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Twilight walked carefully through the destruction that was now Ponyville. It was a strange and unnerving sensation she felt going down this wreck of a street; she had just walked it the day before, shopping for some food and supplies for the three mouths she had been providing for. But now here she was, seeing it all burnt down. Why had this come down upon them? They didn't deserve this, so what had they done wrong? That was the question with only one answer. Nothing. This was the work of a devil, a monster who was hell bent on destroying their lives.
She rounded a corner in the street, walking past what used to be the Ink and Quill store, which was now a smoldering pile of charcoal. She had to be careful walking near and around the buildings, since several were on the verge of collapse, making it dangerous for her to be moving about them, threatening to fall on top of her at any given moment. This was turning out to be quite the disaster, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. This was her town, her home, and she wasn't about to give it up without a fight.
A low rumbling sound suddenly echoed through the street, startling Twilight into hiding behind a pile of rubble, peering over the top to see what was happening. In the street just fifteen yards ahead of her, dust and smoke filled the air in a thick cloud impossible to see through. However, something was moving through the dust, shaking the ground with the mass of it's body. A moment passed, before a large, muscular tail whipped through the air, slowly moving above her head from the left of the street and disappearing back into the cloud on the far right. The sun, for only a moment, revealed itself through the gray of the growing cloud cover in the sky, allowing her to see the outline of its body through the shroud of smoke for a few seconds, before it once more vanished back into the shadows with the passing of the light.
There was no doubt in Twilight's mind that a dragon was what they now faced, but this one was for different than the ones she had previously encountered. In the brief moments she had seen it, she knew that this dragon was significantly larger than it's predecessors. Even the one that Fluttershy had convinced to leave the mountain to nap somewhere else was dwarfed by this behemoth. Also, most dragons walked on all fours, but it appeared that this one only had two, using its massive wings as forearms like a bat to grab a hold of objects and to keep itself balanced. It's tail was barbed like a stingray, it's back horned and jagged, and it's head, while most dragons resembled crocodiles, looked more closely to that of a snake, held up by a curved, powerful neck that swerved as it moved.
She couldn't see what color it was, not that she really cared at the moment. She was terrified. Never before had she faced something so fierce and menacing that frightened her so. True, she had fought the mighty Tirek on her own, but she had the power of three alicorn princesses coursing within herself along with her own at the time. But this, it reminded Twilight too much like a snake in it's appearance, stirring deep into her natural fear of such creatures. What if she wasn't strong enough to face such a beast? What if she couldn't stop it from killing everypony in town, everypony she knew and loved?
Twilight quickly discarded those thoughts from her mind. She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. In no way would she allow this monster to continue to execute it's dark purposes without using everything in her power to stop it.
However, Twilight was torn from her thoughts when a loud bellow from the dragon ringed through the street, followed by a swing of it's mighty arm, propelling a large object through the air straight at her. Twilight stifled a scream as she moved to get out of the way, diving into a roll as a food-cart blazing with fire crashed into the ground where she had just stood. She barely had time to get to cover before the beast wheeled around and roared, swinging it's tail into the buildings beside her, sending fast moving projectiles of broken wood and debris at her. Twilight coughed a little as the dust settled around her, looking up to view the damage, going into the defensive as she half expected to be staring down the beast's throat at any moment. However, it seemed that she had still gone unnoticed, but that didn't expel her problems in the least. Ahead of her the street was blocked off by the burned refuge of wooden beams and mortar, cutting her off from reaching the reptilian menace. Not that she couldn't just fly over the rubble. That was what she'd do! That's-
Sniffle.
Twilight paused, perking up her ears to listen. Something else was in the street with her, and it sounded like...crying. Twilight turned her gaze to the other side of the street, casting her eye on a building that had long since ceased to burn. Deciding to investigate, she walked over and peered in through the door, looking around but not daring to move inside for fear of the structure's instability. But the crying continued, and not able to take it any longer, she forced herself to enter, and walking around a desk to look at a pile of fallen boards, she found a young colt hiding underneath. Twilight stared down at the child for a few short moments that to her seemed an eternity. He was younger than her Nyx, not yet even five years old. He had probably been separated from his parents, and had ran in here to hide from the dangers that were transpiring outside. At first, he looked back up at her with eyes filled with fear, but after a moment, relaxed into needfulness, extending his hoofs to her in a familiar gesture that told Twilight that he wanted to be held.
Twilight bit her lip before looking out the door as uncertainty filled her mind. She needed to stop that monster before it could deal anymore damage, but at the same time, her maternal instincts were coming into play, telling her that she couldn't just leave this foal here in such a dangerous place. Making up her mind, she knew what she had to do, and though she didn't like it, she knew that it couldn't be done any other way.
“Shh, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine now. You're safe.” she whispered softly as she knelt forwards and picked him up, holding him close to her body. Almost immediately the colt quieted down, gazing up at her with innocent, trusting eyes.
Twilight smiled at this, placing him across her back and headed out the door. The breeze was coming in cool now, whipping past her face welcoming and calm. She would deal with the dragon later, but for now, she needed to find the child's parents, running back into the direction of Night Stone.
All was now quiet, save for the sound of thunder rolling in from the mountains distant.
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Sorry for bugging you and don't take this the way but why post a preview for chapter 11 when you already posted the whole chapter already?

5266815 I don't know. Why after all this time are you the only one that will comment on anything?

Lol okay

5394555 New post up.

New post???

New NEW post!