She was alive. The nearly fatally fast pounding in her chest told her that much. Blood as hot as an open flame coursed through her veins at unhealthy speeds. Her ears picked up a thudding, she didn’t know nor care if it was simply the pounding of her hooves on dirt or the rush of blood in her head.
Fear flooded her entire body, an unnatural terror that made her nearly sick. This wasn’t right. Nothing about this was right. This couldn’t be wronger. The sickening heat of the sun burned down on her sweating form as she thundered away. Away from that dreaded forest.
Away from...it.
Whatever it was. Her vision hadn’t been fast enough to pick up on anything physical. The second she had seen it, her body had locked, jaw tightening to nearly teeth shattering pressure. She couldn’t look away. The images of the coming flood burned into her head, seared into her skull. She couldn’t shake it.
Her body acted before her mind did. It followed the age old instinct that had kept her species alive during harded days. Flipping on nearly a heel, the mare had sped out of there faster than ever before.
The once simply ominous forest had suddenly turned into a source of pure horror. Unadulterated and uncontrollable. Whatever existed in there now wasn’t going to move, it had claimed it’s territory. There was something in it’s thousand eyed gaze, a gaze she felt more than saw. It wanted something from her.
Them.
It wanted them.
It became clear. It simply wanted them. The dragons, their otherworldly visitors currently locked below her castle. The sixth sense that had first appeared the second she had laid eyes on them suddenly made sense. The shock was clear to those when she first made that decision.
Twilight Sparkle, the princess of Friendship, had locked away two seemingly traumatized creatures under lock and key, constantly guarded. Nopony knew what to think of it. Even to herself, this strangely paranoid and cold behavior surprised her.
Now it made sense. Something within her realized it from the moment that she saw them. The moment that she felt their energy. The spike of power that burst through their world on an otherwise normal night. Magical signatures rivaling that of Celestia at her strongest. Magically sensitive parts of her being had become alarmed.
While she didn’t want to let go of her morals, her instincts split her down the middle. So she had locked them away, saying it was for their own safety. Saying that she would just let them heal. But now, it all made sense. The unimaginable horror of the thing that stalked the woods, was of their doing.
It wanted them, it followed them after accidentally bringing them here. The flashes of nightmarish visions of catastrophe, weren’t a prophecy, they were a warning. The message was fairly clear.
GIVE THEM TO ME
Her fear clouded mind didn’t know what to do. Easy solution was to give it what it wanted. Then what, would it just leave? What more could be at stake if it got greedy and began demanding more? She would turn into it’s vessel.
She would not threaten her world on the lives of two strangers she knew next to nothing about. It was their fault that her entire world had just been flipped. She still had time to reverse this chain before it broke through the very fabric of Equestria. A being of it’s power could not be left alone.
Unnoticed by her, she had rocketed into Ponyville, heeding none of the surprised cries of it’s patrons. Nothing could get her attention at the current moment. Locked in a state of persistent thought, the mare threw herself into the air, propelled by the adrenaline shaking her to her very core.
What could she do? This thing was more than she had ever encountered. It’s massively brief encounter had penetrated her to her very center, sending waves of uncertainty and fear to her surface. Rippling around her like a pool with a boulder dropped in the dead center of it, the mare barely kept it all together under the crushing weight of the detailed visions.
Not her, not Celestia, not Discord. Not anyone. The coming flood couldn’t be stopped. A simple being like herself was unable to process such a threat. For what was she, an Alicorn? What was an Alicorn in the face of such a primordial entity.
As the tension reached a breaking point, something happened. The tiara on her mane of frazzled hair suddenly began to glow dimly. Landing hard on the dirt path, opposite of where she had began her panicked sprint, she took off back down the trail without stopping.
Within the confines of her head, the lavender mare began throwing around possible solutions frantically.
Perhaps simply locking the entire Everfree under a barrier could stop it from exiting, or anyone from entering. Then again the amount of energy required for a long-term barrier of that size far exceed her own. The princesses wouldn’t be able to help, the drain would restrict their ability to govern Equestria.
Then maybe, just maybe it wouldn’t exit the Everfree in the first place. Perhaps sight was it’s weakness? Yes! That might be it! If it’s strength was weakened by direct observation then all she would have to do it get the entirety of Ponyville to stare it down. But, what if it retained it’s mind numbing ability to incite fear. Twilight was about as mentally strong and magically resistant as they came in Ponyville; the others might break in the wake of such damage.
Her mind was opening to dangerous possibilities, but she refused to endanger the lives of anyone in this town on a hunch. What else?
She was momentarily broken from her trance as the looming figures of the front gate of her castle took up her vision. Absentmindedly, she threw the gates open with force, running through just as she blinked into the interior of her bedroom. Throwing the door latch on, she hastily got a few materials together.
“Think, think, think.” She mumbled to herself, pacing the length of her room in long rapid lines. Her mind, still slightly hazy, wouldn’t focus. “Think!” She nearly screamed. The gems in her tiara glowed even brighter.
Mind getting cleared, another idea came to. Perhaps, alerting her fellow princesses was a wise idea. Just make them aware of the danger this thing possessed, there wasn’t much she herself could do about it on her own. Then again, what could they really spare. This thing was unknown, only she had truly been affected by it’s mind altering powers. Unless Dash was likewise affected.
Wait, Rainbow Dash…
Her tiara flashed brightly, dimming once again. Taking a deep breath, the mare slowed her breathing. The element atop her mane helping to cool her down. She had completely forgotten to tell Dash what had happened.
Then again she had screamed loud enough to be heard from cloudsdale.
Her fear began to recede, the thought of her leaving her friend behind awakened something within her. The previous few days had started clouding her personality, altering her into a slightly different mare.
Realizing this with discomfort, she sat in the center of her room, dropping all of her supplies in a neat pile next to her. Sighing as her rump hit the floor, the mare rubbed her forehead, just under her horn. Headaches were common signs of her being stressed.
Letting out a shuddering breath, the lavender mare brought her hooves to her head. Adjusting the tiara and fixing her bangs, the Alicorn attempted to calm herself down. Knowing just how badly her panic attacks can get, the mare slowed herself down.
“Don’t get over your head Twilight.” She whispered to herself. “Keep it together and think.” Closing her eyes, the stressed mare cleared her mind, letting thoughts of equations and problems cross her mind. Finding her happy place as some would say.
Thinking clearly was going to be critical here. The issue of what she had seen was still very much on her mind. She needed to be all together if she was going to figure this out. What was the first step?
Probably make sure Dash got out alright. It’s likely that she hadn’t even encountered what Twilight had to begin with, being nowhere near the Alicorn at that time. Though if she had been high enough, perhaps she may have spotted what had been in there. Then again maybe it was for the best if she hadn’t.
As Twilight had only the briefest opportunity to gaze into it, it had nearly broken her mind. A less guarded mind such as Rainbow’s might have been unable to handle what she had seen. The images were still flashing in the back of her vision everytime she closed her eyes.
This must have been what Spyro and Cynder had seen. From her conversation with Cynder she had sensed a very potent barrier around her thoughts. It wasn’t that Twilight had tried to intrude, but upon analyzing the dragoness, she had glimpsed past the signature into further depths without meaning to do so. If that thing had been able to affect Spyro, whose power levels in terms of magical potency were on another level above Cynder’s, then Cynder must have a rather powerful mental block.
Such a block was more than likely the only reason she hadn’t completely broken upon their seemingly prolonged exposure to that monster. Unlike her companion, who had really lost his mind for a bit. She wasn’t sure if the damage would be lasting when he awoke. More than likely not, but he’d probably be very dazed.
Raising a hoof, lost in thought, Twilight stroked her chin as she delved further into her analysis. She couldn’t risk anyone seeing that thing and going crazy, the chaos would be immense if they found this out the wrong way. Twilight knew this town well, they would freak out and run like a startled animal if push came to shove.
So then, how to solve the problem? That was the dilemma. Racking her brain for an answer, she thought back to how it shrunk into the shadows at the sight of her. Maybe, just maybe, it’s weakness lied hidden within it’s strength. Vision wounded it, while also dealing even more damage back at it’s viewer.
This however came back to the previous concern from earlier, even when she was nearly over the deep end. She couldn’t risk the wellbeing of innocent ponies, not on a hunch, even if it meant potentially putting this thing away.
There would have to be another solution.
The elements came to mind. The one true plan B that always seemed to work. If anything, the bearers themselves, including herself, were more qualified to handle this danger. They were the most fearless, magically gifted, and otherwise reality defying ponies in the town, possible in all of Equestria.
Okay, so there’s that. Gather the elements, maybe get through that and then discuss the problem. Her thoughts echoed back to Dash. Faust, she really hoped she had gotten out of there.
Almost on Que, a slam from downstairs, followed by a shout, broke her from her troubling thoughts. Sighing, absolutely relieved, Twilight stood up. Walking slowly to the door, she flipped the latch up, just in time so it seemed.
A cyan pegasus rammed into the room, a disheveled mess. She looked like hell, a combination of anger and worry expressed across her face. Breathing heavily, the mare marched over to Twilight, grabbing her around the neck.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” She shouted into Twilight’s face, looking like she was as close to a breakdown as Twilight had been earlier. “You scared the horse apples out of me Twi! I thought something had happened to you!” She trailed off, turning away, breathing heavily.
Twilight instantly felt remorseful. Here was her friend, loyalty ever shining through. She had been terrified, in a panic when she heard Twilight scream and had been unable to find her. She opened her mouth to apologize, but no sound followed.
Instead, she trotted over to the chromatic pegasus, who was doing her best to vent her anger and worry on anything other than it’s target. Pulling Dash closer, she wrapped the pegasus in a firm hug. Dash froze, momentarily caught off guard by the hug, but returned it a moment later.
Breathing into the Alicorn’s neck, she sighed heavily. “You scared me real bad Twi, what the hell happened back there?” The pegasus broke the hug stepping back and looked Twilight in the eyes intently, red irises shining.
Twilight didn’t immediately respond, instead she dropped her gaze and took a step forward. “Did...did you see it?” She whispered, almost afraid of talking about that thing out loud. Dash looked confused.
“Did I see...what Twilight?” The pegasus looked rather befuddled, staring at the Alicorn with a mixed expression of curiosity and concern. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Though she wasn’t sure if she was very happy that she had no confirmation that what she saw was even real.
“There was something in those woods.” She replied guiltily, a bit remorseful that she had hoped that her friend had been through the same mental meat grinder she had.
“What do you mean something?” The pegasus gestured forward with a hoof. “Like a manticore or something?” When Twilight didn’t respond, the rainbow maned mare snickered behind a hoof. “Wow Twilight, didn’t think you would be afraid of seeing a manticore, not like we haven't fought those before.”
Twilight felt a sudden heat flood her cheeks. The fears was back again, and the mocking tone the pegasus possessed did little to appease them. She stamped a hoof into the floor. Hard.
“It wasn’t a manticore!” She shouted, sudden apprehension in her tone. She pulled back, looking around, scared of what she couldn’t see. “It was unnatural. I didn’t get a very good look at it, but it’s bad news! Very bad news!” The pegasus was once again visibly concerned.
“Well...what was it then?”
“I don’t know, this didn’t feel like anything we’ve ever faced before.” She was shaking once again, though she tried to control it, she felt a sudden weakness in her being like never before. “I’m worried we may be in over our heads.”
“Twilight what could it possibly be?” Rainbow tried to reason with the distraught mare. “Sure the Everfree has got some bad mojo around it, but what could be so bad that we can’t handle it?”
“You didn’t see what I saw!” Twilight shrieked. Rainbow visibly startled, jumping back a foot at the sudden shout. The Alicorn capped her anger. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the mare put a hoof to her chest, moving it out as she exhaled. “Look-” She continued, eyes opening and voice low. “I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions, but we need to take a good look at this and decide what it is and if it is a job for the Elements.”
“I still don’t know about all this Twi.” The mare was visibly skeptical. Twilight sighed, feeling rather drained by all the action and emotion of the day. This was far from punctual, and she hated it.
“Just trust me on this Dash.” Rainbow still looked skeptical. “Please.” She pleaded with the other mare. The pegasus stared at her hard, looking directly into her eyes. A few tense moments passed. Blinking and turning away, the pegasus sighed. Shaking her head, she flashed the Alicorn a light smile.
“Alright Twi, I trust you.” she nodded once, sitting down heavily. Twilight followed suit. “Then what’s the plan?”
Twilight pondered for a moment, deciding what would be the best way to go about this. Dash was the fastest, so she should probably be the one to round up the rest of the girls. Whatever this was that they were dealing with, they had to overcome it together.
“You go gather the rest of the girls, and bring them here. I’m gonna start trying to figure out where we go from here. I’m not resting until I know this town and everypony in it is secure.” She thrust her head forward, a thin smile on her muzzle.
Dash nodded her head, snapping into guards-mare mode for a moment. Standing up, she snapped a salute. “I won’t let you down Twi.” With a flick of her mane, the mare trotted out quickly. As the pegasus left, Twilight got back to her hooves, casting her gaze around the room.
Quickly gathering her wayward supplies from off the floor, the mare plodded over to her study. Setting the equipment down, she closed the blind in the external room. Gathering a few pencils, pens, and parchment, the mare charted down everything she thought would be necessary on another roll of parchment.
Going over plans in her head, Twilight felt more at peace than she had all week. Despite the danger, she knew she could work through it. On one hoof, it was another problem to solve, another threat to log and make sure couldn’t return later. The challenge of it all was getting her a bit more hyped than she thought she probably should be.
On the other hoof, it was a very, very problematic equation. One that would starin all of her resources and willpower. She knew this was no joke. Most threats up until this point she had been able to get a read on. Whether they wanted power, money, or ponies, they always had something to exploit.
But this, this was pure evil. It didn't care. It just wanted to cause the death and destruction of everything it encountered. It may not have known it, but when it had imparted it’s cataclysmic waring deep into her brain, it also broadcasted it’s intentions.
Twilight was smart, she knew she could find a way to exploit this. Know your enemy, know yourself, and victory is assured. She smirked, confidence suddenly entering her. This thing wanted to break her. She would not let it.
She would show it the error of it’s ways and have it running. Ponyville was an unbreakable fortress at this point, she wasn’t terribly concerned now that her mind wasn’t being torn to shreds by irrational, unnatural fear.
Despite knowing all of this, there was still one Wildcard unaccounted for. Cynder.
The dragoness knew more than she had let on. Twilight saw the other female differently than most might. She was scared, just as scared as Twilight was. Cynder would be an absolute asset to this, and maybe she could get the cold dragoness to warm up, to feel some compassion. The pony’s viewpoint on Cynder might have been narrow, but she was determined.
Unaware of just how big of an explosion this match would cause.
Setting down the materials at her study, Twilight went over her notes on the interaction with Cynder and the diagnosis of their wounds. Cynder was more than well enough to walk around, her companion on the other hoof was a mystery. The alicorn was unsure when he would be moving around. She hadn’t been able to glean much about the purple dragon so she really didn’t find she had much to work with.
Grimacing a little, she thought it through. The dragoness needed to cooperate as she was pretty much the only one besides herself that had anything to be said on the thing in the woods. Realizing it would need a name, Twilight thought for a second before scribbling down on her notes “Soothsayer”
Finding the name to be strangely fitting, she circled it once and underlined it.
Returning her attention to the matter at hoof, she pondered whether or not she should visit the dragoness once more. The evident unease she had at being locked down there was evident. “No point in keeping her down there anymore, maybe I can get her to warm up.” She set her tools down, proceeding to the exit of her study.
Calling out loudly to her guards, she exited her room. Yelling down the stairs, one of her royal guards came up to her and bowed. “Yes your highness?” He questioned, head still bowed submissively. Twilight gazed down at him, violet eyes piercing.
“Alert the Major to have his team bring Cynder, the black dragoness in the dungeon to me. Oh, and the purple one if he’s awake and able. Tell the Major it’s urgent!” She flung her hoof outwards a few times.
He nodded silently, and rose. Trotting away at a brisk pace, Twilight smiled to herself. Things may be looking up from here.
*
Underground, in a cold, damp cell, an onyx colored figure sat. Cynder was once again sat with nothing to do, nothing to eat, and nothing to drink. The toll was starting to get a little more pronounced as the hours had passed.
It seemed almost as if they had forgotten about her. The guards that had previously been around her door last night had vanished. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but when she did she wasn’t very relieved. Even if they were an ever present annoyance last night, they weren't the main problem at the moment.
The light streaming around the tunnel still kept her hopelessly confined within the thick metal bars and walls of this damned cell. The lack of guards would’ve been phenomenal if it wasn’t what she presumed to be sometime in the afternoon. She hadn’t been awake very long so she wasn't all that sure.
With nothing to do, the dragoness just pressed her back to a wall and let her mind wander.
Once they were out of this place, she wasn’t very sure of what to do. Spyro was in virtually no condition to fly, let alone walk. Unless they had been steadily medicating him when she wasn’t around there was no telling how long it would take. Even if they had a healthy stock of red gems it wasn’t likely it would’ve made the most enormous difference.
Spirit gem treatments were fantastic at healing wounds moderate to minor in nature. A bad scrape, a sprained wing, even some forms of fractures could be healed by their mystical energy. But a large mount of wide, deep gashes? And whatever the hell happened to his hind legs must be rather terrible. The gems would dull the pain and stem the bleeding, but they wouldn’t do all that much about closing off the entirety of the wounded areas.
He hadn’t been drained and wounded to this magnitude before. The male hadn't even so much as twitched when she held him the night previous. She wasn’t sure how long it would take him to heal. She felt the nerves start to come back, breaking her concentration. What if they never did?
What was to stop those ponies from just killing them both. Maybe they did know what she was, maybe they had just been feigning ignorance. It wouldn’t surprise her, she was sure it was possible. Perhaps it was just their way of making the revenge all the more sweet. Keep her alive, in constant pain, and then when she was finally broken, end her.
The idea made her scales itch. She wasn’t prepared to die, she had come to realize in the past few weeks of her life. After all the pain and suffering, there had been times when she had considered throwing herself from the highest tower in Warfang and simply not opening her wings. The thought had hit home before. There were times when she had nearly done it, feeling so numb to everything that she was sure she wouldn’t even blink.
Many of those times her sense had come back in time. This usually ended with her wrapped in Spyro’s wings and arms sobbing uncontrollably for the next hour or two. Never would she tell him what she had nearly done, Cynder knew she could never do that to him. Every time the thought of being so close to death had terrified her.
Life was often a mixed bag. Sometimes it looked like all it wanted was for her to suffer, and other times it was so sweet she wasn’t sure if she was even alive. Such happiness for a tortured soul such as hers was unthinkable.
It all came back to survival, all back to that urge that had emerged the second her species had come to exist. The will to live. She wasn’t sure if she would ever know true peace, but she had often thought about what all the pain meant. In the end, she had come to realize that you must know true suffering to know true peace.
Maybe she just had to keep searching.
Philosophy often crossed her mind like this. Ideas and the like creating images in her head that she strove to be. Strove to achieve in a way as to prove all those who simply saw her as a monster wrong. Maybe she would eventually become wise like the oldest of her race, maybe she ascend in her own way to peace. Maybe.
Then again, maybe all it would amount to was this. Being trapped in a tunnel, ancestors knows how deep beneath the Earth, contemplating her life as the very end of it strode ever near. For all she knew they were coming right now. Edging closer and closer to her cell ready to execute her on the spot. They treated her like an animal, they probably expected her to die like one too.
Twilight was probably the one to order it. She had seemed so sincere their first meeting. The dragoness hardly found it shocking that she had played the part so shockingly well. They probably did this to any that they deemed to be undeserving of life. Maybe they just hated dragons, they wouldn't have been the first and they sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.
She don’t know how long she sat like that, emerald eyes glazed over, only blinking every so often. The cold chill of the floor and walls began to permeate through her scales bringing shivers to her form. Her joints locked, lack of use making them feel rather aged. Only when this discomfort became rather obnoxious did she move.
Bones crackling, she got back to paws, stretching quietly. The otherwise quiet chamber was reawakened by the sound of her tapping her claws against the bars, the metal faintly clanging every time her hard ivory claws dug against the metal.
Walking by the bars, she held a paw aloft, letting the tips drag across the metal as she paced. She paced the edge of the chamber, body sore due to a lack of movement. She had never so dearly missed her outside freedom. What she wouldn’t give to feel the heat of the sun, the fresh smell of the outside air carried along with the winds.
It seemed forever since she had seen the sun, something about time down here seemed to stretch. The hunger pains made it moreso, the trembling in her belly causing an ever present ache. Dragons had been known to go without food for long periods of time, but her immense elemental capacity caused the passive drain to wear her stomach thin much faster.
If only instead of having those guards the night before, in had walked a chicken. Thinking about it made her mouth water. But instead, she had been given rocks. Drained spirit gems, blue ones to add insult to injury. She felt the frustration swell within her.
The smug look that she had received when they had seen her refuse to touch the damn things made her furious. She would’ve burned a hole through the floor just to….
Wait. Burned. Acid burns.
When it hit her she wanted to claw her eyes out, cheer in joy, and weep at the same time. This entire time she could’ve used her poison. High concentrations of the substance were an extremely potent acid. The bars! How on earth had she let that slip her mind?
Turning fast, the dragoness moved up to the bars, body trembling with newfound excitement. She felt the heat swell within her chest. Sucking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the burning, sweltering acidic sensation resonating within her core.
It swirled and spurred along with her willing, spreading from her core to the middle of her throat. There it sat and broiled, spinning rapidly. The chemical burns hurt like hell fire, but she knew they would heal quickly. As the sensation intensified, glands in her throat opened, fluttering for a second. Just as the burning became too much did she release it.
Opening her jaws wide, the dragoness felt it before she saw it. The highly concentrated acid sprayed from her throat, impacting the metal with a dull hissing. Turning her head, she sprayed the burn in a circle around the bars. The toll it took was immediate. Of all her control over elements, spraying this toxic liquid was the hardest to control. As the circle completed, she cut off the flow of energy, closing the glands in her throat.
Taking a long breath, she worked her jaw, the sore feeling remaining even after the conduit had been shut. The green liquid hissed as it burned on the metal structure. Dripping down the bars, Cynder reached forward, catching a drop of the chemical. Staring at it as it sat harmless on her scales, the dragoness rubbed it in and returned her attention to her work.
It took a little bit, but eventually the bars began to give way, growing weaker with each passing second.
After about a minute, the bars were completely burned through. As the hissing sound was brought to a close, the hollowed out circle fell through the bars, a loud bang following as the pipes of metal collided with the ground.
Smirking excitedly at her handiwork, the dragoness wiggled through the hole in the bars, wincing as her scales caught on the sharp edges of the bars. Paying no mind, the dragoness, stepped through the doorway, peering down both sides of the hall.
Nobody in sight, perfect. She looked to her right, watching the bend of the hall intently. “I’m coming Spyro, we’re getting out of this place.” She whispered to herself determinedly. The freedom felt so sweet. Oh how she wanted to fly, to feel the pull of the wind along her wings and body. But, that would have to wait, she had more pressing matters to attend to.
Finally seeing the hallway while lit for the first time. It was painted the same painfully bright white as her cell was. She groaned. White walls, white floors, white guards. What was these ponies obsession with white?
As she was about to proceed down the hall, something caught her attention. The sound of multiple heavy clops of hooves. They were coming downwards from the muffled sound of it. She hadn’t seen a door when she had been in here the night previous, so where the hell would they appear.
Looking behind her, she realized attempting to pretend like she hadn’t escaped was impossible. They would only have to see it out of the corner of their eyes to realize something was wrong. She heard them hit the ground and begin to come closer. She sighed. Well looks like she would have to either fight or give up and let them take her to a new cell.
Perhaps she should just give in, maybe it was best to just not harm them and hope for a way ou-
“Split up. You four take care of the purple one, the black one is ours.”
Her eye twitched. The floor broke slightly as her claws clenched deep within the stone. Her fangs grit tightly within her jaws, nearly breaking. Eyes narrowing, her heart began to race.
She had been right. They were going to kill them.
The sounds of them stampeding down the hall became more and more pronounced. She felt hot rage flood her veins. Was her past still following her, would she always be prey to those who wished for her demise.
Worse yet, they would kill Spyro, the savior of the realms, just to get to her. Why? Why would it never end? Was she doomed to repeat this cycle for the rest of her life. Why wouldn’t they just leave her alone. All she had ever wanted was to redeem herself. Was truly the only way in death?
How dare they. How dare they.
Rounding the corner up ahead, not even 15 feet, they came. They stopped the second they saw her, body halfway to them, emerald eyes glaring murderously at them. They were different than the others. Their armor sleeker, their weapons more defined, their determination more noticeable. They had an air of arrogance about them.
Time to shake it.
“Halt!” The lead one shouted, taking several steps forward, the three behind him following the same lead. His horn lit, along with the others, held long spears, decorated by ribbons of purple and gold, iridescent metal making the tip of the weapons glow. The threat was clear, they planned to draw first blood.
As they approached, Cynder’s eyes never left his. Ice met fire. "Let's come quietly, shall we." He whispered to her, a confident smirk on his muzzle. Her eyes narrowed, watching him with extreme paranoia and suspicion.
Within 6 feet, they stopped. The standoff grew dead silent. Her heart was pounding in her ears, this close she examined them in more detail. All of them had horns, glowing brightly as they pointed their spears directly at her. She didn’t move a muscle, claws still embedded deep within the floor.
For a moment no sound was heard. Then the lead shouted.
“Regroup!” He yelled down the hall, the sound echoed a few times, then behind her, she heard the distinctive sound of hooves beating into the ground at rapid pace. Their eyes stayed connected, Emeralds meeting Sapphire’s. While Cynder remained expressionless, he began to smirk smugly.
She didn’t give him the satisfaction of making a single face back. Within her own head, she was formulating how she was going to handle this. The chain had been severed, now she had to keep the whole damn wall from tumbling down on top of her.
Turning her head when the hoof beats reached the bend behind her, she found herself staring into the second group. Her breath hitched. They had the same advanced equipment that the first group owned. She stalked the spot, circling eyeing her opponents. Aside from their still smirking leader, the others kept a face that told of grim awareness. The situation was like holding a match over a pot of gunpowder.
Returning her eyes to the glowing Sapphires, she finally made a sound. Snarling, the dragoness spit at his hooves. His smirk dropped as he looked down. He stared for a moment, before his own expression turned into an angry frown. For a moment nothing happened.
Her body tensed, sensing the incoming break. Ripping her claws free, she stood inside the circle that her claws had scraped into the hard stone floor. Cynder crouched low, her tail rattling against the ground dangerously, while her claws tapped nervously against the ground. The guards eyed each other nervously as the predator stalked, while their leader never strayed from her.
Then the penny dropped.
“Get her.”
Everything happened at once. The guards charged as a unit, making a beeline for the dragoness. She reacted first. Whipping herself around, Cynder opened her jaws, a horrific screech thundered from her lungs, accompanied by a blast of red energy. The approaching guards to her rear were hit full force.
Suddenly stopping as if they were paralyzed, they fell to the ground, bodies locked up, expressions terrified as the they fought with unseen demons. Snarling savagely, the dragoness whipped around, parrying the incoming spear with her tail blade. The sound of colliding metal filled the air.
She juked back out of the blued eyed Major’s range, crouching down once again. He narrowed his eyes, letting out a war cry as he charged her much quicker than she would have expected. Not breaking focus, the dragoness rolled out of the way, tripping him with her tail blade. His head roughly collided with the stone.
Dazed, he reached for his spear when he suddenly felt a large pressure on his back. The dragoness jumped on top of him, her toned, larger form struggling to hold down the equine. Despite being a head taller than him and a full foot and a half longer, the pony had some serious strength behind him.
Undeterred, the dragoness snarled, pressing down hard on the back of his neck, pressing his teeth shut inside his mouth as she pressed him against the floor. He thrashed about struggling to get her off. His guards rushed forward trying to help him.
Seeing the incoming threat, Cynder snapped her neck around, sucking in a deep breath. With a sharp roar, a sonic blast of air impacted them hard, throwing the three of them back several feet, their weapons and armor clanging against the floor loudly. They struggled to get up, but were momentarily too dazed to do so.
Cynder turned her attention back to the struggling pony writhing beneath her. She dug her hind legs into him, claws ripping through fur and flesh. He groaned, forcing everything into moving his body, but the pressure did not let up. His spear was still laying a ways away. Spotting it, he continued to struggle as his horn weakly lit up.
The dragoness began to grow aggravated with his struggling, and seeing him grip his fallen weapon in that wretched telekinesis set her off. With a growl, she balled up her other paw, slamming it into the base of his horn with the hard bony wrist. The impact was devastating.
Magic being pumped into the conduit was suddenly thrown haywire as the heavy blow shattered the top half of the bony extension. With leaks suddenly permeating the surface, the magic dispelled itself rather violently. The entire horn weakly exploded, sending cracks along the entire surface. He screamed as much as he could with his mouth still closed. A moment later, he seemed to go limp, breath heaving.
Grimacing, Cynder stepped off of him, watching as blood leaked from the destroyed appendage. She momentarily felt remorseful, but that quickly left her as the anger returned. They wanted to kill her, they brought this on.
The three she had knocked back were getting to their feet, looking horrified as they saw what the black dragoness had done. Their fearless leader lay limp, his back torn to shreds and his horn cracked and bleeding. Righteous indignation flooded them and they charged.
At the same time, the four she had previously paralyzed with fear, were returning to their hooves, looking just as angry. Though, with more restraint, they began to form a semicircle around the enraged dragoness.
As the battle shifted and she found herself surrounded by spears and angry owners, she felt her blood-lust break free. Her survival instincts crawled to the surface. Her rage forced a haze over her entire vision. Refusing to give in she snarled thunderously, standing on her hind legs.
“You can't kill me!” She roared defiantly, slitted eyes narrowed sharply. Slamming her paws back into the ground, the enraged Cynder swung her body around, her wickedly sharp tail blade slicing two of the ponies closest to her viciously. They yelped and jumped back, the rest narrowly avoiding being cut to ribbons by the fury. As the spin leveled out, she threw herself at the closest guard, throwing him to the ground.
Growling, she raked her claws across the dazed pony’s throat, tearing three bloody gashes in the sensitive flesh. Momentarily being splashed with red, she rolled off of him instantly, getting back into a defensive crouch posture. The ponies seemed momentarily caught off guard by the viscous attack, but they didn’t have time to waste.
Another guard was soon taken to the ground. Instead of having his throat slashed, Cynder rolled back to her feet, jamming the long blade on the end of her tail deep into his chest. The pony gasped, hacking up a spray of blood as his heart was ripped open.
The remaining guards charged her this time, forcing her to dodge and play defense. Empowered by the thirst to avenge their fallen comrade, the ponies played more aggressively, forcing her to parry and dodge multiple attacks quickly.
Unfortunately for them, the elite guard was unable to break her defense and their stamina began to wane as she moved around like lightning, deflecting strikes. Every so often while back-stepping she was given an opportunity, each time landing a hard balled wrist punch to the side of a guard right below the armor.
Catching a momentary break in the assault as one guard wheezed from a sudden and brutal punch to the throat, Cynder deflected a tiredly thrust spear with her tail, curling the long appendage around the legs of one pony, she pulled hard.
Lunging over the body as it tumbled, Cynder lashed his throat open with her tail, staining the blade crimson, before grabbing the back of the injured pony's wheezing form and delivering the same strike that put their commander down, his horn cracking in the same manner.
Four down, three to go.
Wincing as the tumble aggravated her sensitive wings, the dragoness righted herself as the remaining three guards grouped together tightly, fear becoming evident on their faces. Cynder felt some of her battle rage peter out, leaving her slightly remorseful for the savage fighting.
This remorse once again retreated as the three moved on her, converging as one. She was forced to reel around the blows of two, but took a sharp poke to the side. The blow coursed through her tender side like fire. Screaming in pain, Cynder jerked forward, twisted herself sideways through the air, and jammed the blade of her tail into the side of the equine’s head. He gave a wet gurgle before falling to the ground, dead. Wasting no time, she juked around the blow of one spear, taking the flat blade against her ribs once more. Grabbing the spear in one paw while she grit her fangs hard, she broke the spear in half, flinging the metal down the bloodied hall. Lunging forward, into the face of the surprised guard, she latched her teeth around his throat, razor sharp fangs cutting through his thin flesh and fur.
He gasped and screamed, blood filling her mouth instantly. Thrashing about as her pressure increased, he cried for help, tears brimming in his eyes as they watered in pain and fear. His partner attempted to remove the dragoness from him, but she flashed him a dangerous look, her jade eyes briefly turning blood red. He found himself rooted to the spot, paralyzed.
Ripping her head downwards and to the side, the poor equine’s neck broke instantly, the crack filling the air. Breathing heavily, sharp teeth blood stained, the dragoness released the dead pony’s neck.
The lone survivor broke from his trance, fear being replaced by despair. “You monstrous bitch!” He screamed and rushed her. She easily sidestepped the reckless charge, stabbing her tail blade into a foreleg. He yelped in pain, falling forward on his belly. Snarling in defiance, Cynder jumped on his back, pinning the defenseless pony to the floor. He cried out as the dragoness’s claws pierced his flesh.
“You think you know pain!?” She snarled in his ear. “I’m gonna have you screaming for mercy when I’m done with you!” She pulled a hind leg up forward along his back, pressing her claws into his spine. She released one of his hooves as he began to shout in pain, wrapping her claws around his neck, pushing her talons deep. Choking on his blood as it flooded his ruined esophagus, the pony thrashed. Not one to be overly sadistic, she crushed his throat easily and broke his spine with her hind claws. Ripping her talons from his ruined body with a wet crunch, Cynder wrapped her talons tightly around his head and gave it a brutal twist.
The screams and grunts stopped suddenly, and the only sound that could be heard down the hauntingly quiet hallway was heavy breathing. The haze began to clear from her vision as Cynder got off the corpse, standing among the hall full of them. Breathing unevenly, she gagged at the taste of putrid blood in her mouth and stuck to her teeth.
Avoiding the dead bodies, the dragoness, she herself splattered with red in places, parts of her normally black and magenta body colored deeply by the ichor, shakily stepped down the hall. The fight itself wasn’t too fatiguing, but the savagery with which she had attacked slightly appalled her.
Coughing a bit, the dragoness proceed down the hall, a steady drip of blood falling from her jaws and sliding off her claws.
“I’m getting us out of here Spyro, I won’t let them take us.”