FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The train out of Canterlot chugged quickly through the starlit night with a different type of cargo than typical. A dozen sleepy pony soldiers sat in silence in various stages of unrest, some snoozing, some staring out the window, and all were troubled. Lieutenant Blue Shield was among the sleepless as he stared at the intelligence report he had been granted. Bits of information ... reports that formed a dangerous picture ... rumor and legend mixed together with the thoughts of the darkest of Equestria's princesses.

Strange sightings in the Everfree Forest were normal in that dark place. Only the young, foolish, or mad would willingly go into its gnarled tree line and Blue Shield wondered if it was a good thing that his fear had settled like a stone in his guts. An old mental technique caused him to focus on the details of his orders in an effort to move him past the claws of his panic.

Several of the smaller comminutes which Equestria traded with had reported things which were a step beyond the typical oddities of their little nations. Incidents of violence seemed to be increasing. Larger creatures were wandering into inhabited zones, smashing homes to splinters, and making even the safest roads impassable.

"Blue Shield," the voice roused him from his reverie. Blue eyes lifted upon the other new lieutenant whose mission would take them somewhere else.

"Steel Bit," he nodded to the grey earth pony.

"Nice night," Steel Bit spoke quietly as he glanced at the sleeping soldiers, "is the mission keeping you up?"

"It always does," Blue Shield admitted. "Guess we have that in common."

The big grey soldier nodded as he reached into the satchel on his shoulder and dropped the blue scroll in on the floor. "Let's share."

"The princess ordered us not to," the unicorn objected but his counterpart simply stared at him with his steely stare and then his eyes fell to the parchment.

"Information is life," Steel Bit rumbled softly, "and I intend to see my colts come home in one piece. Are you willing to put their lives in the hooves of a politician?"

A dozen harsh responses jumped into Blue Shield's mind and he ground his teeth as he struggled with that bit of logic. Then he motioned to the cabin door with his head. Steel Bit took up the scroll and the pair of them moved farther back out of one car and into another. Eventually they pushed their way into one of the private cabins, locked the door, and then pulled the shades. A single lantern was easily brought to life with unicorn magic and its light was shuttered just enough to let them see their instructions.

Several villages along the borders between Rambling Rock and the Everfree Forest have mentioned people whose behavior seems to be changing. They have been becoming more insular and trade less with their neighbors. Several festivals have gone unattended. Investigate and report.

"You're going to be touring little villages, eating their food, attending parties, and not sleeping on the ground?" Blue Shield asked with a furrowed brow.

"You are going to observe the great dragon migration and study their behavior in the Badlands?" Steel Bit blinked and returned the confused stare. "What did you do to irritate the Nightmare?"

Blue Shield shrugged but then wondered out loud, "I wonder what Flutter Gloom's fillies are off to stare at."

"Ice," Steel Bit shrugged, "lots of ice."

"I guess ... we'll just be watching for things that aren't normal ... and don't make sense," Blue Shield returned the shrug.

"Like sending three elite squads out to seemingly random locations to stare at people, places, and things?" the earth pony asked in a tone that suggested they had been made a fool of. The cabin filled with silence as the two new officers tried to decide the best course of action. Both had hoped the other's instructions would make more sense once some time had passed but now they were more confused than ever. "Fire, ice, and magic."

"The frigid north, the burning south, and the wild center," Blue Shield added and the two of them nodded, "we're all headed to the most dangerous areas of Equestria where all of the really bad things come from."

"Maybe," Steel Bit suggested tensely, "we should rendezvous before returning to Luna."

"Where?" Blue Shield asked with a nod.

"I've got family in Ponyville," the earth pony suggested. "My team will be headed in that direction. We'll be hoofing it but I'm sure we'll reach them by the time you're done with your dragon study. We could meet there, have a little R&R, and then share what we have learned. Maybe these puzzle pieces will make more sense if we put them together."

"Maybe," Blue Shield nodded, "not to mention it gives you a good excuse to remind yourself of your duty." The steel gray stallion took a deep breath and his eyes unfocused as memories danced before them. _Home ... the ultimate treasure of our lives. The place we keep in our hearts. The place every soldier defends with his life. _ Both soldiers nodded and clopped hooves in camaraderie.

"Get some sleep, lieutenant," Steel Bit ordered with a smile.

"You too ... lieutenant," Blue Shield spoke in the same tone, and the two of them retired to more comfortable surroundings. Sleep ... yeah ... like that is likely.

*****

Sleep had been far more likely than Blue Shield thought it would be. He woke at day break and then took a quick head count before starting the morning ritual of checking his gear. The others rose sleepily and everypony moved through the dusty supply shops of Dodge Junction in an effort to pick up last minute supplies. There was a rowdy little goodbye party at a local tavern and then the two groups spoke harsh goodbyes before splitting at the fork in the road.

The Midnight Horns moved south though the desert which eventually became rocky and steep but their primary concern was the dragons. Everypony knew to stay clear of the Badlands, and this was especially so during the great dragon migration. Once a century every dragon gathered to frolic. Males would compete for females, flights of young dragons would raid the countryside, and they were aggressively active. No pony had ever studied the dragons due to the danger of such activities and now they were off to correct that oversight.

"At least we're not taking any civilians with us," Green River grumbled with a sigh as they all rested atop a cliff.

"That would make life more of a challenge," Blue Shield agreed.

"Do you think we might try and teleport to that ridge over there," Tick asked as he motioned his red face and shook his orange hair.

"It might save us a climb," Tock nodded his orange head and ruffled his red hair with one nervous hoof.

Blue Shield narrowed his eyes at them and then leaned carefully over the edge of the cliff to see what the two were scheming. Below them lay a great and unmoving form that was likely a sleeping dragon. Its body stretched on and on along the valley floor and the lieutenant estimated the entire population of Canterlot could have sat on its back all at once.

"Hey Sarge," Green River began and then coughed, "I mean, sir ... can dragons sense magic?"

"Most of them," Shade spoke softly.

"We might need to be ready to gallop once we're over there," Blue Shield spoke mostly to the Tick-Tock brothers.

"Aye, sir," they both nodded, and the new officer wrinkled his nose at the title.

"We will be dizzy when we come out of the teleport spell," Shade warned.

"Can you glamour us up some shadows to hid in?" the lieutenant asked his second.

Shade grunted and bobbed his dark gray head a bit. "I'll have to wait until we're on the other side, though," he told them. "Otherwise the spells might interfere with each other."

"Make ready," Blue Shield ordered and they all spread apart to prepare their minds for the task. Then, once all agreed they were ready, the Tick-Tock brothers began to gather up the red and orange energies for their spell. The magic hummed and circled, drawing together more and more energies in a slow build up until the squad all came together in a tight space. Then, there was a flash, and Blue Shield's stomach lurched.

Whenever somepony else performed a teleport spell it was like this. All of the molecules that made up his body squeezed together and thrust forward like wind through a tunnel. The world slid by at a dizzying speed and suddenly they popped back into existence. A disorganized jumble of sight and sound flooded into the unicorn's eyes and ears but his second in command was already beginning his task.

Shade's dark magic slithered up and over them in a veil that made them all but invisible to those whom might be trying to find them. A deep, and annoyed, rumble resonated out of the valley and everypony looked back before staring back to one another.

"Stay together and move out," Blue Shield spoke, but his voice sounded as if it were coming in from very far away. He was not sure the others had understood any of what he said but they knew enough to stay together.

They had only taken a dozen steps when a massive dragon head crested the horizon and then flopped sleepily upon the stone on top of the mountain. Smoke poured through its nostrils and large lips smacked together as a yawn which could have devoured a small house gapped open and took in a deep breath. The exhale wafted sulfurous morning breath across the plateau. Blue Shield's eyes watered as he tried not to breathe, but the air was not much sweeter once the initial gust had passed.

The small group crouched low as the luminous eyes scanned back and forth. Every time the dragon's gaze passed them the unicorn's instincts forced his heart rate to accelerate. Discipline held them all in place until the creature grew bored and then it let out another noxious yawn before sliding backward to crash upon the valley floor.

A collective sigh of relief eased tension out of Blue Shield's shoulders and then they began moving slowly once more. Eventually they were able to move off of the plateau and slid down to where a relatively level path snaked through several of the steeper mountains.

"Sir," Green River finally muttered, "requesting permission to start screaming hysterically."

"Not a chance," Blue Shield smirked in amusement. "I don't feel like having every predator within a mile descending upon us."

"I know," the green pony said with a crooked smile, "I just needed to hear that smooth voice of yours giving orders." Tick and Tock snorted as they resisted the urge to let their nerves explode them into fits of giggles but they still shook silently in the motion.

"I see," the lieutenant spoke with a deadpan expression. "Better now?"

"Much," Green River nodded.

*****

It took three days for the squad to make it into the heart of where the dragons had gathered. They developed a strict schedule of holding a light veil spell in place to keep themselves hidden. Each caster would also have a spotter to make certain the unicorn whose attention was split did not walk into or off of anything.

Camp was eventually set up in a natural cave about a mile away from a large active volcano, and the team always had three ponies awake and two asleep. Long term spell casting was taxing, and special effort had to be put into keeping the level of energy expended at a steady level. Too much energy would alert the dragons to their presence and exhaust the pony using it. Too little energy would cause the spell to fizzle out, allowing their scent to travel over where the fiercest predators on the planet would notice them and come raiding.

The sound of voices travels a long way in the wilderness, so no pony spoke. Everypony carried a notepad and three pencils to record their observations but they needed to conserve their materials so few notes were passed between them. Body language was the primary means in which they communicated during the time they were there and Blue Shield quickly missed the sound of his comrade's voices.

The dragons, however, had no problem making as much noise as they possibly could. The din of posturing, scuffling, and rowdy laughter was constantly pressing in upon their senses. Blue Shield tried to keep his mind focused upon his duties, as he took notes on their behavior and tried to record their names, but it was not until an odd little newcomer began some sort of initiation ritual that Blue Shield found something worthwhile to report.

The newcomer was very tiny, as dragons went, and a shade of purple and green normally found in ponies but rarely in dragons. The younger dragons surrounded the newcomer and began the types of hazing trials normally reserved for military units and particularly rough fraternities. Fire belching, tail wrestling, and an embracing display of _King of the Horde_did not go well for the runt, but he had no trouble following the other dragons as they all leapt into a pool of molten stone. This appeared to impress the other young dragons and soon the initiation rites died down.

Several days passed as Blue Shield followed their behavior but then the younger dragons all rushed off together, roaring something about a dragon raid. The little purple runt did not return. The dragons which did return all appeared to have been in a fight, however, and this caused the unicorn team to come to a grim conclusion.

The weeks which followed did little to change their initial assessments. Something had the dragons wound up. Aggression increased and fights went beyond anything that should have been sane for any intelligent species. Dragons had their own language, traditions, and culture, but they acted like savage brutes. Males beat each other mercilessly to create a hierarchy and then fought even harder when females came into the equation. They can't always be like this ... this can't be natural! Could it?

A month passed ... then another. Groups of dragons came together and then parted, going off on raids which yielded the loot of gemstones and plunder that was useless to dragons but yielded them status. The cycle went on and on, hinting at greatness and then proving levels of pettiness that went beyond Blue Shield's understanding. It was maddening. It was constant. It was beyond the poor unicorn's understanding.

Is this something which dragons do specifically or something we might all become given enough time and isolation? _ His mind traveled back to Hearth's Warming Eve and the pageant which had been put on for them all by the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. _One upon a time we were just as bad as these dragons, he realized. It is for that reason that I fight. _ A tiny smile formed upon his face as his wits returned to him. _It is for that reason I will not let Princess Luna or anypony else endanger our queendom.