"S-So," Their laughter slowed down,"He was a puss, that answers that question." He smiled, shook his head and let out a sigh,"Now what if I run into the dragon and it tries to kill me?"

Her smile disappeared, replaced by a grim look,"Then you run."

He swallowed thickly as the humor from before drifted away,"Okay." He nodded looking down.

"Is that the extent of your questioning Sam?"

"Uh, no, of you don't mind telling me, why did you choose me to investigate? Wouldn't a guard be more qualified to find it?" He looked up at her with a curious look.

Celestia sighed and looked down,"I'm not one to immediately send my best friend to his death, but the dragon knows what our guards look like. It hid itself when my ponies checked the area out and trust me it knew they were there." She looked back to Sam,"The dragon doesn't know what you are and will most definitely check you out in curiosity." She smiled weakly," Plus you've already demonstrated your abilities once and because of that I believe you can survive this mission."

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the spot on the map where the dragon resided,"Alright, your logic makes sense so... I'll do it."

She gave a slight smile,"You understand this might take you weeks right? Will you still do it even if it takes weeks?"

He nodded and looked up,"I will and I'll find that dragon for you."

She smiled at him,"Good, I'll arrange a train for your transportation to Los Pegasus tomorrow."

"Alright I'll get my stuff ready tonight."

"Yes you'll have to and I will have to ask that you don't tell anypony about what your doing unless you have to, that would attract a lot of unnecessary attention to the both of us."

He nodded and let a breath out through his nose,"Can I tell Applejack? I'll make sure she doesn't tell anybody else, I just promised her last time that if I ever did something like this again I'd tell her."

She sighed and shook her head,"Yes, if you have to."

He smiled appreciatively,"Thanks Celestia," He stuck his hand out to her offering a handshake,"I'll get that dragon for you no matter what."

Celestia took his hand and with her other hand grabbed his shoulder,"Don't get yourself killed okay Sam?"

He smiled,"Can't promise that I won't but I'll sure as hell try not to."

They parted and as he made his way to the door Celestia spoke up,"By the way Sam, I'd like you to take your apprentice with you."

He turned around and furrowed his brow at her,"What? How do you know about Valkyrie?"

She smiled,"Twilight told me through our correspondence."

He could understand that much but taking Valkyrie with him? Sam looked up into her in the eyes,"But, Valkyries nowhere near ready for something like this!"

"How will she ever be ready if she doesn't get any experience?"

"I-I..."

"Good," She clapped her hands,"You will both have transportation tomorrow morning and together you will find the dragon!" She walked over and placed a hand on his back to push him towards the door,"Now go on you've got some preparation to do."

She pushed him through the door and smiled,"I've got plans for you Sam..."

~

"Valkyrie!" Sam walked down the orchard path towards the dead tree Valkyrie was attempting to remove.

"Oh, hey Sam," She set her axe down, leaning it against the tree and looked up to him,"What's up?"

"Well," He stopped in front of her and placed his hands in his pockets,"You know how you wanted to help ponies?"

"Yeah?"

"Here's your chance, Celestia has asked me to scout out an area on the west coast and find the lair of a dragon."

Valkyrie's eyes widened,"Really, princess Celestia herself asked you to find a dragons lair?"

"Yep and she asked me to see if you wanted to come along, you know help me find it."

She smirked,"Well of course I'll come, but you're going to have to explain a little bit more about what's going on first."

"Alright so..." Sam explained the situation to Valkyrie making sure not to skip any details. He told her what's been happening with the banks carts, why the dragon was doing it and that they couldn't tell anybody.

"Well, where are we supposed to going tomorrow?"

"We're going to Los Pegasus, then we have to find our way there."

"You've got an idea on where to go?"

"Yeah, I saw the path I wanted to take on the map in there, we can buy a map in L.P. then follow the path I have in mind."

"Good!" She smiled widely and rubbed her hands together excitedly,"I'll finally get to see some action!"

She walked forward, as she passed Sam he grabbed her bicep and turned his head to hers,"Valkyrie... we could do what Celestia wants us to do about it, or we could do what I want to do about it."

She shook his hand off and looked to him with a smirked,"What do you want to do about it?"

"I want to kill it."

"Kill it? You want to kill a dragon?" She widened her eyes in surprise and she snorted into a laugh,"Are you insane?!"

"Come on, Valkyrie just bear with me until I'm done explaining." He pleaded with her.

She sighed and shook her head with a mocking smile,"Sure I'll listen to ya."

"Alright, I know that taking a dragon on directly is a terrible idea,"He swallowed noisily,"So I propose we buy a cart, place the type of chest that they use to transport gold in on top of it and use that to attract the dragon."

"Okay and?" She leaned forward,"What next?"

"You remember the dynamite we screwed around with?"

"Yeah," She smiled at the memory,"That was a hell of a lot of fun."

"It was fun," He smiled back,"Now if we place whatever Zecora has left of it in the chest, then attach a minute long fuse to it, we wait till the dragon appears then light the dynamite. It lands on the cart like it did with all the others and boom, we kill it or fatally wound it."

She stared at him the mocking demeanor she had before gone,"That sounds... like a good idea, one I'm willing to try. But why do you think we should be the ones to take it on? Wasn't Celestia going to send guards?"

Sam nodded,"She was, but they don't have the dynamite that we have. More of them would die fighting the dragon than is necessary."

"Alright you've got me on your side, should we bring weapons and armor? Just in case?"

"Yeah, if it come to that though we'll probably die but it's better to go down fighting I guess."

Nodding she patted his shoulder and smiled enthusiastically,"Let's slay us a dragon!"

~

"You need what?"

"All of the dynamite you have left."

Zecora's eyes were narrowed and her mouth agape,"What do you need it for?"

Valkyrie frowned,"Look I'm sorry but we can't tell you what we need it for, we just need it and trust me when I say it's for the good of Equestria and everyone in it."

She looked at Sam suspiciously,"It's for good?"

He nodded,"Yes and I am really sorry that we can tell you but we need it, we need it badly."

She stared at them both for a time before sighing,"Fine, I'll give you your dynamite, but first you have to promise to tell me what you needed it for when your done using it."

"I promise to tell," Sam said as she pulled a wooden box out from under her alchemy table.

Handing him two sticks of dynamite he took them,"That's all that's left, I hope you know you are the only one I would give these to Sam."

"I know," He smiled.

Valkyrie sighed gaining his attention"We got it, now let's go Sam, we still gotta figure out how to get your pike in the train."