Drip…
Drip…
Drip…
The sound echoed dryly down the tunnel, bouncing off the walls. Heavy breathing mixed with the odd echo, giving a haunting note down the brightly lit tunnel. Tapping of claws followed the noise, slowly and unsteadily moving down the long tunnel. Concrete slowly scraped along the underside of the dragoness's claws, mixing with the constant droning sound of her tail spade carving it’s way through the floor.
Cynder grit her fangs as she hobbled. The aftereffects of the rough fighting was settling in. Her adrenaline fueled body had been pushed beyond what she could properly put out in this state. Heaving a breath, she shook a paw roughly, dispelling the growing numbness in her limbs. The rough grinding her muscles had taken ached and slowed her down painfully.
While not fully aware of it yet, but the dragoness had been leaning roughly against the stone wall the entire way down the expansive corridor. The weakness settling in her bones and expended muscles was an absolutely stinging burn that refused to leave. She hadn’t felt this drained in a long time. The weakness felt rather unnatural in fact. Such a fight wouldn’t normally leave her in such a state.
It seemed that the monster from the forest left more that just bloody wounds.
For once, she wasn’t sure if she had truly gotten very lucky in a fight. While most fights were rather harrowing, she realized with a pang of fear that the state of her body may have just flat out given up in the middle of the fight had it dragged on any longer. The drain on her stamina had felt rather miniscule in the moment, but as the battle rage lifted from her body she was left with a feeling of hollowness she hadn’t felt since the battle with Malefor.
Breathing deeply, the dragoness halted her advance for a moment, leaning even heavier into the rough concrete wall. Her scales scraped painfully against it, but at the moment it was little more than another thorn in the side. Gasping faintly, she raised a paw unsteadily against her flank. Swallowing hard, she suppressed a shudder as she felt her ribs poking through her scales.
Something was very wrong. This wasn’t something that would happen from a day without food. Her body wasn’t working right, it was almost rejecting what ever rest was being given to it.
Closing her eyes, Cynder pushed herself off the wall, grasping at nothing as the dragoness's unaided approach sent her nearly reeling to the floor. She spent a moment just waiting there, making sure to force herself to balance out. Calling upon what little wind remained in the deep tunnel, the dragoness forced it to comply with her, rushing against her sides and acting as a temporary armrest.
Easing herself into motion, the black dragoness staggered herself down the hall slowly. Spitting on the floor, she wiped the putrid stench of pony blood from her tounge best she could with a small cough of poison. It burned, but the taste of their blood was washed away and replaced by the slightly less nauseating stench of chemicals.
Coughing against the back of a paw, she forced one paw in front of the other. Cynder ground her claws into the tiny cracks in the stone, getting a decent grip with every step that helped ease her down the corridor. The constant dripping of blood from her claws was slowly but surely grinding on her nerves, but she tried her best to block it out.
Soon enough the bend from the end of the hall came into reach. Stringing herself loosely around it’s sides, the ebony scaled dragoness pressed her body up against the wall grimacing as it bit into her side rather roughly. Gasping in pain, she pushed one paw against the stone and threw herself off, steadying herself against the small wind stream she was able to keep from crashing to the floor. Her emerald eyes glinted slightly for a moment.
An idea had struck her.
Stretching herself as best she could, the dragoness pushed the stream hard down the corridor. Whistling faintly in the confined space, the narrow stream blew against the lit torches illuminating the rest of the next hall. The flames licked at the harsh wind, before dying down, leaving nothing but small embers in their wake. Darkness flooded the chamber.
Smiling to herself at her own genius, the black female closed her eyes and sat for a moment. Feeling her way through the shadows, she dragged as much of the pure dark as she could into her own form, concentrating them on her bloodsoaked paws. The strain was immediate, but she didn’t have to keep it up for long.
Ending the channeling before it completely drained the rest of her limited energy, Cynder got to her feet, her paws encased in shadows. The rest of her form was left the same, but one wouldn’t really be able to tell anyway. Shaking the shadow cloaked paws lightly, Cynder stepped forward.
For a moment nothing happened, but a second later, movement suddenly began to get much easier. Her paws seemed to slide as if she was ice. It felt like the floor had suddenly become rather slick, however she felt the fear of falling diminish. The darkness latched around her claws could just as easily grind themselves into the stone. Latching herself to the floor wouldn’t feel very good, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to.
Swiftly, she slid down the dark tunnel. The ever present energy strain associated with walking was gone, replaced by a feeling of relaxation beginning to course through her entire form. This was where she was best. Cloaked in shadows and alone, nothing could hope to match her.
Grinning, her teeth almost invisible as they were painted a dark, muted red instead of their normal pearly white, she moved herself down the hall with ease. Sliding one paw in front of the other, she sent the warping cloak of darkness further out in front of her. For a normal being, this shroud of darkness would feel frightening, almost demonic, but nothing would ever feel more homely to the dragoness.
The next bend came quickly, the light from that side creeping around the corner, encroaching on her like a snake coiled to strike. Sighing, Cynder dispelled the shadows from her claws and once again felt the rough purchase of the stone greet her. The light flashed against her scales, the faded, dirty skin absorbing most of the warm orange light without so much as a twinkle.
Grunting from the renewed strain of being out of darkness, she saw her target. Spyro’s cell was just a few yards away. Their salvation was getting closer and closer. She knew they still need to find a way out, but they could work that out together. A grim frown formed on her muzzle “Implying he can even walk.” The thought didn’t strike her suddenly. Knowing they were in hot water wasn’t a hard conclusion to reach.
Walking the rest of the way quickly saw something that made her breathe a sigh of relief. The cage door had been opened. She presumed that the guards she had just disposed of were ready to haul off the purple dragon when they had heard the commotion further down the hall. She thanked the ancestors for the lucky break.
Knowing that she had forgotten to search the corpses for a key, and realizing that she doubted she had the strength to get back and forth. Thankfully it didn’t seem as though the worst was going to happen. Acid was difficult to control even when at full strength, she didn’t dare attempt to bring it out when she was this winded; best to not burn a hole through her throat and stomach and bleed to death. That was a rather wretched thought.
It seemed for once fate was on her side. Skidding unsteadily to a stop, she faced into the purple dragon’s lit cell. As expected he was completely out, sides rising steadily as he breathed. Sighing, the black dragoness let some of the stress leave her body at the sight of her partner, unconscious, but looking much better than he had the previous night. Padding quietly into his cell, she rested by his side, gazing longingly at his closed violet eyelids.
She placed a paw against his bandaged side, her paw stroking along his side soothingly. He twitched in his sleep, a faint smile appearing on his muzzle at the contact. Gazing lovingly down at his still form, Cynder was immensely grateful to see him again. Bringing her paw up to his neck, she rested it there.
Leaning down, the black dragoness nuzzled his cheek, tears forming in the pit of her eye. Clenching them hard, she pulled back and shook her head slightly to herself. Now was not the time for weakness, she was still the one responsible for his well being. Knowing just how hard it was going to be to escape, the weariness came back full force.
Clutching at her chest weakly, Cynder tried to even her breathing, unaware that she was pressing down on her purple partner. The onyx dragoness absentmindedly fidgeted with the choker around her neck, sorting through her thoughts, even as their time ran thin.
Deciding on just worrying about getting her companion moving, the dragoness pushed all other thoughts to the side, knowing just how limited her thinking time was going to be. Even if the top layers of this castle hadn’t heard the screams and shrieking, the mere absence of the guard regiment was going to be noticed eventually.
Turning her glistening emerald irises back at the downed purple dragon, it seemed her unconscious stroking of his neck and face hadn’t alerted him yet, his eyes still closed and breathing even. Thankfully it looked as though his breathing had evened out and wasn’t nearly as forced.
Well, it was time to see just how well he really was.
Leaning down once again, the black dragoness pressed her muzzle insistently, but gently against his neck. “Spyro? Spyro, can you hear me?” He didn’t respond, eyes shut tightly. Pressing a little more pressure against him, she rocked his side gently with a paw, shaking him a bit more roughly than she meant to.
"Come on, please work with me here." The dragoness whispered in building panic, heart thudding violently in her chest. "Spyro! Wake! up!" Despair creeped into the dragoness's voice.
He still did not stir.
Cynder's heart hitched violently, a horrible feeling rising in her gut.
“Spy! Please, wake up!” A note of desperation began to creep into her hushed voice, a growing tightness in her chest making it harder to breathe. After a few more slightly panicked pushes and exclamation, did the purple dragon move. His fore arms twitched and he snorted lowly. His mouth opened and a weak groan escaped him.
Eyes widening and the fear slightly elevated, she pressed her snout tightly into the crook of his neck, wings limp against her side. She mumbled against his cool scales, whispering to him as he stirred. A few moments later his wings fluttered ever so slightly. A low thud echoed around the chamber as the dragon’s tail thumped against the ground, unable to keep itself up.
Cynder dared not breathe. Bringing a paw up to his head, she stroked his sensitive facial scales. He reacted reflexively against the itching sensation, his own paw reaching up limply to grasp at the unwanted sensation. She grabbed his paw in her own, wrapping her talons around it softly. He snorted at the contact, and finally his eyes fluttered open.
Blinking sleepily, unfocused violet met wet emeralds. Drunkenly, his gaze floated around, appearing to be dilating and rapidly contracting at random. Her chest still felt rather constricted, and she watched concerned as his concussed gaze flew right by her own teary eyes. Whimpering, the dragoness pushed lightly against his cheek, directing his eyes towards her own.
When they met and hovered for a moment, the purple irises seemed to gather some thought. Jerking in her grip slightly, Spyro moaned weakly, shifting his body. A pained hack broke free of his chest and a rasping noise came from deep within his throat. Despite the horrible condition his body was in, his eyes became marginally more cleared. The weariness and faded violet in them made it shockingly clear just of weakened his body was.
He gasped quietly, his eyes lighting up when he saw her leaning over him. The excitement bubbled to the surface in her as well and she let a teary eyed smile grace her muzzle. Softly stroking his cheek, the dragoness wrapped a paw around the back of his head and gently pulled him forward.
She pressed her lips against his own in a soft, passionate kiss. Letting out all the pent up stress and fear, the dragoness felt tears leak from her eyes as she cried silently. Trembling the dragoness wrapped his shivering form in her wings and pulled him closer, shielding him from the biting cold of the cell. His lips trembled against hers and she felt a similar wetness run over her paws.
Closing her eyes, Cynder pushed against her partner, desperate for the assurance that they were still alive. Trapped in a strange, unfamiliar place, but alive. They were together, and that’s what mattered to her in that moment. Despite the world seeming to be tumbling down around her, she had her partner and she had her life.
*
Likewise, the purple dragon beneath her struggled to keep his head up, his form racked with shivering as the cell seemed to turn into a block of ice. Nothing but the onyx dragoness currently holding onto him for dear life could truly chase away the chill threatening to freeze him alive.
His arms, though they felt like blocks of lead, reached out desperately. Hovering just under her wings, the weary dragon gripped her back tightly, fear and pain compelling the normally unbreakable purple dragon to seek shelter in the only one that could ever really provide it. The sanctuary that was his dragoness cried weakly as she held onto his body.
His fuzzy mind couldn’t seem to grasp what was happening. His memory was a blank space, the last thing that called to him was the dark forest they had taken shelter in. After that all he could recall was a vague feeling of terror and mind numbing agony racing across every part of his body and soul. The sheer weight of it overwhelmed his fragile mind.
With nothing to hold onto, he remained in the tight, loving embrace of Cynder, lips pressed against hers. She was here, and he felt safer than he had before. She was strong. She would never realize it, nor would the rest of the world, but this dragoness was the strongest being he had ever seen. Despite all of her own uncertainty, she held him as he shook and trembled, emotion overwhelming him.
Breaking off the gentle kiss, the purple dragon flopped against her, his head unable to keep itself up pressed against her chest. The soft red belly scales offered him some comfort. Unable to make much of a sound, the male simply surrendered himself to her crushing embrace, feeling safe and secure despite the aching in his very bones and the uncertainty of the dark, cold world around him.
As he met her eyes once again, staring into them as she blinked away the tears and sniffled hard. The reddened eyes were filled with such relief he couldn’t help but smile weakly. Grunting in pain, the dragon struggled to lift a paw, barely finding the strength to do so, he pressed it against her cheek, catching one of her rapidly falling tears upon a claw.
Careful not to aggravate his body further, he forced himself upright as best he could, laying a bit more on his sides. The dragoness sensed what he was doing and shifted, leaning her weight lightly against him, giving him as much support as she could. Planting a paw on the floor, his arm shook violently, before he growled, moving his hind legs into a position with better leverage.
“Careful…” The dragoness murmured lowly, pulling him with her wing as he began to slip sideways. He coughed once, leaning against her harder as he pushed. Try as he might, he was unable to get even the slightest amount of force on his limbs. His hindlegs in particular burned like lava when he put even the slightest amount of pressure on them. Falling back down heavily, he leaned against the dragoness side as she gazed at him worriedly. Sighing, he flopped down on his side.
“I…-” He could barely get the word out. His throat felt like sandpaper that had been nearly sheared flat. The miniscule cracks in his throat became wet and he swallowed hard. The blood dripping in his throat gave an irritating itching sensations and he growled lowly. What the hell was wrong with him? How long had he been out?
His tirade was cut off by a soft rub on his shoulder. Twisting his neck, he spotted his companion giving him a remorseful look. She took a deep breath before she spoke. “I don't know how much you remember, apparently you were much worse off than I was, but something found us in the forest.” She shivered. “It mutilated us-” She gestured as his overall form with a paw, appearing disturbed for a moment. “-it got you really bad.”
Now that she told him, the vague unease came back to his mind. Though he couldn’t remember it, her words felt true. He looked himself over. Much of his lilac scales were covered in red stained white fabric. Rearing his head around, the dragon’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped at the sight of his heavily bandaged back side. The barest sight of his claws poked through the end of the mattress of white that encompassed his rear limbs.
Other than that, the rest of his form appeared to be only partially wounded, nothing his body wouldn’t heal in time. The scars may remain, but the strength in his limbs would return. An ounce of confusion mixed with fear entered him. That still didn’t explain their unusual surroundings.
As if in response to his thoughts, the dragoness continued. “We managed to fight it off, but something strange happened. I’m not...really too sure what it was.” She appeared to be thinking hard, her expression tight and her eyes narrowed. “Next thing I remember was waking up in a cell exactly like this-” With a paw and a jerk of her narrow black muzzle she gestured to their surroundings. “And something was talking to me.”
He shot her a questioning look, and she dropped her gaze to the floor for a moment. He watched her aptly, the fogginess beginning to clear from his mind by this stage. When she didn’t continue, still lost in though, her expression tense, the purple dragon nudged her. Seemingly returning to her senses, she swung her gaze around to meet his.
Sighing, the dragoness spoke once more. “Well, she said her name was Twilight.” His brow furrowed and she laughed hollowly. “Yeah I know, strange name. She wasn’t lying though, I can tell.” Cynder often cursed how good she was at catching even very subtle changes in facial expressions and body language. The aftermath of when she was enslaved and performed...interrogations. “Apparently we ended up in someplace called Ponyville.”
Spyro looked as confused as he felt. He lauded over maps for hours in preparation for long trips away from Warfang and that name didn’t even sound slightly familiar. Cynder paused and gave him a look, one that spoke of grim realization.
“Spyro.” He turned to her, snapping from his trance. “I don’t think we’re in the realms anymore.” Her words came out tightly, very little emotion seeping into them. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but you haven’t seen them yet...I’ve never seen anything like them.” He gave her a skeptical look, still finding his throat too numb to form words.
She noticed the skepticism in his eyes and sighed. “Yeah, I don’t know if i’d believe myself either.” Without much warning, she retracted her wings from around him and stepped away. “We don’t have much time, I’ll explain later. Can you move?”
The purple dragon braced his limbs under himself as best he could. Finding it difficult but not impossible, the injured dragon rose on shaking limbs, and nodded his head. She surveyed him for a moment, watching as he unsteadily moved on trembling forearms and hind legs. The latter looked particularly rough.
A moment or two later he turned his lilac eyes in her direction, nodding with some difficulty, he moved beside her. She lay awing over his back, doing the best she could to keep him steady as they slowly padded out of the cell. The clicking of their claws seemed far away and distant now, the only thing on each of their minds being the arduous task of placing one paw in front of the other.
As they neared the edge of the cell, Spyro coughed roughly, dislodging a solid glob of dried crimson from his throat. Cynder was immediately alarmed, calling his name in panic as he continued hacking. No more blood followed the first wet cough, but it was still rather horrid sounding.
Cursing, Cynder leaned her head down to Spyro’s as it rested near the floor, the trembling of his his legs and wings almost knocking him to the ground once more. Cynder cooed softly in her ear, pressing against him intently as he caught his breath. He waved her off, clutching at his throat, grunting in pain as it once again cracked and bled.
Spyro took the brief moment of respite, before lifting his head and shaking his body of some of the tension. Cynder eyed him patiently, a concerned frown marring her muzzle. Spyro did his best to smile, and put one paw in front of the other as they exited the cramped cell.
Along with the blockage in his throat being removed, Spyro found that breath was much easier to get out and he sighed as fresher air flooded his lungs. Cynder eyed each direction that the corridor took, unsure of which way led to the way out. As far as she had been able to tell, the walls completely surrounded them. But, it there wasn’t a door, how the hell did they even get down here?
“Where to go...where to go…” She whispered to herself heatedly,
Spyro suddenly moved her wing away and pressed himself against the walls on the inside of hall. Cynder opened her mouth, in the process of asking what he was doing, when his paws glowed an earthy green. Sudden realization lit her mind and she smirked. Seemed like his head was working just fine.
Pressing his paws against the wall, Spyro stood on his hind legs, gripping the stone with clenched talons. Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the wall. Reaching outwards with what little energy remained inside his body, the purple dragon felt his way around the earth. The insides of the wall were solid on this side, but far down on the opposite side he felt a disturbance. A hollow area appeared amongst the stones.
Closing off the power supply, the dragon fell back on the floor with a quite gasp. “The wall…” He breathed deeply, voice coming out very strained. Stepping back from the wall, he tripped, but bfeore he could tumble roughly against the ground, the everpresent black dragoness was with him.
“What did you see?” She asked, leaning into his bent neck. Spyro gupled hard, swalloing nothing.
“The wall...on the other side-” His voice trailed off with another rough cough. The sharp coughs rattled his battered form, and Cynder winced as he breathed raggedly. “We need to get...around.” He breathed heavily, willing away as much exhaustion as he could. The dragoness nodded once, regripping him with a wing and leading him down the right path of the hall. Better to avoid the darkness she had created, she figured.
“Alright, now hold on, I got you.” She assured him, strength returning to her voice. Sudden realization flooded through her. He may be winded and weak, but he was alive. They were alive, and they were going to get out of this wretched place.
Pulling him along the hall turned out to be a grueling task, even with her strength returning to her. Just short of a dozen times had Spyro staggered roughly, coughing his lungs out in brutal fits, the agonizing quakes burning his body.
It was just when she thought that he would collapse totally did they reach the next bend. Flooring it, the dragoness grabbed him tightly, and pushed around the bend roughly, throwing her own body against the side of the wall, easing what would have been a bad fall. Growling, she hoisted him up as best as she could. Dragging herself and him down the hall was wearing her thin.
“Did...did we lose the gems?” The purple dragon rasped, forcing another breath into his lungs. Cynder thought back for a moment. In reality she wasn’t sure. Obviously she hadn’t had them when she awoke, so it was more likely they had simply lost them the night they had been attacked.
“I don’t know.” She said shortly, moving to place herself against the innermost wall. Not responding, Spyro got the message, and eased himself as softly as he could against the hard stone. Raising a paw, it soon took on a green glow. Placing it against the stone with a rough grunt, the dragon closed his eyes. Sending a pulse of energy through the earth, it bounced back a moment later in most directions. A bit further up to his right his pulse was absorbed into an open area. Ending the pulses, he staggered back with a tired sigh.
Cynder caught him against her shoulder. Whispering down to him, she murmured lowly in his ear. Shifting himself onto his haunches, he lifted a paw and pointed down the hall a ways. “There’s something on that wall over there.” He gestured with a shaking paw at a section of wall a few feet away.
Giving him a glance, the dragoness walked over to the section he had pointed at. Stepping up to the section, she pressed a paw up against it, scratching at it’s surface. Clenched her talons hard, she jabbed it against the wall hard. Something peculiar happened. Instead of being greeted with the dull thud of hard stone, she was met with a slight echo.
Grinning toothily, she pushed hard on the wall, hoping to get a feel for the thickness of the wall. Knowing that her elements were not nearly punchy enough to shoot through solid rock, she sat for a moment and thought. Convexity would accomplish this no issue, but the latent power required may weaken her too much to help her and Spyro fly out of the castle she assumed they were buried under. On one paw, Spyro’s control over earth had about as much stopping power as Terrador’s bulk, however given that the purple dragon could barely even walk it was unlikely he would be doing much of that.
In her deep thought she failed to note the quiet hoofsteps following her the entire time.
Perhaps if the wall was thin enough a solid gust of wind in the right spots could rupture it. The wall remained just as imposing and solid as one would expect following a sharp burst of nearly solid air. Narrowing her eyes, the dragoness snorted and shook her head. “Stopped by a wall.” She laughed grimly. “Who woulda thought that a simple stone wall could stop us, eh Spyro? He didn’t respond, instead choosing to continue to breathe heavily behind her.
This was suddenly cut off as some kind of commotion behind suddenly occured. Whipping around, she was met with a sight that made her snarl.
Bloodied, but still alive, the Sapphire eyed pony that she had neglected to finish off earlier frowned at her, eyes burning brightly. Standing backon his hind legs, the pony had Spyro by a headlock, the purple dragon wheezing as he struggled in the smaller creature’s grip. Somehow the bloodied pony his other hoof curled around a razor sharp dagger.
A dagger currently drawn across the weakly struggling purple dragon’s throat scales. He whimpered softly, pained at the sudden violent movement of his damaged form. Normally he would have had no trouble throwing something of that size off him and hurling him several feet in the opposite direction. This time however, he was hopelessly drained, and the pony guard was much stronger than he looked. Her eyes narrowed. She knew that much firsthand.
He growled at her, poking the dagger deeper into the sensitive throat scales of his victim. “You-” He started removing the dagger from Spyro’s neck at jabbing it in her direction. “Are coming with me. You’re going to face justice for what you’ve done!” He barked at her, cold rage coloring his tone. He placed the knife back against the dragon’s throat.
Spyro stared back at her, with no fear, only an expression that seemed to be trusting. He closed his eyes, and ceased his struggling a bit. Fear gnawed on the doors of her mind, which was whirling a thousand ideas a second. The strategist from her past was coming into play here.
It was virtually impossible for her to clear this distance without risking Spyro’s life. Blood loss would be devastating in his condition. Even if she was at full strength and mental fortitude she wasn’t sure if she would be able to cut down the pony before he acted. She was normally a blur at full power, but this pony was disciplined enough, at least in her own head he was.
He took a step forward, his eyes glued to hers. He glanced at the wall Cynder was poised next to, and a glare intensified. “Even if I wanted to, thanks to you we are trapped down here.” His eyes flicked up to his ruined, bleeding horn. “You are a cruel, evil, monster you know that!” He spat at her.
Cynder didn’t respond her eyes fixed on his. A thought occurred to her when she paced to the side. It seemed her struggled walking had jungled loose her previous plan B. Loose beneath her bracer, the shard of glass she had cut the day previous dug against her scales. Taking a step back, she wiggled the limb as discreetly as she could.
He appeared too angry to notice, and that would prove fatal for the poor guard.
“You know that Wind was only 19!? You think you have the right to take him away from us?” He seethed, teeth gritted, spittle flying from between his clenched jaws. The words struck Cynder, stinging her heart at the implications of that, but she forced it out of her mind, doing her absolute best to quell the spike of guilt. She rattled her foreleg hard, spinning her body around rapidly. The pony cut himself off mid-sentence, pressing the dagger hard against Spyro’s throat. Cynder held her breath, watching in slight panic as Spyro clenched hard.
Unaware to the pony and the dragon shivering in his grip, a jagged piece of glass lay within Cynder’s curled talons. The sapphire eyed pony, walked slowly towards her, making sure to keep the dagger pressed against his captive’s throat. “Now, you’re going to wait right here, and you’re going away for murder.” He glared at her, breathing heavily.
Cynder didn’t respond, focused solely on concentrating every last bit of wind pressure into a condensed point of the guard’s unprotected forehead. The process took a large amount of concentration and there wasn’t much to work with in the first place. A moment later, the guard would feel a brief breeze followed by nothing.
As he stepped another hoof closer, the dragoness propelled the shard along the stream with all her might. It took only fraction of a second for the blade to fly true. It slammed through his skull and into his brain before he could even blink, impacting with a wet crunch. A short gurgle escaped his throat, before he collapsed backwards, the dagger falling freely from his hooves.
The purple dragon that was previously in his crushing grip struggled for a moment, throwing the hoof still wrapped around his neck to the side. “Nice shot.” He mumbled as she pulled him to his feet unsteadily. She merely smirked at him, stepping back up the section of wall that was their escape.
“This is it.” She said simply, turning to him as he saddled up next to her. He glanced at her before nodding and stepping directly in front of the wall, pressing a glowing green paw against it. It only took him a second to feel through the stone. Her assumption had been correct.
He stepped back shaking the paw roughly as pain spiked through the mass of scars on his right foreleg. Sitting back on his haunches, ignoring the tremors that ran through the offending limb, he spoke. “I’m pretty certain it’s not that thick, probably around a few inches of stone between us and whatever’s behind it.”
“Can you break it?”
He thought for a moment, staring hard at her. Finally, he smiled and nodded. Ignoring the triumphant smirk that crossed her muzzle, barely visible among the black scales, the purple dragon stepped back up to the wall. “Stand back.” He called over his shoulder at her. Cynder nodded, back peddling a foot or two.
Facing back towards the wall, Spyro felt the earth beneath his paws come alive, channeling it’s primordial energy into his body and directing it into his mouth. Feeling the energy surge through veins rapidly, Spyro opened his mouth, letting the solid block of condensed earth build within his maw.
The rapidly spinning ball of green energy quickly became unstable. Expecting this, Spyro tightened his hold around the rouge, natural power and clenched his eyes. When the spiral flood of spirit energy began to physically drain him, he unleashed it in a short burst of raw power from within his jaws.
The solid brick of stone collided with the wall instantly, creating a large crater of splashed stone along with a loud, heavy thudding noise. The thin wall crumbled soon after, it’s foundation and weight gone. Rocks sliding, the doorway soon made itself known to the two dragons. A spiral staircase was hidden behind the wall, leading high up into the light of the cylindrical chamber which it was housed.
Coughing, the purple dragon shielded his eyes with a wing, the brittle dust filling the air as the rest of the wall tumbled down hard, leaving a doorway about 5 feet across and 8 feet wide. Seemed a bit big for this particular species he noted, his eyes momentarily casting down to the dead pony lying on his back a few feet away. Spyro grimaced, disliking the needless violence.
“We’re free…” Cynder murmured quietly beside him. She whispered it once more, turning to him with a bright smile. He returned it weakly, feeling even more drained after the earth missile. Despite this, he couldn’t help but share her sentiment, while not being stuck down here as long as she probably had, he ached to feel the wind and sun against his scales.
Feeling excitement give way to elation, he followed the dragoness into the chamber, already dreading climbing the stairs. She turned back to him, a worried expression on her face. She didn’t voice it, but he was determined to put her worries to rest. He could still do this, he wouldn’t let her down.
Climbing the long staircase was as grueling as he figured it would be. It took a few minutes and some close calls. Once or twice his paws had slipped along the metal stairs, and he barely managed to dig his talons into the sides of the stairs before he tumbled backwards down them. It sent his heart into a panic and nearly gave Cynder a heart attack.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Spyro almost collapsed in relief. “Thank the ancestors that is over!” He gasped out as he flopped back on his haunches for a moment. Cynder smirked at him, looking slightly winded, but otherwise in much better stead than he was.
“Cmon purple boy, we’re not quite out of the woods yet.” Her smirk was gone, replaced with a serious expression as they returned to their feet. Stepping carefully, Spyro followed his near silent companion as they surveyed the new surroundings.
The stairs had let into an open courtyard in the middle of an open section, the sky visible overhead. Guessing roughy based on the sun just beginning it downward trot, it looked to be just past midday.
They were surrounded by four walls, each barring an open doorway deeper into the building. Thankfully there wasn’t a soul in sight, they had an open area to work with. Next to each of the railings that led along the perimeter of the courtyard, which interestingly enough looked to be made of crystal, were banners and regalia bears that of a six pointed star. The symbol was lost on the purple dragon, but not to his companion.
“The one that talked to me.” She started and Spyro turned to look at her out of the corner of his eye. “She had that mark on her flank.” She pointed a claw at the violet star that each banner bore. Her raised a brow at her. She laughed, shaking her head. “I have no clue what it means.”
“Figures.” He rolled his eyes. “We probably shouldn’t stick around to find out.” He jerked his head upwards. She nodded, spreading her tattered wings. Groaning lowly, she stretched the appendages wide, fanning her membranes out. Grimacing as a sensitive spot was struck, the dragoness crouched low., bringing paw up to feel the air.
Spyro, did the best he could. His wings, while not damaged like around 80% of the rest of his form, were still rather weak. It did feel very good to stretch after not moving for several days, and he could feel a nervous energy building in the air.
A strong gust of wind blew past him, the cool wind rushing against his scales and causing the grass to sway. The sudden sound of flapping filled the air. He turned just in time to see his female companion hop into the air, flapping her wings strongly as she sent gusts of wind around her and her partner.
She smiled, a look of utter happiness gracing her muzzle as she twisted around in the courtyard. Spyro couldn’t help the glee that built up inside of him at her infectious happiness. Wiggling his own body, he let his wings lay flat across his back, the golden membranes catching the wind and pulling taut. His wing joints groaned at the movement, but he did his best to ignore it.
Bracing himself, he flapped his wings and jumped into the wind swirling around him. It hurt like a pulled tendon, but he managed to get off the ground, flapping his wings frantically as he pushed his body to the limits, forcing everything he had into staying aloft. Thinking quickly, he barked a short burst of flame ahead of him. He flapped hard, propelling himself into the newly created updraft.
It caught him, pushing him several feet into the air. The wind whistled in his ears, and he grinned toothily, letting out a triumphant shout. Below him, Cynder smiled as she saw him moving steadily around in circles. Cutting her supply of condensed air, the dragoness flew into his updraft, rising out of the courtyard. “Spyro!” She shouted down to him. He seemed to jolt back to reality, gazing up at her quizzically for a second. She beckoned him forward with an outstretched paw. Pushing his wings hard, the dragon soared up to meet her.
Rising out of the castle grounds, she flew off, the purple dragon next to her neither of them looked back. Focused solely on escaping the confines of their prison, they failed to notice the sudden commotion their elements and shouting had caused.
Wind howled in their ears, jumping around their streamlined forms as they rocketed away from the castle and in the direction of an enormous orchid, lying for miles on the outside of the small down they found themselves next to. Noting their current course, the purple dragon righted himself and pushed up next to her.
“Where to?” He shouted over the pounding winds. She let her eyes drift around their surroundings, casting her gaze around everything to the west and the east. She visibly cringed once her eyes moved over a large, dark, imposing forest several miles to the west.
“Anywhere that’s not near that village or that damned forest!” She shouted back, pointing a claw at said woods. He followed her signaling, looking into the forests imposing shadow on the horizon. It was unexplainable, but he felt an extreme shiver coursed through him.
“There is something wrong with that place.” He murmured quietly. Cynder had to strain to hear it, but she nodded once, though she appeared a bit surprised.
“Do you remember waking up there?” She asked cautiously. Her fears were alleviated when he shook his head. He didn’t speak for a moment, but when he did it was guarded with a nervous tone.
“I don’t know why, but I’m getting a weird vibe from it.” He shook his head, eyes narrowing. “It feels like the Well of Souls.”
Now that caught her attention. The mountain of Malefor. If he was getting those strange visions and vibes from the...Everfree? She remembered Twilight speaking of the place, a dark, dismal forest that they were found out of. It seemed to fit the bill. It was alarming that Spyro was getting vibes of that place resembling the Well of Souls. Especially since he didn’t even remember the forest from the night they were nearly killed.
“You don’t think it’s...him...do you.” A note of fear shot through her, the thought of her former master being alive made her want to hide and go on a murderous rage at the same time.
“No.” He answered curtly, giving her a soothing look, knowing just how the thought could affect her. “It’s not him. It’s something...else.” He appeared to be thinking through this deeply, a scowl on his normally bright features.
“Well that’s a relief.” She sighed, getting closer to her companion. Them being alive and together made her happy for the moment.
“I don’t like it, whatever it is.” And there goes the joy.
She sighed heavily. “Thanks for ruining the moment.” Rolling her eyes, she adjusted their tailwind, angling them away from the Everfree and towards the orchard they spotted previously. The massive, thin forest stretched on for miles across the horizon and was rapidly approaching with each passing minute.
She called over her shoulder at Spyro, who by this point was showing signs of growing fatigue. “We should stop here for tonight!” She gestured at a large swathe of trees, resting over the setting sun. “Let’s see if we can find some food and hopefully a few spirit gems.”
Yeah!” The purple dragon called back, pumping his wings faster as he raced to keep pace with his black scaled partner. “I’m absolutely starving. How long was I out for?”
“Not really sure. Probably a day or two, give or take a few.” He nodded silently, angling his body downward as they approached the treeline. Giving one last look over his shoulder at the silent figure of the dark forest on the horizon, he felt a strong chill race up his spine.
Make camp for the night, then deal with the forest. He mentally berated himself for acting so weak. Conjuring up his mental blinders, the purple savior focused his attention on his most important goal at the moment, which was to keep him and Cynder alive. Even with this in mind, he found his gaze trailing west, in the direction of the Everfree…
*
The castle was a mess. An hour after the dragons had been seen disappearing on the horizon, and the castle was completely overturned. Shouting and screaming of orders everywhere at once, it was almost too much for even Rainbow Dash to handle. This kinda mess was beyond even her ability to rationalize.
The corpses of Major Azure’s team had been found under the castle. It was far from a pretty sight, Rainbow had arrived back with the rest of the Elements of Harmony just in time to hear Twilight yelling for somepony to check the dungeon. Rainbow had taken a small escort of her own hoof picked guards and ventured down the stairs. They hadn’t expected what they would find.
As they touched down, they found the hidden wall completely decimated. Bits of stone and concrete littered the floor of the chamber that housed the staircase. Carefully stepping over and past pieces of torn and bent rebar, the entourage stepped out into the hallway.
Immediately, the small team was stopped dead in their tracks. A few feet from the entrance, lay the corpse of the most seasoned guard in Ponyville. Major Azure. He lay on his back, eyes staring blankly against the ceiling, dead and sunken in. What they immediately noticed was the shard of glass sticking out of his forehead, just underneath his destroyed horn. The sight wasn’t pretty.
Disturbed, Rainbow had called back up the stairs for reinforcements, screaming that was casualties. They had taken the route down to the black dragon’s cell, knowing from Twilight that she was the first to awaken.
The nightmare that greeted them wasn’t pleasant. The second they turned the bend, the stench of blood and gore became overwhelming. Further down the hall, the mass of bodies lay still, spread out along the middle of the hall. Crimson splattered the floor and wall in splotchy patterns. The amount of blood wasn’t grotesque, but was plenty brutal for the normally sheltered ponies.
White fur had been ripped to shreds, caking golden armor a dull, faded crimson. Amongst the carnage, several bits of vertebrae had been splashed along the remains of one of the guards, his bloodied back ripped open and spine torn to pieces in places. Even the seasoned veterans of the service were forced to turn away at that one.
Shell shocked, the small escort checked the rest of the tunnel, following a small blood trail that looped around the, noting the empty cells along each side of the tunnel. The trail took them back to Azure’s lifeless corpse, which was being wrapped in a body bag by a blank faced Pegasus. He gave them simple glance, before returning to his work.
The grim scene immediately shook the castle. Rainbow had been forced to break the news to Twilight. The unicorn was obviously blown away by the development, stopping midway through her explanation of the situation to the rest of the Elements. They didn’t take it well.
Fluttershy was downright destroyed, passing out at Rainbow’s detailed explanation to her superior. Knowing it was necessary didn’t make the rainbow maned pegasus feel any better about it. Twilight nodded grimly, calling up her own guards and informing them of the situation.
The other elements didn’t quite fall to the world of the sandman at the gruesome description of the scene, but they were just as horrified as she felt. Rainbow wouldn’t admit it, being the captain of the guard required her to act professional in these kind of scenarios, but she was shook by what she had seen. What kind of monsters would do that to a pony?
Unable to find an answer, she had simply resorted to doing her best to explain to Twilight the implications, however the Alicorn didn’t need any. A brief conversation between the five ensued, with each of them giving their conclusions on the matter.
Applejack and Rainbow had both agreed that the matter needed to be contained immediately. Twilight was rather against this, arguing that the need of the two princesses in Canterlot was now required. Dash had fiercely stated that the time it would take would give the dragons the necessary time to escape and heal.
The farm pony to her side had been slightly less adamant, but had still agreed nonetheless, pointing out that even if they did fight back they must been exhausted from their fight and flight response they pulled off.
Pinkie and Rarity had remained astutely quiet, still looked rather floored about the craziness that had suddenly sprung. Monsters were one thing, but dragons killing eight of the most well trained unicorns in Equestria? That was a scary thought.
Eventually Twilight had given the executive order. Grabbing a scroll sealed away in a locked compartment under her desk, the Alicorn returned to the two and gave them a task. She explained that she was going to use the scroll to instantly teleport to Canterlot and get Celestia to act on the urgency. Keeping her voice as level as possible, she also explained that Rainbow was to gather the remaining guards and place Ponyville on high alert.
Dash was still skeptical of not going on her manhunt, but agreed. And that left her where she was currently, barking orders at the disheveled Castle just minutes after Twilight had left. The elements had somewhat regathered their wits and were doing the best they could regain control of the situation.
It took some doing, but eventually they were able to wrangle the guard together into organized units. Pegasi units, were usually smaller than their unicorn counterparts, often grouping simply in pairs, rather than the large battalions that unicorns made up. Rainbow as head of the guards had made this so that pegasi units could work in dynamic groups, playing off each other in emergencies.
Little did she know just how important that change was going to be in the near future.
“Lancelot!” She barked, fully in captain mode. He didn’t verbally respond, instead saluting with a hoof. Her piercing red eyes met his cold steel ones. “Split these eight-” She pointed at the rigid pegasi standing just behind him. “Get them into the units we discussed.” A moment later she addressed them collectively. “You are to all spread out around Ponyville! Keep your eyes open for the dragons. We need them alive so don’t resort to lethal force unless you have to.” Her eyes bore into them, hammering her point across.
Turning curtly, she walked down to the line of assembled Unicorns, around sixteen in total. Stopping a few feet in front of their platoon leader, Rainbow snapped to face him. “Armory, you are to split your units off and disperse them around the entire town! I don’t want those beasts able to get within even a mile of anypony. Understood!?” He saluted sharply, eyes never straying from her own.
She smirked. Professionals, all of them. A newfound confidence entered her. If those dragons thought they could hurt anypony in this town, well then they had another thing coming. “Dismissed!” The entire battalion saluted as one, turning curtly and filing out of the castle courtyard.
Turning after they had all left, Rainbow found her friends smiling at her, Applejack bearing a teasing smirk. Walking back to them, she sat down at the small table they were grouped around, letting a tired sigh escape her.
“Well RD, I didn't know you had it in ya to be a general.” The farm pony spoke, a tone of teasing coloring her southern drawl. The chromatic pegasus merely rolled her eyes.
“Well yeah, you know.” She rubbed at the table with a hoof dismissively. “Gotta act the part, to be the part.” She wiggled her brows a bit. Applejack laughed along with her.
Rarity spoke up from the other side of the table. “I must agree with Applejack dear, you really have learned how to take charge.” She appeared rather impressed. “You have really grown into a leader.”
The pegasus felt her ego inflate a bit. Puffing out her chest, she rubbed down the fur on her neck. Becoming serious once again, the pegasus held her expression tight. “Let’s just hope this doesn’t get any more bloody.” She held the expression for a few moments, before laughing to herself. “Ah, who am I kidding, of course we got this handled.”
Seemingly reimbursed by her confidence, the five mares, rehearsed what they had been told by their Alicorn friend.
“So Dash-” Rarity continued. “What ever was this Soothsayer thing that Twilight was so worked up over?” Rainbow gave her a confused look.
“Uh, what’s a ‘toothslayer’? She questioned dumbly. Rarity shook her head, bring a hoof to her face while the rest of the mares laughed.
“It’s ‘Soothsayer’ dear. And it was some creature in the Everfree that she was freaking out over.” The proverbial Light bulb appeared over the pegasus’s head.
“Oh! That!” Her expression darkened for a moment, ruby eyes losing some of their luster. “I’m not really all that sure, honestly. She was mostly spouting gibberish, and not the kind of babble that a lot of what Twi says is. It was just like, she sounded like one of those ponies with the tin-foil hats.” She scratched at the side of her head somewhat unsure of how to word it.
The other four shot her strange looks, glancing between each other. Pinkie, who up until this point had been uncharacteristically silent, spoke up. “Maybe she was just scared, sometimes when my granny would get really scared she would start making up weird stuff.” The pink mare added in cheerfully, looking 100% sure of herself.
Rainbow nodded at her. “Yeah, it’s pretty much like that.” She flopped backwards, bending her body back and looking into the setting sun. “I’m just not sure though. We all know that Twi has a habit of flying off the rails, but this time seems different.” She sighed, pulling herself back up into her seat. “It was weird.” Were the only three words she could think to say.
“Well hey now” Applejack nudged her on the shoulder. Her lime green eyes bearing a note of comfort. “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.” She turned to the rest of the group. “We stick together, and we solve this the old Ponyville way, by hoof and grit.” She smiled brightly at the rest of her friends.
They couldn’t help but be refreshed by her cheer. Dash leaned forward, clapping her hoof against the farm pony. “Damn straight!”
After that passionate exclamation, the next hour was spent mostly just catching up with one another. They had all been rather busy as of late, so this valuable time, despite it’s macabre undertones, was most welcome to the five mares.
Sadly, their fun was shortly cut off by a shrill cry approaching the castle courtyard. They all turned at the familiar voice as it bounced off the walls of the castle. Jumping to their hooves, the five mares dropped whatever conversation they had been having and rushed inside.
“Applejack!?” A yellow furred filly was prancing around the main room of the castle, calling out the name rapidly and with an urgent tone of voice. “Cmon sis, where are ya!?” The filly nearly jumped out of her skin as her sister, along with the four other mares skidded to a stop right outside the doorway she about to pad through.
“What is it Applebloom?” The orange mare rushed up to her sister, checking her for damages. “Are ya hurt?! What’s the matter?” The yellow filly struggled in her sister’s iron grip, not liking the sudden contact.
“No, no I’m fine.” Indignation colored her drawl, and she stomped a hoof in front of the orange mare. Applejack gave her a strange look. Why was she so panicked that she would run all the way to Twilight’s Castle.
“Well, then why are ya here in such a hurry?” The farm pony was confused. From how out of breath she was it looked like she had been running from a pack of Timberwolves.
“I saw something fly over the farm! They looked like Spike, but waaaay bigger.” She spread her arms wide apart, attempting to show just how big what she had seen was. That got their attention instantly. Before Applejack could respond, her chromatic pegasus friend butted in
“What color were they?” She asked insistently. Applebloom looked surprised at the question, just staring at her for a moment. Shaking herself back to her senses, she answered in childish glee.
“Um, it was kinda hard to see, but black and purple ah think.” She seemed uncertain, but Rainbow had heard all she needed. They had taken off for the apple orchard on the edge of town. Rainbow’s expression hardened. They thought could just murder her guards and run off with zero consequences. Cold rage flooded her. No, that would not do.
She was broke from her angered thoughts as Applejack gripped the fill softly. “Did ya see where they went?” She asked more out of concern for her sister and her farm, rather than for Ponyville. The filly answered almost immediately.
“Yeah, I watched them for a bit. They landed in the grove.” The grove, that rung a note with all familiar with the orange mare’s farm. The grove was clustered group of trees not too far from the barn and very close to the clubhouse that Applebloom called home.
Rainbow turned to Applejack. “We got them!” Without waiting for a response she turned to the other three mare’s currently watching as her expression morphed into solid determination. “Rarity, please, I need you to watch after Applebloom!” She pleaded with the unicorn insistently
The fashionista was caught off guard by the sudden request, but after witnessing the pleading look in her friend’s ruby eyes, she nodded wordlessly. Without another word, Rainbow grabbed Applejack around the neck and began sprinting for the door.
The farm pony struggled in the iron grip of her pegasus comrade. “What! Dash what are you doing, Twilight said to wait!” Rainbow didn’t look at her, just continuing to shove the earth pony along.
“We have them cornered! We can get them without anymore problems.” The farm pony looked as though she wanted to argue, but closed her mouth anyway.
“Fine, but only for mah farm!” She smiled, throwing Rainbow’s arm off her and sprinting ahead. The Pegasus smirked, chasing her out threw open front gate. Pounding her hooves into the dirt road, she called out to the mare in front of her currently barreling towards the darkening town.
“Grab as many guards as you can! Tell them to meet up on the outskirts of town and to be ready!” Throwing herself upwards, the rainbow maned pegasus shot into the sky, she hovered a moment as Applejack threw her a questioning look as she ran.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna push them towards town! Just be ready!” Without waiting for a response, she took off over the town. The darkening skyscape made it harder to see the patrols rushing around the airspace of Ponyville, but she caught the attention of two of the patrols. “Group up with me!” The pegasus screamed loudly, projecting her voice against the howling wind.
Four pegasi fell in line behind her, barely managing to keep up with the speed demon of a Pegasus she was. “Captain Rainbow Dash!” One of the ponies behind her shouted. “What is happening ma’am?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Turning her eyes to the grove on the edge of the horizon, she could easily make out it’s form against the highlighted orange backdrop. The sky above tinged with darkening clouds of night fall, Rainbow’s visibility was starting to become a bit more limited.
“The dragons have cornered themselves in a bundle of trees at the farm on the edge of town! We are going to run them into our battalion and capture them.” Though she couldn’t see it, the four behind her exchanged looks. They had hear about the carnage that those dragons had done to eight of the most elite guards in the battalion, what chance did they stand?
“Ma’am?” One of them called worriedly. She didn’t break stride.
“Listen, they are weak and aren’t expecting us. We don’t have to fight them. What we have to do is scare them into flying away.” She turned her head just enough to look at them from the corner of her eye. “Although, if they try to fight us show them why pegasi are queens of the air!” She yelled arrogantly, flaunting her wings as they neared the orchard.
A bit less nervous, the quartet behind her followed suit, angling downwards, following their leader in. The cluster of trees was hard to see through, the fading light illumination only the outside of the grove. Alongside the edge, the makings of a small camp were visible. Obviously the dragons hadn’t created a fire, it seemed they weren’t stupid.
“Surround the grove, I’m gonna scare them out! Chase them when they go but don’t try to fight.” Rainbow called to her group, angling back up above the grove sharply. Landing on opposite sides of the small grove, the pegasi focused their eyes deep into the nearly pitch black thicket.
Up above, their leader shot straight up into the air, easily reaching a height of over a mile within a few minutes. For a moment her tiny shape hovered, before rapidly falling. Eyes widening, the pegasi, sat back and covered their ears, knowing exactly what was coming. Her figure rapidly descended, creating a barely visible cleft in the air as she race towards the sound barrier.
Nearly halfway to the ground, the whistling starting. A high pitched whine that broke the silence hauntingly. It seemed to grow in decibels as the rainbow trail grew in size. It all reached a breaking point as Rainbow neared the ground, only a few thousand feet from the ground. Then it happened.
All sound seemed to disappear for a moment as an enormous blast of chromatic light split the clouds. Several seconds later, the sonic boom slammed harshly against their ear drums. Skye, a guard on the west side, was the first to recover first, uncovering his aching ears, and turning his eyes up towards the circle of rainbow colored energy rapidly splitting across the sky. He was mesmerized, shaking slightly at the sight.
He was brought back to reality as two figures shot by overhead, pointed directly perpendicular of Ponyville. Shaking himself from his stupor, he jumped into the air, flapping his wings madly as he fought to catch up with them.
Behind him, the cry of Rainbow was faintly audible. Pumping his wings hard, he fought to keep up with the dragons. By celestia they were quick! After around a minute of maddening pursuit, the familiar shape of Rainbow Dash barreled past him. Flying by under him, the mare banked sharply, turning inward towards the two dragons. He saw the black one’s head swivel and her mouth moved.
Suddenly, a blast of wind pushed against him, sending him nearly tumbling through the air. Keeping as much pressure as he could pull. Up ahead, it seemed the blast of sudden draft hadn’t even phased his chromatic Captain. She kept her course solid, attempting to ram into the pair.
They suddenly curved, just missing Dash’s attempted collision, edging closer to Ponyville and closer to the ground. Sensing his opportunity, Skye pressed forward, meeting up with the rest of his Guard.
*
Dash cursed as she missed her quarry by a hair. It wasn’t all bad news however as the pair edged closer to the line of Unicorns she could see waiting outside of the town’s borders. This close, she had a good view on the dragons that had caused so much trouble. The black one appeared minimally harmed with only a few swathes of bandages around her barrel.
Her companion on the other hoof, it was a wonder he could even fly. Most of his body was covered in white fabric, many of them marred with deep red splotches burned through. He looked to be having trouble keeping up with his black scaled partner, if his straining of wings was anything to go by.
Snarling, the black one glared into Dash’s eyes as they met for a moment. Breaking contact, Dash angled herself backwards, peeling off to the opposite side and over the dragons. To her rear, her guard, pressed forward, taking the spot she was previously at.
With a firm shove, her guards moved as a unit, pressing forward and moving the pair without actually touching them. From directly above them, Rainbow pressed down, forcing them lower.
Desperate, the pair bent down strongly shooting right over the heads of the line of Unicorns at the ready on the edge of the town limits.
Acting as a flak cannon, the unicorns fired blasts of ivory magic into the sky, each exploding within a very close distance. Yelling for her guards to ease off, Rainbow dove hard, slamming into the injured purple dragon with significant force. He gasped in pain, dropping several feet, but still managing to keep himself aloft.
A snarl was the only warning she got before a red hot lance of agony ripped through her barrel. Just a moment after she had dealt the rather damaging blow, the black dragoness next to him sprung into action, slashing her razor sharp talons across Rainbow’s belly. Screaming in pain, Rainbow banked off sharply propelling away from two quickly.
Her lapse in Judgment wasn’t punished more however as their plan still worked.
As she banked off, a blast of unicorn flak exploded right between the two dragons, engulfing them in blistering energy. A muted yelp of pain emanated from the cloud shortly, before the two spiraled downwards into the ground, ending up right outside the entrance to the Everfree. Rainbow winced as she watched them tumble head over tail against the ground.
The impact looked rough. She grimaced as she watched them smash against a tree or two before even beginning to slow down.
Despite the red hot agony against her belly, Dash smiled as the unicorns moved in on the downed dragons. Turning her gaze up to the sun as it crested the horizon and fell below it, the mare smirked arrogantly. All in a day's work.
*
Spyro groaned. That hurt like hell. Lifting a paw to his eyes, he rubbed them clear of the dirt and grass that had splattered against his face when he tumbled. Wincing, he laid his head back with another groan. The impact had jarred his already fragile body right to the bones. Several strips of the tightly bound fabrics covering his wounds had come undone and the freely torn wounds bled once more.
Amidst the ringing in his ears, he heard the distant sound of heavy footsteps. In the growing migraine he could feel every hoof that pounded against the ground, sending nails deep into his skull.
Moments passed and the ringing grew louder. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, begging silently for it to stop. Unable to take much more, the purple dragon opened his eyes groggily. As he lay on his stomach facing a dark forest several feet away, his eyes fell upon the limp object protruding from the ground. Even in the minimal light, the reflection of it’s black scales were visible.
Cynder.
He tried to speak, but his throat wouldn’t work, it just sputtered lowly, a few jumbled sounds escaping him. Attempting to put any pressure on his limbs resulted in nothing but pain, stinging like that of a swarm of fire ants. Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth once again.
His words came out strained, but he managed to weakly gasp out her name. A low moan from the from reached him and he felt relief flood his body. The limp figure turned, pushing itself up shakily, and with trembling movements turned to face him. Emerald green eyes peered back at him, looking alarmingly unfocused and weary.
She groaned as she rested one arm against the ground, barely managing to sit back on her haunches, her head rocking back as she did so. The narrow muzzle evened out after a moment and her eyes peered behind him, looking like it did so more unconsciously than anything else. Suddenly those green orbs gained a hell of a lot more focus and narrowed dangerously.
The dragoness opened her mouth to speak, but it appeared her voice wouldn’t work well either. A massive pressure forced itself on top of him from nowhere. A realization of what those pounding steps were earlier quickly became known in his mind. His arms were suddenly grabbed, being forced painfully behind his back and across his wings.
The limbs, not meant to bend this way ached painfully at the rough contact. He growled threateningly, but before he could whip around and bite blindly, his neck was jammed against the ground, a muzzle being forced over his own. The tight pressure stung painfully, and he struggled against his captors.
His weak body couldn’t throw them off and instead all he did was strain himself, forcing them to be tougher to keep his body down.The situation looked bleak. His eyes found Cynder once again.
She was snarling murderously, eyes slitted, and lips pulled back. She appeared more like a wild animal right now than the proud dragoness he loved. Her attempt to get back up resulted in a pained cry leaving her and the murderous look fading slightly. Lifting a foreleg, she cradled the mangled limb closer to her belly.
It looked awful. The impact had sheared most of her scales off, leaving bloody, red marks along the entirety of the forearm. Broken, or close to it, he couldn’t tell. The arm was bent awkwardly, hanging limp against her bruised form.
Hobbling on three legs, the dragoness was nearly impossible to make out against the backdrop of the black forest just a few feet shadowing her. Her limping didn’t stop her, and she continued to slowly move towards him, her eyes fixed on those holding him down.
Despite trying his best, he couldn’t fight off the strength of those holding him down. With his entire focus on the injured dragoness hobbling towards him, he could barely make out the angry exclamations of the ponies holding him down.
The heat blazing across his body suddenly ran cold, the terrifying feeling of the Well of Souls running across his spine. He couldn’t explain it, but the forest shadowing Cynder became darker, more menacing. It seemed to grow and distort before his very eyes. From the looks of it, she felt it too.
She slowly turned around, her body trembling as she stared up at the massive blackness suddenly bearing down on her from mere steps away. He vaguely recalled throwing off his captors for a second, screaming for her to run, to get the hell away.
The terror even spread to those above him, for the forceful yelling had stopped, replaced with quiet whimpering. The cold metal of the chains holding him down no longer bothered him. He struggled madly against his restraints, throwing off the pony that been positioned over his back, but he still couldn’t break through the strong metal holding him down.
She wasn’t running, instead the black dragoness just started, shaking, into the depths of hell itself. His ears began ringing again, but not from pain. The bell began to toll, the unholy ringing bashing against the walls of his skull and mind. Gurgling started to gush out of the confines of the morphing, demonic forest. Sirens screamed inside his head.
Terrible feelings of helplessness overwhelmed him, and he struggled madly, and unnaturally against his restraints, but they refused to bend to his terror.
As if alive, a tendril of blackness emerged from the borders of the woods, slowly slithering along the dirt towards the rigid black dragoness. As soon as it touched her, she broke from her horrified trance. Taking no heed of her injuries she spun and planted her hind legs behind, a look of horror etched across her features.
The tentacle of shadow immediately dropped it’s lack of coloration, morphing into a sickly, fleshy shade. It latched onto one of her hind legs, pulling hard. She screamed as she was pulled backwards falling on her belly. The tentacle burned through her flesh, melting her scales together. Crying out, her head perked up.
She screamed in agony and fear as it dragged her towards the forest. The dragoness desperately swiped at the appendage with her tail blade but, it didn’t even scratch it. Panicking, she clawed at the ground attempting to get something to hold on to.
Her eyes met his, and the world turned to ash. In those eyes he saw the most soul-shaking depiction of terror imaginable. Utter hopeless swirled within the wet emerald orbs, the pain and fear clouding her once beautiful eyes. Despair shot through his being, without even realizing it was screaming his throat raw, yelling her name.
“Let go! Please! Please just let go of me! Cynder!” He screamed her name for well over several seconds, his voice cracking. Despite his desperate shouts, the restraints didn’t move. He scraped his scales painfully against the metal shackles, but he didn't even notice, the weight of his fear and sorrow too great.
Her haunting shrieks upped in pitch and he watched helplessly as she was dragged into the darkness of the forest, all the while screaming his name in shocking desperation. As she disappeared from sight, he screams took on a haunting quality, seeming to echo and bounce around in the forest. The damned bell tolling only added to the surreal sensation coursing through him.
Just moments after being pulled kicking and screaming her shrieks began to be laced with disturbing cries of pain, every now and then accompanied by a loud cracking sound. The horrible noises combined with the utterly damaging effects of the bells and alarms, caused havoc within his own mind. The torture lasted a little over a minute.
As her soul-severing cries and moans of pain reached the highest levels yet, they suddenly stopped.
Spyro felt his heart completely shatter into fragments. The despair of listening to her torture, was shockingly painful, but the second it stopped, and so abruptly, he felt his life force shear itself. She was gone. Gone in the most horrifyingly terrible way he had ever seen. Images of her body, ripped to shreds and cut to ribbons, dismembered and flayed, and all of this with that same gut wrenching look of fear flashed across his vision. She was gone.
The forest seemed to laugh at him, his despair overclocking as pure sorrow destroyed every last bit of hope inside of him. She was gone
The havoc inside his own head pleased it, he could feel it’s happiness, he could feel it’s hunger. It had destroyed her and it loved every second of it. It had murdered her right in front of his eyes, mutilating her just so that the the purple dragon could watch. She was gone!
Almost like the flip of a switch, something changed. His vision darkened, everything but that dreaded forest vanished from view. His hearing completely blocked out the yelling cries as the ponies holding him down were burned by his suddenly boilingly hot scales. Nothing mattered to him at that moment, his vision focused solely on the thing that had just ripped out the most important thing in his life.
All the while the same tuanting thousand eyes gazed deep into his soul, even as his mind tore itself apart.
The moisture around him vaporized. The metal shackles pinning him to the ground began to melt. His despair turned into a very different emotion. Starting from deep with his soul, a floodgate opened, releasing a surge of boiling, blistering heat into his blood. His blood turned to lava. His mind pushed itself deep with another locked passage as a monstrous, terrifying, demonic anger forced it deeply into the far corners of his head. His entire body was quickly flooded with a blistering, unfathomable, all consuming rage...