Leviathan
Chapter 03
The massive dent in the landscape was too perfect to have been forged by nature. It was too precise a hemisphere to have been crafted by anything but sentient artifice and the five platforms that ran perpindicular to the slope only proved this. Located half-way down the bowl and forged from the purest opal the Burning Wasteland had to offer.
Each platform had a pulsing jewel set in the middle of it, each the color of the Flight it corresponded to. From within each jewel pulsed a light that seemed to throb in time to some great beasts heart-beat. The platforms themselves seemed to shiver with each pulse though no physical touch could feel the vibration from the stone. It was something…deeper.
The sides of the crater were smooth as glass though not a trickle of molten stone existed to prove that the hole had been melted into the earth. Dark red stone comprised the walls and when gazed upon, the smoothness and color gave the impression of molten stone held at bay, lava frozen in time. No hint of sunlight, moonlight or starlight had ever pierced the thick clouds yet the area was lit by some subtle radiance.
Spearing vertically from the exact middle of the upside-down dome was a pillar of rock which glowed pure white even in the darkest nights. Yet despite the peaceful color, the light it threw off brought to mind the stellar fury that only stars could display. It seemed to seethe and crackle with rage that would shame the mightiest storm.
The Conclave
That was the name for the dome and such was the presence of the rocky spear that no name could be given to it. For how could one give a name unto that which existed outside the bounds of comprehension and understanding?
From on high, the first descended.
A massive dragon descended with its wing-beats sounding like the roar of a primordial beast just roused from its slumber. With each flap, a boom resounded throughout the jagged and blasted plains that surrounded the Conclave that would have set a lesser beings flesh to trembling and rippling.
Scales of dark crimson edged with white gilded the massive beast from snout to tail so as to remind any who saw the monstrous winged monstrosity of its name.
Nova.
Second in command of the Red Flight and now the Spark, he had been summoned to the Conclave.
Settling onto the opal platform that had been designated the seat of the Spark, Nova slowly shifted into a slightly more deferential posture than the one he had landed in.
The second dragon appeared, screaming down from on high like a meteor thrown by an angry deity. The air itself seemed to stretch and contort around its muzzle before the speed of the sleek wyrm slowed and its shape became clear.
Lithe and sleek to the extreme, it was as if some great being had sought the perfect form to embody aerodynamic flight. Whilst the wings were not as large as those of the Red flight, it was clear they were more powerful. Numerous fins and ridges ran along the wings and along the spine of the beast and as it changed course without unfurling its wings, the purpose of the deformations became clear.
Azure scales covered it from maw to lashing tail but unlike the other dragons, the scales were reflective and as such, granted the Razor of the Blue Flight incomparable camouflage when in flight.
With a thunderous crack that seemed more physical than auditory the Blue opened its wings a mere hundred meters from the opal platform and landed in an almost comically gentle manner. Cruel and wicked claws touched the stone with a delicateness that seemed wrong for such a great beast and a moment later the Razor curled up with its eyes roaming constantly.
Sky-Terror, Razor of the Blue Flight had arrived.
The third dragon came not from the air but lumbered across the land. Great shards of rock littered its path which originated from a gaping wound in the earth though the darkness brooding in the orifice seemed a poor mimicry of the lumbering brute's scales.
Dark as the gulf between stars, the only points of color came from its bright green eyes and jagged grey teeth that crushed the remaining iron and rock with disturbing ease.
Quake had arrived.
Whereas both Red and Blue dragons had been designed for flight, the obsidian juggernaut had been clearly crafted to be nothing short of a living battering ram. No wings adorned its back, only scales think and hard enough to withstand any manner of attack, be it magical or physical.
Reaching the lip of the crater and noting the presence of both Spark and Razor, the Juggernaut of the Black Flight began to make its way down the side of the hemisphere to its appointed platform. Claws ripped great gouges into the surface of the crater as it descended slowly but inexorably.
Arriving at its platform and lumbering onto it, the behemoth slowly settled with its eyes fixed on the tip of the spike.
The fourth appeared not from land or air but from water. The tributary that ran from the distant mountains to the lip of the crater gave birth to a dragon that at first seemed more water than flesh. As the spray settled and it coasted down the river though, its body could be seen.
Scales the color of emeralds coated it from sleek nose to the oddly shaped tail. Wings that looked more like flippers adorned its back and the tail had its own flipper, vertically aligned and waving lazily in the current.
Floating to the edge of the crater and reluctantly pulling itself free of the watery embrace it so loved, Tidal Force made its way down the slope in a manner far more serpentine than the Riven of the Black Flight had managed. Slithering on to its own platform and curling into a perfect circle, the Tsunami rested its head upon its tail and waited.
The fifth arrived not by land, sea or air but with a thunderous crack of displaced air. A shockwave tore through the air and from within a burst of seething white light the Warlock of the White Flight appeared.
Appearing on its platform, it took perhaps the longest to settle.
In one claw it held a massive tome bound in the flesh of its predecessor and in the other was held a perfect diamond with the facets seeming infinite the longer one looked.
Comparatively tiny when compared to the first three dragons and just slightly smaller than the Green, the White dragon differed substantially in that instead of fins it possessed wings though they were somewhat smaller than the fins of the Green. Physically it was hardly imposing but the true danger of the White dragon lay in its sorcery.
Rune of the White Flight had arrived.
From on high, the sixth appeared and all five of the settled dragons craned their neck skywards to watch the Emissary descend.
The Emissary of the Leviathans held incomparable power though not in the heat of its breath, the power of its wings or the depth of its knowledge.
The Emissary was chosen by She-Who-Devours once every two thousand years and through its connection to her, it was granted boons beyond the scope of mortal dragons. Immortality that rendered it immune to the ravages of time and incapable of being harmed except by divine powers. Its powers too were beyond the scope of all but the Warlock of the White Flight for it could bend and warp reality around it as it saw fit.
Though far smaller than even the Warlock of the White Flight, its presence commanded immediate attention. No bigger than an Alicorn of Equestria yet somehow more imposing than even the Riven of the Black Flight, it alighted on the seething spear of rock and turned to catch sight of each dragon.
"The Spark, Razor, Juggernaut, Tsunami and Warlock are in attendance. The Conclave shall now commence."
====
“First. Nova, Second in Command of the Red Flight. With the death of Starfury, the Red Flight is now leaderless. Will you take command?”
Nova seemed to hesitate for a moment before lifting his head to address the ambassador and the Conclave as a whole.
“I, Nova, do gratefully accept the Conclave’s will in naming me the Spark of the Red Flight. I vow to you that under my leadership of the Flight that all the Red’s will answer the call to arms when it comes.”
Nodding slowly as he absorbed the words and the subtle nuances that filled the words, the Emissary nodded.
Starfury was right about Nova. Ambitious to a fault and a warmonger. But no other candidates exist that would not provoke a rift in the Flight.
“As it has been, so shall it be. The strongest of the Red Flight will take command. I name you Nova, Spark of the Red Flight.”
In a display of unison so perfect that one would believe it had been practiced, each of the other four dragons lifted their heads and cut loose with a roar that sent the clouds trembling and convulsing in all directions.
Turning to the Blue Dragon after nodding at Nova, the Emissary allowed the matter to temporarily fall from his mind.
“Sky-Terror, Razor of the Blue Flight. What news of the borders?”
Pausing a moment to collect her thoughts, Sky-Terror allowed herself to muse.
It is a high honor to be given control of the border patrols. Before I took the mantle of Razor it had been the Red Flight.
“Three Pegasi scouts were intercepted approximately fifty leagues into the Wasteland. Of the three, we killed the two we identified as being lower in rank. The third has been delivered to the Screaming Spire.”
At the mention of the horrific, solitary mountain, each dragon there shuddered. Such were the rumors that escaped the desolate precipice that it filled each mighty drake there with uneasiness.
The Screaming Spire was a solitary mountain that was permanently shrouded in darkness. Every shadow was deeper there and it was whispered that the screams from inside were carried on the winds. To warn away intruders or to goad them into plunging deeper into the fiery shadows of the Burning Wasteland, none could say.
“Did he report anything useful before he was delivered to the Spire?” the Emissary inquired.
“He was most verbose after we threatened to have the White’s experiment on him.”
A soft chuckle escaped Rune at the mention of his Flight but shook his head at the glance from the Emissary.
“He informed us that Discord, God of Chaos had only recently been sealed away by the Elements of Harmony.”
At the mention of the ancient artefacts, each dragon snarled and ripped deep gouges into the opal surface of their platforms.
“In addition, we managed to extract knowledge that leads me to believe Princess Luna Noctis has returned and has been purified by the Elements.”
At that nugget of information, Sky-Terror was secretly amused to note that Quake growled and smashed his tail down upon the opal surface.
“That is grave news, Sky-Terror. With the return of the second Princess, we may be facing a more difficult invasion than we had feared. The more subtle magic was always her domain.”
Nodding and lowering her head to indicate her report was done, the Emissary turned to the Juggernaut of the Black Flight.
When Quake spoke, it was not with a deep voice that could shatter boulders but with a very gentle and patient voice that was never-the-less underscored by hatred.
“We have begun tunneling under the borders of Equestria and adjacent kingdoms but it is slow work. We dare not work in force lest we be discovered and it seems that Equestria is located on a particularly annoying plate of metal. It seems to exhibit magnetic properties which confuses the diggers sense of direction.”
Pausing, it turned a baleful gaze upon the Emissary.
“Were you aware that Luna Noctis had returned, Emissary?”
“I was aware but I did not consider it relevant.”
“That pampered insect decimated my flight with those blizzards, Emissary. I would say that makes it relevant.”
Waving a clawed hand at Quake, the Emissary nodded in approval as the enormous beast was slammed to the opal platform with enough force to crack its scales.
“You forget your place, Juggernaut. I was willing to forgive your impudence in questioning me once. Question me once more during this gathering and I will have your scales ripped from your hide, your teeth shattered and your Flight put on Nursery Duty. Do you understand?”
Nursery Duty was perhaps the most onerous and humiliating of all duties that could be assigned to a dragon, for it was comprised of baby-sitting hatchlings and teaching them.
Sky-Terror felt a shiver flow down her spine as she witnessed the Emissary subjugate the Juggernaut with such effortless ease.
Above all, power was the most desired attribute in a dragon.
Eying the Emissary, she allowed her tongue to caress the roof of her mouth and shivered at the sensation.
“Understood, Emissary. I apologize” Quake stated, humiliated by the ease of his defeat.
Nodding and turning from the black giant to the serpentine Green in a clear act of dismissal, the Emissary gestured towards the Green.
Eager to not be punished and made a fool out of, the deep-voiced Green began her report.
“We have begun to scare away the seasonal migrations of whales and fish from the Gryphon coast to ensure they are weakened for the coming war. We have had great successes in reduction of all kelp and seaweed along the Zebronica and Equestrian coast-lines. We have however been doing it slowly as any sudden reduction would invite investigation.”
“Very good, Tidal Force. Redirect your dragons from the Gryphon coast-line to the deeper ocean trenches surrounding Equestria and have them intercept any military or diplomatic vessel that goes beyond the Broken Stones.”
The Broken Stones were a series of massive mountains that were kilometers high, reaching from the ocean floor to above the waves. Not only did they serve as an outer marker to delineate where action should be taken but they were also highly volcanic.
Assignment to the Broken Stones was the equivalent of a holiday to any Dragon Flight.
Turning to Rune and allowing a tinge of amusement to color his voice, the Emissary prepared himself for quite the show.
Rune smirked slightly at the obvious challenge from the Emissary.
He’s hoping to be blown away. Well then, I am more than happy to oblige him.
Waving a claw overhead and focusing on his objective, the Warlock of the White Flight felt a surge of power ripple through him and he didn’t need to look to know that above him had formed a perfect map of the mountain range surrounding Equestria.
“The White Flight has completed the sensor web in the mountains surrounding Equestria. In each aerie we have installed diamond cores like this to act as relay points.”
At that, Rune held up the perfect diamond sphere so each dragon there would know what it looked like.
“Unfortunately, we were installing the last core when the three Pegasi penetrated our air-space but since then, the sensor web has been activated. Each of the cores needs to be recharged once a year to ensure there are no gaps in the web.”
“Very good, Warlock. Any more news from your Aether-mancers?”
At the invitation to continue, Rune allowed a smug chuckle to escape him before he continued.
“Our Mancers have created a new spell that nullifies any scrying spell the Ponies can use. Early indications show that it can withstand any scrying spell from a mortal Unicorn” Rune stated before pausing and cocking his head.
Each of the other Flight leaders glanced towards Rune in obvious interest. Scrying spells had been a massive advantage the Ponies had held over them during the previous war so the possibility of negating that advantage was quite attractive.
“We have refined it into a simple spell so that even a newly-changed White can cast it with relative ease.”
“Very good, Rune” the Emissary stated, the praise in his voice making Quake growl quietly.
“What news of your War-Mancers, Warlock?” the Emissary inquired, able to read the moods of the dragons that had gathered and seeking to ensure there was no perception of favoritism.
“We have managed to refill the first three flocks with aggressive breeding. We were decimated during the last war by the Unicorns that were under Princess Luna.”
Quake slowly calmed at the mention of the genocide that had befallen the White Flight. Both of the Draconic sub-species had been hunted to nigh extinction by Princess Luna and her personal entourage of Unicorns.
Nodding, the Emissary turned from the White and continued to turn so he could meet the eyes of each Flight Leader.
“I have news from She-Who-Devours.”
Each dragon there fixed their gaze upon the Emissary and had he been a lesser dragon, the attention might have well cowed him.
“She has discovered the Fifth Leviathan.”
At those six words, the entire Conclave erupted into a furor of triumphant howls. The discovery of a new potential Leviathan was a momentous event with each Leviathan separated by a gulf of hundreds of thousands of years.
“He is located in Equestria though she did not privilege me with his location.”
“Emissary, my flight can be ready to penetrate Equestrian air-space in one day. We will find him and return him!” Sky-Terror’s sudden explosion of intent caused all but the Emissary to glance at her in both annoyance and surprise.
“Such a precipitous action is unwise, Sky-Terror. We are not yet ready for war with the Equestrian nation and will not be for another century at least. The rescue of a Leviathan, whilst attractive to each of you, could negate the conditions for his ascension.”
Each of the dragons growled furiously at the words but at a single claw-clench of the Emissary, each relaxed rapidly. The memory of Quake being subjugated like a child would forever remain with them.
“This is her will and as such, my decree. No dragon may seek out the Leviathan. However…” A sly smirk inched across his face at what he was about to say next.
“However…if he searches for us, I will be more than happy to speak with him.”
====
Applejack grunted as her rear hooves slammed into the tree trunk with thunderous force. The vibrations travelled up her slim but tightly-muscled frame until her teeth clattered together. In testament to the force she had levelled at the tree, apples fell with resounding thunks into the arrayed baskets.
The sun was just cresting the mountains and the golden light glittered off the multitudinous beads of sweat dripping down her coat. Evidence that she had been hard at work for hours before the sun rose. The bleary red of her eyes only confirmed this guess and amplified it unto one believing she hadn’t slept at all.
Panting quietly and taking a moment to settle down on to the cool, slightly damp grass, Applejack found her eyes closing of their own volition no matter how hard she willed them to open, they stayed resolutely closed.
Ah darn it. I guess I can rest for a while. Sleep sure won’t bucking come.
What she hadn’t told her friends, or anypony in her family was that sleep had eluded her in much the same ways the parasprite swarm had avoided them weeks ago.
Unlike her other friends, Applejack had gone deeper into the vagrant quarter than any of them and what she had seen was seared behind her eyes.
Applejack’s body began to overrule her mind as her breathing started to slow.
I guess it won’t be too bad if I rest my head for a few minutes.
Lowering her head until it settled comfortably on to the dew-laden grass, Applejack drifted off into a light, nightmare-wracked slumber.
The flames roared like a beast from the depths of Tartarus and through it all, the stench persisted. It clung to the back of her throat and made water stream from emerald-green eyes.
Applejack found herself relieved that her stomach had already emptied itself over the flag-stones a block away, for the vile taste of bile on her tongue kept her from tasting the smoke and putrid breeze which whistled between the shanty huts. The smell was bad enough to make her stomach heave and it was all she could manage to keep her roiling stomach from convulsing once more.
She had never been a pony to stand idly by when action could be taken. Whilst Applejack would be the first to admit that she never fully thought out the consequences of her actions, the orange earth pony would never express that sentiment to others.
Both Twilight and Rarity had stayed behind at the outer edges to control the fire and to ensure it didn’t spread to the nearby residential quarter and barracks. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been all but forced in to the sky to try and corral any rain-laden clouds so they would loom over the fire. Surprisingly it had been Fluttershy who had lead the charge in to the sky with Rainbow Dash hesitating.
All the pegasi had been drafted to wring whatever moisture they could from the air but the fire seemed to rage despite the steady drizzle.
Pinkie Pie had been saddled with the unenviable task of keeping things calm, a position Applejack had doubted Pinkie was suited for. It wasn’t that she doubted Pinkie Pie’s skill in lightening moods but rather that keeping people calm was not her forte.
That had been before her eyes had witnessed Pinkie Pie turn the evacuees from an unrestrained mob into a somber but resigned crowd. Had Pinkie not acted then countless others would have raced in to the burning quarter to try and recover lost family members.
It had been that last fact which had driven Applejack in to the furnace of flesh and stone. Her hooves ached and throbbed from the heat of the rock-paced street but her steps did not falter in the slightest.
Puddles of fluid lay haphazardly and Applejack’s mind shied away from considering what they had once comprised.
“H-hello?!” Applejack called out, throat scratchy from the smoky air and the bile. “Is anyone there?”
Only the roar of flames answered the query and Applejack began to slow.
A scream ripped the air, filled with pain and rage.
Before the scream had fully registered, Applejack had shot off towards its source, hurdling flames with no concern as to how it scorched the fur on her stomach. In the twisting and labyrinthine alleys that filled the district, the scream seemed to echo mockingly off the walls.
With a last gasp, Applejack hurdled the last flame and landed with a sturdy thump in the ruins of a house. The flames she had just hurdled had seemed possessed of a malign will for they had lashed up and caressed her front legs in a parody of intimacy. Bright red welts sprang up across her flesh and Applejack groaned at the pain.
As she glanced around, Applejack found herself wishing that she had never charged in.
A pony no older than herself lay on the floor, wailing and uncaring about the flames snaking towards her. Hooves outstretched to some distant goal, her flesh trembled in grief and hate.
Following the line from the mare’s hooves, Applejack let out her own moan of agony at the sight. Her rear legs buckled as strength deserted her and she slumped down on to the wooden floor.
A crib lay crushed and consumed in raging flames and one tiny hoof extended out from the debris, flesh already scorched and only muscle showing with the occasional hint of bone.
“C-come on…we have to go” Applejack whispered, the words springing not from conscious thought but from some long-buried biological instinct.
The mare only continued to scream and wail with grief.
A creak from above was the only warning Applejack had and luckily for her, the body she had trained for years reacted in lieu of her mind.
Throwing herself to the side and rolling, Applejack grunted in pain as she shot out of the doorway and thumped down the steps.
As she was rolling though, the ceiling collapsed upon both mare and debris, silencing the screams.
It was a small mercy but a mercy nonetheless that Applejack hadn’t witnessed the mare being crushed.
Staggering to her feet, Applejack began to stagger towards the light of day.
With a scream, Applejack awoke and immediately rose up on her front hooves whilst throwing her rear hooves out with as much force as she could manage.
A shocking crack filled the air and Applejack turned to witness the tree she had been resting under slowly tilt and fall to the ground, trunk split halfway-through.
“D-darn it…” Applejack whispered, panting and trembling on her legs.
The sun had risen to its mid-morning position but despite the season and time of day, no warmth touched the ground and Applejack shivered as a mournful breeze tickled her flank.
It’s like Equestria is in mourning.
Rising from her impromptu bed of grass and glancing around guiltily, Applejack sighed in relief when her eyes caught no sign of either Bic Macintosh or Applebloom.
Her brother was too perceptive for his own good and her sister was too innocent and earnest for her guise of strength to withstand.
“Hey Applejack!”
“Hey there Spike” she shouted back but as she turned, her eyes caught a glimpse of Spike silhouetted by the sun. His purple scales seemed to almost simmer from the light behind him and his face was shadowed in what she took to be a truly unnatural manner.
Backing away slowly and frantically glancing around for any manner of cover, Applejack wasn’t seeing Spike approaching her but something far more terrifying.
Each step Spike made was amplified to her panic-stricken mind and sounded like massive wing-beats splitting the air. With each step he made, Applejack retreated just as fast until with a heart-stopping thump her flank hit the side of the cart she had dragged out in the middle of the night.
Spike paused in his advance to carefully eye Applejack. Her eyes were wide and frantically glancing around as if she was terrified of him.
Why’s she so scared?
Pausing and taking a moment to run his eye over Applejack, Spike noticed the fading pink scars crisscrossing her rear legs.
“Applejack, are you okay?”
And like that, the spell that gripped Applejack’s mind was broken and she saw Spike staring at her with concern and a tiny amount of fear.
“Oh…hey Spike” Applejack returned, face bright with a blush and a small ashamed smile upon her muzzle.
“Everything okay Applejack? Are those burns? What was that? What happened in Canterlot?!”
The questions burst out of Spike like a dam being breached. None of the others had informed him; they had in fact maintained a silence so oppressive that he had all but begged to make Twilight an apple crumble. After only a few hours of their silence he had sought any chance to find someone he could get answers from.
And if there was one thing he knew for certain, besides Pinkie's love of the color her namesake represented, it was that Applejack could not lie.
"I...don't really want to tell you, Spike" Applejack admitted. "It wasn't very nice what we all saw."
Without prompting, a small part of Spike's mind spoke up, though fortunately he was able to stop himself from voicing the thought.
I dreamt of Ponies massacred and turned to naught but puddles of flesh and glue!
Appalled at what his mind had lashed out with, Spike forced the voice to be quiet in much the same way he had learned to deal with Twilight.
By utilizing logic. And as was often the case with his rather high-strung adoptive sister, pummeling the object of his ire with logic until they gave in.
“Applejack…the more you keep this in, the more it’s going to tear you apart. You remember how badly Twilight was reacting when she knew about my secret?”
A fond laugh escaped Applejack at that particular memory.
“I wouldn’t call it a secret exactly Spike…” Applejack drawled, more than happy to lose herself in the easy banter.
“Yeah yeah. I have all the subtlety of Applebloom going after her Cutie Mark.”
Applejack let out a snicker at the memory of her young sister and how…enthusiastic she could be in her pursuit of her talent.
“If you’re done taking cheap shots, I’ll continue.”
Applejack opened her mouth to retort but backed down with an amused smile.
Riling up Spike sure is fun.
“Applejack, the more you try to keep something in, the worse it will be for you. This is just a few days after whatever happened in Canterlot. What about a week from now? A month?”
Shuddering at the idea of weeks filled with those same images, Applejack let out a soft sigh of defeat.
“You’re too smart for your own good, Spike. I almost feel sorry for Twi.”
At that, Applejack paused as a number of thoughts raced through her mind.
Spike sure is smart, but he doesn’t know the value of patience or discipline. Maybe…
“Hey Spike, how about I make you a deal since it seems so important to ya” Applejack drawled, barely managing to keep a lackadaisical tone to her voice as she began to explore the idea.
Glancing up at Applejack, Spike nodded though didn’t voice any verbal agreement. He had learned the hard way that offering up his services without understanding of the task could lead to a truly onerous amount of chores.
That being said, Spike knew he would agree in a heart-beat to any deal Rarity offered whether he knew the conditions or not.
“Well Spike…” Applejack drawled. “How about this. You come here every day and we can talk about what happened…” Applejack started and barely managed to keep down the surge of bile that the subject elicited. “And in turn, I’ll teach you discipline and patience.”
“And why would I need any of that?” Spike asked, tempted despite his own suspicions.
“Do you think Rarity is just going to fall head over hooves in love with you in one night?” Applejack inquired before chuckling quietly at the mortified expression on Spike’s face.
“It’ll take time, sugar-cube. And the better you handle it, the more you’ll look like a good candidate.”
Applejack hated herself for the partial deception. Whilst she did want to help to help Spike, Applejack also knew that If she didn’t get the memories off her shoulders then it wouldn’t be long before Big Mac had to take up her portion of the apple-bucking.
“Um…alright then AJ” Spike mumbled, scales still clicking from how the embarrassment had forced them open to allow the blood that had rushed to his face to cool.
Watching Spike stumble off in a daze, Applejack shook her head then gazed back at the orchard with a bone-deep weariness stealing through her.
====
Rainbow Dash was having perhaps her most favorite activity in the world disturbed by memories but they were far from the horrors that had scarred her favorite competition.
It was feelings of inadequacy.
Gingerly removing her hooves from where they were buried in the soothing cold of the cloud, Rainbow Dash eyed her scorched hooves with a mix of chagrin and anger before stuffing them back into the cool dampness.
Stupid dragon Rainbow thought to herself but couldn’t bring herself to hate it fully.
Allowing the memory to surface for the third time that day, Rainbow felt it wash over her and the dull ache in her hooves faded.
Rainbow reveled in the thermal swells that came off Canterlot due to the midday heat the buildings reflected. Unlike the cool and soft clouds that functioned so well as temporary napping spots, the thermals soothed her from snout to the tip of her tail and lulled her into a half-sleep.
That was why it took her a crucial few seconds to spot the red spear plummeting from on high like the wrath of a slighted god. It was only the malevolent glare of lava-red scales that shook the lethargy from her.
Even still, the few seconds it took her to react were enough for the spear to spread its wings open and carve a line of flame across part of Canterlot. To a precision flier like Rainbow Dash who prided herself on her reflexes, a time delay of even a second could result in death.
Memories of the last time she faced a dragon sprang to mind and even as she began to dive down to build up speed, Rainbow found herself targeting not the snout of the great beast but rather its chest which were a duller red than the scales on its back. Arcing towards the ground like a chromatic meteor, Rainbow pulled up a scant few meters from the ground and shot upwards.
Whilst Rainbow Dash had yet to perfect the Sonic Rainboom enough to produce one on demand, all the training she had put herself through had taught her how to squeeze every drop of acceleration from her form during flight. How best to angle her wings during a dive and the optimal way to reduce the drag her legs caused.
Rocketing up high and making sure she was in the direct line of sight between the dragon and the sun high above, Rainbow fought for the last few hundred meters of altitude.
Gravity and friction could not be ignored.
Watching the dragon hovering in place, Rainbow found that along with the horror and terror filling her, a sense of awe was quickly rising.
Every inch of the dragon oozed predatory power. From the wickedly curved talons on its feet to the bladed tail that cracked like a bullwhip and crushed structures, this was a being who was devoted solely to warfare.
And Rainbow found herself almost envious of it, envious of its discipline and power but above all its singularity of purpose.
Tucking her legs flat against her stomach and folding her wings back until they mimicked the scales of the dragon, Rainbow dropped like a stone.
This was the part of flying that Rainbow Dash lived for. More than sleeping on clouds or performing for others, the dive was perhaps the one thing she would truly devote herself to. The feeling of the air lashing at her body, the scream of the wind as she tore through it with wild abandon was as integral to her psyche as loyalty was. It was akin to a drug to her, the exhilaration and the raw need for speed.
The air began to thicken around her snout but she paid it no mind, all of her attention focused squarely on a single spot on the dragons’ back, right between the wings at a point where if it was a Pegasus being hit, it would paralyze them if hit hard enough.
With a thunderous explosion of color and sound, a rainboom was born to signify that for the third time, she had performed one of the most coveted feats in all of flying.
The part of her that was relegated to noticing extraneous matters noticed something was different about it. The air around her was thinning and weakening with the friction dropping proportional to the size of the Rainboom. And perhaps even more disturbing was how the red and orange colors seemed to dominate the others until it looked like she had produced a shockwave not of color but of fire.
But it was fleeting and within the span of a second the other colors had reasserted themselves and it expanded outwards as it was supposed to.
Tensing her body and using her individual feathers to induce drag to change her trajectory, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth in preparation for the pain to come.
Like a thunderbolt she struck, as if she were the crossbow bolt of some ancient god.
The dragon didn’t even twitch or budge.
Rainbow Dash however all but screamed in agony as her hooves struck the scales of the dragon. They were so hot that the air around it was distorted and the tears that spilled from her eyes evaporated almost instantly. Her hooves throbbed fiercely and it was only by some small miracle that she managed to flap to the right lethargically instead of collapsing forward.
Had Rainbow Dash been paying attention, she would have seen the great beast shift and choose a new target, a far more tempting morsel for its flames to consume.
And Rainbow Dash was in the way.
The only warning Rainbow Dash had was the piercing scream of the apocalypse-made-flesh and an instinct buried deep roused itself. Her wings quickly snapped themselves shut with enough force to propel her downwards with the column of raw annihilation barely missing her body and singeing her tail.
Still she dove, aimed squarely at the royal fountain with no goal in her mind but to flee, to run and hide until the terrible winged incarnation of wrath had left.
Had anyone been near the fountain instead of scrambling away from the incinerated sector they would have been swept away by the massive explosion of water as Rainbow Dash hit the water, plunging into the deceptively deep blue liquid, the temperature as close to freezing without the water turning into a solid.
Surfacing, bedraggled and humiliated with shame filling every part of her, Rainbow found herself for the first time afraid of glancing up.
With a sigh and glancing around what she had once believed was her domain, Rainbow found herself struggling to muster the bravado she had once felt. After a brief few seconds that seemed to stretch into hours, she managed to muster up a shadow of her once-overbearing pride and confidence.
Standing with a lethargic stretch and yawn, Rainbow quickly trotted over to the edge of the cloud and allowed herself to fall like a stone, eyes closed as she felt the familiar spike of adrenaline rip through her system.
I won’t let that magnificent monster take EVERYTHING from me!
Try as she might, Rainbow couldn’t bring herself to truly loathe the monster. Oh, she hated it with a the purity of passion she had only ever reserved for flying but tempering it was awe and respect.
The dragon had oozed power as it flew and strafed the city in ways that Rainbow still couldn’t fathom. The sheer majesty as it seemed to blaze in the sunlight and turn the sun into a poor mimicry of its once-splendid glory.
The way it had attacked and flew screamed intelligence to her, something beyond the mindless beasts they were rumored to be. The way it had used the wake that followed its flight to fan the flames to the way it had snagged the few ballistae shots out of the air and snapped them in half like mere twigs.
It was a master of flight.
Then again, if I had lived as long as that bucking lizard had then I’d be far better Rainbow thought and allowed the thoughts swirl around her as she casually floated over the outlying pastures of Ponyville.
If I was that old I’d be doing tricks that would have the Wonderbolts begging me for MY autograph.
Catching sight of a familiar purple and green blob making its way from Applejack’s fields towards Ponyville, Rainbow felt her blood turn to icy sludge.
Spike the…dragon. Dragon. DRAGON!
Eyes narrowing, Rainbow dropped into a plunge towards the far-smaller target which had become a symbol for all her failings in the previous days.
Snap out of it, RD! It’s just Spike. You know Spike, who has the most obvious crush on Rarity? A crush more obvious than how much Pinkie likes sugar?
Slowly her mind cleared and with a scant dozen feet until she would have slammed into Spike and barely-supersonic speeds she flared her wings and grinned as Spike was bowled over.
Despite her seeming joviality though, a small part of her mind watched every move he made and was more than ready to take charge.
Standing awkwardly and dusting himself off, Spike let a snort of emerald fire blast from his nose as he turned to face the living incarnation of loyalty and pride. He found himself for the first time annoyed at Rainbow Dash instead of his usual embarrassed or exasperated. Throttling the voice that was calling for him to attack into submission, Spike offered Rainbow a lop-sided smile.
Dash had flared her wings wide when Spike had snorted that plume of flame and even from a few feet away she had felt the blistering heat that it embodied.
Run! Run! Run!
She was a scant second from giving in to the screamed demands when she saw the smile and Rainbow slowly folded her wings as she reasserted control over her clamoring instincts.
“Hey Spike! Paying a visit to AJ eh?” Rainbow asked, the innuendo heavily laden in her tone. “I’ll have to break Rarity’s heart when I tell her you’re crushing on AJ now.”
“No! It’s not like that RD, I swear! Promise you won’t tell Rarity!” Spike begged, dropping to his knees and clasping his paws together in the perfect image of supplication to a wrathful god.
Instead of feeling elated as she usually would at the casual display of her superiority, Rainbow found the sight to be…disappointing.
Spike can’t be a dragon, he doesn’t have any pride. That terrifying beast didn’t kneel and grovel in the mud, we were the ones doing that. Praying it left us alone.
Ignoring the filter between brain and mouth, she began to speak.
“Spike, stand up. You’re a dragon, you shouldn’t be kneeling there like that.”
The moment the last letter left her muzzle, Rainbow clapped a wing over her head and began to smack herself with it repeatedly.
“Think before speaking, Dash! So uncool! Remember what Rob Zompony said. Don’t speak before thinking.”
Spike couldn’t help the snicker that burst out but as Rainbow slowly settled her wing and focused a gimlet eye on him, he quickly stopped and adopted an innocent expression.
Never worked on Twilight but maybe it will work on…
“Not working, Spike.”
Confound these ponies and their lack of emotional sensitivity!
“What did you mean by that, Rainbow? Something happened in Canterlot.”
The memory twisted itself in Rainbow’s mind like a particularly jagged piece of shrapnel and she settled for focusing on Spike to force it back.
“What did Applejack tell you, huh?” Rainbow asked, suspicious and on-edge from the barely-restrained memory.
“She’s the Element of Honesty, Rainbow. She told me everything.”
A small lie, more of a white lie than anything damaging. The way Applejack and now Rainbow had reacted had not escaped Spike so it was fairly easy for him to piece together the absolute basics.
A dragon must have arrived in Canterlot. But why are they all so spooked?
“Uh-huh. You expect me to believe she told you everything when she told us all that Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle should never find out?”
Scowling in a manner that anypony would have described as “adorable”, Spike was brought up short as Rainbow Dash floated closer and rested a hoof on his head.
“But…I will tell you about the dragon.”
As soon as the words slipped free from her gritted teeth, Rainbow felt the mental load she had been carrying lighten yet paradoxically it seemed to grow heavier. As if once she began to talk then it would all come spilling out.
Spike stared up at Rainbow Dash with hope, eager to gain any first-hand knowledge of dragons after his rather disastrous foray into the Everfree Forest.
“But not today, Spike. I…I need some time.”
Spike witnessed Rainbow’s veneer crack ever so slightly, saw the raging torrent of emotion she was barely keeping in check start to surge before it was ruthlessly forced back by a mind that used pride as both a weapon and a shield.
And with sudden alacrity he realized that now was not the time to press, not if he valued Rainbow’s friendship and testimony.
“I…guess that’s alright Dash. When do you think would be a good time for me to come find you?”
Turning so Spike couldn’t see the raw and jagged fear in her eyes, Rainbow effected an air of nonchalance.
“I’ll come find you, Spike. But you better get home, Twilight probably wants to tell you what happened.”
With a furious flap of her wings, Rainbow blasted free from the claws of gravity and took to the skies.
Skies she now knew housed predators beyond her wildest nightmares.