It had been a wet and rainy week. Nobody wanted to go outside today, for it was raining, with thunder, and lightening. It was a vicious storm that was hanging around the valley, and it planned to stay through the night. All of the little ponies were scared, for storms like this hardly ever came through the valley. The booming and rumbling of thunder was shaking their homes, and the bright flashes of lightening was so bright, it hurt their eyes to look at it. It was truly a vicious storm.

Scared little Majesty looked out her window to watch the storm. She saw a scary silhouette of something terrible flying around in the storm when the lightening flashed. Suddenly, she heard the heavy crash of thunder, and felt the castle rumble beneath her feet. She peered out of her window, again, and the shadowy figure was gone.

Queen Majesty came running through the little princess’ door.
"Are you all right my little princess? That thunder is really scary, isn’t it?" she said.
"Yes mama, and I saw something flying in the storm, too!" Little Majesty cried as she buried her face in her mother’s robe.

"It’s okay, my dear. It was probably just a dark cloud," she said to her daughter, trying to comfort her. When she looked down at her, she already had fallen asleep. She tucked her in, walked out, and quietly closed the door.

The storm began to calm, with an occasional flicker of lightening. She walked down the hall, and looked out the window. As the lightening flashed, she saw a dark shadow on the ground. She looked again, and it was gone. She was a little spooked, but went to her bedroom to sleep anyway. She found it a little more comforting to close the drapes, so that she could not see outside. When she felt more comfortable, she finally let herself fall asleep.

The next morning little Majesty awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. She was excited, for that meant that the storm was gone, and it was okay to play outside. When princess Majesty went outside, she saw that it had rained an awful lot, for it was really very muddy outside. Luckily, she had goulashes, so she was allowed to play in the mud all that she wanted to. She was the only one went out to play. Everyone else was not dressed to play in the puddles.

She began to run around and splash carelessly in the puddles. Without looking where she was going, she fell into a deep hole. It was filled with a lot of dark, muddy water. She was covered from head to foot in sticky, brown mud. At first she was only startled. For it isn’t every day you fall into a big, yucky hole in the ground. When she climbed out however, she realized what she had really fallen into.

It was big. A hole with two big footprints on each side. What could make such a big hole like that? It must have been a monster, that shadowy thing that she saw in the rainstorm. The scary storm must have brought the monster with it. Little Majesty screamed, and ran off into the castle. She tracked muddy footprints all up to her room.

"Come here young one!" the queen yelled to the little princess. She sounded a little angry. "I saw what you did! You had better come down here and clean this up!" she called to her.
Little Majesty sheepishly came down from her room, covered almost entirely with mud.
Queen Majesty couldn’t help but laugh. "Who could believe that you are big enough to carry all this mud that you tracked all over this castle?" she asked her with a smile.

The little princess trudged to the washroom and drug out a pail and cloth. "I was scared mom. I saw something outside," The tiny pony said.
"What did you see? Did you see a scary monster?" asked the queen.
"No, but I saw its footprints in the mud. They were huge! The monster must be around here somewhere!" exclaimed little Majesty, with great concern.
"Oh honey, I’m sure it is nothing," she said comfortingly.

What she did not know was, the creature was lurking nearby. He was hiding in the nearest forest, trying to recuperate. He had incredible hearing, but stayed overly alert anyway, for he could not move about fast enough to escape danger. He was a strange sight in the shadows, scary as could be. For in the shadows, things that are strange looking, seem even scarier.

Majesty asked her loyal friend, Knight to search the area. Maybe the creature could be found, and the mystery solved. Perhaps this scary creature wasn’t very scary at all. Or, maybe he was a mean and scary creature after all. Whatever it may be, she must find out, for her heart did beat quite fast when she thought about the creature.

Knight was off, and he galloped down the road as fast as his stocky legs could carry him. He saw the big print the creature left behind, and that gave him even more motivation to find the strange creature. Mud flew in all directions behind him. He stopped for a moment to think of where he might be if he were the creature.
He spoke to himself, "If I were the monster, I would hide in the forest. It is the only place a creature of that size would hide." He stopped again, this time at the edge of the forest, a little paranoid to enter.
He heard something, he twitched her ear to the back to listen more closely. The sound came from behind him.
Suddenly, he found himself sprawled on the muddy trail, pushed by a great force behind him. Scared, he turned he head over his shoulder to see the monster that pushed him down.

It came as a great surprise, the ‘monster’ was really the princess!
"What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your mother? You scared the daylight out of me!" Exclaimed Knight.
"I’m sorry. I just wanted to see the monster. I didn’t mean any harm, honest!" pleaded little Majesty.
"Does your mother know that you are with me?" he asked.
"Not exactly," she grinned nervously.
"Well, it is too late now. We will have to go on, but as soon as we see another pony, they are taking you home. Understand?" He scolded her.
"I understand," she answered disappointed. "Good little filly," he said to her as he wiped a splash of mud from her face.

They cautiously entered the woods. It was dark, for the day was still overcast from the storm the night before. The air felt warm and yet a little moist, it was very humid. Their hair stood on end on the nap of their neck.
The presence of electricity was made quite clear when they would get shocked by touching the shield that the knight held. It began to get darker the deeper and deeper they trailed into the forest. It seemed a little spooky, for little, dark, shadowy creatures scurried from bush to bush in their path.

Knight and little Majesty were entering deeper into the woods. The creature sensed that they were near. He wanted to flee the forest, but he couldn’t run, because he was so big and there were too many trees. So, he just lay still.
Still closer they came, and he sighed heavily. With that heavy sigh came a great heave of fire from his lips, but it did not burn him. He covered his mouth, shocked at his abilities to blow fire, but it was too late, the ground in front of him had already begun to burn. He stomped it out with his great feet, hoping that the curious intruders would not find him.

Little Majesty asked loudly, "what was that light that came from over there?"
"Probably fairies. They always light up when they fly. They say if you catch a fairy, you will have good luck," answered Knight.
The little princess exclaimed excitedly, "let’s go catch a fairy!" So they hurried off in that direction.

The creature was terrified, he sat up on two feet, shivering in fear. Afraid that he might blow fire again, he covered his mouth. Again it was of no use. Fire went spurting between his fingers. The secret was revealed, there stood Knight and baby Majesty, right in front of him. Scared, he backed himself up against a tree. The tree did not hold his weight, it went crashing down behind him. Birds flew in every direction above him, and daylight shown down onto him.

Little Majesty exclaimed, "It’s sunny again!"
Then Knight said, "That’s not all, little one. This, is not a fairy." He pointed at the creature, who happened to be a big, green dragon.
The dragon flapped his green and purple wings, and tried to fly out of the hole he made in the forest trees, but he didn’t have the strength to lift his heavy body.

"Please don’t go, Mr. Dragon. I have a friend who’s a dragon, and he would love to meet you," pleaded the little princess.
The dragon asked, "Your the little one I saw in the castle window, aren’t you?"
Princess Majesty answered, "Yes, are you that scary monster I saw flying in the storm last night?"
"Yes, I was, am I really that scary? I didn’t mean to scare you, I was really scared myself," the dragon said.
She asked, "You were scared of me?"
Then the dragon began to tell his story. He settled down on his tail, in doing so he stood almost twenty feet in the air.
"It wasn’t that I was scared of anyone, I was scared of something else. The storm. I was flying around near the ocean one overcast day, and suddenly lightening began to flash all around me. I tried to fly away from it and it just kept chasing me. I ended up in this land last night, when I was struck by lightening. I tried to fly away from here, but I haven’t been strong enough to fly yet, so I hid in the woods to take shelter from the storm. Since I was struck by lightening in that terrible storm, I have been able to breath fire.

"If you aren’t scared of anyone, then why did you back yourself against that tree? You seemed awfully scared a little while ago," little Majesty asked.
"Well, I’m not scared of most everyone, except for knights. They’re known for slaying dragons."
"Don’t you worry about me. I won’t hurt you, Mr. Dragon . I have no quarrel with you. I think we could really use a fire breathing dragon around the castle," said Knight.
"Please, call me Pyro. I would be honored to stay here in your wonderful kingdom. Show me to your honorable king and your magnificent queen." Said Pyro.
"You’ve already met the princess," baby Majesty said, smiling widely.
"So I have, It is a pleasure to met you your little highness," Pyro said. He bowed, although he still towered over her, as little Majesty blushed brightly.

Then, the two little ponies walked through the meadow with the big dragon flying low above them. Another little pony, Firefly, flew over them and screamed in horror.
"It’s all right," said Knight as he explained, "This is Pyro, the friendly dragon. He will help protect our land. We are taking him to king and queen Majesty."
"Oh, that is wonderful. I came looking for the princess. Her mother, the queen is very worried," Firefly said as she landed.
Little Majesty reluctantly climbed aboard her back.

"That’s okay, she can walk with me. I’ll take her home," said Knight.
"No need, I can carry you on my back, we can get there faster," said Pyro.
"Gladly! I can hardly wait to see the queen’s face when she sees you. Besides, I would like to see what it is like to fly," said Knight.
Little Majesty was grateful that she did not have to leave her awesome adventure, and she actually enjoyed being sent home this time.

Soon they landed at the castle, and Pyro waited for them outside. Little Majesty, Knight, and Firefly walked into the castle and watched Jester entertain king and queen Majesty.
"See, there is nothing up this sleeve, and nothing up this one either," Jester said as a scarf and two balls fell out from his sleeve. "Nothing of any importance to this trick anyway," Jester explained.
"Great trick, Jester, now make that all disappear with your magic!" Exclaimed little Majesty with great joy. She clapped her front hooves together in applause.
"Well that really wasn’t the trick, princess, but as you request," Jester made the objects disappear by lowering his head.

The king and queen laughed, but changed the subject quite quickly, "Did you find anything out there Knight? We have been so very worrisome, we had Jester entertain us to take our mind off things."
"Yes, I found what we were looking for. And it is nothing to be alarmed about, it is just a friendly fire-breathing dragon, who was chased here by the storm. With your permission, your Majesties, I would like to propose that he stay in our kingdom to help protect us from evil," Knight asked them.
"Granted," king Majesty answered.
"I would like to meet him Knight, and I think king Majesty would agree with me," said the queen.
"He would be honored," Knight said bowing his head.

All six of them walked outside to officially greet the big dragon. King and queen Majesty began to interview the dragon, when Spike ran out to join them. He was delighted to see another dragon.
"Wow another dragon, just like me!" Spike exclaimed to baby Majesty.
"Not really, Spike. Pyro can blow fire. A lot of it too," said princess Majesty.
"I can blow fire, watch me," Spike said as he puckered his lips. He tried to blow fire just like a real fire-breathing dragon, but nothing except warm air came out of his mouth.
"Oh, Spike. You are only filled with hot air," little Majesty said, giggling.

Pyro noticed Spike, and began to talk to him, "So you are the other dragon who lives here. Little princess Majesty told me a little about you. How do you like it here, is it fun to fly above the clouds?"
Spike looked solemnly at his back and said, "I haven’t any wings. So I wouldn’t really know."
"Oh, you mean no one has ever taken you on there back and flown you around?" asked Pyro.
"Oh yes, I have ridden the backs of some ponies, but I bet nobody could be as fast as you," said Spike.
"Well, then. Let us take a ride and you can see just how fast I can fly," Pyro said, winking at him.
With that, Spike climbed aboard Pyro’s back, and they took off very quickly.

King and queen Majesty both liked Pyro. They thought that it would be very good for Spike to have a dragon friend.
The wind began to pick up a bit, and Pyro used the wind to his advantage. He flew very fast, and far. They saw all of the forests and hills below them as little patches of green and yellow. They hadn’t realized that they had already flown far from the kingdom, and were entering dangerous territory. That is, until stranger creatures began to appear.

Majesty didn’t think anyone had traveled this road in a very long time, and had her doubts that anyone could travel this road now if they wanted to. The group themselves had doubts they could travel it, but they pressed onward with determination because of their lost people.
Just then, a big crow flapped its way downward, just as they began to think that this land was completely desolate. The crow hopped along the ground and cocked his head in curiosity at the group. He was probably in awe that there was other life in the valley. But he remembered his duty and in an eerie caw he spoke, ”The king holds your people ransom. Bring your source of magic or he will have his way with them.”

Majesty’s eyes revealed her horror. Then she spoke in dignified terror, “There is no such thing!” She began, and then changed her mind about what she was going to say, “I am what he desires. I have all the power my people possess.” It wasn’t a lie after all, she was their queen.
“Very well then. Follow me.” The crow spoke through his cawing. He flapped his shining black wings and began to take off into the gray sky.
Majesty and Baby Majesty climbed aboard Pyro’s back to head off after the crow. Pyro’s tail dragged a few feet on the ground as they waited to see where the crow was headed.
Back in the dungeon, Baby Willow snooped around. “Look!” She exclaimed. “We are in a tournament hall of some sort. You can’t see it, but on top of your cells there are seats. It’s like a parthanon.” Baby Willow stood up on her back legs and put her front hooves on one of the big wooden doors. There was a keyhole there, so she peered through it to see what was making that awful noise from inside. To her amazement it wasn’t what, but who! “hey! There’s an old man in here! He’s asleep, err was…”
The old man awoke from his slumber. He was happy to hear sounds of any competent life from beyond his door. “who is out there?” He asked. The old man stood up, brushed the straw from his legs and wrapped a tattered blanket around his neck. Though his clothes were old and worn, he looked regal and wise. He was balding with a ring of gray hair sticking out above his ears. “Can you let me out?” Came the next words from his side of the doors.
Baby Willow thought a moment. “Can you let us out? Who are you?” And she began a rant assuming the person behind the doors was the reason she and the others were trapped in the dungeon. With disgust she gathered herself and picked the lock and let herself into the cell with the old man.
The cell was a small room with a high window above him, letting a low light from the outside into the room. The floor was covered in straw like the entire inside of the dungeon. Above was a small hole in the ceiling where a board was lowered by a rope. It was where his food and water were lowered-a dummy waiter. It looked small, but large enough to carry her up through the hole.
There was a strange silence as the two looked at eachother. “You are a-”
“-Pony!” Baby Willow happily finished his sentence.
“Talking pony.” He corrected her under his breath.
“Do you think you could get us out of here?” She asked.
“The door on the other side is locked as well, and it’s made of solid iron. It also has a bolt across it on the other side. I designed it to be impenetrable.” His spirit sank once again and he slumped back down to the floor.
“What about that board. The one that goes through the hole in the ceiling. Where does it go to?” Baby Willow asked inquisitively. She looked up through the hole, trying to see where the hole ended.
“It goes straight to the kitchen. The sun will begin setting within the hour. Then you can see the torch light from the kitchen straight through.” The man explained.
Little willow paced in circles below the board, studying it from below. She began to get a kink in the neck, so she sat down to think a little. “It seems to be dangling about eight feet from the ground. If only there was a way I could get up there.”
“Well, there are some barrels in the center ring of the dungeon hall. They will be sending dinner down any time now.” He paused, “Ugh, they are terrible cooks. I am surprised that he is able to stand the meals they make.” He thought a moment and added, “if we could roll a barrel over here and I could stand on it, I might be able to lift you high enough to climb onto the board.” With that Baby Willow ran out into the dungeon hall.
“Where have you been?” The others asked. “We all thought you were eaten or something!”
Baby Willow began to explain to them that she had found a possible way to escape and free them all. But she had to find a way to climb up into a hole in the ceiling. They rooted her on and wished her the best of luck and safety.
The old man picked out the sturdiest-looking barrel and asked Baby Willow’s assistance in moving it.
“We must be very quiet though. Sometimes you can hear the commotion in the kitchen, and I gather you can hear the commotion from down here from up there as well. Please help me move this, I am old, and have been down here for a long time and I’m not in as good shape as I used to be. It will probably take everything I have to lift you as it is.”
“Before I go, may I ask your name, In case we don’t see eachother again?” Baby Willow valiantly asked. “My name is Baby Willow.”
They rolled the barrel into the cell.
“My name is Henry, little Willow. King Henry,” he added.
The board suddenly began to sway and lift upward. “Hurry!” He said as he reached to pick up the little pony. “They are bringing it up to serve dinner.”
Little Willow struggled to climb aboard, but when she did she didn’t have any time to say anything before she completely disappeared into the ceiling. It was an unpleasant ride as she passed several rats climbing the inside of the hole.
Baby Willow could soon see through the hole into the kitchen. A strange gargoyle-looking creature was turning the crank to bring the board up. When she was close enough to reach the surface she scrambled out of the hole and scampered across the kitchen floor. A horrified gargoyle threw up his armful of distasteful food and went lumbering after her. She was much too quick for him and ran down the hall into an open room. He passed the room she clamored into and then he lumbered off until he was out of sight.
Baby Willow panted and caught her breath. She started to look around and see if she could get an idea of where she was. She found a window covered with scarlet drapes at the other side of the room. The drapes were very heavy and covered with dust. She would not have noticed them except there was a small beam of light coming from between the two panels. She moved them apart enough to get behind them to look out the window. The window was very dirty and was hard to look out of. She fumbled around for the latch and opened the window enough to peek out. Looking out, she found the castle was three stories not including high towers that were on every point of the castle, and two towers on either side of the drawbridge. The drawbridge was to the left of her. She treaded lightly through the room and around the corner into the hallway. Baby Willow heard the gargoyle humming about and preparing the food in the kitchen. Apparently he gave up on trying to find her.
“Short attention span.” She murmured, “That must be why the food tastes so bad, I guess.” She listened carefully to avoid any other confrontations as she made her way down the hall.
Little Willow heard the Duke yelling at one of the griffins. Something about “losing a imperative member of the kingdom.” His raving echoed down the hall. She could see the throne room. It was a large room directly down the hall. In fact, it connected the east and west wing together. In essence it was the central part of the castle. Two stairways came around from either side of the throne. Each staircase leading to two different parts of the castle. There were two walls protecting him from the stairway in case of an ambush, making the throne look like it sat against a curved wall. The castle was beautiful, regardless of its neglected state. All lined with white alabaster on the inside. Carvings on the molding of the ceilings depicted cherubs and ivy. They were heavily laden with dust.
The throne room had a direct view of the outside. It was above the drawbridge and the two towers above it were connected to it. A spiraling staircase went up on each side of the room up to the two towers. Baby Willow hid around the corner. She took a better look at the hallway she was in. The same scarlet drapes lined the windows looking out through the front of the castle.
Beautiful lit torches were adorning the opposite wall of the hallway. The drapes were drawn and would be until late dusk, which would be soon, but she could hide behind a drape panel until she could scurry to another hiding place.
The view was the best. She could see that the throne room had direct access to the balcony above the drawbridge. This was once a glorious castle indeed.
“Sire, the ones you sent for are here.” A strange toad-human creature came in through the stairway on the side closest to Baby Willow. The toad then proceeded to hop down the stairs on two feet. “Bring them in,” came the reply bellowing in the castle. To Baby Willow’s amazement, Majesty, Baby Majesty and Pyro came trudging up the stairs.
They lined up abreast in front of the duke as he sat with his left hand on one arm of the throne and the other toying with a key on a leather string around his neck. Queen Majesty stood in withheld scorn for the man who had taken her people prisoner. Pyro’s eyes were aflame with anger welling up inside of him. You could literally see the flame in his eyes as he stood quietly. Little Baby Majesty frowned in a pout.
“I suppose you want this key to free your people.” He stood up and leaned against his throne. “I will give it to you in exchange for your source of power.”
Majesty stepped forward, “I am what you seek. I will take their place.”
“No, you can’t do that! We need you!” Little Majesty protested as Pyro held her back.
“Shhh little one. She knows what she is doing.” Pyro whispered to her.
“So do I!” Baby Majesty shouted as she broke free of his grip. She leapt up and grasped the key. When she did she accidentally caught the Piper’s pipe and broke it free from his neck. Almost instantly the Duke turned to ash. As he did he screamed, “No!” His voice had a hollow sound as he disappeared into a scattered pile of ash on the floor.
Baby Majesty began to cry, and stammered, “I-I didn’t mean to kill him!” She sobbed into her mother's clutch. Pyro looked on and sat down in a sigh of astonishment and relief. The wind began to blow, and the ash scattered and drifted out the windows like snow. Baby Willow stepped through the flurry of ash into the throne room.
“It’s alright Maj.” Baby Willow said to her, trying to comfort her. “He was a bad man, he might have hurt us. Besides, you didn’t kill him. I have a feeling that thing he was wearing did. Come on, we haven’t much time before nightfall. The sun is balancing on the horizon as it is. We must find the others, and I have an eerie feeling right now.”
“How did you get here Lil’ Willow?” Baby Majesty said as she wiped a tear.
“It’s a long story. That man was not the king though, I can tell you that for sure. The real king is in the dungeon. Bring that pipe thing and the key. We may need both of those.”
“Do you know which way the dungeon is Baby Willow?”
“No, not exactly, I just know it’s on the east wing.”
Almost instinctively Baby Willow traveled through halls and down staircases as if she knew the castle by heart. The determination in her eyes burned as she finally found the iron door King Henry spoke of. Pyro lifted the heavy rusted bolt and Little Willow turned the key. Pyro was the only one strong enough to move the heavy door. Even then he strained a little. The whole dungeon filled with cheers. Then Baby Willow unlocked all the cells hastily.
Baby Majesty turned as soon as Little Willow had unlocked the last cell. She started up the stairs getting a running head start on the group. Queen Majesty ran after her daughter.
“What are you doing? Where are you going?” She called after her.
“I want to get back to Baby Rocket! I’m worried about him. We found the others, now we need to go back for Rocket!”
Pyro lumbered after the two ponies knowing he had better go with them.
Baby Willow greeted the king once again, wished him farewell and bolted off after the group. Queen Majesty ran to fetch Baby Willow. She knew her mother was very worried about her. The rest of the ponies filed out after them. The sun began to set as the strange wind blew throughout the castle.
As the ponies fled outside they noticed that the dust and dirt was blowing away. Dust filled the air, and it was hard to breathe. Baby Majesty noticed that the trees she thought were dead were not actually dead, but dormant. She noticed little green buds on all the plants and trees. A swirling storm began to brew above them. Lightening flashed and small drops of rain started to fall. The night had come and a strange beast appeared. He dove just above the ponies’ heads, his wings eerily brushing their backs. They could feel his warm breath over them and this made them scatter over a large stretch of land.
This is what he wanted. It was the ventaur, and he was looking for what belonged to him. He glided over the backs of each of them until he reached the front of the line. And with precise movement he snatched up Baby Majesty from the crowd and turned back toward the castle. Pyro stopped and called to Queen Majesty who had stopped dead in her tracks in fear.
“Go after Willow and Little Rocket. I’ll go after the princess!”
Reluctantly she followed his advice. But she knew the situation was better left in his hands. Mr. Moochick’s mushromp was just around the corner. Willow was already outside with Spike and Baby Rocket. They were all fine, picking bunion berries for Mr. Moochick’s recipes.
“We were trying to keep busy. Our minds were wandering, and we were tempted to go after you.
Mr. Moochick thought we should stay here and gave us things to do to keep our minds busy. Didn’t help all that well.” Willow explained.
“Oh my, what’s wrong?” Willow asked, seeing something in Majesty’s eyes was not right.
Baby Willow stepped out from behind Majesty and spoke, “Baby Majesty got swept up by a monster.”
Willow’s face was filled with mixed emotion, happy to see her daughter, but saddened to know about her little friend’s tragic disappearance. She couldn’t help it any longer. She rushed over to Baby Willow in one long stride, held her and cried.
Pyro chased after the ventaur. Lightening began to strike all around Pyro, missing him by mere inches.
“I’ve come to think I attract this stuff,” he said to himself. The ventaur landed on the balcony on his hind legs, carrying Baby Majesty in one arm.
“Where is he!” The ventaur growled to King Henry who was bumbling around the throne room.
“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Henry said, terrified.
“Liar!” The ventaur shouted in anger, knocking over a vase and stand with his other arm as he approached King Henry. The ventaur yanked the pipe hanging around Baby Majesty’s neck and shouted, “The tall skinny man. Where is he?”
“Dead!” Little Majesty shouted at him. “I tried to get the key from him and he turned to ash when I accidentally pulled the pipe from his neck.”
Just then, Pyro landed onto the balcony. His eyes where aflame, and his stance was challenging. The ventaur instinctively turned, and hunched in a defensive stance. His scales curled upward on his back. He dropped Baby Majesty and she scooted away from the snarling creatures as they circled eachother. The ventaur lashed at Pyro with snarling teeth, wet from saliva. Pyro swatted at him with his claws. Again the ventaur lashed at him gnashing his teeth close to Pyro’s skin. At that moment Pyro had had enough, and he gathered himself to blow fire at the ventaur. The ventaur took advantage of this and knocked him over with a strong arm. He almost hissed with laughter as he stood over him. But Pyro burst into flames, burning the ventaur. He stepped back in surprise, and bowed to the dragon.
“Good game.” The ventaur said simply. He stuffed the pipe back into his bag, flapped out of the throne room and disappeared before anyone could see which direction he went.
Pyro and Baby Majesty, both shocked, looked outside from the balcony. They could no longer see nor hear the rumbling of pony hoof beats. Baby Majesty knew it was time to go, so she climbed aboard Pyro’s back. Just as Pyro leapt off the balcony he saw two black ravens which reminded him of the two griffins he had previously encountered. Pyro shook his head and said a long drawn out, “Naah. Couldn’t be.”
“Come on Pyro, let’s get back to the others before my mom worries too much. She’s had enough worry in the last few days to last ten years. I don’t want her to worry any longer.”
Willow, Majesty, Spike and Baby Willow waved a hasty goodbye to Mr. Moochick and Habit the rabbit before they galloped off. They heard the crashing of small brush and the sound of many hoof beats through the forest, and knew it was time to go.
Suddenly a strange sound filled the forest. It was the screaming of the unenchanted pony that belonged to the duke. He ran in fear with the little ponies, still dragging the heavy cart behind him. The cart hit every snag and branch through the forest, and he was about to run himself to death. Willow went chasing after him.
“What are you doing Willow!” Majesty screamed after her.
“I can’t just leave him here!” She called back to her. Just then the cart hit a tree and smashed into pieces. This startled him even more, and he went jumping and kicking for a few strides. His eyes rolled back in exhaustion.
Willow ran up beside him, grabbing his reins in her mouth, and slowing him down. He stood, panting hard, his eyes closing. Finally he hung his head near the ground. Willow became afraid that he would collapse. His legs shook and wobbled like two thick towers about to fall.
Willow didn’t know what else to do for him, so she kindly removed his harness and reins. Majesty and the others joined her as she began to walk away. The unenchanted pony began to trudge slowly behind.
“That was very valiant of you Willow. The unenchanted ones are unpredictable, you could have been badly hurt,” Majesty commended.
“I already have been, if you remember me being stuck under a tree branch this morning.” Willow winked at her, then continued, “I figure I could help someone the same way Pyro and you helped me.” Willow then glanced back at the little gray pony following them and said, “Do you think he will follow us the entire way?”
“I don’t know Willow. If he does, he will become one of us when he steps into the valley. It isn’t up to us to bring him, if he chooses to come, he will. I must go now to find my family, Willow. Take care.” She said as she trotted off.
Spike bounced after her, “Wait for me!” He shouted. They both disapeared into the forest.
“Guess it’s just you and me kid. –And him.” Willow told her daughter, looking in the direction of the unenchanted pony.
“Mmmhmm.” Little Willow said curiously.

To be continued…