The courtyard outside of the Castle was strangely devoid of company. The busy streets of Canterlot weren’t affected by this, however the lack of ponies outside of the grand castle was rather strange, even for a Saturday evening. The polished white tile and marble walls and paved roads shined a pale orange light in the setting sun. Outside, the royal guards were none the wiser to the coming approach an unexpected visitor.
Amidst the paved cobblestone roads, the smell of alcohol and baked goods drifted up from the lower end areas of the shining city, the nightlife beginning to take hold as the sun slowly fell over the horizon. The busy night that accompanied the interior of the large palace shadowing the rest of the city was very soon going to be interrupted.
Before it would appear, the air suddenly gained a stench like that of burning metal. The acidic iron smell wafted around the courtyard. Among the odor, the spark of a strong magical signature momentarily sparked, quickly followed by a raw blast of magical energy.
Appearing from nowhere, a lavender colored Alicorn blinked into the open area, startling the various staff who had been roaming the palace grounds. The drone of a metallic pinging signaled her surprise teleportation. The roaming ponies shook off their surprise once they took notice of who it was. Some of them rolled their eyes, proceeding back to their tasks.
Twilight raised her head, vague hints of steam wafting off her body at the magical heat. Shaking her head with a relieved sigh, the Alicorn took off without even guessing her location. It wasn’t an issue, safe to say she knew this Castle rather well.
Hooves clip clopping along the polished marble flooring, she wandered down the long, spacious corridors at a heated, quick pace. She was eager to see her former mentor, though the situation was much more dire than she would’ve liked to bring to her. The mention of dragons, especially ones as dangerous as these two, was cause for concern.
Not to mention the wild card that was the Soothsayer. She still hadn’t forgotten what that thing could do.
The familiar corridors did nothing to ease her stress, for she knew that this situation could potentially shake Equestria if not handled right. Despite this, the Alicorn felt fairly confident in herself and her companions. Together they had proved to be nothing short of miracle workers and why would that have a reason to change?
Noting the increased number of ponies milling about as she approached the throne roam, Twilight felt unease build in her gut. It wasn’t strange to see a good amount of company wandering around this particular area, at least not any less common than she remembered it being, however it begged the question of why this was the case on a Saturday night. A night when most of the Palace staff was given free time. For whatever reason, Celestia had felt the need to keep the Castle rather active tonight and she intended to find out why.
The rooms leading to the throne started to take a much more hectic quality the closer she got. Quick peeks into several as she passed lent her no real results, merely hearing gibberish amongst the swarm of voices that now surrounded her. The uneasiness in her gut tripled. This was extraordinarily unlike the norm.
Several ponies draped in black and purple garb passed her along the way, giving her looks mixed with concern and resignation. Twilight returned the looks with confused and slightly scared glances of her own, finding it nearly impossible to think over the constant drone of hundreds of voices.
The progressive spear against the inside of her head drove the mare mad, but she held onto it as best she could. Keeping as much happy thoughts in her head as she could, the Alicorn moved quickly between hallways. She wished she wasn’t so damn exhausted or she would have just blinked into the throne room. However the events of the day had taken quite a toll on the lavender mare.
Quickly flashing her horn, a bubble of soundproofing engulfed her galloping form. Her mind felt itself free from the crushing vice of noise and she breathed a sigh of relief. The sound within the bubble was so constrained that she could hear her pounding heart directly over the rush if her hooves clopping against the marble.
Clacking quietly, the mare’s hooves skid to a halt around the shallow bend of a forked crossroads. It took her a only a moment's hesitation to decide, and with a firm nod she galloped down the crowded corridor on the right. Cursing her luck, the lavender mare spread her wings and jumped high.
Ignoring the likely cries of surprise from those below her, Twilight hit the top of the corridor in a few seconds, gliding over the racing ponies far below. Doorway in sight, Twilight bent down, folding her wings against her sides, and for a moment she simply free fell. Halting with a grunt, her wings ached painfully in their sockets as the lavender mare stopped her fall abruptly.
Those near the large open doorways bowed respectfully once they caught sight of her less than graceful landing. Catching her breath, Twilight pushed through the doorway, dropping the bubble, she was blissfully, but all the more surprisingly greeted by near silence. The only sound being the breathing she was pushing forcefully from her tired lungs. Hoofsteps echoing, the mare entered the massive throne chamber. On both sides of the room sat a large, circular, wooden table formed in a semi circle.
Across the tables she took note of the large, hastily strewn scrolls and parchment adoring nearly the entirety of the polished wooden surface. Absent were the normal array of fancily dressed politicians and advisors, instead replaced by ponies garbed in white robes and purple dresses. Wizards and magical experts, she recognized instantly.
Despite the somber mood resonating within the silent chamber, Twilight felt a smile grace her features at the familiar sights of mages and wizards. In her childhood that had been a comforting presence during darker times. Being the prized student of the most powerful leader in Equis had it’s fair share of dangers.
Shaking the distressing memories from her thoughts, Twilight turned her muzzle to the back center of the room. Sitting gracefully on her throne, adorned by a flowing mane of chromatic colors, the great Princess Celestia sat silent, a unreadable expression as she regarded the Alicorn steadily approaching her.
Twilight felt the unease build. Why hadn’t Celestia said anything. The normal motherly presence was gone, she almost had the look of snake watching to see what it’s prey would do. Twilight gulped hard, pressing the growing lump in her throat down as her hooves clacked loudly against the floor. Feeling shivers run down her spine at the emotionless quality of her former mentor’s expression.
The monarch continued to stare down at her former student, unblinking as the mare approached. Her pink eyes didn’t stray in the slightest, focused sharply on the dark purple ones staring back warily.
Seconds clocked down, the tension in the room building with each and every step the lavender Alicorn took closer to the great throne. Every clop of hooves against marble seemed to echo twice over, ringing around the room for a moment. Twilight felt a bead of drip down her coat and the sensation almost made her composure crack.
Controlling her breathing was a difficult endeavor, but she managed to surpass the building fear enough so that her body didn’t quake and her steps didn’t stutter. Just a few more steps now.
Twilight felt the world slow. From this distance the anxious mare could see the tension in her fellow princess’s body. Her wings were held taut against her back, nape of her neck standing up. Her jaw line was locked tightly, barely noticeable tremors running along her regal frame. Her eyes were the most striking though, rimmed with dark shadows. Inside those pink irises she saw barely concealed malice and suspicion.
The purple mare stopped less than a step away from the edge of the throne, overcome by the unexpected welcome from her beloved mentor. Twilight held the Alicorn’s hard gaze for several seconds, the room growing stiffer. Within the terrified waiting, Twilight felt her heart threaten to burst from the strain.
Every single moment that passed felt like hours and Twilight wasn’t sure how much more of that piercing, shockingly intense gaze she could handle. Tension struck her body, pulling her muscles tight under purple fur, sending visible lines of rigidity against the coat. The only thing stopping her teeth from snapping together was the force holding her jaw closed.
Just as she thought the room would explode, the white Alicorn breathed a sigh of relief and dropped her gaze. Twilight gasped, falling back on her haunches pressing a hoof tightly against her chest, the numb feeling of terror fresh. She spent the next few moments catching her breath and willing her trembling limbs to relax.
Bowing before the monarch, the lavender coated Alicorn felt her nervousness melt away a bit. Stepping down from her throne quickly, Celestia brought a hoof up under her fellow Alicorn’s chin. Unfocused and teary lilac irises met pink for a brief moment, before the lilac broke the contact, gazing intently at the ground below her hooves.
“What...what was that all about?” The mare stuttered anxiously, keeping her gaze pressed towards the floor. She could feel her heart pounding in her head like a cannon mid siege and the noise was giving her a headache once again.
“I had to be sure.” The alabaster monarch said simply her voice unrevealing. Twilight broke her stare, turning her head back up to her former mentor. Her eyes looked dimmed, but she could not see the previous suspicion in them.
“Sure of what exactly?” Twilight was confused to say the least. She had never gotten that kind of reaction from the princess, even from her failures she had never received that hostile, prodding stare that the monarch had dished out.
The alabaster princess gave her a long look, before breaking her gaze and dropping her head in slight defeat. Sighing, the tired Alicorn dropped back onto her haunches in front of her previous student.
“Princess?” Twilight questioned once again when she didn’t respond for a long while. Celestia raised her head, eyes panning around the room. A moment later, the Alicorn monarch returned her former student’s worried and curious gaze.
“Did you feel it?” The pale Alicorn questioned strongly, finally.
“Feel what?” Twilight had a feeling she already knew what the monarch was asking her, but she waited for her to say it. Celestia gazed out the window to the right, her eyes pointing in the direction of Ponyville.
“Five days ago-” She started, returning her eyes to meet those of her fellow Alicorn. “Something large breached our world.” Twilight felt her blood run cold as her suspicions were confirmed.
“What was it?” She already knew the answer, but she didn’t want to hear it. Deep within her being, she knew that whatever came from Celestia’s mouth would change everything, nothing could be the same after what she had witnessed, this was just too out of her element.
“We are not completely sure.” She gestured to the swarms of wizards and magical experts around the large chamber. “I wanted to avoid getting you involved Twilight.” She gazed back at her former student remorsefully.
“Then I guess you know why I’m here, huh?” Twilight felt slightly hurt at not being involved, but it was quickly dashed by Celestia’s response.
“I am sorry Twilight.” She sighed heavily. “You and the other elements do so much for us, I just...I didn’t want to get you involved with this.” The lavender Alicorn felt her anxiety swell.
“Princess, what exactly are we dealing with here?” Twilight got to her hooves, looking the princess dead in the eye. Celestia nodded once.
“Again, we are not completely sure, but we do know that three beings, three very powerful beings came through.” Twilight grimaced. She had gotten very personally close to two of the three. Celestia noticed her cringe, but she didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes.
Twilight didn’t say anything, her mind focused elsewhere now. They were enough to make Celestia, the most powerful magical being on the entire planet nervous. The idea made her knees weak and her coat stand on end. What could they do, she needed to know, there was no way this could be the end.
“Twilight.” She was broken from her increasingly downhill thoughts by the warm voice of the monarch. “I know you’ve seen it. It’s why I greeted you like that, I need to make sure you were still...well you.” Now Twilight was confused.
“Why would I not be?”
“Hmm.” Celestia hummed lowly for a moment. Stepping forward, she raised her the lavender mare’s head with a hoof. “Look into my eyes.” Though she was confused, Twilight trusted her and did as she was told.
For a moment nothing happened, then her vision drained of color. Scared, Twilight wanted to look away, but found that her vision was locked deeply into the eyes of Celestia. The alabaster Alicorn began to change slightly, her coat gradually growing darker, along with the rest of the surrounding walls and other ponies.
Terrified, Twilight struggled, but found her limbs unable to move. Her eyes began to burn, heating up as though they were being engulfed in gunpowder and gasoline. Her horn flared, but quickly died out, leaving nothing but a fizzling sensation in the now useless appendage. Everything began to fizzle out, her horn, her life, her dreams, leaving nothing but ash.
Just as suddenly as the sensation came, it was swiftly pulled from her, leaving her feeling hollow and tired. The world jumbled back together regaining color and imagery reminiscent of a watercolor painting. A second later it popped back into reality with an almost audibly snap.
Quickly, the negative emotions that had been stirring within her very core were ripped from her chest, carving a burning hole on it’s way out. However, with the terrible aching came a feeling almost akin to euphoria. It felt as if all the stress from the previous five days had evaporated.
Reality popped back into her field of vision, drenching her in sweat and causing her lungs to spasm terribly, leaving her feeling lightheaded and exhausted. The world returned to normal and her blurry vision saw that of Celestia stood before her, helping her gently to her belly, where she lay for the next few minutes.
As her body returned to it’s normal state, still troubling with having two breakdowns within five minutes of each other, the mare found herself gripping her aching skull. This felt much worse than the hostile stare down from earlier.
“Twilight, are you alright.” The monarch’s voice came distantly, as if spoken down a long hallway. In her head, Twilight could almost hear the distortion. Shaking her head, Twilight heaved slightly, managing to avoid puking all over the cold marble tiles.
Instead she just laid there, heaving and holding her stomach tightly. She barely felt the presence of a wing being laid over her back, nor did she see her former mentor gesture at two guards to leave the room. A minute or two passed.
The wing lifted, only to be replaced by a thin blanket and a glass of water next to her. Along with the water was a small tablet. A bit more coherent now, Twilight shot a questioning look at the calm faced monarch sitting in front of her.
“Drink it, it will help with the headache.”
Nodding once, Twilight grasped the cup in her hooves, not trusting her horn to be able to grasp it at the moment. Carefully sliding her hooves around the slick condensation outside of the cup, she popped the tablet in her mouth and greedily swallowed it down, draining the entire glass.
“What...what was that?” The lavender mare asked breathlessly, feeling very drained. Wearily, she moved her forelegs under herself and propped herself unsteadily onto her haunches.
“You encountered something Twilight, and I pulled what it left on your mind from you.” Celestia gave her a steady look, expression revealing nothing. “I need you to think, tell me everything about what has happened in the past week.
Pulled from her? Twilight cringed forcefully at the idea that the Soothsayer had left something ingrained in her mind. Is that what had been making her act so rashly the past few days? But, she hadn’t seen it when the dragons had appeared! Why would she do what she did if not for it? It just didn’t make any sense.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she looked into her former mentor’s patient gaze. Feeling a bit more stable now as the tablet quickly worked away the ache in her skull, Twilight recounted what she could remember.
“It started on Monday. The Everfree would occasionally rumble loud enough for us to all hear it in Ponyville. We didn’t really know what to make of it. I gathered the rest of the girls and we explored the outskirts of the forest, looking for anything out of the ordinary.” She felt the uncertainty of that day spring up in her mind. It had been a tense day in Ponyville for all.
“What kind of rumbling?” Celestia asked suddenly. Twilight was a bit startled by the presence of anxiety buried in her tone.
“Something like what a volcano would make. It was just a low, roaring thunder every few hours.” Twilight explained to the best of her ability. Celestia didn’t respond, but her emotion changed from anxiety to complete lack of any.
Slightly unnerved by the rapid change, Twilight continued. “That night we heard screams. They weren't like any I have ever heard, something that only a trapped animal would make. The whole town was in a panic at that.” Twilight sighed. “It was a pretty sleepless night for most of us.”
Twilight recalled the next events easily, seeing them as the catalyst to the entire situation they found themselves in now. “The next morning, I went about my day normally for a while. Around noon, the screams started once again and two ponies who lived near the edge of town came running in, yelling about dragons in the Everfree.”
Celestia’s expression changed and this time Twilight caught it. Morphing from blankness to understanding for a split second. Suspicious, twilight resumed.
“Me and Rainbow Dash investigated and found two dragons outside the Everfree. They were delusional, covered in horrible injuries and were firing purple energy everywhere. It...was strange. Where the energy impacted, the air seemed to warp.” Watching her expression carefully for anything. Her expression didn’t change.
However at the mention of the purple energy, her brow furrowed slightly.
“They were extremely resistant to my magic, but after awhile they wore themselves down enough for me to sedate them. I know it was out of character, but...I put them down in the dungeon after they had been taken out of the ICU.” Celestia seemed surprised at that and Twilight couldn’t really blame her as it was strange behavior for her.
Twilight silent pondered if it was that mark that Celestia had removed that was causing her out of the norm behavior. Perhaps, it wasn’t all that strange to assume that was the case. She would have to ask her later.
“I had a short conversation with one of the dragons, a female. She couldn’t remember much...either that or she just didn’t want to tell me much. It was after that when I ran into this...thing near the edge of the Everfree.” She took a shaky breath, the memories of that fateful encounter still very fresh.
“What did it look like?” The alabaster monarch leaned forward, giving Twilight a serious look. Feeling slightly nervous, Twilight swallowed hard and finished her recount.
“I didn’t get much of a look...I could barely think, it’s like it paralyzed me...I just couldn’t-” Celestia cut off the mare, seeing her growing visibly more distressed.
“I understand Twilight.” Celestia sighed. “Follow me, my dear.” Without another word the monarch began pacing down past her throne to a closed door at the back of the room. Twilight was a little caught off guard by the sudden switch up in moods, but jumped to her hooves and followed.
Quickly catching up, the mare turned to her former mentor, confused. “Where are we going? I’ve never been past that door before.” Celestia didn’t turn, but smirked a bit behind her mask of professionalism.
“There was never any interest in such a room, but it has always been locked.” Leaning down, Celestia whispered in the shorter mare’s ear. “It leads to the Vault of the Dark Arts.” Twilight stopped, freezing in place.
Celestia didn’t stop, even as Twilight gaped at her. She reached the door and quickly flashed her horn brightly. The door clicked quietly once and slid open without a sound. The pale Alicorn turned back to her companion, flashing a small smile at the dumbfounded look on the other Alicorn’s face.
Nodding dumbly, Twilight shakily stepped forward, entering the dark doorway, and spoke without turning around. “Why would you have...the most dangerous artifacts known to Ponykind locked in a room in your throne room?” She still felt rather numb at the new information. She could remember passing that door numerous times as a child and never thinking anything about the ordinary looking door.
“That is the place it would be least expected.” She smirked as the lavender mare lit up. “Yes, the saying is true. Hide in plain sight and all that.” Nodding in agreement, Twilight gazed in wonder at the dark hallway, surrounded on all sides by normal looking bookshelves. It wasn’t very hard for her to assume that within those normal looking books were some of the most dangerous spells and magical theories known.
As they walked, Twilight felt the place’s dark atmosphere begin to get into her head. This was a place filled with absolutely evil energy and she hated being near it. It seemed that Celestia could feel her nerves.
“Hold strong, we are almost there.” Twilight did her best, suppressing the shudders running across her spine. The torches along the points in the stone wall not covered in massive bookshelves didn’t provide much light, the oppressive darkness consuming most of the light.
Despite her best efforts, the shadows tracing her form felt nearly ice cold and the shivers running across her form only escalated, bring forth a feeling of helplessness. She was beginning to feel her confidence drain when a spark of her old fire broke through the ice.
Surprisingly, the fire was anger. She felt the fury at herself for being so easy to manipulate. It would not happen again, she thought firmly to herself, never again. She wouldn’t endanger her friends because of her own recklessness.
The fear was still there, but it paled in comparison to her determination. She would not fail again.
*
Dash didn’t know what happened. Her head was ringing loudly, a dull ache coursing through her wings as she lay on her back. The sky didn’t look right, colored nearly blood red, seeming to pulsate with purple and black lines crisscrossing randomly.
The pegasus could feel a strange dull throb in her veins, the blood held within them running slowly and painfully into the rest of her body. Her entire system was running on low power at the time, continually flooding her body slowly with adrenaline.
Her eyes were unfocused, staring into the hellish skyline blankly as the world spun around her. The mind normally so sharp and quick was moving through molasses, unable to make out the noises and sights flooding her sense like a river. Her heart pounded in her chest loud enough for it to drown out the horrifyingly powerful roar splitting the evening.
Something wet was running down the side of her muzzle, a cold drip staining her fur a deep red. Her head hurt, the present burn along the side of it splitting her already feeble concentration more.
Eyes rolling, she attempted to establish movement in her limbs. It felt like her muscles were rippling more than moving, but she persevered as best she could. Scraping fur along dirt, she maneuvered herself onto her stomach, letting out a weak groan.
Her wings twitched, the limbs attempting to unfurl reflexively, but finding that they could only move so much. She couldn’t hear it over the ringing in her ears, but she groaned tiredly, the exclamation coming out forced and weak.
What had happened, her mind wasn’t able to piece together the event that led her to this. It was all a blur.
She had been flying overhead, circling the forest after the dragons had been taken down. Yes that was right, what next. She couldn’t remember much else after that, most of it being obscured by some haze clouding her memory heavily. Thinking hard only gave her a worse headache and she ceased that train of thought before it could press her head more.
Blinking her eyes wearily, the drowsy pegasus lifted a hoof and rubbed at her red orbs. It helped get the dirt from clogging her tear ducts, but didn't quite fix the horrible blurriness engulfing her sight.
She could barely make out the colors red and purple, with the purple swirling and licking around like the flames of a candle. She wasn’t sure why the sky was bloody though, it didn’t quite click in her head that the sky shouldn’t be that particular color. Confused, she rocked her head to the side, pressing her arms under herself to get moving.
Amidst her struggle, a peculiar burning was making itself more and more known under her stomach. Wincing at the pain, the pegasus brought her hoof to the cut under her barrel, retracting the red stained hoof and pressing it into the ground. A minute or two passed and her body started to recover a bit.
As her hearing began to return to normal, she made out a distinct roar permeating the air, occasionally accented by a terrifying crash of trees and branches. Unsettled, the mare willed her blurry vision to focus, but it wasn’t willing to cooperate just yet.
Not willing to just give up yet, the mare wheezed, propping her body under herself as best as her state would allow, her wings flapping uselessly on her back, gaining no traction in the saturated airspace surrounding her limp form. Gritting her teeth, Dash bit back a curse.
The ground shook suddenly, shaking her to earth once more, and with a fear mixed with anger, Rainbow pushed her weak form back hard. Scrambling away from the sudden heat and mind numbing pressure exerted on her so suddenly.
Hacking gunk from her throat, Rainbow clawed her way across the ripped up grass and shredded rocks. The rough nature of the stones aggravated her newly gained wounds, but she pushed it back as much as possible. With the new distance, she felt the pressure and heat subside a bit.
Feeling more confident, the mare turned back towards the source of the heat. Eyes adjusting finally, Rainbow gaped at what she saw, feeling an unnatural mix of emotions strike her, coursing around her like a storm.
Floating several feet above the ground, the purple dragon was there, except he wasn’t purple anymore. Engulfed in a cloak of billowing midnight shadows and wisps of lilac mist, his head was pointed directly into the sky. Surrounding him was a bubble of the same lilac energy wafting off his pitch black form.
The normally bright orange and yellow wings and horns were painted a bloody red. His chest plates and membranes, usually a striking gold had been reduced to a muddy brown, looking nearly black in some places. Then there were his eyes, they nearly made her sick. Within those glowing, pupil-less eyes she saw the very definition of anger, of despair, of evil.
Ripping her eyes away from him, Dash pointed her gaze towards the sky, eyes wide and shocked. Changed from the dark orange of the sunset, the sky had been painted a bloody red, criss crossing arcs of purple lightning zigzagging across the sky for miles. Alarmed, the pegasus mare scrambled to her hooves, grunting at the pressure it put on her weakened limbs.
Her eyes scanned the rest of her surroundings, breathing heavily. Around the dark dragon were the stone statues of a number of the Ponyville guard, all caught in expressions of panic and frantic fear. She noticed that the land directly under where the dragon was hovering had been completely melted, turned to ash and fire.
Scattered around such as she was, were the remnant of her own personal team, each struggling to get up, looking very much dazed and afraid. For once in her life, Rainbow Dash was entirely unsure of what to do. She didn’t have an on the fly plan as she normally did. Thinking things through wasn’t her style, it took too much time, but now she just wasn’t sure what to do.
Head swinging, she caught sight of Ponyville, a fair distance down the road, a good twenty minute walk. She didn’t have twenty minutes, not with that dragon going ballistic in front of her. There was no way she could fly in this either, she’d be sheared in half by the force of those strange pulses. Her one hope is that Twilight got here soon with back up, if not, they might not last twenty minutes.
Her train of thought was cut off as the rage filled dragon released another dark howl, the bubble around him swirling and warping. The sound of a kettle bursting filled the air as the contortions grew ever stronger, and all Dash could do was wait. When the pitch of the noise began to hurt her ears and the flashing of the barrier hit a fever pitch, it stopped, everything going completely silent.
Then not a moment later, a monstrous crash burst through the silence and a wave of force pushed her on her back, the powerful shock wave throwing her a few feet back through the air. Landing a bit more gracefully than she expected, the chromatic mare rolled to her hooves, lifting her head alertly.
The front portion of the Everfree was gone, reduced to cinders and purple flames. She gaped.
What was this? What could do something like this?
He wasn’t done it seemed. Rearing his head back inside his bubble, the black dragon threw his wings out in front of him towards the forest, sending condensed shock waves of Convexity directly at the woods. They didn’t have a chance against the otherworldly energy.
Everything standing in it’s path was destroyed, gone in seconds, replaced only by fire. The howling of the wind grew ever stronger and the pegasus found herself fearing for everything around her.
Dash knew she was headstrong, but even she had the competence to know that this was far from something she could handle alone. The ever present pulses of energy prevented her from even getting close, it felt like her bones were being shaken to pieces just from being a few more feet forward.
They needed a miracle now, something that could contain this beast before he destroyed everything, including that damned forest. She didn't’ care as much about the Everfree itself, but Fluttershy lived only a few miles down the edge of the forest. She would die if they didn’t stop this.
That thought spurred her forward, giving her a sudden burst of frantic purpose. Forcing herself up on shaking limbs, Dash moved to the nearest of her team, who at the moment was having much more trouble than she was getting to her hooves. Limping on her tired and sore limbs as best as she could make them, Dash got to her teammate’s side.
She didn’t say anything, merely grabbing him and helping him up as best she could. The pounding pressure of the pulses combined with the howling wind and resonating roars of rage made hearing anything else nearly impossible. Pointing to another pegasus nearby, she made a motion with her hoof in a circle, hoping he understood what she was telling him.
He nodded once after a second of confusion and her limped off. Not bothering to watch him go, the mare moved the opposite direction, galloping over to where the other two of her recruits had already gathered, huddled under a tree that was bent virtually ninety degrees straight back.
They looked terrified, watching the dragon behind her with wide, horrified eyes. Not even noticing her approach, they huddled, transfixed on the sight of the Everfree being annihilated before them. It wasn’t until Dash grabbed their faces and moved them into her field of vision did they take heed of their captain in front of them.
The noise still prevented any meaningful conversation, but Dash did the best she could to communicate, pointing them towards a tree around a quarter of a mile behind them, the closest tree that seemed to be outside of the radius of the dragon’s effects. Still horribly dazed, they nodded, and got up as best they could.
Turning around, she noticed the recruit she had sent out earlier approaching unsteadily with the other pegasus. He didn’t look good. Draped over the standing pegasus by more than half his body, he was covering in gashes and bruises, looking nearly dead. The guard still standing, Skye if she remembered his name correctly, wasn’t looking much better if she was honest with herself.
Grabbing the catatonic pegasus from off his back, she rushed him forward, away from the ever increasing shock waves from the dragon. Terrified, he complied without question, rushing away from the carnage wholeheartedly. The unconscious stallion was heavy, enough so that the well set mare was having trouble pressing on too much, her body just struggling to handle the weight in it’s current state.
It seemed that luck was on their side however, as right as they escaped the area, the dragon built up a frenzy of energy more powerful than the two previous. Even from the relatively long distance, Dash felt the pull on her body, the taste of metal in the air, and the sting as the electric energy jostled her eyes.
She could hear the kettle start to break. Frantic, she rushed herself and Skye forward, pressing on against the demands of her aching body. The air began to shake, the pull of a monstrously powerful wave beginning to truly make itself known. Her breath heaved in her chest, lungs not knowing how to deal with the enormous amount of magical energy being pulled and simultaneous being pumped into the air.
Skye was bearing far worse than she was, not having been exposed to constant magical energy in the way Dash had from the Elements. His limbs flailed at the ground, the motor control in his body struggling immensely to cope with the rush of energy flooring him. Dash pulled had on his arm, trying to keep him from falling with all her might.
The charge built, the metallic taste grew heavier. Her body started to shake, but not on it’s own, it began to shake from the immense waves growing in the air every second. Eyes wide, Dash grit her teeth and pushed with everything she had, moving her body faster and harder than she ever had before. As the kettle burst and the world grew silent, she threw herself and her party into a ditch dug up by tree roots, pressing herself and Skye underneath the tree.
The silence lasted around three seconds, and in that time Dash felt the entire world stand still. Everything on the planet was about to feel this in some way, be it little or small. Every part of the world around her warped and contorted, her vision fleeting to black for a small moment.
The world exploded.
The force of the sound blew her eardrums out instantly, the shock and pressure rupturing blood vessels in her eyes and turning her whites red. The tree above them was blown completely away and she felt her body nearly shake itself to pieces in the process. The entirety of the grass around them melted from the heat, and she even felt her fur singed in places.
The sky was thrown into chaos, the clouds set previously that day were vaporized, the very fabric of the heavens above shook and moved with the force of the release and everything for miles would be stricken in some way sick. The dragon’s complete overload of power sent a wave of purple along the sky for tens of miles in every direction.
Rainbow meanwhile felt the after effects for a few minutes, just huddled under the burnt out husk, catching her breath. Even her, with all her exposure to strong magic in the past had no idea how to deal with what was happening to her. Her systems weren’t quite working right, experiencing the worst magical overdose in her life. Skye was faring much worse, the pegasus nearly dead on the ground beside her. He shook slightly in his sleep, tremors running over his body.
Far up ahead was the tree line she had told the others to run to. It was nearly empty, the shock wave having destroyed nearly the entire line. Her vision picked out two figures moving unsteadily at the top of the hill directly behind it and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were alive, that was a stroke of good luck.
Every second that passed felt like the ants crawling under her skin were multiplying, contaminating her blood with corrosion. She had to move, she needed to shake of this ache and get her body readjusted.
Finding it much more difficult than she expected, the pegasus pushed herself upright, carefully moving the stallion she had been carrying to the ground. Taking one last look at her charges, she decided the best thing she could do was move and find help, the mare grasped the lip of the hill and painstakingly pulled herself up and over it. What greeted her was nothing short of a vision of hell.
For miles in every direction, the grass had been striped from the fields, the dirt ripped up in huge mounds everywhere, and trees burned to ashes. In the distance she could make out the view of Ponyville, completely untouched. She was sure they had felt it and were panicking frantically, but the mare could rest easy knowing her home was safe.
She couldn’t see where the dragon had been hovering, only the burning remains of the Everfree, the ancient forest nearly in ruins. She was shocked to say the least. What power was this? Her heart ached painfully as she recalled that Zecora lived inside where that forest once stood. Her head drooped and she sighed, her heart aching at the apparent loss of a friend.
Hoping against hope that the Zebra hadn’t been present at the time, Dash resumed walking, catching the whiff of burning wood and melting metal. The closer she got, the harder it was to move. The latent magical overdose made her more nauseous as she approached the one who had caused it.
Maneuvering past the heavily burning purple flames, Rainbow grew more and more sick as she approached. Her stomach heaved with every step, but she pressed on. She knew that she needed to find him. To make sure he wasn’t a threat. If the strength of that wave was to go by, the dragon wouldn’t be even able to move after such an enormous release of power.
An enormous crater came into view, right of the edge of the ashes and cinders of the Everfree. Barely able to move without vomiting, the mare nearly slipped off the lip of the crater. It was deep, maybe twenty feet at the bottom. Standing in the middle of the crater, surrounded by flames of purple and ashes stained with tinges of crimson, was the dragon.
He spotted her, and Dash felt her body lock up. His body was no longer swathed in shadows, scales returned to the normal purple, although they looked heavily faded. Inside his eyes, Dash saw an intensity of emotion she had rarely seen in her life. Resignation.
He spread his wings and jumped into the air, shooting out of the crater. Hovering for a second, he observed the destruction he had caused. Dash felt too weak to fight back, but she stood silently, eyeing him with heavy suspicion.
She jumped back as the larger dragon landed in front of her. His body sagged, though she got the feeling it was not from his unnatural burst of power. He stood a good head and a half taller than her, and at least a foot longer. His wings crumpled beside him, and he turned his expression down to hers, eyes displaying a sorrow she hadn’t see in many creatures before.
The stare lasted for nearly a moment. Rainbow had always considered herself a good judge of character. She would know from the start whether or not she would like someone as a pony, whether or not they had the heart that she felt was honest and genuine. Loyalty was her namesake, but she wasn’t loyal to those who didn’t deserve her respect. Her friends had all earned it, and she would die for any of them now.
However, she couldn’t quite get a grasp on the dragon in front of her. His eyes hid such pain that she felt even her own cold hearted demeanor towards him lift a little. On one hoof she wanted to hate him for what he had done. The death and chaos around her was all a result of him. The legion of dead ponies back at Twilight’s castle was all because of him.
Everything inside her screamed that this was an evil creature that would kill her in cold blood if she turned her back. Now all she wanted to do was lock him up for the rest of his days for what he had done. Zecora was most likely dead because of him, Fluttershy would have been if she hadn’t been visiting Rarity’s for the night.
The thought of Fluttershy being killed caused a particularly strong wave of heat to burn through her. If this beast had killed her oldest friend, Rainbow didn’t think she would be able to control herself from lashing out.
But, despite all of the anger and hate she wanted to feel, the more she looked into his lilac orbs, the more she learned about him. Everything in his expression screamed damaged. She hated giving or receiving pity, but she felt that the dragon in front of her had been through something awful. If not for the scars marring his entire body, and the wounds that crossed his form even now, she would’ve assume he was just a normal dragon.
Looking at him now, a small part of her was saying to give him a chance to explain himself and let him perhaps make up for his actions. However that was only a small part, and the major part of her was still massively suspicious of this killer in front of her. Accidentally or not, victim of circumstance or not, he had still caused the death of good ponies.
Again, the guilt on his face was enough to make her pause. The pure expression of remorse and sorrow was not something she had expected a dragon to be able to make. The way he looked down at her expressed his emotions quite blatantly. She felt that he was genuine, and she couldn’t help but want to give him a chance.
Her mind was torn between the urge to blindly lash out at him and rip him to shreds verbally and physically, the other half of her simply wanted to hear him out. In the end he beat her to speaking.
“Do what you will with me.” He lowered his head, body crumbling in front of the pegasus mare, eyes pointed directly into the ground, wet and glistening.
That she didn’t expect. Even if his body language had said resignation, she had expected it to be more of the realization that he would have to fight and kill her, but instead he was giving himself up, turning himself into the very things he probably viewed as his enemy. Maybe her judgement of him had been right.
For a few moments she found herself unable to speak, just standing there, staring at him with an unsure expression. Her eyes were suspicious still, the natural headstrong aura resonating within, screaming at her that she shouldn’t trust this beast in front of her. But, she also knew she was a very good judge of emotions.
“Why did you do it.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement. He did it, what did it matter why?
If possible, his body drooped even more, the sorrow burning bright on his form. She could see the tears brimming at his eyes and the way his body shook and trembled deeply. She could sense his deep despair, but it didn’t sway her. That small part of her that sympathized him remained just as small as before.
“I...it took her from me.” His throat closed up and a choked sob escaped him.
It? Rainbow wasn’t quite sure what he meant. However as she looked over his shoulder at the ruins of the forest, she remember what Twilight had freaked out about earlier that day. She had screamed about something in the Everfree. It? That seemed to fit what this dragon was talking about.
“What’s your name, huh?” She couldn’t help but be curious, she was going to get as much information out of this as she could. The dragon appeared surprised by the question, raising his head slightly to look into her eyes.
“Spyro.” He said simply. Nodding once, she opened her mouth to speak, eyes hard.
“Okay, so Spyro then, I guess you’ve killed it then.” Her voice came out accusingly. “I mean, you destroyed everything, so it must be gone right?” Her eyes narrowed, the mare’s typical hard attitude showing though once again.
Feeling the smallest hint of remorse at his hurt expression, the mare suppressed it under a wave of righteous anger. He stared at her for a second, jaw moving slightly as if he was contemplating saying something, but his mouth never opened.
He turned his head once towards the ashes. He stared for a long while, just gazing into the the ruins of the forest, the very small patches near the far back barely visible. She saw him tense up, muscles pulling taut under his scales, and jawline tightening tightly.
“No, I think we’re just getting started.”
*
The heavy flapping of feathered wings over the burn and bruised back half of the Everfree was the only sound on this day. A pair of sharp eyes watched the destruction warily, yellow orbs roaming over the burnt forest with remarkable accuracy. His question wasn’t one that he felt he would get an answer to any time soon.
Sharp claws, a pointed beak and a mix of feline and avian, the griffon flew over the darkened forest, only bits of ground illuminated by the burning purple trees. The peculiar flames caught his eye in particular. What the hell had caused this?
He and his family had been living in Equestria for some time around this forest, the ponies had called it the Everfree from what he had heard from his daughter. From what she had told him, they generally stayed away from it, fearing it to be cursed.
How silly.
Regardless of their fear of the forest, they didn’t strike him as the type to burn an entire forest to the ground just because they were scared of it. So, what happened here then? Perhaps that strange explosion that had awoken them earlier was the culprit.
Whatever the reason, he found it rather strange, and a bit unfortunate too. This had been a prominent hunting ground. The danger of the forest was exhilarating, and had been an excellent place to train his sons and daughter to hunt and fend for themselves.
He sighed. Alas, it is gone now, nothing to be done. He had to admit, the lilac flames were actually quite mesmerizing to look at, especially in the low light where they glowed and licked at the night in such a beautiful way. He grumbled to himself about the loss of his favorite hunting place.
He was ready to continue on his way, when the flames licked over to a specific place, lighting a reflection upon something he had failed to notice earlier. His sharp eyes caught the nearly unnoticeable disturbance. Curious, the griffon angled himself down toward the object.
Wind whistling in his ears as he dove, the griffon touched down gracefully on the ground. The ground felt different. Raising a claw, he found the limb covered in ashes. Grimacing at the distasteful substance, he shook the claw dispelling some of the flaky stuff.
Stepping slowly and carefully around the still burning fires, he surveyed the dark patch of trees still standing amongst the enormous fires. These trees seemed different. They were darker, more ominous than he remembered them being. Feeling slightly uneasy for some reason.
Taking a deep breath, he shook off the fear, reasoning as just the odd situation getting to him. His quarry in sight, he froze once he got closer. Bringing a claw to his beak, he clamped his mouth shut, hoping to keep from vomiting from the sight.
Releasing the claw shakily, he placed it back onto the ground as he got closer. “Sweet mother of…” He whispered, grimacing at the horrible sight in front of him, feeling bile rise in his throat. His sensitive nose caught the heavy stench of blood and gore, the horrible smell wafting into his nose.
In front of him was a black dragon. The body was limp, covered in enormous lacerations, the blood soaked scales around them painted a dull crimson. Interestingly enough, the wounds were mostly clotted, but from what he could not say, if was as much of a mystery as the forest. However, large chunks of her flesh around her back and under her abdomen were torn out, letting pus and blood flow from the large avulsions, exposing the delicate organs inside and the partially damaged spine protruding from her back. Pressing his head to her belly, he was relieved to hear a heartbeat, even if it was weak and unsteady.
He noticed the horrible state of the breaks in her wings, the joints of the thin appendages snapped at strange angles and the occasional hint of white showing between the bloodied parts of her black scales. The skin between the phalanges ripped and bleeding in numerous places. The top phalange was bent and snapped in a very bad way, pointed awkwardly.
The griffon cringed, knowing that if she even lived through her injuries there was virtually no way she would ever fly again. His mate was a very experienced healer, but even she had her limits. Upon closer inspection of the wings, one of the them had an extremely bad fracture near the metacarpus. The griffon was thankful that the dragon was out cold, as he didn’t want to even think about the pain that wound would cause.
The rest of her body was bloodied and bruised, but again, these wounds had been clotted by something, but he couldn’t think of what it would be. He had dealings with dragons in the past, he knew they healed fast, but this had to have happened very recently and there was no way wounds this big would clot in mere hours.
Carefully propping her body on it’s side, he inspected the rest of her form. One of her forelegs was broken badly along the knee, while both of her hind legs looked to be sprained at least. Feeling them gently told him that they were at least very swollen. In reality he didn't really know what he was doing. His mate was the healer, not him.
Realizing that he was wasting precious time, the griffon quickly contemplated. Dragons were known to be greedy, selfish, dangerous creatures, however he wasn’t so cold hearted as to leave this one to die out here based on generalization. Equestrian ideals appeared to have slightly rubbed off on him. He mused that he had his daughter to thank for that.
Cautiously, the griffon lifted the smaller dragon by the front, pushing her onto his back. He was surprised by her weight, but he knew he wouldn’t have to carry her very far.
Springing into the air, the griffon flapped his wings hard, pushing himself into the night sky, the bloodied dragoness on his back, unaware of the fateful decision he just made will shake the world he knows to it’s core..