Spike Quits His Job and Goes on Numerous Quests

by B_25

74 – "It Was Only a Matter of Time."

The Element Bearers stood together before the center of the platform, each of their faces casting a determined gaze forth onto the fallen beast laid over the bottomless circle. A thinly, rainbow colored barrier outlined the dragon's form just an inch away from his battered scales; a brilliant flash of white light shocking his being should the two ever touch.

The latest, horrific shock had coursed through his body. The lingering electricity stinging inside his veins served to keep his body in place and expel steam through his nostrils, as his eyes finally caught the determined gazes of the strange ponies that stood before him – safe behind the barrier that had caused him tremendous pain.

His eyes also caught sight of the majestic princesses, whose glow at the tip of their horns began dim. A grin stretched across the scaly lips as their owner knew the pain agony was cast on them as well – it would only be a matter of time until he was free again. So the dragon trained his eye once more on the strange six, pleasantly awaiting the moment he could strike again.

There would be no mercy. No chance for them to repel his attacks. All the horns of the unicorns would be broken; the wings of the pegasi crushed; the legs of the earth ponies broken, and the princesses would be burnt to a crisp and swallowed.

It was only a matter of time.

So it surprised the dragon greatly at seeing six mares close their eyes instead of attacking him while he was down. He became befuddled when an explosion of air blew forth from the apex between them, blowing continuously as if it were a current. Befuddled transition into perplexed when the aforementioned current intensified tenfold, becoming strong enough to lift the six mares off from the ground and hover them a few feet off the ground.

The dragon growled in confusion at their forms bobbing in the air. They had no wings and their eyes were still sealed despite the odd phenomenon.

At the center of the floating mass was a lavender unicorn, whose horn lit up in a deep pink. Her flickering aurora began to expand slowly outward, stretching toward to the star-shaped ornament on the crown she wore atop her head. The two finally touched, but instead of the magic expanded ever more, it instead seeped inside the seemingly hollow star as it began to suck away at the magical influx.

It was the dragon's guess the magic was somehow being converted into something entirely else by an incompressible mechanism, rooted deep inside the simple looking ornament. His guess was confirmed correct a moment later, when a brilliant white light shone forth from the center of the star looking akin to the actual stars in the sky and carrying the same ethereal beauty as one. This blindly bright star was accented by a layer behind it, an octagon sporadicity colored pink that was semi-transparent to the forefront white.

The lavender unicorn cracked open an eye under the immense pressure of her magic, casting a glance at each of her floating faces, who all held the same determined expression as before. She nodded her with a smile, before sealing her eyes once more, and continuing on with the next act of her magic.

All of the other mare's eyelids clenched as the necklaces they wore, which match the symbol on their flanks, floated away from their chest and glowed in their independent colors. From the depths of these symbols, they shot forth a series of hollow, prismatic, and identical shapes that repeatedly shot into the barrier that kept the dragon concealed.

The eyes of the beast were blinded by the six shapes, instilling him with their after-image.

From each of these shapes, there blossomed a rainbow that gracefully began to stretch toward its sisters. When these extravagant chromatic arrays of light linked up for one-another, their power and beauty grew tenfold, before becoming intertwined and swirling around the lavender mare who had given birth to the magic being seen. So too, did the array of colors collide once more into the star atop her head, activating the true power dormant at its deepest depths, before shining forth an octagon of every shade possible of the color of magic each of the mare's encompassed as brightly as possible.

The intensity of this magic could never be measured, for it overloaded the senses of those who witnessed it. The princesses were the only one's to endure through the spectacle of power before them, putting double the effort into their own magic as they rose their barrier, as well as the dragon it concealed. The following sound was akin to popcorn popping as flashed of white stung the dragon everywhere, as well as the rulers of the land.

The dragon thrashed around blindly. He may be unable to see, but that didn't mean he didn't know whatever was going to happen next wasn't going to be good for him.

Then, it happened.

It was as if the currents had forced the barrier to enveloped his every scale that resided on his body, locking it in place while no longer delivering the painful shocks. If anything, the feeling of magic wrapping around his limbs was somewhat pleasant, like was being hugged on all side by the warmth derived from light itself. A numbing sensation bore deep into his being that quelled anger-induced mind and relaxed his every tensed muscle from his legs to the tip of his spines atop his head.

The dragon could no longer follow the odd sequence of events the pest were performing, as the warmth of their collective magic created a faux euphoria for his mind to swim in. The cuts along his body no longer stung, his tail felt as if it were still there, and if it were not for the harsh lights, then the dragon truly believed he could still see through his damaged eye.

He allowed himself to relax into the pleasant sensation, and it was because of this, that the dragon had sealed his fate in stone. For when his eyes finally adjusted to beams of light, he found that only one eye still worked, and it was trained at his legs. The thin barrier of magic that had wrapped around his form was now transforming into some sort of rock, traveling slowly upward.

The dragon tried to wiggle his legs away from the odd phenomenon, but found that not only was his legs unmoveable, that they also experience careless agony far worse than any sword or spell could cast on the flesh below his scales. The thin layer of stone would gloss over his scales and seep in-between their crevices, penetrating past his flesh with a foul pain, and injecting their substance into his veins.

Flying above the frozen wastelands for months on end was nothing when compared to the frigidness the dragon felt in his veins. Something far colder than the blood that circulated his system began to freeze the said blood in place, slowing its current from throughout the dragon, until it was totally frozen in place.

The dragon's pain felt akin to a knife being slowly sliced through a sensitive vein, only from the inside out by every angle possible.

Then this horrible sensation worsened.

Every frozen particle of blood had been scrapping across the interior of the sensitive veins by the time the influx of stone came. The bizarre magic from before began to slowly wash forward, touching each and every particle, and changing them into pure stone that would lead on into changing more of the liquid into stone. The dragon felt this crushing action, the sensitivity of his veins being assaulting by the worse sensation possible, and he couldn't so much as cry or wallow that would assist him in enduring the pain.

He was frozen in place by coursing layer of rock, sealing every inch of his body with its substance as it traveled up his frame.

From the innermost depths of the flame that had not been frozen by the stone, the dragon summoned his remaining energy to rival against this attack. His eye focused on the floating mares that were the source of his agony, causing him to invest all his energy into trying to move. He would break out of this stone prison, devour those responsible for it in the confines of his stomach, and intended for the rest to meet a just as foul end.

All the strength he bore as a dragon was used to move his body even in inch.

After a few moment, he didn't so much as twitch.

The dragon could not move. His flame had been quelled by the stone that had already filled his lungs and wrapped around his neck, surrounding his heart as it was reaching its pinnacle. In a few moments, the dragon would never have the chance to move again, and his horrified expression would forever be etched into the accursed stone.

These pests had taken away his sense of dominance.

Wounded his pride by besting him in stone.

And now, only an eternity of nothingness awaited him.