> Leviathan
>  by GiftedMonster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Little Pony: Leviathan

I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. If I did, I'd be on top a mountain made of money right now.

Prologue

In the beginning, there was the void and there was Her
Massive beyond reckoning, She burnt a path of destruction and creation across the cosmos

And lo, She settled upon a tiny planet and there She rested
With the power of a star whirling within Her great frame

And from Her came the six breeds
Fire, Wind, Water, Mind and Earth
And the last...Leviathan

The Book of Ash, Part 1

Equis.

A planet that would one day boast the most harmonious of cultures writhed in agony, a blazing torch within the cold abyss of space. A world caught within a nebulae left over from the cataclysmic death of a star only a few centuries ago. The surface seethed with lava whilst earthquakes sent tsunami's of molten rock racing around the burning world.

It was this world that She-Who-Devours found, full of power from the star she had consumed centuries ago and weary of loneliness.

Had any intelligent life been located within the system upon her arrival, they would have glimpsed an enormous dragon floating past the planets, wings swept as if catching an ethereal breeze. Scales of deepest ebony coated her from tail to snout and against the beautiful nebulae, she appeared as nothing more than a void. A massive dragon-shaped hole in the nebulae.

Drifting over the planet and examining it, she found nothing about it remarkable or interesting in the least. But that which made it boring called to her. Its lack of uniqueness made it intriguing to her, for she sought not a paradise world but a world that she could rest upon without interruptions. 

Drifting past the moon of the raging planet, She-Who-Devours compared it to her own size and found it was only slightly bigger had she been curled into a ball. Shaking such thoughts from her head and drifting over the planet, she cast an enormous shadow upon it as her bulk blotted out the sun behind her. 

And focusing on the planet, she reached out with her Will to find the best location to finally rest. As her mind swept over the planet and catalogued all the potential places, she decided on an area located close to the magnetic north pole of the planet.

And slowly, she descended through the tumultuous atmosphere, each wing-beat in the atmosphere sending storms of ash and fire rocketing across the surface of the world. As her massive claws touched the lava and sunk into it, a pleased growl escaped her and she watched in amusement as the surface of the lava in all directions quivered with the sound. 

Nestling down into the lava and allowing it to slowly cover her legs, She settled her bulk into the lava and once more applied her Will though to a far different end than merely analyzing a planet.

Deep within her, something stirred. 

From the moment she had begun her seemingly infinite trek across the universe, she had felt them within her. Heavy with the promise of life and hope, she had carried them through systems that had seemed ideal but hadn't been perfect.

But here on this back-water planet, concealed within a nebulae of her own making, She-Who-Devours had found the perfect place to give birth to dragon-kind.

As her Will touched each egg, She felt something stir within and recognize her as their progenitor. Their mother.

Six eggs in all rested deep within her, protected by scales stronger than steel and power vast enough to contain within her the essence of a fully-fledged star.

Three males and three females with nothing special about them. No unique powers or affinities...yet.

But when her Will had scoured the planet, she had felt such potential lurking deep within it, held captive by the raging of the surface but there all the same.

And slowly, she began to give birth. Each egg was tiny but their size belied the import of such tiny, fragile containers. Each of them carried the same blood, the same fire that blazed within her. Each egg was heavy with the promise of new life.

And into each of them, she infused a mote of the star she had devoured. For a tiny speck was all their young bodies could contain but that one mote would burn until the world lay in ashes. Yet that single shard of a consumed star would grant them a life-span which would stretch for centuries if not for millennium. 

And into each of their minds, still unformed but eager for knowledge and purpose, she whispered.

Unto you six I grant this world. 
If you seeketh flame, consume the gem of red
If thou seeketh mastery over the wind, devour the gem of blue
Should thou desire to rule the water, avail yourselves of the gems of green
If thou wishes to abandon the sky and rule the earth, dominate the gem of darkest night
But if thou seeketh to master power that could bend reality, you shalt consume the stone that sparkles like a star.
And for those few...those rare few who will be my true-born spawn...seeketh not only the gems of the world but the metal of the earth.

With her commands thus spoken and their minds filled with the most basic of concepts but the most fundamental aspects of their lives, she allowed the six eggs to slowly leave their protective shelter and  to drop into the swirling currents of lava. They would not be born together, for even in their young state the instincts that filled them would drive them to slaughter the others until one stood above all.

But into their minds, she had whispered not the secondary condition for the rare few that would be like her.

Those rare few who would become my Leviathans...they must not only seek and consume metal as well as gems but they must be patient, intelligent and powerful. No Leviathan can be foolish or quick to anger. And weakness above all is to be despised.

With that last thought, She-Who-Devours allowed her bulk to slowly sink into the lava, eyes closing in a sleep that would last millions of years, until the world cracked apart and her Leviathans would rise from it.

====

Authors Notes: Alrighty! This here is a prologue so I didn't want it to be too long. Didn't want to engage in too much exposition, just provide the basics. The rest will come in time with later chapters.

Also, this is my first attempt at MLP: FiM fanfiction so please don’t berate me TOO badly.

> Chapter 01
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leviathan

Chapter 01: The Day of Glue

With a groan of pleasure, Princess Celestia allowed herself to collapse into the luxurious pile of cushions that served as her seat in her private quarters. Each cushion was large enough to let a normal pony lie upon it with all their limbs splayed out and still not touch all four sides. 

Princess Celestia had over a dozen over them, some of them stacked two deep so she could flop on to the comfortable nest she had created.

So I can flop regally Celestia corrected herself and smiled wryly at the thought. Exactly how does one flop regally?

Shunting the thought to the back of her brain whilst levitating sheaf after sheaf of paper from beside the desk that rested just in front of the cushions, Celestia could only groan at the thought of how much work she was in for. A subtle glow surrounded a pull-rope that lay by the door and as the rope descended, a small silver bell was set to ringing in her assistants office.

Contrary to what most ponies thought and believed, the Day and Night court did not only deal with ponies who showed up in person. Indeed, with the population of Equestria as large as it was and as spread out as it was, having to visit Canterlot for every question or request was considered too time-consuming.

So instead, they sent letters.

At first it had started as a small trickle, mainly young foals who had decided to write to her with simple questions.

Those Celestia kept locked away, to remind herself why she continued to rule had there been a bad day in the Day Court. As it was, Celestia found herself going back to these letters more and more with each passing decade.

But it had rapidly escalted from a small trickle into a raging torrent with over a thousand arriving each week addressed specifically to her. Whilst the mail clerk and her assistant did a phenomenal job of screening them, that still left her with at least two hundred semi-legitimate requests or demands. From requests for more funds to build a new school or to demands she do something about the increased dragon sightings along the border to the Burning Wasteland.

And now we come to the heart of the matter. Everypony today was asking, begging or in Duke Blueblood's case, demanding that I do something about the rising amount of dragons on our borders. Fortunately, the treaty is still in effect but for how much longer?

The Treaty was an ancient tablet that resided in the Burning Wasteland. Carved into a mountain that had been as smooth as glass, Celestia and the chiefs of all the major dragon clans had sworn to never engage in war upon the other and had signed it with blood.

Though she had never ventured back in to the Burning Wasteland since that day, Celestia could still feel her magic resonating within her blood that she had splattered on the mountain-side. 

Shaken out of her musings by the door opening, Celestia glanced up and smiled warmly at her assistant, true gratitude shining from her rose-colored eyes.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty. I saw you having a difficult time in court so I took the liberty of pouring you that special blend of tea you love" Moonglow Rising stated as she entered the private chambers with a tray levitating just behind her. 

Celestia felt a momentary surge of hope within her only to have it quickly crushed as a rather large sack was dragged in behind the tray.

"Seems we have more letters than usual, Your Majesty. About four hundred" Moonglow Rising stated as she gently lowered the tray on to the table.

Celestia eyed the bag of letters and for more than a few moments she entertained the possibility of just incinerating the bag and having an afternoon off to nap. Shaking her head to rid such thoughts from her mind, Celestia caught sight of Moonglow's cutie mark. A black orb surrounded by silvery light, Celestia had often remarked that it demonstrated Moonglow's ability to bring hope to even the most depressing of tasks.

"Let me guess. Most of the letters came from the settlements on the border?" Celestia asked, feigning ignorance in the hope Moonglow might surprise her.

You never know, it could be a lot of letters from Luna's secret admirers that were delivered to me by accident. The fun I could have...

"Princess, you are of course entirely correct. That's your third time guessing correct in a row" Moonglow stated, face rigid as she stared at Celestia.

Note to self: Never try and play poker against Moonglow. Again, anyway.

"Wonderful. More ponies demanding I come slay a dragon or drive it off" Celestia grumbled, though any attempt at good, old-fashioned grumpiness faded was headed off adroitly.

"I think we have a few letters that were meant to go to Princess Luna..." Moonglow stated, a sly smile dancing across her face as she watched Princess Celestia perk up at the news. Not only was Moonglow aware of Princess Celestia's desire for embarassing information about Luna, she had helped the Princess with a few of her more complex pranks that required an insider.

Frowning at Moonglow, Celestia adopted a disdainful expression and gazed down her muzzle at her assistant.

"I don't know what you're insinuating Moonglow, but I am sure you are not implying that I can be made to read every letter here for a few letters meant for my sister."

Moonglow nodded, face contrite though her eyes shone with amusement at the sudden change of attitude.

"In that case, I will ensure that these love letters get delivered to her tonight."

Celestia stared at Moonglow before sighing and gesturing to the table and a cushion that had been laid out for Moonglow.

"Fine. Let's get reading. I hope there's something reasonable in this mass of paper" Celestia stated. 

I hate not being able to help my little ponies. They must be terrified, seeing the looming figures that feature in their nightmares. But a single act of aggression from me would violate the treaty.

Whilst the dragons were violating the treaty in the spirit it was intended, they had not stepped outside the very letter of the treaty. They were trying to goad her into taking action, into starting another war.

And it would be a war we would lose. Even with Luna back among us, I truly doubt we could hold off an invasion. And that's not even counting the possibility of the other two joining the fray.

At the thought of the two that slumbered in the wastes, Celestia felt a cold chill crawl down her spine. Shaking it from her thoughts and returning her attention to the growing stack of letters, Celestia got to work.

====

"Do you smell something, Princess?" Moonglow inquired, muzzle lifted so she could smell the air better.

Celestia blinked and glanced up from the parchment to look at Moonglow curiously. It was unlike Moonglow to break the atmosphere unless whatever she had smelled was troubling her.

"Let me try" Celestia murmured and slowly took a deep breath through her nose.

And her eyes flared wide whilst her gorge rose.

"What is it, Princess?!" Moonglow asked, her earlier joviality forgotten at the sight of true distress from her beloved monarch. 

"Glue...I smell glue..." Celestia whispered, having to fight the urge to retch uncontrollably.

"But...isn't glue made from..." Moonglow inquired before the answer, coupled with the identification of the smell, made her turn and vomit on to the floor.

Celestia snapped her head around to gaze out the window and it was only the split-second warning that such an action afforded her which allowed her to save Moonglow.

The stone walls of her room which resided in the highest minaret of Canterlot glowed a cherry red before brightening to a blazing white. 

Immediately teleporting Moonglow away without bothering to say a word, Celestia turned to face the window that she had seen the flicker of shadow out of.

"It's been centuries since I last fought. Let's see how these old bones handle."

A split second later and the tower detonated, the stone of the tower unable to handle such heat. A blazing shockwave screamed out from the ruins of the tower and after that came the shards of stone. Thousands of stone flechettes came rocketing down upon a scene of carnage with each piece of shrapnel glowing white.

And moments before they would have fallen upon the panicking ponies...they stopped. Simply stopped in mid-air and hung there like macarbe ornaments.

As the smoke cleared from the tower and the residents of Canterlot gazed upwards in a mixture of terror and hope, they bore witness to Princess Celestia, Undying Monarch of the Sun standing unharmed amidst the rubble of the tower with only a very slight cut along her flank to indicate she had just survived a pyroclastic inferno.

"Shatter" Celestia whispered and in perfect unison, the stone shards shattered into a fine powder that sprinkled down upon those watching.

Turning her gaze to look down upon her city, Celestia felt her gorge rise once more. Centuries had done much to blunt the memories of war and the smell that hit her made her stomach roil.

One of the poorer districts had simply been...liquified. A dozen houses had been reduced to glowing slag and the smell told her that none of the ponies had escapes.

Fifty ponies...gone. They trusted me to protect them from this...and I failed them Celestia thought, a tear escaping her right eye. 

I can at least give them justice.

Raising her eyes to the sky and easily locating the source of the rampage, Celestia readied her power as she analyzed her opponent.

An enormous red dragon floated overhead, its scales glowing a deep sanguine in the blazing sun.

"You have violated our treaty, dragon!" Celestia thundered and began to ascend so as to face him on an even level. 

I will not put any more of my innocent ponies in the line of fire. They deserve peace.

"I am not here as part of the Dragon Nation, thieving pretender. I have come for what was stolen from me" the dragon responded, its voice booming loud enough to shatter the stained glass windows that had just been replaced.

"You dare to insinuate that I or any of my ponies would dare violate the treaty?!" Celestia demanded though internally she winced.

The school never said where they acquired the dragon eggs from. When I did ask, they just said that they had found an abandoned nest in an eyrie on the border. After this is over, there WILL be an accounting for this. The deaths of these ponies are on their heads as well as mine.

"I do not insinuate it, I state it! Return my blood to me or Canterlot will burn!"

As if in testament to his threat, the great dragon unleashed a spiraling pillar of flame towards her with the flames glowing a luminous white.

Celestia considered dodging for a moment before casting that thought aside with the realization that if she dodged then the flames could strike the city. With a flare of her magic indicated by her fiercely glowing horn and a narrowing of her eyes, Celestia willed a concave shield into existence.

The spike of fire screamed across the sky and slammed into the shield with a fury that made Celestia reinforce her shield even as she tried to peer through the torrent of flames.

The dragon...was no longer there.

Acting on instinct that most ponies would have thought she no longer possessed, Celestia teleported upwards just as the monstrous red wyrm unleashed another gout of flame at what would have been her unprotected flank.

Folding her wings close to her body, Celestia plummeted like a falling arrow, legs and hooves tucked up against her body to minimize any drag. Targeting the dragons right wing-joint and tensing her wings, Celestia crashed down upon the bony joint just as she flared her wings.

A monstrous roar rent the air in tandem with the sound of shattering bone and ripping cartilage. 

Giving her wings a quick flap, Celestia groaned at the pain radiating from her legs.

Mother of...me that hurt! Has it been that long since I dive-bombed a dragon or have their scales just gotten sturdier?

The now-crippled dragon plummeted down to the earth below, its gleaming scales giving it the appearance of a flaming meteor burning a path through the atmosphere.

With a thunderous boom and a cloud of dust, the dragon struck the ground like a hammer pounding an anvil.

Landing thirty seconds after the dragon had crunched against the ground, Celestia made sure to plant herself between the billowing dust cloud and the city.

That dust should have fallen by now. It's stirring it up and preparing to attack.

“You have used that before to kill my kind, have you not?” the dragon growled, one wing flapping gently to keep the dust raised to conceal its form. 

“I have, yes. Though I do not remember the scales of your kind being this hard” Celestia replied. As she spoke though, Celestia’s mind was else-where.

“Then you did not use it against the third, did you? Had you tried then your legs would have shattered like tooth-picks.”

Celestia frowned at the mention of the third.

“You mean the third Leviathan, don't you?” she demanded, her body still remembering the agony of that fight.

“I do, young pretender. But for now...BURN!”

As it spoke, another torrent of fire exploded from within the dust cloud and such was its heat that a rain of glass tinkled to the ground in its wake, the dirt liquefied then crystallized by the fury of the assault.

Celestia had been anticipating the strike and had been drawing in power in preparation for her own conflagration. 

But she had not been drawing it from herself or from the ambient magic that infused every atom of the planet, but from a source infinitely larger and far more ancient. A source that had raged for millions of years and would smolder for millions of years after.

The sun.

A needle of light flared from her horn and Celestia braced herself as the sonic boom struck her, the needle blazing forwards faster than sound itself.

A needle slim enough to rival any fashionista's but hot enough to to vaporize steel had coalesced from the air, the heat from it blackening the ground all around Celestia.

The dragon could only watch in shock as its final searing blitzkrieg was turned back upon itself. That shock only lasted a fraction of a heart-beat before the needle punctured its eye and liquified its brain.

A moment later and the flame followed, its trajectory slaved to the needles own. And whilst the scales of a dragon were immune to fire, the same could not be said of its internal organs.

The column of fire punched into the beasts skull, both eyes consumed by the fire before it rocketed deeper within as if searching for its now-lost prey. 

A moment later and the column of fire consumed the heart of the dragon before it petered out. In its wake was left a skull charred black with a pile of gleaming red scales lying underneath its maw.

The inferno had not even scorched one of the scales but the flesh underneath had been consumed as if it had been tallow. 

Feeling exhaustion rapidly creeping up on her, Celestia used what little power she had remaining to teleport back inside of Canterlot. Appearing on the steps of the castle and looking around, she smiled wearily at each of her beloved subjects.

"My little ponies. I am truly sorry that I could not spare you this tragedy when we have only just cast aside the shadow of Discord. Rest assured though that this was not an act of war and merely the actions of a single dragon. The treaty is still in effect, we are not at war."

Celestia glanced around and as she expected, saw the looks of fear on each of her subjects' faces. Not only fear of dragons...but fear of her.

This is why I hate war. Whenever I must step in to end a conflict, I am always feared. 

With a heavy heart and her head dipped in remorse, Celestia made her way back inside the castle.
> Chapter 02
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leviathan

Chapter 02: Dreams of War

For what felt like the hundredth time, Spike forced his eyelids open and once more tried to read the text before him. Fighting through the boredom that threatened to drag him once more into the realm of sleep, the diminutive dragon doggedly persisted.

Dragons: An Explanation

Foreword

This book is an introductory guide to the tremendous beasts known as dragons and will attempt to expound upon the varying types encountered over the millennium.

Approximately seventy percent of all known dragons are no more than primal animals with theories approximating that their brains are smaller than that of even the dimmest Pony. The remaining thirty percent are the magic wielders and their intelligence can only be guessed at.

Disgusted, Spike flipped past the foreword without finishing it and gazed at the pages in boredom as they flipped past. 

Pausing as a page caught his attention, Spike's clawed hand shot out and neatly slipped between the pages so the place was preserved. Wincing at the sound of ripping paper, he nervously opened the book before sighing in relief.

The rips had been at the top of the page, above the chapter title. But his attention was rapidly diverted by the title of the chapter.

The Last Draconian War

Frowning and eying the book with distrust, he glanced around as if expecting one of Twilight's friends to pop out and say it was a joke. 

"Wait, they're all in Canterlot dealing with the aftermath of Discord" Spike stated, a hint of hurt entering his voice and turning the statement into more of an annoyed mutter.

Quickly shaking himself out of the grim mood and returning his attention to the page, a smile grew on his face as he read the first line.

Pictures provided as a warning to those seeking to aggravate Dragon-Kind.

Squirming on the wooden chair until he was only slightly uncomfortable, he leaned forward after blowing on the page to banish any dust. And he began to read of a time long dead.

The Last Draconian War occurred nearly twelve hundred years before the return of Princess Luna and it has been mostly forgotten by Pony-Kind. More out of necessity than anything else.

The death tolls on both sides were catastrophic and to this day, exact numbers are impossible to estimate due to the ferocity of the conflict. Retrieving the remains of Ponies was rendered impossible due to the fire breath exhibited by most dragons.

Often, only charred and shattered bones marked where Ponies had once lived, loved and breathed. 

The war began on Hearth's Warming Eve when a group of valiant Ponies slew a dragon who had been menacing outlying villages.

At that, Spike stopped and gave the book a critical look.

"The bias here is really subtle" he muttered before returning to the book with a newfound promise to take it with a grain of salt.

The retaliation for the justified self-defense was swift and horrific. A thousand dragons emerged from the Burning Wasteland and under the cover of night, they laid siege to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

The horrific Red Dragons bombarded the city from afar with rivers of fire, melting stone and turning Ponies to ash.

The demonic Blue Dragons cut down any who tried to escape or fight by air until it seemed to rain blood over the capital.

The serpentine Green Dragons emerged from the rivers and lakes and with their mastery over water, drowned countless brave ponies.

The monsters of the earth, the Black Dragons smashed through walls and towers with the greatest of ease, crushing ponies under-foot and swallowing some whole.

And the terrible White Dragons deployed powers considered too barbaric for any pony to contemplate. Of them all, the White's were perhaps the cruelest and took pleasure in annihilating any unicorn that dared to resist.

In the space of a night, over two thousand ponies had been slain and the Draconic menace had gained a massive foothold in Equestria.

Spike knew he should have felt disgusted with his kin, the way they had so callously attacked unprepared ponies. He knew that he should have been horrified at the sheer scale of life lost but as he read between the lines, Spike found himself conflicted.

On one hand, they killed over two thousand ponies in the space of twelve hours. But the ponies who...killed the first dragon must have known that their actions could have set in motion a war.

Taking a deep breath to settle his tumultuous emotions, Spike continued to read.

All ponies knew that they could never hope to bring low a dragon in their own. But by working together and being in harmony with one another, they devised ways to defend themselves.

Weapons of war that have been long since dismantled were fielded and reaped a terrible swathe across the Dragon flights.

Massive ballistae that took twenty stallions to move were the first of the fearsome weapons. Capable of crippling a dragon with an indirect hit, a single bolt was capable of slaying a dragon.

And the United Pony Army had dozens of these ballistae and crews trained in their use.

Weaponized storms were unleashed upon the flights. Even the Blue Dragons who had an affinity for the air found themselves buffeted and thrown around like the smallest toys of a child. Lightning bolts shredded wings and blasted massive holes into the other dragons.

The war continued for nearly a year and by the end of it, over three hundred thousand ponies had died in defence of Equestria whilst a thousand dragons had been extinguished by the power of harmony.

As to the final days of the war...only a few scattered fragments remain. What is known is that during the last days, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had been forced to enter the fray directly.

One particular fragment from the diary of a soldier mentions a 'massive beast, with wings that withstood the fiercest of storms and scales that didn't even bend under the most ardent of ballista fire'.

No other records remain and this particular fragment has been proven false due to the lack of any body and denial from Princess Celestia whilst Princess Luna has remained silent on the matter.

Leaning back, Spike ran a clawed hand down his face and let out a sigh as he considered the words now rampaging through his mind.

"Three hundred thousand ponies..." he whispered, his mind unable to process such an enormous loss of life. Having grown up surrounded by ponies, his mind was easily capable of transplanting any of the ponies he knew into such a horrific time.

Feeling ill, Spike glared at the book and pushed it away from the edge of the table until it was almost beyond his reach.

Turning and dropping off the chair, the small wyrm made his way over to the kitchen, hoping that a few gems would distract him so he would be able to sleep.

Pulling a few from his secret stash and wolfing them down, Spike found himself eying the metal fixtures hungrily.

Shaking himself and forcibly dragging his gaze away from the suddenly tempting appliances, Spike stomped out into the main room of the library.

What's going on with me? First I decide to read up on dragons, now I'm eying the fridge and sink as if they were rubies. Must be late.

Glancing at the clock, Spike groaned as he saw that it was well into the morning.

"Oh come on, it can't be two in the morning! Pinkie, this isn't funny!" Spike groused before glaring around suspiciously as if expecting the pink party pony to appear in a burst of confetti.

Seeing no flash of pink to justify his outburst, Spike sighed before making his way up the stairs and into Twilight's room. Stumbling over to his basket, he frowned at it.

"Weird. Light's making it look smaller" he mused aloud before crawling into it, sinking into the plush cushion that lined it. Forcibly keeping any thoughts of long-past wars from his mind, Spike drifted off to sleep.

====

Thump...

Thump thump...

Thump thump...thump thump...thump thump...

Spike opened his eyes to try and find the sound that was disrupting his slumber, only to gawk in shock and horror at the tableau before him. 

A massive valley was spread before him, filled to the brim with ponies and rivers of fire. The stench that wafted up from the battle-field made him nauseous but at the same time, he couldn't help but exult in it.

It reeked of burnt hair, charred meat and a thick, chemical smell that he could not place, nor did he want to place it.

Wait...exult? It's awful! Spike thought to himself and only then did he notice that he wasn't his usual purple self but massive and deep crimson, the scales cast into a hellish glow by the fires from below.

"Has our Lord awoken yet?"

Spike was torn from his inner monologue by a new voice, melodious and amused.

"You know he has not, Scaleheart" Spike replied, though the words were not his own.

And that was when Spike understood. He was experiencing the memories of the red dragon but he was not the red itself.

"By the time he awakens, there will be no ponies left" Scaleheart retorted, her blue wings slicing through the air with the tips of her wings lightly touching the wing-tips of the red below her with each downward stroke.

"I see you have yet to dispose of your arrogance. Dozens of our kin have been slain by those vermin who scurry beneath us."

Scaleheart swept her gaze imperiously across the ant-size rabble below her and allowed a laugh to escape her.

"If I did not know you better Starfury, I would say you were afraid."

"Were you under my command, I would incinerate you for that slight" Starfury growled.

"So you say. Is it time?"

"It is. The same as last time. Let us teach their miserable wretches why they will always fear us."

Scaleheart peeled off to the right and dove, slicing through the air like a knife and to any watching, she would resemble nothing but a blue streak in the air. Following the curve of the valley and flying mere meters above the ponies, a scream of triumph exploded from her throat.

Starfury followed her, not as fast or nimble but making up for that with the heat of his fire. Guzzling air as he followed in her wake until the flame chambers of his chest were beginning to ache, he leveled out just as she had done before allowing the blue-white flames to roar from his mouth and to be sucked into Scaleheart's wake.

Hundreds of ponies shrieked as a tsunami of fire swept over them before they were incinerated, the fire moving fast enough to outstrip its own heat whilst other ponies were thrown back by the sudden blitzkrieg.

Swooping out of the valley and regrouping with Scaleheart above, both watched as more teams swept down, dividing the pony army so the Black Dragons could crush each pocket faster and with greater ease.

Spike found himself speechless, stunned by the brutal horror of the scene, but also by the beauty. Something within him resonated with the assault, something deep within him wanted to join in. To roast the ponies and revel in their horror.

Closing his eyes, Spike fought back the urge and didn't even notice as all sound vanished.

Opening his eyes, Spike was struck dumb by the enormous eye that stared at him. It was massive and filled with curious amusement. 

"That...is one big eye. Must be bigger than Ponyville."

"You show promise, small one."

A very large part of Spike's brain began to gibber in terror at the sheer thought of how big a mouth this eye must possess.

"Perhaps you will be the fifth. Or perhaps you will die. It matters not. But if you wish to live, then take heed. Be patient, for all rock crumbles. Be calm, for all stars die. And be  intelligent, for the stupid die."

Slowly, the massive eye was obscured by the descending eye-lid.

Feeling an itch begin on his back, Spike attempted to reach it and scratch it. But he found that as hard as he scratched, the itch only grew worse and within mere seconds had changed from a light itch to a burning pain that seemed to consume him.

====

Eyes full of pity and grief watched the six Elements of Harmony trudge into the throne room, each coated in varying amounts of dust, soot and blood. Even the normally fastidious Rarity was coated with such a melange of filth yet the one thing that remained constant with all of them was the look in their eyes.

A dead look.

Celestia had seen the look countless times. From soldiers who had seen battle for the first time or children who had just found out their parents had died. The look spoke of horror that they couldn't  reconcile with their own reality and to protect themselves, they had shut down.

Sister, art thou sure they should be in attendance? This meeting will be difficult enough without trying to spare them.

Releasing the Elements from her sorrowful gaze, Celestia turned to gaze at Luna.

I do not want them here, but they must be here. The Elements of Harmony are our greatest trump card should war break out and they must know what they are fighting to prevent.

Luna frowned minutely at her sister before settling back into the pile of cushions that she had requested, each of them pitch black and stuffed full of the finest down.

"Ma'am, are you sure they should be here?"

Celestia swung her gaze from Luna to the three commanders that were in attendance, her attention easily drifting past the varying nobles.

"Commander Farsight, these six ponies are the brightest stars of this generation. They returned my sister to me and sealed Discord away once more. They have earned the right to be in attendance" Celestia stated, tone cool as she remonstrated the Pegasus that had spoken.

Commander Farsight of the Airborne Battalion, Commander Stoneheart of the Ground Sweepers and Commander Sunsong of the Applied Magical Assault Force. 

Celestia eyed them all and was reminded that none of them had ever seen battle beyond minor skirmishes with Griffins and the occasional peace-keeping mission to Zebronica. 

Commander Farsight ducked his head in apology before trotting over to the six ponies. Bending his fore-legs, he swept his wings around so they almost formed a circle with the wing-tips almost touching.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Element Bearers."

"It's...it's fine" Twilight replied, still somewhat shell-shocked by her time spent in the now-annihilated Transient Quarter. "To be honest, I think all of us would rather be back home with our loved ones."

"A fair sentiment, Miss Sparkle" Commander Sunsong replied, her mismatched eyes solemn. "I think that by the time this is over, we will all want that."

Nodding, Celestia turned to the six ponies and smiled gently.

"Please, have a seat and we will get this meeting underway."

As one, the six ponies made their way over to the large oval table and sat, resting gratefully on the cushions that had been set down.

"Luna, could you bring up a map of the planet?" Celestia inquired, speaking aloud for the benefit of the others in the room.

Closing her eyes, Luna opened her empathic link with the moon and gazed down upon Equis. With the moon just rising over Equestria, she had a perfect view of the country and its borders. Closing the link and willing the image to become manifest, Luna opened her eyes and saw a translucent globe had formed in the middle of the table.

Equestria was prominently located on the equator of the planet but it was surrounded on all sides by swirls of smoke interspersed with flashes of red and streaks of lightning.

"This is a current image of Equis. You can all see Equestria here. Everything else is the Burning Wasteland."

"Pardon the interruption Princess Celestia, but what is the Burning Wasteland?" Rarity inquired, her horn glowing as she quickly shed the dust and dried blood from her coat.

Nodding at the purple-maned mare, Celestia launched into an explanation.

"The Burning Wasteland used to cover the entirety of Equestria. Then when Luna and I were born, we managed to carve out the Equestrian Empire. This was called the War of Smoke for we had to force the dragons back. We then raised the mountains that ring Equestria to keep the smoke out. But the effort left us exhausted so we fell into a deep sleep. And as you know, it was during this time that the first three Pony empires rose."

"Commander Farsight, what have your scouts reported?"

Leaping up onto the table and making his way over to the globe, he gestured to the mountainous border with his wing-tip.

"Our scouts report that all the abandoned eyrie's have been reclaimed and all five dragon breeds have been spotted patrolling the border. The three scouts that we dispatched into the Burning Wasteland have not returned as it stands, we have listed them as Killed in Action."

"K-killed?" Fluttershy squeaked, the horror of the statement temporarily overcoming her own shy nature. "M-maybe they just got...um...lost? Or tired?"

Celestia winced as Fluttershy spoke but she shook her head. This was perhaps the most violent act she had to perform during peace-time.

Shattering the illusions that peaceful ponies lived with.

"Fluttershy, you need to understand something about dragons. They aren't nice or merciful. The Burning Wasteland is filled with volcanoes and blasted plains, oceans of lava that seethe constantly. They have been raised since hatching to value strength over kindness, pride over mercy and hatred instead of compassion."

Fluttershy whimpered and huddled down into her cushion as her shyness resurfaced.

Applejack watched Fluttershy seemingly shrink in upon herself as the attention turned upon her.

"Can war be avoided?" Applejack asked, injecting more than her usual amount of brashness so as to spare Fluttershy the attention of the room. "If they want apples then Big Mac and I would do our best to fill any order."

Celestia smiled warmly at Applejack and nodded. 

"That is a truly generous gesture, Applejack. For now, you should all go retire to your rooms. It has been a very long day. Tomorrow the train will take you home and I will keep you apprised of any developments."

Strangely, it was Pinkie Pie who seemed the most somber of them all as they rose from the now-dirty cushions and made their way back to the chambers that had been set aside.

Its been twelve hundred years since the Pie clan fought in the wars. We were the best engineers of them all. And we were all exiled after the war for fear that we would spread the fascination with weaponry.

Every child born into the Pie clan was taught the history of the once-great family, how they had crafted weapons to help bring low the winged menace. And every child born was taught the basics of engineering so that if the time came, the entire family could step forward.

And Pinkie had been a prodigy at engineering and chemistry though she had lacked the drive to innovate.

Giggling quietly to herself and ignoring the slightly disturbed looks shot her way, Pinkie continued to muse.

And to think, we only became the Pie clan after we were exiled. I wonder if the Princess even remembers our original surnames?

Rainbow Dash was quiet as she trotted down the hallway, bereft of her usual exuberance or zest for life. The hours they had spent in the Transient Quarter had been exceedingly rough on her. Carting the injured and the screaming from the scene to the hospitals had left her hooves caked with blood and only a quick stop at the fountain had allowed her to clean them.

Twilight Sparkle nodded to the others before slipping into her room, followed by Rarity who had opted to bunk with the fellow unicorn.

"You felt it, didn't you?" Twilight whispered, glancing at Rarity as she made her way over to the small fridge. Opening it with a telekinetic shove and withdrawing an unmarked bottle, Twilight popped the cap and began to chug the ice-cold liquid.

"Of course I did, Twilight" Rarity shot back before she seemed to deflate. "I apologize, Twilight. Today was just...beyond words."

Having drained the bottle of the liquid and having regained some of her vigor, Twilight levitated a bottle over to Rarity and gave the unicorn a nod.

Hesitant but trusting her friend, Rarity popped the top and took a quick mouthful. Swallowing it slowly, she eyed Twilight.

"Isn't this the Apple Family Reserve?" she asked, taking another mouthful.

"After today Rarity, I think its just the thing. The others have it in their rooms too, though I wonder how..."

"NO WAY!"

"Indeed. Seems Rainbow Dash just discovered it. Should we tell her that its non-alcoholic?"

Twilight laughed and clambered into the bed that seemed to be calling to her.

"Maybe in the morning if she looks ill."

With an unladylike snort of laughter, Rarity trotted over to her own bed and clambered in.

Sleep though, was a long time coming.

====

Princess Celestia sighed as the six ponies exited before turning back the assembled nobels and military chiefs.

"If you would all leave us, I must speak with my sister alone" she stated though the way her gaze swept across every pony present left no doubt that it was in fact an order merely couched in niceties.

"Commanders Stoneheart, Sunsong and Farsight, please remain" she stated as she caught sight of them beginning to rise. Were the situation less dire than what it was about to be, Celestia would have laughed at the looks of panic they each sported.

Closing the door telekinetically before glancing to Luna, Celestia seemed to deflate as her sister sealed the room before she mustered the energy to look at each of them.

"What do you know about the Moonshift Contingency?"

Both Stoneheart and Farsight glanced at Sunsong who shook her head.

"Good. If any of you had known about it then it would have indicated a loss of memory on my part or on Luna's."

Each of the commanders looked to one another, confused by the seemingly bizarre logic the Princess was using.

"What do you know about the Last Draconian War? Specifically the sixth dragon breed?"

At that, Farsight coughed before speaking.

"Well, I don't know much. Just what I've heard passed down from my mother and father who were told by their parents. They were called Leviathans and according to rumor, it took both of you at the height of your powers to kill one."

Luna winced at the memory and allowed it to consume her, if only to speed the meeting along.

====

Luna didn't even have time to swear as she dodged a pillar of fire that made the air itself scream in agony as the devouring conflagration hammered into the mountain, boring a hole into the stone.

"You better hurry up, Lesty" she murmured, every breath sending a new lace of agony shooting through her as she inhaled the superheated air.

Teleporting away just as a claw came scything down upon her, Luna let out a breath of relief which quickly changed to a silent scream as the armored tail crunched into her side, shattering the armor that had protected her from the worst of the fight so far.

Rocketing down towards the glassy mountain side, Luna closed her eyes and triggered a blind teleport, no destination in mind except the need to be away.

Vanishing a mere second before impacting the shining slope, Luna reappeared almost a kilometer away and took the time to survey the battle-field whilst her magic began to automatically heal her.

Tens of thousands of ponies lay dead or melted on the blasted plain below, steel turned to liquid and bones incinerated by the power of the Leviathan.

Turning her gaze upon the juggernaut, Luna was momentarily glad that at least she and Celestia had entered the battle with a plan. Panting harshly in an attempt to savor the cool, sweet air as she enjoyed the small reprieve, Luna glanced upwards and caught sight of Celestia. Cocooned in sunlight harsh enough to blind any normal pony, it nevertheless made Luna's eyes ache and water so she quickly turned her attention back to the behemoth.

"Well buck me..." she muttered, watching the Leviathan begin to flap its wings, each downbeat producing a thunderclap. Grey scales made it difficult to notice in the billowing smoke and had Luna not possessed the eyesight that made Alicorns so fearsome, she would have lost sight of it.

Breathing once more to see how her cracked ribs were, she nodded before rocketing forward as power built within her horn.

When she was no more than three hundred meters away from the great monster, a spear of moonlight exploded from her horn and punched through the air and for a moment, Luna felt hope flutter in her chest.

The small ember of hope was snuffed out a micro-second later as the dragon rolled lazily in the air and absorbed the magical strike on its chest with the scales only seeming to glow from the fury of the assault.

"Not a bad try, tiny mortal. But you lack the power to even dent my scales."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and the depth of it made Luna's wings still for a moment before she began to flap them with renewed vigor.

"I was always weaker than my sister, Leviathan. My power lends itself more to subtle applications of magic" Luna retorted, desperate to stall for time as the Leviathan considered her as she would an ordinary pony.

"That is true. Still, I have grown bored of swatting flies. Now stay still."

As soon as the words had left the dragons maw, Luna found herself unable to move. Yet she could detect no magic holding her. She simply was...stuck.

"The magic of you vermin is nothing compared to the Will of the Leviathan. Now, I find that I am hungry and you look edible."

Luna found that even if she had not been frozen in place, the terror that stole over her would have kept her paralyzed as the enormous dragon neared. Measuring nearly a kilometer long with the tail adding an extra seven-hundred and fifty meters, it was truly worth the title Leviathan.

A moment later and its jaw snapped open which allowed Luna a perfect view-point of its mouth glowing a deep cherry red with its throat a luminescent white.

In the time it took Luna to formulate a thought that would have made her sister blush, the jaw had closed around her and the heat began to roast her alive.

"I...hope you're ready Lesty..." she whispered and teleported for the last time, intentionally making it a sloppy transition so the burst of magic would hopefully disorient the gargantuan terror made manifest.

"You look awful Luna. Are you sure you can manage this?" Celestia asked, the strain of manipulating so much stellar energy making her voice hoarse and thready.

"We don't have a choice, Lesty. I couldn't even dent it" Luna raggedly answered, fur scorched and mane wilted. 

Receiving a sympathetic look from her sister, Luna opened her own link to the moon and began to marshal the power required to control the apocalyptic power her sister had harnessed.

"This will make for a bucking incredible ballad, won't it Lesty?" Luna grunted, cold power flooding her and banishing the heat that had clung to her body and mind.

"If I don't get a week-long bath and banquet for this, I'm going to be severely irked" Celestia replied.

"It's coming. Are you ready Celestia?"

They were nearly twenty kilometers above the surface of Equis, the air almost non-existent and the frigid cold of the void above them serving as a reminder of how tenuous life truly was.

"Let's do it, Luna."

Reaching out with her senses and locating the mystic presence of her sister, Luna willed her magic to form a tight cylinder nearly five hundred meters long and twenty wide. Beginning to rapidly reinforce it so it could handle the nuclear fury that was about to pour through it, she nodded at her sister.

"It's as strong as I can make it, Lesty. Do it."

Whilst Luna had been busy distracting the Leviathan, Celestia had been gathering water vapor and splitting the molecules apart so she was left with an abundance of hydrogen atoms. And then she had begun to fuse the hydrogen atoms together whilst keeping the cascading fusion reaction sealed within a bubble.

Nodding at Luna, Celestia willed the sphere to sink until it was beneath the rim of the barrel. Shattering the bubble, Celestia quickly reformed it over the end so the fusion reaction would rocket straight down.

Luna and Celestia had for all intents created their own star going supernova, though admittedly on a MUCH smaller scale than the sun in the sky.

With a sound like reality itself splitting wide open, the nuclear onslaught screamed down the barrel, focused by the magical shunt Luna had willed into existence. 

Slamming into the Leviathan's chest, Luna watched it hammer into the scales...and nodded as the harder than steel plates began to bend inwards before being vaporized by the heat.

And then the spike of fusion energy lanced even deeper into the Leviathan, vaporizing muscle, bone and blood.

Then with what seemed like a triumphant roar from the horrific spear of light, the Leviathan exploded.

It was only a shield willed into being by Luna that prevented both Princess' from being decapitated by the tornado of scales that filled the sky, each the size of an Alicorn and weighing double.

Panting, Celestia flashed Luna an appreciative look before she teleported both of them back to Canterlot.

====

When Celestia had noticed that Luna was engrossed by the memory of their first and last fight with a Leviathan, she had quickly cast a spell that would allow the dream to play out for the commanders.

As the memory ended, she glanced at each of the commanders and nodded.

"Now you see the problem. As it stands, there WERE three more sleeping in the Burning Wastelands. The first, third and fourth."

"What do you mean WERE?" Stoneheart inquired, hoping that the Princess was alluding to them having died off. The footage had shaken him more than he would admit. Such a behemoth had been awe-inspiring and terrifying and he knew that without all the training he had received, he would have been reduced to a trembling foal by the sight of it.

"When Starfury attacked Canterlot today, he demanded the return of his spawn. Given the somewhat cavalier attitude most dragons have about their young, I found myself surprised by such a blatant demand. But after it landed, a truly terrible thought occurred to me."

Luna glanced at Celestia curiously but stayed silent out of deference to her older sister.

"Perhaps the only time when a dragon will go so far afield for their young is when they believe their child could become a Leviathan."

"So...you mean that there could be a fifth...in Equestria?!" Sunsong demanded, now rapidly becoming hysterical at the thought of one of those monsters within the borders of Equestria.

"Its possible. But no reports have surfaced of any attacks or mysterious fires so it is quite likely young. For now, I want each of you to devote at least thirty ponies to going through the records from the Academy so we can track down any dragon born here within the last century."

"You are dismissed" Celestia stated, clearly tired from the day.

As Farsight, Stoneheart and Sunsong exited the chamber, Luna eyed her sister warily.

"Are thou okay, Lesty?"

Laughing bitterly, Celestia nodded and slowly rose.

"I pray that I am wrong, Luna. If I am not..."

Luna nodded and rose to match her sister, in action if not in height.

"I understand. I shall begin preparations."

Watching Luna teleport away, Celestia snuffed the candles out before exiting the room.

If the remaining three awaken for this war then we will have no choice. Sun forgive me.

If any passing servants noticed the tears trickling down Celestia's face, they chose to stay silent.

====

Authors notes: Alright. Firstly, this is just a draft chapter so I can see that the response is like. If it is well received, it will stay.

I will admit that I played fast and loose with the laws of physics in this chapter and I do hope they weren't too much of a violation of the natural order.
> Chapter 03
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.