//------------------------------// // Splashing Crash Down // Story: Fear from the Heart // by Dragon Heart //------------------------------// If someone asked someone else, "Who is the most powerful being in all of Equestria?", they would say Princess Celestia and Luna, hooves down. If someone asked someone else, "What is the strongest creature in all of existence?", they would say Alicorns, and thus, still the Princesses. But if someone asked someone else, "What is the most dangerous thing in the world?", they would most likely say Dragons. Dragons were by far the strongest and most powerful beings ever to walk and fly the world, second only to the Princesses. Almost all species had many things in common: Long tails, thick spines, clawed talons, scales, fanged teeth, and truly phenomenal senses. Though they also had their differences. Some have wings for flying, others were earthbound. Some could swim with majestic ease, others burrowed through ground. Needless to say, like ponies, their were different species with different attributes, and they came in many different shapes and sizes. Fully grown Western Dragons could reach a length of forty-five feet, and stand from thirteen to seventeen feet high. But there is one species of Dragon that is larger than the Western Dragon, and it is high in the skies where we meet him. High up in the clouds, near the top of the mountain, a young lone Dragon flew around the peak. He was about twenty feet long with a wingspan of twenty-five feet. He was a medium grey with a deep blue stripe running down the back of his head, body, and tail. He had six black horns on his head. Two on his snout, one on top of each eye, and two big horns facing back. Black spikes ran down from the back of his head to his tail. He had a rather boney looking lower jaw. His bulbar conjunctivas were yellow, and his irises were neon green. His wings had four elongated fingers with gold-orange colored wing membranes, as well as a sort of three-fingered hand on the joint of both wings. And on the end of his tail, he had a golden colored mace, which felt light weighted to him, but is also heavy enough to seriously wound anything or anyone unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it. He only had two legs, though, and his feet were wide enough to carry a full grown pony, and nothing bigger. His name was Hammerheart, and he is a rare species of Dragon known as Wyverns. Wyverns were the largest Dragons to ever roam the world and skies. But Hammerheart was still in his late teenage years, so he still had many years to go before reaching full size. He continued to glide near the mountaintop, only flapping his wings when losing altitude. He grinned as he basked in the unshielded sunlight above the cloud layer, unaffected by the sun's ultraviolet rays. He let out a blissful sigh. "Fresh air, the great outdoors." He said with a deep, gravely, and thick Trottish accent. "Just another one of those days where no one can stand in me way." When he felt the time was right, he arched forward, held his wings to his sides, and nosedived through the clouds and along the mountainside. Random branches sticking out from the mountain zoomed past him as he descended. He was getting closer to the tree line near the mountain foothill. When he felt a surge run down his back, Hammerheart spread his wings wide and quickly straightened himself out. He flew atop the treetops, dodging anything that stuck out from the forest. And with one strong flap of his wings, he darted upwards again. When he was at an appropriate height, he stretched his wings as wide as he could while standing on a cloud, and the sun shined through his membranes and created a blinding flash similar to a solar flare. He managed to aim his little trick at a small town, and could hear the cries of those who just received a nasty surprise. Hammerheart fell onto his back and started wheezing and laughing. He always loved pulling tricks and pranks on other creatures, especially ponies, but this was the greatest move he had ever pulled off. The town he just flashed was always the most hardest hit by his shenanigans. "Oh, that's a knee slapper, that one!" He said, still laughing and wheezing. A breeze brushed against his face as something flew by. Hammerheart stopped laughing and raised an eye. He got back to his feet and scanned his perimeter. So far, he could not see, hear, or smell anything. But then he felt something scratch his macetail. He turned his gaze to see a harpoon fall spinning to the forest below. Now he knew what was going on. He was being hunted. Apparently the townsfolk have had enough of his pranks, and wanted to exterminate the trickster. He flapped and got airborne. Another harpoon flew past him, nearly striking him in the eye. These hunters were pretty precise, and determined. He flew away from the area, but more harpoons started flying towards him. He dodged and flipped and barrel rolled to avoid getting hit. "These clipe drate gominal sharpshooters ain't gonna get me hide that easily!" Hammerheart grunted as he back flipped, and a harpoon went through the loop he made. Eventually the harpoons ceased, but Hammerheart did not believe they were done yet. Suddenly, the harpoons started firing again, but surrounded in what appeared to be Unicorn magic. Hammerheart knew he was in danger, because now the harpoons were tracking him, seeking the heat in his body. He aileron rolled some more, harpoons deflecting off the wind he made as he spun. When he halted, Hammerheart thought they gave up as the hunters seemed to have ceased fire again. But a piercing pain said otherwise. Hammerheart looked down to see that a spear, not a harpoon, got shot into the bottom of his soft throat. Now that he was injured, much to his folly, Hammerheart tried to escape. His head started to hurt and his vision got blurry. He felt like a drunken bee trying to find its way to the hive. Soon his wings grew numb and uncontrollable, and he started falling. He burst through the treetops, smashing and crashing through branch after branch. Hammerheart was crashing through the forest so fast, the handle of the spear broke off after jamming onto a rock. He felt something get caught in a tight squeeze and yanked off. Hammerheart growled in pain. His wing membranes brushed very harshly against branches, stumps, and other sharp pointy objects of nature. He then burst from the tree line and fell into a river. Hammerheart struggled to keep his head above the surface as he was dragged down the river. As he held his drowsy head above the water, he saw that he was heading straight for a waterfall. Hammerheart tried to swim towards the shore. He flapped his wings, but he was not getting anywhere. He soon found himself plummeting down off the edge and into the large pond below. Hammerheart splashed into the pond and flailed underwater, trying to get a grip on something. He was starting to feel very lethargic. That spear that pierced him must have been laced with a sedative of some sort. Fortunately, he managed to keep up his tenacity long enough to plant his foot on the rocky ground and walk his way to the shore. Before he would succumb to the effects of the sedative, he examined the damage done to him. And he was a train wreck. His underbelly was covered in cuts and scrapes, and the rest of his body was bruised from his tumble through the woods. His wing membranes were torn to bleeding shreds, barely a single piece of skin was left. He looked at his tail to discover that his mace was also gone, ripped clean off the end. The spear that brought him down was broken, but the spearhead was still lodged in his throat, and he could not get it out. Hammerheart was furious. How could he have let such creatures bring him down? A mighty Dragon. A Wyvern. The anger fueled his rage, and he let out a deafening roar before dropping to the ground and passing out.