"Empress! Hey, Empress!" Ravenna called, waving her arms wildly at the dragon flying in with Vaskin on her back and someone she didn't recognize flying beside her. Leif back winged and landed on the palace grounds, almost collapsing in exhaustion. Vaskin climbed down from her back with an even graver look on his face than the day before.

"What is it, Ravenna?" Leif mumbled, loafing on the ground with her feet tucked under her.

"You'll never guess the news that just came in!" Ravenna cheerily replied.

"Did someone find Manx?" Vaskin said, perking up a bit.

"No, not really..." Ravenna started.

"Then why are you wasting our time?" Leif grumbled.

"Two words. Vanishing Unicorns!" Ravenna squealed in delight, obviously self satisfied.

"And why should we care?" Vaskin snapped.

"The rumor is that they disappeared in a swirly wisp of black smoke-ish stuff. I was thinkin' y'know, that maybe Manx had something to do with it." Ravenna said.

"What would Manx want with a bunch of unicorns?" Vaskin asked, crossing his arms in disgust.

"Well, the only silver helixes of shadow I know of are Manx and her dad, and he doesn't strike me as the type who'd want anything to do with unicorns, ya' know?" Ravenna replied.

Leif sighed and rested her head on the lawn, while Vaskin glared at Ravenna reproachfully.

"It's just a thought. Maybe you should check..." Ravenna said, before Vaskin cut her off, saying, "We have much more important matters on our hands than vanishing unicorns."

Ravenna sighed. "Well, fine." She replied. "It was worth a shot."

Vaskin rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

"Anywho...Are you guys hungry? Ivy and The Kapybara whipped something up in the kitchen with the cooks. It smells very good, but I couldn't go in because the job they gave me was to keep Thorryn from eating all the pineapples." Ravenna said, attempting to change the subject.

N'Digo landed in the grass in front of the palace next to the Empress, worn out and panting for breath. "Bloody dragon flyin' so fast!" N'Digo remarked. "So this is it, eh? I've never seen a place quite like it."

"Oh, hiyee! I don't think we've met before!" Ravenna said, holding out her hand towards N'Digo.

N'digo spat off to the side and rolled her teal, green, and yellow flecked eyes.

"I just love your tattoos! And, ohmygawsh, are you wearing actual chains?" Ravenna gushed.

"Aye. It's all ta' protest silver helix an' halfbreed rights." N'Digo replied, eyeing her arms with self admiration.

"That's AWESOME!" Ravenna squealed. "A few of my best friends are silver helixes, and then one of my other best friends is a silver helix and a half breed!"

"Ya' obv'sly 'ave got better taste than most a' the people in this world." N'Digo said with an approving nod.

Ravenna smiled, turning around when the gates burst open.

"THORRRYYYYN!" Ivy screamed, as the small dragon dashed through the doors with a very self satisfied look on his face.

"Oh no, baby snugglekins what did you do this time?!" Ravenna groaned, chasing after her draggon and grabbing him by the tail.

"You had one job, Ravenna. One. Single. Tiny. Job." Ivy panted.

"But I had to tell Leif and Vaskin about the vanishing unicorns!" Ravenna protested, finally getting Thorryn under control.

Just as Ivy turned back towards the palace, The Kapybara came running out, her eyes wide with excitement and her arms full of exotic fruit.

"I can't grow any more of those! Pineapples take extra concentration!" Ivy remarked, as The Kapybara ran up to Thorryn and Ravenna.

"What exactly is going on?" Leif asked.

"It was the most beautiful kaboom I've ever seen!" The Kapybara said with a wide grin.

"Oh no, that's the look...Kappy, what did you do?" Ravenna asked nervously.

"Here, I'll show you." The Kapybara said enthusiastically while Thorryn started pulling away from Ravenna.

"Haven't you done enough of that inside?" Ivy snapped, slithering madly towards the Kapybara.

"You said to take it outside. We are outside now, no?" The Kapybara replied innocently.

"What exactly is going on here?" Leif said nervously.

"That's what I'd like to know!" Vaskin remarked.

Ivy sighed and said, "Look, no matter how upset you are about what I'm going to tell you, please know that I'm really sorry about the kitchen...or...or lack thereof now."

"What happened?" Ravenna and Leif asked in unison.

"Here, I'll show you!" The Kapybara said, making a motion at Thorryn.

"Oh crap no! Thorry, whatever it is she wants you to do, don't..." Ravenna started, but it was too late. There was a loud explosion and chunks of pineapple flew everywhere.

"What did I tell you!" Ivy yelled, her green eyes beginning to glow with rage. Ivy clenched her fists, and within seconds the pineapple chunks had begun to glow and levitate, before they all formed into entirely new fruits. Long stocky leaves erupted from the bases of the fruits, before touching the ground and tearing into it with their roots.

"What just happened?" Vaskin said in confusion, after the pineapples had finally stopped growing. Ivy collapsed in the grass in exhaustion, while Leif and Ravenna gazed at the lush forest of fruits that had formed around them from Ivy's fury.

"Well, uh, I guess this solves the problem of not enough pineapples!" Ravenna said with a nervous giggle. "Ivy, are you okay?" she continued, kneeling over her friend.

"See! Big kaboom!" The Kapybara said, nodding approvingly at Thorryn.

Leif growled menacingly, getting to her feet. "So while we were gone, you guys were blowing up pineapples?"

"I tried to stop them!" Ivy said weakly.

The Kapybara shrugged.

"So while we're out there risking our necks to search for Lyrica and save Manx, you guys were just fooling around in the kitchen?!" Leif said, her scales standing on end.

"Hey, well someone had to stay behind. And besides, we were trying to make you guys a nice dinner to come home too while listening to any news that might help you in your search. And you basically dissed my vanishing unicorns theory, so yeah." Ravenna replied.

Leif glared at her, fire rising in her chest and smoke bubbling out of the sides of her mouth.

"How about we go get some rest. It won't do Manx any good if we're too tired to fight when we find her." Vaskin said, looking at Ravenna with disgust as he lead the Empress through the dense pineapple leaves and into the palace.

Ivy pulled herself up, standing at her full height and slithering after the Empress. "Nice going, Ravenna." she said as she turned away.

"Hey, wait! I didn't..." Ravenna said.

The Kapybara shrugged and slunk after them. "Kappy, wait! I thought we were friends." Ravenna said.

"I have job to guard the Empress when she's here." The Kapybara solemnly said with a shrug. N'Digo shot Ravenna a disappointed look before she to followed after them.

"Hey, wait! I didn't mean to...I'm sorry!" Ravenna called, plopping down in the grass. Her eyes welled with tears as she whispered, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to mess this up. All I wanted was to help."

Thorryn ran over to her and began licking her face with his long pink tongue. Ravenna gently pushed him away, and so he curled the length of his body around her and nuzzled her wild magenta hair.

"I never meant to mess things up. This is all my fault, Thorryn, well yours too for the pineapples. Which was pretty cool by the way, but ugh! What in the Valdt am I going to do with you?" Ravenna said as she hugged his face. "You've gotten so big, and you're almost as big as the Empress now. You barely fit in the house anymore, and your baby blankie is just a shredded napkin now."

"I don't ever want to leave you, mommy." Thorryn whimpered.

Ravenna chuckled. "I don't see myself ever giving you up either, even though you're the biggest pain in the world. But you're my biggest pain in the world."

Thorryn playfully licked her ear and said, "What do we do now?"

"We're going to make it better." Ravenna said, wiping her eyes and standing up. "Thorryn, we're going to go find Manx and bring her to the Empress. That way we can make up for everything, and maybe I'll be the hero for once!"

"But what about me? I wanna' be a hero too." Thorryn protested.

"We'll both be heroes. But all we need is for you to be able to fly with me on your back so we can search for Manx ourselves." Ravenna said. Thorryn tilted his head and asked, "So you'll be my rider now?"

"Yep. What do you thing, eh? Pretty awesome when you think of it! You and me flying into battle, valiant heroes swooping in at the last second to save a damsel in distress! They'll call out names and our legacy can be painted in the stars!" Ravenna replied triumphantly.

Thorryn knelt down with a smile and said, "Let's fly!"

Ravenna swung her leg over Thorryn's back, getting her foot stuck in the joint between his wing and its socket and falling backwards, wildly flailing her arms. Thorryn reached his tail around and wrapped it around her waist, hoisting her onto his spine. He then stood as tall as he could and began trotting off at his top speed, Ravenna bouncing along on his back and clinging to his neck yelling "Slow down!"

Thorryn eventually stopped running when he had made an incredibly long leap, unseating his rider in the process.

"How about we try that again, but slowly this time, okay?" Ravenna said, clutching her partially limp tail in one hand while rubbing her sore rear with the other.

Thorryn ran back to her, his tongue lolling out like an excited puppy. He nodded in agreement at her proposition and used his tail to firmly place her on his back once more.

"Remember to take it slow. How about we practice a bit more on the ground before we do anything in the air. I'm so glad nobody saw that." Ravenna commented.

"Okay." Thorryn said in delight, launching forwards once more. "Please, slow down!" Ravenna called. Thorryn sighed and stopped heavily in his tracks, this time launching Ravenna over his head and causing her to land in the grass with a solid thud on her back.

"Maybe just a little bit slower than that!" Ravenna groaned, pulling herself to her feet.

"Sorry." Thorryn said, walking up to her and affectionately licking her cheek.

"Aw, it's okay. You'll do better next time." Ravenna said, clambering back onto his back.

Thorryn sighed and took a few paces forward, asking, "Is this slow enough for you?"

"Maybe a little bit faster." Ravenna said. At that, Thorryn picked up his pace into an even trot, and this time Ravenna did not fall off. After awhile, she encouraged him to try going even a little faster.

"Hey, I think we're getting the hang of this!" Ravenna called. Thorryn looked over his shoulder and smiled, before asking, "Can I fly now?"

"Let's try close to the ground first, just in case." she replied. Thorryn eagerly picked up his pace, cantering in wide circles until he gained momentum, and the with a flying leap, he launched himself into the air. Thorryn flapped his wings wildly, never having flown with carrying more weight than his own, and his little wings were not fully grown in yet.

"Come on Thorryn! You can do this!" Ravenna called, as the young dragon hovered inches above the ground with all his might. Motivated by her encouragement, Thorryn pumped his wings even harder than before and before he knew what he was doing he was shooting into the clouds.

"Um...Aren't we a bit high up?" Ravenna said, trying not to look down at the palace that was fading out of view through the clouds.

"Oops.." Thorryn replied, before diving down and swooping over the ground, narrowly missing a crash landing by inches. Thorryn zoomed up over the palace wall and out above the surrounding city. Having flown this route many times before, it wasn't as hard anymore to adjust for having a rider at this altitude, and soon he was soaring over the city with ease. Ravenna let out a whoop of glee and said, "Wheeee!" as Thorryn began chasing a flock of wayward geese.

"See, Thorryn! We'll show them! Now who's the useless one, eh?" Ravenna said, laughing as Thorryn leaped through a cloud. Thorryn let out a loud squeal, his equivalent of a roar, and banked into a dive. He leveled himself out just over the tops of the trees in the forest outside the city. Thorryn then went into a barrel roll, almost losing Ravenna in the process, but he was able to catch her with his prehensile tail at the last second and once again place her on his back.

After about a half an hour of flying, Ravenna was beginning to feel sore and she wondered how other riders handled long flights on the bare backs of dragons, especially since Thorryn had a tendency to move around a lot as he flew.

Ravenna spotted a market through the trees along one of the main roads to and from the city of the Diamond Crown from whence they had come and so she asked Thorryn to land there. Thorryn, still being full of energy, wanted to fly a few laps after dropping her off in the market, to which she begrudgingly obliged.

As Ravenna entered the market, she wondered if there was anything that would make riding Thorryn any less difficult. Her interest was peaked when she saw a shop of saddles where a proud stallion was showing off the merchandise. Ravenna eagerly rushed up to the stall and asked, "Are there perhaps any saddles for dragons sold here?"

The Elf merchant, who appeared to be running the place, looked at Ravenna like she had spontaneously grown a third hand and said, "What saddle shop in the Valdt doesn't?"

"Oh, uh...good! That's good! So, um, I was wondering if there were saddles for small dragons here, like really small." Ravenna asked.

"Depends on the dragon." The elf said, tossing his long silvery black hair.

"Well, he's a little dragon. About this high, and getting kinda leggy. Do ya' have anything that would work?" Ravenna said.

The merchant sighed and said, "You must really be new to this whole dragon riding thing. Well, there's no telling if anything will work because it really depends on the dragon. Some dragons like very elaborate and complex saddles, while some refuse one altogether. If it's a young dragon I'd recommend something more like a strip of leather with straps to hold it on so the dragon can get used to the feel of things."

"Oh, okay. Thanks!" Ravenna replied, looking at all the saddles in curiosity.

The elf merchant put a hand to his chin in contemplation and added, "Of course, with young dragons, falling off is inevitable. You'll definitely need extra straps and a safety line, and possibly a front grip so that your holding on won't impair your dragon's flight patterns."

"Okay cool! I'll wave him down right now." Ravenna said in excitement, before leaning back and bellowing Thorryn's name to the sky.

The merchant raised an eyebrow and said, "And of course you aren't going to be able to ride in that skirt for much longer, especially if you dragon has scales of the keeled variety that tend to stand on end and shred through fabric. Leather is the cheapest, but the most flammable material to work with when it comes to business with dragons, and I wouldn't recommend anything made of dragonhide even of the shed variety."

Ravenna nodded and called to Thorryn again, before asking, "What's a good in between material that won't break?"

The merchant shrugged and replied, "Kragger hide is a good one for beginners because it's affordable and impossible to blow it up, and it also lasts almost forever. However, if you're opposed to materials that require the slaughter of animals then Reaper Moth silk is another good one, however that stuff tends to glow in the dark at times..."

Suddenly, Thorryn landed, tackling Ravenna from behind and affectionately ruffling her hair with his nose, before allowing her to get back on her feet. The merchant chuckled and said, "I've seen all sorts of dragons but rarely do I see ones that imprint so heavily on their caretakers. I take it his name is Thorryn, right?"

Ravenna nodded as Thorryn sniffed around the stall with his tongue enthusiastically lolling out of the side of his mouth in a doglike fashion. The elf regarded Thorryn kindly and said, "I think I have what you need." as he headed to the back of the stall. Ravenna got her dragon's attention before following after the elf merchant in excitement and curiosity.

After fitting Thorryn in a few different saddles, they were able to narrow it down to a light reddish colored moth silk saddle with safety straps and a small grip. Ravenna thanked the elf merchant for his time and payed him for the saddle before mounting Thorryn and taking to the sky.The elf regarded Thorryn kindly and said, "I think I have what you need." as he headed to the back of the stall. Ravenna got her dragon's attention before following after the elf merchant in excitement and curiosity.

After fitting Thorryn in a few different saddles, they were able to narrow it down to a light reddish colored moth silk saddle with safety straps and a small grip. Ravenna thanked the elf merchant for his time and payed him for the saddle before mounting Thorryn and taking to the sky.