Chapter 3 – Returning to London

Queen Vildouleur waited impatiently in the throne room for her troops to come with their report of finding the hidden interdimensional portal at London. Even though she had plenty of time to conquer the world, she realised that she was pressed on time to make it happen, especially when Cynder and her group had made smart of the Pyre Squad and meddled in her affairs far enough.

Eventually, the widescreen monitor at the front of her room flickered on to reveal her right-hand dragon Sardius. "Your Nastiness," he began. "Our search team has returned to the Obsidian Tower, but they were unable to find the portal that we're searching for."

Vildouleur frowned. "Those lousy failures," she seethed. "I will see to it that they will suffer the consequences for their incompetence!"

"Oh, but there's something you should know," went on Sardius. "Our intelligence detected a small group of dragons that just appeared at England. I am under the impression that they might be the group of dragons you are trying to eliminate."

"Just as I have predicted," said Vildouleur as she drummed her claws together. "They must be out to prevent us from finding the interdimensional portal. Well, maybe they can be of good use to us in finding the portal, and once we find it, we'll put an end to those pathetic fools."

"You always have some rotten scheme in thought, don't you?" chuckled Sardius.

"It's just part of being a proper dragon," said Vildouleur.

Sardius nodded in agreement. "Time we should get one of our squadrons to do the job."

"Leave it to me," replied Vildouleur. "I already know who will be able to take on the mission."

"As you wish, Your Maliciousness," said Sardius and the monitor flickered off.

Queen Vildouleur turned around as she schemes her next plan. Those meddling dragons are becoming a nuisance each and every time, she thought. The Pyre Squad have done enough failures, so it's about time I take things up a notch, and I know just who I can count on, least for now.

Grinning evilly, Queen Vildouleur faces a corner enshrouded in darkness. "Bowser!" she called out.

"What is thy bidding, my Queen?" droned Bowser, still under her mind control spell.

"The dragons are on their way to London to find a portal of great importance," said Vildouleur. "When you find them and the portal, kill them with extreme prejudice and summon me to the portal's location."

Bowser's hatred for Cynder and her friends intensified as he readied himself to undertake the task given to him. "I shall do as you command!" he growled, and he stepped into a warp tile while Vildouleur cackled with delight, relishing at the thought of ruling the world and being rid of her enemies.


Cynder and her friends find themselves in an English countryside upon their arrival at Britain. It felt like yesterday for the Twilight Storm princess as she remembered the day she came to the country when Blaze the Cat took her in as a student. She could sense the changes, but for the most part they seemed minimal.

"So this is England," said Draco. "Doesn't look too shabby, I must say."

"Where do we from here now, Cynder?" asked Jakkin.

"From what I remembered, Blaze had good relations with the horses of England," said Cynder. "She particularly was close to Her Royal Highness, Queen Mysticorn."

"Do you know where we can find this queen of horses?" asked Torden.

Cynder tried to remember what Blaze told her. "If I recall correctly, she said it was somewhere around the royal borough at London," she said. "Queen Mysticorn might be the one who knows about the portal since originally, she wasn't from this world, but most likely the same one where Blaze found Darky."

"In that case, I say we better start heading our way to London and find out," said Percival. "The sooner the better so we can prevent Vildouleur from reaching the portal and realising her evil goal."

Nodding in agreement, the dragons took flight and made their way to London. Eventually when they reached the city, they began their search for Queen Mysticorn. They came to a part of the city where there were all kinds of horses, even though they have seen quite a lot of them during their visit to England.

While the dragons were checking the city, several horse people eyed them suspiciously. They have never seen dragons come to their part of London, and they weren't sure if they posed no threat.

Cynder thought hard on what to say to them in order to assure them that she and her group were friendly dragons. "Hello," she greeted. "We're just a group of dragons out on a mission, and we were wondering if we can have an appointment with your queen to discuss something of great importance."

"We're so sorry," said one horse. "Her Royal Highness doesn't speak to anyone, let alone your kind, unless you might be associated with someone she has connections with."

This gave Cynder an idea. "Actually, have you heard of the Dragon Master Blaze Felini?" she asked. "We happen to be a group of her students, and we have come here on her behalf."

"You are?" asked another horse. "Well, why didn't you say so? Come with me! I know just the one who can be able to help you to see Her Majesty."


True to his word, the horse led the dragons to a flat complex. Inside at a certain floor, he knocked on the door of one of the apartments. Cynder was in for a surprise when she saw who answered.

"Dr Phillip Hooves?" she asked silently and to herself.

"Good afternoon, father," said the horse.

"Hullo, Nathan, my boy," replied Dr Hooves. "So good to see you back home."

"You're the son of the London Furry Campus headmaster?" exclaimed Cynder. "Talk about unbelievable!"

"So you have heard of my father, haven't you?" asked Nathan. "Oh, what am I saying? Of course you do since you're all students of Blaze the Cat."

"Technically, none of us are," said Jakkin. "It's Cynder who's the only one trained by her and still is."

Dr Hooves looked at Cynder. "Ah, so you're the rising star of the former Royal Cat Academy Dragon Master Blaze Felini," he said. "I am very pleased to meet you and your friends."

"It is an honour to meet you in person, Sir Phillip," said Cynder as she bowed with utmost respect.

"Sorry for asking a silly question," said Draco. "But who is he, Cynder?"

"He is Dr Phillip Hooves," replied Cynder. "He is the illustrious dean of the London Furry Campus, where Tails went on his preparatory course on Information Technology ten years ago."

"Oh, yes, I remember Tails told me about his two month vacation in England back then," said Draco. "I had no idea that the place he studied to prepare for college was run by someone very famous."

Dr Hooves smiled and nodded. "So, what brings you all here?" he asked.

"They want to have an appointment with Queen Mysticorn," said Nathan. "Surely you might be able to help them since you've been knighted by Her Royal Highness long ago."

Dr Hooves pondered deeply. "Please come inside so we can talk," he said. "I'll serve you all some tea and nosh."

Soon after everyone got comfortable in the apartment, Dr Hooves brought them tea with buttered toast. As Cynder told him about her adventures with her friends up to what brought them to England, his expression changed to a serious tone.

"So you're saying that the Obsidian Devourers are trying to search for the interdimensional portal to bring vicious monsters into this world?" he asked.

"That is all true," replied Cynder. "So you see, this is why we need to see Queen Mysticorn, so she can lead us to the portal's location and we can prevent the Obsidian Devourers from getting there first, but we must do this fast as we're running out of time!"

"The dimensional portal has been here for so many generations," said Dr Hooves. "Only Her Royal Highness has the password needed to gain access to the portal, and when the Obsidian Devourers learn about this, they'll be coming to interrogate Her Royal Highness, which could mean her life is at stake!"

"You mean that they have the potential to kill her?" asked Percival worryingly.

"I'm afraid so," replied Dr Hooves. "And we cannot let that happen. Since you dragons are friends of Blaze and are preventing the Obsidian Devourers from achieving their goals of world domination, I will help you all by bringing you to her right now."


Author's Note: Anyone who has read my fanfiction Tails' Holiday might be familiar with the Dr Hooves character I created, and he's not the only one who makes an appearance here! Wait and find out in the next chapter! Oh, boy, I'm full of surprises!