The Dying Stars
#2 of Freewriting
This was a request for the user MidnightWolf78 on FurAffinity.
Above, lay peace. Below, a new world wheeled and spun. Small fissures began to form in the glass windshield as the ship entered the atmosphere. Alarms screamed in the ears of the young blue wolf as her ship crashed into the planet. Sunlight glinted off of the ocean below, and the young wolf yelped. Hot air streamed in through the cracks in the chasse. The smell of rocket fuel and plasma burned her nose as the ground below came closer and closer.
Suddenly, a shadow passed over the vehicle. The young wolf's paws were plastered to the wheel, trying to keep the ship in an upright position. If he crashed, he might just live, but that wouldn't be possible if her ship rolled the wrong way. Suddenly, a crushing sound.
"Wh-what...?" she whimpered. Her ship shouldn't have hit the ground yet. She blinked, looking up. Large scaly paws gripped the exterior of the ship, and the flap of heavy wings filled the air. Suddenly, she could feel a presence pressing on her mind, and a strange feeling came over her, like peace mixed with the fury of fire. The feeling passed as the ship lurched to the left, causing the belt to bite into her. She blinked again, looking at the thin blisters starting to form on her paws. Damn, what a ride.
She slowly allowed her breathing to slow, coming to the conclusion that she was probably safe with, well... whatever it was. The ship shuddered as it dropped to the ground, the large talons releasing it. Sunlight beamed in, stinging the young wolf's eyes. The ground beneath her shook with the steps of something large.
With shaking, bleeding paws, she pried back the roof to the ship, stepping out into a gently blowing breeze. She heard shouts of excitement, and could smell the brine of a nearby sea. As her eyes focused, she could see a crowd up ahead. They looked at her with awe, shuffling atop the sandstone-colored cobblestone bricks that lined the street. Her ear flicked to the right as she heard the waves. Behind the square, a thin gate led to a cliff, below which was a thundering sea.
She whimpered, hearing the footsteps again. Her tail flicked, assessing the threat. Her gaze met with that of a creature forged of flame and scale, of power and of exceedingly large intellect. It was a creature out of lore.
"Welcome, child of the stars." Spoke the dragon, hot breath steaming over the wolf's muzzle, "Your coming has been foretold. " At this, the crowd cheered, and the fox's ears laid back in equal parts frustration and confusion.
"Fore told? No, now listen... My ship only crashed here because some rebels decided to get too close to an asteroid belt. I had no other way to maneuver out of the gravitron field, short of igniting the secondary thrusters. The entire ship was already on life support before they gave it to me. I sincerely doubt that I would have had time to..." she paused as the dragon looked at her with a strange expression. It was obvious that the creature had no idea what she was babbling on about.
The dragon smiled complacently, saying "Yes. That is all and well, but the Annals do speak of you. Now, from where do you hail, young creature?"
"Neptune, your... beastliness?" she smiled.
The dragon chuckled, his laughter echoing through the square. "Ah, yes. Nep-tu-uhne. It sounds like a grand place, like the cities out of the old days. Now, what is your name?"
"Midnight." She replied, "Order of the Last Remembrance, third class. My battalion was assigned belt duty during peacetime. Keeping bandits in check, and all that."
"A very distinguished position, I am sure."
"Actually, not so much. My parents were of the eighth caste, with little war records to distinguish us. That is part of the reason I was kept from battle in the last confrontation with the, well... " she paused, smiling.
"Well, what?" the dragon asked, raising one of the scaly crests above his eye, like others might raise an eyebrow.
"Well, you see... These creatures were rather, er... reptilian in nature, you see. Mindless beasts, and all that. They like to sail the outer solar winds, preying on unguarded ships. And, eh... on account of their appearance, and their ferocity, we have had a habit of calling them dragons. Although, I see that they are not at all like dragons."
"I see. Quite the tale you tell. The time has come, however, when we need to make the stories, not tell them. Come, let us go and meet the Queen. Be wary, though. She has a dragon's wits, and a grekklenar's high-pitched whine. I have a feeling she'll love you. She has always had a fondness for animals." The dragon said, parting the crowd with a dismissive wave of his paw. Together, they walked to the palace, its radiant white towers glinting in the sunlight.