Dragon Chronicles Book I: Necessary Evils Part 1

by rcmgamer218

Chapter 5

Ch. 5

The sky was clear that evening; the moon was full and the stars shined brightly. Yol Toor slept soundly, his breathing heavy and rhythmic.

His ear fins twitched.

Yol Toor woke with a start and looked out a window towards the Everfree Forest. He jumped out of his bed, grabbed two swords, a spear, and a shield. He dashed out of his house and jumped onto the roof. Yol Toor observed the forest and noticed flocks of birds flying out from shaking treetops.

Yol Toor inhaled sharply and roared.

~~~

Twilight roll out of her bed, landing with a thud. She groaned as she dragged herself to her bedroom window and checked for storm clouds.

“How can there be thunder? There’s no storm scheduled for tonight.”

“Twilight…” Spike groaned as he sat up in his bed and grabbed his head.

Twilight rushed to Spike’s side. “Spike! What’s wrong?”

“It’s my head. It feels like somepony’s shouting in it! But… it sounds so familiar.”

As Spike clenched his head harder, the pain subsided and he focused on the voice.

“Danger! Everypony needs to run! Run!”

“Yol Toor! That’s not thunder, Twilight, that’s Yol Toor’s voice!”

“What? How can that be?”

“That’s him roaring; I only hear the voice when there’s that rumbling.”

“Wow, this is fascinating! What’s he saying Spike?” Twilight asked as she brought a clipboard and quill to her.

“He’s saying that there’s a danger, and we all need to run.”

Twilight’s ears dropped. “Run? From what?”

Incessant gongs of a bell drowned out the mighty roar. A soldier began shouting.

“WE NEED EVERYPONY TO CALMLY EXIT YOUR HOMES AT ONCE! PONYVILLE IS TO BE EVACUATED IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT: PONYVILLE IS BEING EVACUATED!”

~~~

When Yol Toor heard the ringing of the bell, he took off into forest, where the trees were shaking the most violently.

It only took him a few minutes to fly to the source, where he laid eyes on the army of ogres marching towards Ponyville. Their eyes glowed purple.

More mindcontrol.

Yol Toor unsheathed his swords, wrapped his tail around the middle of his spear, and placed the shield on his back. Calming himself with a deep breath, Yol Toor clenched his swords and charged towards the ogres.

~~~

Sonja’s eyes widened as she stared into her crystal, looking through the eyes of her ogres. A dragon jumped at the lead ogre, and with two swings of his sword, cut through its head, severing Sonja’s link to it. The link jumped to another ogre, as it watched the leader fall to the ground with several cuts carved into its face.

“A dragon? I did not expect this!”

The dragon lunged towards another ogre, and let loose a large jet of fire into its chest. The beast stumbled backwards, roaring in pain. Yol Toor jumped onto the ogre, jamming both of his swords into it’s burnt chest, and used them to climb up the ogre. He was close to its neck, when the ogre used the last of its strength to grabbed the dragon, and throw him as hard as it could onto the ground. As the dragon began to stand back up, the dying ogre delivered a powerful kick, sending the dragon flying through several trees.

Sonja smiled. “Perhaps this dragon will not be much of a threat after all.”

~~~

Yol Toor groaned as he shook himself out of his daze. The ogre had kicked him halfway through the Everfree Forest. He would’ve still been flying if he hadn’t crashed into a cliff face. Once he was back on the ground, Yol Toor quickly examined himself; The ogre’s attack merely broke a few scales.He smiled that no limbs were broken. But his smile immediately vanished.

Shield Squad and Ponyville won’t last ten minutes against an army of those monsters!

Yol Toor took off running, following the path of the destroyed trees he made during his forced flight. When he reach the path’s end, he saw his two swords, still lodged in the now-dead ogre’s chest. He ripped them away and took off towards Ponyville.

~~~

Twilight, with Spike on her back, ran as fast as she could toward the northern edge of Ponyville. As she saw friends and neighbors run past her, Twilight forced herself to pick up speed, despite the burning feeling in her lungs. As a barricade set up by the soldiers came into view, she noticed some of her friends.

“Twilight!” Applejack called out as she, Pinkie, and Fluttershy ran over and embraced Twilight and Spike. “Are ya’ll okay?”

“We’re fine. We were pretty close when the soldiers started evacuating. What about you three? And where’s Rarity?”

“We’re all fine; Yol Toor’s roaring woke us up, and a few minutes later, one of the soldiers came running and brought me, Big Mac, and Granny here for the evacuation. Apple Bloom was spending the night with Sweetie Belle and Rarity. And we don’ knowt where they are; I hope they’re okay.” Applejack took off her stetson and brought it to her chest as Fluttershy wrapped a hoof around her shoulders in a hug.

“I’m sure they’re okay Applejack. They’ll be here before you know it.”

Spike jumped off Twilight’s back. “Twilight, I’m going to make sure everypony here is okay!”

“Okay Spike. But do not leave the train station! Is that clear?”

Spike nodded and ran towards the crowd of ponies. As soon as he was out of Twilight’s sight, the hatchling dashed into the shadows and made his way back into town.

Rarity’s in danger! I’ve got to save her!

~~~

“Come on! Come on! Move it! Get your flanks to the train station! Now!” Sergeant Buckson shouted as he motioned Ponyville’s citizens to run past him. Nearly half of the town made it to the station, but the attackers were getting close.

The ground began to shake beneath Buckson’s hooves as he heard the sound of roaring in distance, but it wasn’t Yol Toor’s roar. When he turned his head, Buckson’s heart skipped a beat as he watched three monstrous ogres charge towards him and his team, with claws capable of slicing through their armor and mouths that would let them swallow a pony whole. Buckson couldn’t hear himself order his team to get in formation, but he was suddenly surrounded by seven other soldiers while the second squad continued to escort the civilians.

As the ogres got closer, a pink shield materialized around the squadron while all eight of them prepared their pikes.

The ogres were in striking distance, when an explosion sent the left-side ogre tumbling and rolling onto the ground and skidded to a stop. The ogre on the right hit the ground face-first as a spearhead pierced through its skull, in between its eyes. The center ogre also fell forward, revealing Yol Toor standing on the back of its neck, his two swords stuck firmly into the ogre’s head.

Buckson and his squad watched with dropped jaws as Yol Toor removed his swords and stepped off the corpse. He walked over to the soldiers and the unicorns dropped their shield.

“Report!” Yol Toor ordered.

Buckson gave a quick salute. “Sir! Half of the town has been successfully evacuated to Canterlot. Two thirds of the remaining populace have made it to the evacuation area, with the remaining third making their way here; the ogres aren’t making it easy for them. So far, there have been no reported casualties!”

Yol Toor nodded. “Good. Let’s try and keep it that way. Buckson, you and your squad are to spread out and recover as many civilians as possible.”

“Understood, sir! Shield squad, we’ll break into teams of two and spread out over Ponyville. If you need to carry injured civilians to the station, then be quick about it! Every second counts! Move out!”

~~~

"Hang on tightly, girls!” Rarity yelled as she ran through the town.

As she she zigged, zagged, and jumped to avoid debris shadowed in the night, a sudden blaze lit up the street. The scent of burning flesh assaulted her nostrils and roars of pain echoed in the air.

The ground beneath Rarity’s hooves began to shake, when an ogre jumped through the walls of a house a few meters in front of her, scattering debris in its wake. Rarity skid to a stop, and the ogre stared at her as it growled and drooled.

"Hey ugly!” A voice called out from behind the ogre.

The monster turned around, and Rarity’s eyes widened when she saw a small, purple dragon glaring at the ogre, bearing his teeth, and growling.

"Spike! What do you think you’re doing?” Rarity asked.

"Run to the train station, Rarity! I’ll distract the monster!”

"But you’ll get yourself hurt, or worse!”

"Just run, Rarity!”

Spike inhaled sharply and unleashed a blast of fire towards the ogre, though it only managed to engulf one of its ankles.

The ogre stepped back out of the fire and roared in pain. It roared a second time and charged towards Spike with a raised hand.

Spike dove away from a fatal swipe. As he started to rise, an orgre’s crusty, calloused foot stomped him down.. A scream of pain escaped his lips as something snapped. A swinging foot crashed into him and sent him flying into the stone wall of a nearby house.

"SPIKE!”

~~~

Yol Toor swung his blade across the abdomen of an ogre. He jumped up and kicked it in the chest. The ogre’s upper half slid off and landed with a thud.

Yol Toor heard a shout.

“SPIKE!” A female voice called out.

He flew up and looked for the source of the voice. He saw a white unicorn and three children he spoke to a few days ago upon her back. In front of the mare, an ogre stood and looked at a house. Tol Toor then noticed Spike, laying next to the house, unconscious. The ogre walked towards the house, and Yol Toor dived at the ogre.

As he fell, Yol Toor created a fireball in his mouth. He lunged his head forward, sending the fireball flying. It hit the ogre in the head and exploded. The head and chest of the ogre was consumed in the explosion. It dissipated and a plume of smoke emerged from the bottom of the monster’s neck as it fell sideways.

Yol Toor landed next to Spike.

Nearly all of the hatchlings scales were broken off his hide. The hide itself had several cuts and scrapes on it. His left leg and both arms were bent in ways they shouldn’t have been.

“Blast!” Yol Toor swore. Ten ogres burst through a row of houses and ran towards the dragon and ponies. Yol Toor scooped up Spike and placed him on Rarity’s back. “Get out of here!”

As Rarity ran, Yol Toor took a sword with his right hand, his shield in his left, and grabbed his other sword with his tail.

Yol Toor charged at the ogres. One of them attempted to punch him, but Yol Toor thrust his sword forward, stabbing it in between the ogre’s knuckles. The beast screamed in pain and Yol Toor quickly raised his arm, slicing through its hand. He spun, and his second sword cut off the ogres fingers. Yol Toor launched a fireball at the ogre’s leg, igniting it. He followed up by hitting that leg’s knee with his shield, making it kneel. Yol Toor jumped up and did a backflip, slicing the ogre’s face once with his main sword, and a second time with his secondary sword. The ogre fell with a thud.

~~~

Sonja growled as she watched another ogre fell.

This dragon is quickly becoming a thorn in my side. “Slaves! Focus all your attention on this pest!” Sonja ordered, her voice echoing in the heads of her soldiers.

~~~

Stonehoof grunted as he and two other pegasi impaled an ogre’s chest with their lances. The sergeant looked past his target, where three other ogres were charging at them. The beasts suddenly skid to a stop and grabbed their heads. The monsters roared in pain for a few seconds. Once they quieted down, they turned around and ran away from the soldiers.

What got into them? Stonehoof asked as he jumped off the dead ogre.

~~~

The first thing Rarity did when she reached the train station was look for a doctor. She found a soldier guiding as many ponies onto the train as he could.

“Excuse me! Sir! I need your help! One of my friends got hurt terribly!” Rarity shouted as she ran towards the soldier, desperately shoving past her neighbors!

The soldier, at hearing Rarity’s plea, immediately faced her.

“Give me sec. Corporal! Get your flank over here! Now! We got a wounded--” Rarity levitated Spike and showed him to the soldier. “--dragon!”

A second unicorn ran over, allowing the first to go back to escorting other ponies. He lead Rarity to a nearby table.

“Put him on the table!” The soldier ordered, and Rarity, as gently as she could, placed Spike on the table, his groans of pain drowned by the shouting and panic of others.

Rarity looked at her sister. “Sweetie Belle, I need you and your friends to follow that soldier we just talked to onto the train. I’ll be with you as soon as I can, but I can’t leave Spike. I’ll be right behind you!”

“But Rarity…” Sweetie started, but Rarity shushed her.

“This is not the time to argue! Now go! I promise I’ll be with you soon.” Rarity forced a smile and hugged her sister before shoving her towards the train.

~~~

With a flap of his wings, Yol Toor charged at another ogre. He jumped and spinned, slicing the beasts throat with both swords, and it fell, dead. He flapped his wings again, putting some distance between him and the remaining ogres. They swarmed Yol Toor, however, and when he touched the ground, he was unable to get away when one of the ogres swiped its arm at him.

The attack sent Yol Toor tumbling into the air, and he skipped across the ground several times before skidding to a stop.

As he stood, Yol Toor’s chest and abdomen felt like they were on fire. When looked down, he saw that he had two deep gashes across his chest and stomach, and his natural pain meds weren’t enough to block the pain. Yol Toor went into a sudden coughing fit, and blood spewed out of his mouth with each cough. When the coughing stopped, Yol Toor took a deep breath, only to feel a sharp pain in his chest that brought him to his knees and made him cough again.

Broken ribs and a punctured lung. Lovely.

It was too painful to breathe, let alone move. Yol Toor looked at the ogres. They were charging to finish him off.

Not today!

Yol Toor fought past the pain in his chest and stood up. He inhaled and resisted the urge to cough more. Yol Toor felt time become still as he thrust his head forward and unleashed a high-pitched roar. The air rippled from his shout, and black rings of energy made the roar almost visible. Two of the ogres were hit with the rings, stunning them. In a matter of nanoseconds, the two ogres were reduced to skeletons, and Yol Toor ended his roar. The dragon looked at his injuries and smiled as they closed, and breathing became much easier for him.

Five ogres remained and Yol Toor was much more confident. A twitch of his fingers, and the scales on his arms burst into flames. Yol Toor smiled sinisterly as green lightning sparked in between his blazing fingers.

Yol Toor thrust his right arm forward, and a green lightning bolt shot out of the tips of his claws. The lightning hit one of the ogres, launching it into the air. Electricity sizzled throughout the ogre’s body as it flew, and seconds later, its body was reduced to ash. Yol Toor sent out another bolt of lightning with his left arm. It hit another ogre, who also immediately disintegrated.

The three remaining ogres were right on Yol Toor, but the dragon jumped back as he twirled his right hand and grey ball of energy materialised in his palm. Yol Toor took to the skies and encircled the ogres as the ball of energy got bigger and bigger. Once it was the size of Yol Toor’s head, he tossed it at one of the ogres. The ball burst and the energy encased the ogre as it flinched back and flailed its arms. The ogres movements were stopped dead in its tracks when the energy dissipated, revealing that it had been turned to stone. Yol Toor then ran over to the petrified ogre, jumped in the air, and slammed his fist into its head. The statue was immediately reduced to unrecognizable rubble.

Yol Toor turned to face the final ogre and pressed the fingers of his right arm together. The flames on his right arm became more intense, turning his arm into a curved spike of flame. He charged and jumped at the last ogre, landing on the top of its chest and thrusting his right arm into its head, the claw of fire instantly burning into its head. Yol Toor intensified the flames of his arm even more, forcing them into the hole he burning into the ogres head. Excess flame shot out of the ogres mouth, nose, ears, and eventually burning through its eyes.

The ogre fell forwards and Yol Toor jumped off. His arms returned to normal and the dragon took a deep breath. He picked up the weapons he had dropped when the ogre hit him, and looked at the two ogre skeletons. The corpses of other ogres surrounded them, so Yol Toor unleashed a large plume of fire, enveloping the skeletons and the surrounding bodies. He then went back to flying to find more ogres.

~~~

“Spike! Sweet Celestia, what happened?” Twilight asked as she ran over to Spike, Rarity, and the unicorn that was working on him.

“Spike tried to protect me, Sweetie Belle, and her friends by attacking an ogre, but the beast was just too much, and did this him.” Rarity said solemnly.

Twilight looked at Spike; both of his arms and left leg were wrapped around a splint, his chest and half of his face was wrapped in bandages. “Will he be okay?”

“I’ve stopped the bleeding and stabilized his heartbeat, but he’s concussed and will need to be taken to a hospital for further treatment. I have two pegasi preparing to provide him with emergency transport,” the unicorn said.

“I want to go with him; he’s family,” Twilight said.

“I’m sorry, but they’ll get to Canterlot faster if the load is as light as possible; no offense.”

Twilight glared at the soldier.

Rarity put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, it may be best that we do what he says; if it helps Spike…”

Twilight’s head fell and she walked over to Spike, who was still unconscious. “Hang on, Spike. And please be okay.”

“You two need to get on the train; it’s nearly ready to go,” the soldier said.

The two mares nodded and got in line to get on the train.

~~~

Yol Toor flapped his wings as hard as he could as he carried an ogre by its horns. He got several dozen meters in the air when he made several spins, building up his momentum. He front flipped and shouted and threw the ogre at the ground. The ground shook as the beast landed.

He roared at the ogres and waves of dark energy hit three ogres. The ogres turned to skeletons and collapsed. His hands sparked with green electricity as he lunged towards the ground. Once he landed, his right hand jerked forward, and three bolts of electricity each hit an ogre. Yol Toor jerked his arm up, and the ogres were launched in the air. He jerked his arm to the right and down, sending the ogres flying into two more that were charging at him from his flank. Once the ogres hit the ground, they exploded in flash of green. It dissipated, leaving nothing remaining of the ogres, but their ashes.

Yol Toor breathed heavily as he looked at the two ogres that remained, standing next to each other. His blood-drenched body was exhausted. Regardless, he clenched his sword and shield and charged.

Yol Toor swung his shield at the ogre on the left as it tried to punch him, knocking the fist away. He dashed at the ogre and swung his sword arm at its leg, cutting the knee across the center. He spun around the ogre as it roared in pain and knelt forward. He lunged his sword arm forward, stabbing the ogre’s back and jumped, slicing upwards. The ogre fell forward completely and laid motionless.

He was reminded of the final ogre when it punched him, sending him flying into a nearby house, which collapsed on top of him from the structural damage. That didn’t stop Yol Toor though, as he launched out of the debris. He stayed in the air and examined his injuries: he had a large piece of timber sticking into his side, where there were no scales protecting him, which would’ve no doubt hurt, if not for his adrenaline blocking it. Yol Toor winced when he quickly pulled the debris out, blood began pouring from the wound. He checked the rest of his body; several lashes and bruises covered his unprotected hide, but his natural pain killers blocked the annoyance they could’ve been.

Turning his attention back to the final ogre, he dove at it, taking a deep breath as he fell. He suddenly turned up and unleashed a large stream of fire at the ogre as he flew upwards, covering it in flames.

The ogre roared in pain and stumbled back, trying to get off the burning ground it was standing in. This allowed Yol Toor to easily stay behind the ogre.

He dove at it again, raising his sword. With a wide swing, Yol Toor cut through the ogre’s neck. He flipped backwards and landed in front of the ogre, his back facing it. He turned his head to look at the beast; its head rolled off its shoulders and the body fell.

Yol Toor let loose a sigh of relief as he fought off a feeling of lightheadedness.

“Sir!” A male voice called out.

Yol Toor looked in front of him, and saw Sergeant Buckson galloping over to him.

“Sergeant. Good to see you made it through this unscathed. How did the evacuation go?”

“The town was completely evacuated, with no casualties. The worst of the injured have been given high priority escort to Canterlot Hospital. Including a young dragon by the name of Spike; a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle said she wanted you to know that he’s okay.”

Yol Toor smiled. “Thank you, Sergeant. What about your soldiers? How did they fare?”

“No casualties, sir!” Buckson said with pride.

“Very good, Sergeant. Send word to Canterlot Castle; the immediate threat has been eliminated, but a thorough investigation of the Everfree Forest is required before we should allow the townsponies back into Ponyville.”

“Yes sir!” Buckson said with a salute. He dashed towards the train station.

“The message might be relayed faster through me,” a mare’s voice called out from the sky.

Yol Toor turned to the source and smiled when he saw Celestia and Luna flying towards him.

“Ah. How nice of you two to arrive late to the party… again,” Yol Toor said as he got on all fours, his smile turning smug.

“We had only just received word of the attack on Ponyville. We arrived as fast as we could,” Celestia said calmly as she looked at Yol Toor with worry. “But not fast enough, it would seem.”

Yol Toor held up a claw. “Don’t worry about it; you can make up for your lateness by cleaning up the mess for me.”

Luna couldn’t keep herself calm anymore; she dashed at Yol Toor and wrapped her forelegs around him. “Yol Toor! What is the meaning of you taking on these beasts by yourself! You should’ve warned us immediately! Do you have any idea how worried my sister and I have been for the past ten minutes?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “You’re the one that tried to mobilize the entire Equestrian army.”

“And their response time was terrible! How could you allow the military to become so sloppy while I’ve been gone?”

Yol Toor gently pushed Luna off of him and smiled. “Luna, I’m fine. You know better than anypony that I can handle myself in a fight.”

“I know… but look at yourself! You look awful!”

Yol Toor’s head sank. “Thanks…”

“This could’ve been avoided if you contacted us immediately,” Luna said as she wrapped her forelegs around Yol Toor’s neck again.

Yol Toor returned the embrace and stroked Luna’s back. “There wasn’t time, love. Seconds were precious at the moment, and any wasted time could’ve resulted in the death of innocents. I couldn’t risk it,” Yol Toor kissed the base of Luna’s horn.

Celestia smiled at the sight in front of her. “Luna, take him home and put him to bed. But don’t loiter around; I’ll need your help clearing the bodies of these ogres.”

“Of course, sister. Come along Yol Toor, before you decide to do something stupid again,” Luna said as she released Yol Toor. When the two began their walk, Yol Toor had to stop for a second, and lean himself against Luna. The alicorn smiled warmly as she took her wing and wrapped it around him, ignoring his blood staining her coat. Once Yol Toor was settled, the two continued their walk, while Celestia flew further into town.

Yol Toor’s breaths became heavier with each step he took. His vision blurred and head felt light. He shook his head several times in an attempt to regain his awareness, but failed. The world began to spin as he came to a sudden halt. His vision was completely clouded when he saw a blue mist appear in front of him. It got closer to him, and he thought he heard shouting, but couldn’t make out the words, if they were words at all. The mist and everything around it began to disappear, until suddenly, darkness took him.