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A cool wind blew through multicolored trees, their leaves just beginning to turn. The summer had grown late, and fall was trying to creep its way across the valley. It was a change welcomed, but not appreciated by one. She sat at the edge of her lair, merely a cave she'd claimed as her own. The young dragon looked out from the ledge, set high up in a rocky wall, looking down over the swaying carpet of turning greenery. While she appreciated the view and enjoyed the changing weather, the passing of another warm season was a somber one for her.

Asteria was small, for a dragon her age. She was still young, by the standards of her mighty species, but even then, she was undersized. While her peers were pushing upwards of a dozen feet tall, muscular and strong, she had barely managed to reach seven this year. Her strength was wan compared to theirs, too. She struggled to fly, to climb, and to hunt. She had no hoard. She had no allies. All she had was this cave, and her magic. She was at least lucky in that regard. Though she was weak in body, her magic was strong. While others in her generation could only do simple things, like fireballs, small illusions, tricks of light and sound, she could weave together far more complex enchantments. It was this ability she placed her faith in now.

She took a deep breath of the evening air, the setting sun making her violet scales shade closer to magenta. She'd always thought her scales were her best feature. In terms of dragons, she had little else going for her. Her body was slim, elegant by the standards of other species, but to her fellows she was nothing but a runt. Her flat chest was hardly anything to look at. Her hips were narrow, unfit for bearing eggs. Her poor hunting meant she had no softness to offer, making some question her health, and with so little food to work with she'd been unable to build much muscle either. To others of her kind, she was an outcast. But she was hesitant to mingle with the other species around, victim to her people's pride despite not being fully accepted by them. Soon, she hoped, all this would change.

Recentered, she stood again to go back to her work inside. Though she had no great treasures, she had a wealth of magical scrolls and potions she had created herself. Her latest such experiment surely would be her greatest. She worked at this for months, closer to a full year by now, and finally she was ready to use it. Putting the finishing touches on the tall potion bottle, she gave the black mixture a final stirring. It smelled oily and spicy, and made her stomach turn, despite knowing she had to drink it all. She reviewed the formula again to distract herself from the task; specially made to greatly increase the elasticity and toughness of skin and muscles, increase nutrient uptake from ingested items, greatly enhanced abilities to digest anything eaten, and a special calming pheromone to aid capturing and consuming more... resistant prey. It was perfect. It should work. Nothing could stop her after this.

She plugged her nose, closed her eyes, and upturned the bottle into her muzzle. The spice of it was overwhelming, and it bore a salty, sour aftertaste. It was hard to stop herself gagging, hand trembling as she struggled to swallow the last of the potion. As soon as it was all safely down her gullet, she began to cough, sinking to her knees and clutching the edge of the table. Her legs felt weak, and her stomach felt hot, roiling with upset from her drink. Her head felt fuzzy, body heavy. All her limbs burned as she sank to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness as her body processed the changes the magical mixture was forcing her to endure.

When next she woke up, Asteria felt the chill wind of night tickling her scales. She pulled herself to her talons woozily, blinking the thick fog from her mind. The significance of what this moment meant hit her like a brick, shaking the last of the cobwebs from her mind. She had to test the potion. See if it worked. She looked down at the now empty potion bottle, lying on her work bench. It would do for testing the resilience portion of the elixir. As a dragon, naturally far tougher than the average anthro, glass wouldn't kill her. But it would be mightily unpleasant until it passed. Her claws wrapped around it nervously, and she brought it to her muzzle. Before she could think about it any longer, she took a bite, expecting the severe discomfort of glass shards in her mouth. Instead, all she felt was the crunch, and nothing more. Her expression lit up with delight, as she chewed down and swallowed the rest of the bottle. No pain. No discomfort. No taste of blood. The pulverized glass merely settled in her stomach, and she felt her muscles churn as they worked on the first thing she'd eaten in days.

Stretch. She had to see if she could stretch now. For that though, she needed something large, and preferably something more pleasant than a glass bottle. She padded out to the front of her cave, looking down upon the forest. She wished for meat to fill the gnawing hunger that was overtaking her mind, now that her body had a taste of something it could process. But she knew she was still too weak. An idea popped into her mind - a berry patch, not far from here. It was rare she got to them before the locals did, but now? She could devour the whole patch, bushes and all. She licked her lips, stomach growling at the idea.

A running start was needed to get into the air, but off she went, gliding into the night on wide and silent wings. She passed above the trees as but a shadow, hunger driving her onwards further than she might have normally gone at such an hour. The bushes were in a clearing, planted long ago by some intrepid frontiersman long since gone. The land had mostly reclaimed the space, except for this clearing. She saw the gap in the trees, banking and circling down to brake her speed and make the most graceful landing she could manage. The air in this little glade was sweet with berry juices and flowers, which only made Asteria's belly growl more loudly. She hoped against hope for some berries to be left, but to no avail; picked clean again. She at once cursed her luck and thanked the stars. If they were bare, that meant no one would come looking, and she would be left alone for her meal.

It started with the leaves. Each bush was methodically stripped of greenery by sharp claws, the leaves, flowers, and berry buds swiftly devoured. Asteria was shocked at how sweet they were, and how good they tasted. It was nothing like how she remembered it, but once she started, stopping was impossible. It was on a whim that she tried chewing up a branch next. It was green and soft, bursting with the plant's vital liquids. Despite her sharper than average teeth and powerful jaws, wood wasn't always the easiest meal, but it was easier to shred than expected and tasted just as good as the leaves. She wasn't so careful now about stripping leaves; each branch was being munched whole, disappearing into her ravenous gullet. Even the main bodies of the shrubs were no match for her maw, huge chunks being ripped away at a time. She could feel her stomach swelling with the sheer volume of food she was putting away, yet there was never even a hint of discomfort. Even once a whole bush had been eaten whole. Then two. Then five.

It was only after the eighth berry bush had been devoured that she felt a measure of satisfaction. She looked down at herself in shock - her belly was a tight dome of scales, hanging out in front of her and packed incredibly full. She rested her hands over top of it, feeling her body working hard at processing her heavy meal. There was no way she'd be able to make it back to her lair like this. She could hardly fly when her stomach was empty. With this much extra weight, there was no chance. She would have to spend the night on the ground, exposed and alone, and that was not a pleasant prospect. At least her potion was working as intended, she thought, waddling slowly for the trees to find someplace to cover up.

As it would turn out, luck was on her side this day. She didn't have far to struggle until she found a rather large hollow in the roots of a huge tree, large enough for her to crawl inside and curl up around her weighty, swollen middle. She did her best from this vantage to cover the opening with leaves, fallen branches, and a screen of vines, hopefully enough to keep her presence hidden. It was time to test another component of her potion - enhanced digestion. She should be able to process this meal in its entirety without any issues at a much faster rate than normal. And the only way to see if it would work would be to wait and see.

As she laid down to rest, she rubbed her stomach gently, pressing into the scales and stretched skin beneath, feeling the way her gut clenched around her unusual meal. She closed her eyes, senses slowly becoming dulled to the world outside her little hideout. She was lost in the simple pleasure and warmth she felt as she worked through her food, the sensation blissful in a way she'd never felt before. As the hours passed, she felt in real time as the swell began to shrink, the feeling of fullness steadily lessening as everything was broken down by her needy, near-starved body. At some point, she dozed to sleep, lulled by the gentle sounds of her gurgling middle. By the time it was finished, the first rays of light began to peek through her protective canopy, awakening her with their gentle touch.

She woke with a start in this unfamiliar place, before recalling the events of yesterday. It seemed a dream, now that her middle was back to being flat and smooth, but as she stretched to shake off the last cobwebs of sleep from her mind, she could tell it was anything but. She felt it all over, how her body carried a new weight. All her gluttony yesterday showed today in a much healthier frame, not looking so sickly and thin. She covered her muzzle with her paws, joy threatening to overwhelm her fragile emotions. Then her stomach growled.

Hungry again. Of course, now she was finally eating again, her body would be craving sustenance to propel her back to health. She stretched lazily, thinking about going back to eat the rest of that berry patch, when she heard the rustle of hooves in the grass outside. She froze, trying to focus her senses on this curious passerby. Male she could tell, by the weight of his steps. Cervine, by the scent. And looking for food, the way he was foraging around. He let out a confused sound at the damage done to the berry patch. Perhaps she would get a meal after all, she thought, slowly creeping from her hiding place, staying low and quiet as she got a better look at her potential prey.

He was... well, not unlike herself. He was clearly young, his horns just barely coming in. Thin, small, timid. His fur was a lustrous hazel on the back and on his arms, with a cream colored belly, chest, and chin. His blue eyes were wide as he roamed the berry patch, observing the destruction her meal caused the previous night. He wasn't much of a meal, but he would do, she thought, advancing on all fours closer to him. This was the perfect moment to try her calming pheromones, and she wasn't going to pass up such a good opportunity like this.

She could tell this young buck was getting spooked, no matter how quiet she stayed as she approached. Deer have sharp noses and sharper ears, able to pick up on the tiniest unusual scent or smell, and she imagined her presence was highly unusual indeed. He was starting to turn, looking to bolt back the way he came. She leapt out of the bushes with her maw wide open; even a runt of a dragon was two feet taller than this deer, and stronger besides, as she took him down in a fierce tackle. A thick, pinkish cloud of pheromones rolled from her jaws straight into the buck's face, his blind panic dissolving with each breath he took into a confused dumbfounded look. Above him, Asteria smiled triumphantly for her success, the sun catching her scales in this small clearing as she reared back, ready to make him her next meal. "You're gorgeous," he murmured, making her freeze.

She couldn't help herself, curiosity piqued. "I'm about to eat you and you think I'm beautiful?" she asked incredulously. "Perhaps those pheromones aren't working as intended..." She looked closer at him, observing his unfocused gaze, felt the slow and calm breath in his chest. That didn't seem to be it.

"This is the honest truth. I think you look stunning," the deer admitted, shrinking on himself with an embarrassed blush. "I have no idea what you did to me, but that's coming from the heart."

"This is just an attempt to save your life, isn't it?" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she spoke.

"If it helps me not get eaten, that's just a bonus I think," he admitted, both of them looking down as her belly complained loudly for food, a look of discomfort flashing across her muzzle. "Say... I can be more useful to you than just a snack," he said, eyes lighting up with an idea. "I can get you way more food to eat!"

She eyed him again, keeping him pinned but pulling her head back a fraction. "I'm listening. But if I don't like this idea, I'll eat you right there."

"Just hear me out!" he spoke more quickly now. "I know all the best places to forage in these woods, I can get you all the veggies and fruits you can eat. And I can sneak baked things away from the village!"

"And what about my protein, dear?" She emphasized the word with a slow lick of her wicked sharp teeth. He swallowed hard, though no sign of panic stole over his face, her chemicals still at work on him.

"I... can... trick a few villagers into the woods for you," he offered more quietly. "People no one likes. That no one would miss if they vanished. Travelers and traders that no one knows."

"Willing to sell out your people to save your own skin?" she hummed, smiling wryly down at him. "Shrewd. But an interesting proposal. Bring me one of these folk, and prove you're willing to do this. If you can't, I will eat you instead. Deal?" She sat up more, offering her talons to shake.

He eyed her hand, conflict evident on his face. After a few tense moments of silence, he sighed, shaking her hand. "Deal," he murmured. "I'm Roland, by the way. Let me show you to the village. So you can come back any time you want."

She rose off of him with a little chuckle, grabbing his shoulder and helping him up to his hooves. "Asteria," she said, head tilting playfully. "I might not leave, if this is as good a deal as you say," she grinned.