Infinity Era

by JDPrime22

Chapter 45 – One United Species

Dragon Lord Ember had just about enough of the aliens attacking her home.

Across the smoke-filled skylines of the Dragons’ Lair, Ember flew straight through a cloud of rising sickness, the Bloodstone Scepter tight in her right claw, her eyes a furious firestorm. Melting embers. Burning cinders. As she flew, she dodged oncoming alien blasts headed her way, retaliating with concentrated flames straight from the Bloodstone Scepter. Chariots and starships dotted the skies for miles, yet the reinforcing Hippogriffs and the dragon army were as vast as Ember’s eyes could see.

It was still strange to see more and more Hippogriffs actually transforming into dragons and aiding in the conflict. They looked so convincing that Ember couldn’t even tell what was once a Hippogriff and what was actually a dragon. Sometimes, however, one shouldn’t worry on how things happened, and instead focus on how things were. And things were still quite strange, to say the least.

Queen Novo flew by Ember’s side, using her spear to strike down nearby chariots and the Chitauri piloting them. With her was a squadron of Hippogriff royal guard, all flying close to their queen and ensuring her safety. Where Ember was flying, it looked like she didn’t even need it. The Queen of the Hippogriffs handled herself fairly well. She and her people all seemed to have arrived just at the right time, right before the dragons would have…

Ember shook her head, choosing instead to glare forwards to the oncoming fight.

Ember would never admit to have needed help, especially from another species. Even when the dragons did technically make peace with ponies, that didn’t mean the dragons were nice by any means. They were still the toughest species to the east, not a single one—not even the minotaurs—being a match for the dragons. Yes, Ember did admit to having been trying to learn how to be more… calm and caring when it came to her people and the ponies she had… befriended. But those were dragons. Those were ponies. The ones infecting their land other than the aliens were Hippogriffs. They weren’t friends. Allies, maybe, but not friends.

And in that desperate hour, facing total extinction from an extraterrestrial invasion hellbent on ensuring that, maybe allies were just what Ember needed at the moment. Just at the moment.

Their presence definitely made a difference, though. Ember couldn’t deny that.

The skies were filled. It was nearly unclear with how many Hippogriffs, dragons, chariots, starships, Leviathans, and explosions consumed the sky. Alongside the fires that ate away at the earth below—spewing the smoke into the air and creating pockets of black sickness to and fro—there were the twelve Hippogriff naval ships still flying straight into the heart of darkness. Directly towards the two Chitauri Command Centers unleashing more and more ships into the battle below, more Leviathans to consume their prey. Smaller skirmishes filled the skies, the bulk of each opposing army quickly, so very quickly, approaching closer by the second. It was war. Plain and simple. The dragons were no strangers to war. They had lived through several, bred to be beasts of warfare. The Hippogriffs on the other hand…

They knew better than to doubt their queen, she led them alongside the Dragon Lord. Both leaders took charge of their army, flying directly into the heart of it, where the war would reach its fullest. Where all would quickly come crumbling down. Where only the strong, determined, and united would win in the end.

They instantly noticed the Chitauri becoming more rabid, vicious, and faster the closer they grew to the two warships. It would make sense, as they were practically protecting themselves, as well as the rest of their army. Like a singular hive mind. And like a hive mind, if Ember and her allies took out the mind, they took out the hive.

Those two minds were closing in fast.

Queen Novo’s navy led the charge, Novo and Ember flying onwards with hundreds of Hippogriffs, dragons, and numerous other creatures the Hippogriffs had decided to change into. The morning sun had peaked over the mountains, the shimmering rays cascading across the landscape and breaking through the smoke and clouds. The alien world stared at them from above, watching the inevitable clash commence. All twelve battleships entered the fray and unleashed their fury onto the Command Centers. Numerous Chitauri flew in front of the cannon fire, even Leviathans changing course to shield the ships they came from.

Then the two armies connected. The Chitauri… and the two vastly different species.

Screeches and cries from both sides erupted alongside the explosions, blood-curdling final yelps given as Hippogriffs impaled Chitauri with their spears, as Chitauri fired away and shot Hippogriffs and dragons out of the sky. Several Hippogriffs would latch onto either a starship or a chariot at a time, clawing at the exteriors, screeching as they mutilated the aliens piloting the ships. Once they were finished, the Hippogriffs scattered, the remains of the ships plummeting to the earth. Many Chitauri chose to ride on the backs of the Leviathans slithering across the air, firing up, below, and every way they could as the Leviathans focused their efforts on the larger dragons and the naval ships.

Beasts of war impacted one another in mid-air, the eldest dragons roaring as they latched onto and clawed, bit, and tore at the Leviathans trying to enact the same amount of pain and death onto them. A certain dragon dragged its claws against the side of a Leviathan it flew towards, barely dodging its wicked jaws and gripping onto the beast’s side, where its mouth couldn’t reach it. The dragon then spewed a torrent of flames across the Leviathan’s backside, the fires consuming the creature’s armor and the Chitauri that remained atop of it. The Leviathan roared out in pain, its bellows only increasing once the dragon sunk its jagged teeth into the creature’s neck.

As the two writhed about in mid-air, the Hippogriff naval ship below was currently engrossed in its own battle. Their charge towards the Chitauri Command Centers was halted once numerous aliens swarmed them from all sides, several leaping off of chariots and landing on deck. The Hippogriffs had intended only for an assault by air, now having to defend their ship in close combat. Hippogriffs battled the Chitauri with swords, spears, shields, axes, and fought against the aliens' far-superior weaponry. There were numerous causalities on board. The Hippogriffs fought well, fought with all their might and fury.

It was all for naught when the alien roar came from above.

Turning about, the commander of the naval ship spotted both the Leviathan and the dragon come hurtling downwards right for them, tangled together with the dragon refusing to let go of the creature’s neck. The Leviathan roared once more, its body consumed in flames, using the last bit of strength to take out as many enemies as it could. And the Hippogriff Commander knew what its target was intended to be.

And nothing was able to stop it. It came too fast for the ship to move, too fast for evasive maneuvers. But not too fast for him to screech out one final order to the remaining Hippogriffs on board. “Abandon ship! Abandon ship!”

Both the Chitauri Leviathan and the dragon let out one last roar as the Leviathan tore right through the center of the ship. The explosion that followed was so deafening and bright that it blinded the Hippogriffs and Chitauri caught within the shock wave. The explosion consumed both the Leviathan and the dragon, both of their bodies falling down alongside the burning remains of the naval battleship. Many Hippogriffs managed to fly off the deck in time. Many more below deck were not so fortunate.

As the battle for supremacy in the skies continued, the war against the earth raged on. Dead bodies fell like the burning ash from the fires of the Dragons Lands, now the remains of the Leviathan, the dragon, and the Hippogriff ship joining the rest as they impacted the ground. Tremors shot out across the battlefield once the massive creatures crashed to their final resting place. Once the Hippogriff naval ship struck the earth, however, it created a secondary explosion, one so massive it sent an even stronger shock wave across the battle. Chitauri, younger dragons, Hippogriffs, and numerous others were blown back if they were close enough, some completely vaporized if they were caught within the blast.

Tempest Shadow remained at a fairly safe distance, the shock wave still managing to nearly knock her to the ground. The unicorn yelped as her footing was nearly blown away, the rush of heated air blasting past her and making her spiked, rose-colored mane flail about wildly before settling in its previous style. Tempest held her ground as the shock wave and explosion followed through, and once the fire fell down and the sounds of war returned, so did she.

Instantly, she opened her eyes and the fire ignited, the unicorn galloping forward and dodging the alien blasts sent her way. She replied with a magical bolt of lightning from her shattered horn, killing three Chitauri instantly and leaving the remaining five charging right at her. To her left and right, Tempest could see the Storm Creatures that followed her into battle currently engaged with their own battles across the charred landscape. Thankfully, their shields managed to block the oncoming Chitauri blasts, the Storm Creatures fighting back with their spears, swords, and their own claws. Tempest actually witnessed a Storm Creature grab an alien and lift it over his head, ripping the beast in half and tossing its body parts randomly across the ground. The Storm Creature couldn’t relish in his victory for long, a trio of Chitauri firing at its backside and killing the creature instantly. Their shields may have been strong, but their armor, their skin against alien firepower definitely wasn’t.

It was all she could see before focusing forward, finally taking on the five Chitauri rushing towards her. The first one chose to stop and aim its rifle right for the unicorn’s head. It should have kept charging. At least then it would have lasted longer. Tempest slid forward, bucking the creature’s rifle away and rearing back with her other hind leg, striking the alien right in its chest. As it flew and impacted the Chitauri behind it, Tempest turned to the alien on her right, the beast swinging for her with its blade. She ducked, leaping forward and over the creature’s back and slamming her jaws shut on the alien’s helmet. Once she came back to the ground, she planted her hoof and came downwards with her jaw, bringing the Chitauri with her and snapping the back of its neck against her foreleg.

“Three down,” Tempest muttered, her teeth clenched as she used the Chitauri’s limp body as a shield against the oncoming rifle fire from the two remaining aliens. Charging up her magic, Tempest gritted her teeth in pain as the electricity coursed across her forehead, flooding from her shattered horn. She screamed as she planted that horn against the back of the dead Chitauri, firing away and launching the body straight ahead with deadly precision and speed. The body impacted a single Chitauri, killing it instantly from the force of the blast.

That just left one, the lone Chitauri Elite standing several yards away from the seething, enraged Tempest Shadow. The unicorn breathed through clenched teeth, her furious eyes glaring at the lone Chitauri. The only one that managed to survive the longest. She watched as it dropped its rifle into the rock-covered ground, reaching for its belt and whipping out an alien blade. It stared right at her the whole time, swinging the blade around with skilled precision. It was definitely stronger than the foot soldiers, showing plainly with its enhanced height and weaponry. Tempest snorted, pawing at the ground with her hoof. The creature softly growled in response.

Two soldiers. Two warriors. Both seeing their fair amount of death and destruction, now standing face to face to see who would come out on top. Tempest thought nothing of the aliens, seeing them as fodder she could crush beneath her steel-plated hoof. The Chitauri Elite saw nothing of the worthless inhabitants of Equus, nothing but a race destined to live and die for the Great Titan. Both despised each other, destined to fight and to kill. They only saw what they should and would kill.

But for only a second, Tempest felt a smidgen of respect to see the Chitauri stand its ground. And as for the alien, it could only feel the same to see the equine hold her own for so long against such overwhelming odds. That’s as much as either could give one another. It was all they could give before they struck.

The Chitauri Elite swung first, its blade barely missing Tempest’s head and only grazing her mane. Tempest, in response, bucked the creature in its stomach, the Chitauri nearly falling forward but maintaining its balance and swinging again. And with each slash at her head and neck, the alien would miss every time, Tempest dodging every time. The Elite growled with each miss, roaring once Tempest would hit back and connect each time, and screeching once he realized she was toying with him with whole time. It was already too late.

Tempest grunted as she reared her hind legs back, striking the Elite right in its chest and launching it straight into the air before it could deliver a killing blow to the unicorn. Once it was airborne, Tempest joined it, leaping upwards and snatching its blade right from its grasp. The Elite never let go of its sword. She only managed to steal it from him once she used her magic to severe its arm right from its body. Rolling, Tempest slammed the creature directly in its chest with both of her back hooves, the Elite hitting the ground painfully. The pain didn’t stop there. Tempest gripped the blade between her teeth, falling down and sending the tip right into the beast’s neck.

It was finished. The Elite gave off its final breath and died beneath her hooves. Tempest sighed, closing her eyes and removing her jaws from the blade’s handle, letting it stick straight up from where it had pierced. Standing over its corpse, Tempest turned her head to the skies, feeling the ash fall onto her face, feeling the fire-filled wind blowing through her mane. Sweat dribbled down her forehead, down the sides of what remained of her horn, and falling alongside her breaths.

She only opened her eyes to see her airship fly overhead. Tempest could hear Celaeno’s voice coming from the deck, ordering her crew and the Storm Guards that remained to continue the fight. A slew of Chitauri chariots trailed them, firing their blue bolts and barely missing or inflicting hardly any damage on the airship’s armor. She wanted to stare longer, watch their descent deeper into the war, but the alien cries coming behind her prompted Tempest’s attention into action.

When she turned around, all Tempest saw was a stream of fire shooting down from above. Tempest felt a gust of wind over her head, looking up to see a full-grown dragon fly by. It spewed fire across the landscape and burned the Chitauri swarming Tempest to a crisp. Tempest had to raise a foreleg to block the onslaught of flames so dangerously close to her, the unicorn having to back away just from the intense heat. The screeches from the aliens slowly dimmed into nothing.

Tempest sighed and lowered her foreleg back to the ground, already sensing the exhaustion in her voice and dreading it. “A million more to go.”

She turned her head back to the sky, still seeing the apocalypse itself raging above, the war between two different species. The utter madness of warfare had consumed the Dragon Lands, hundreds of bodies dropping at every second, impacting the earth and shaking practically all of Equus. Tempest would have stared longed had that same dragon not fly back to her.

And shout, “I’ve got your back, Tempest!”

She recognized that voice. Tempest’s eyes widened, turning to the dragon then back over to the skies. To the warships. To their mission.

“Sky Beak!”

The Hippogriff in the form of a dragon twisted his neck around, spotting the unicorn galloping right after him. He slowed down, swooping closer to the ground to hear her clearer. “Get me to that warship!” Tempest yelled, watching as Sky Beak descended further to her.

Following the nod of her head, Sky Beak turned his serpent-like neck to his left, several miles into the air where he spotted the warships Tempest was referring to. There was a good five or so mile distance between the two, yet they hovered close to the actual battle occurring below and around them. The Hippogriffs and the dragons were trying to make progress closer towards them, but their efforts seemed to be in vain, caught just short of their target.

It looked unwinnable. With the kind of arsenal and armada the Chitauri had, getting any closer than the progress the Hippogriffs and dragons had made seemed like suicide. Then again, this was Tempest he was talking to. She knew what she was doing. Hopefully...

Finally nodding back to her, Sky Beak glided just above the ground, his right wing descending down to her. Tempest pushed harder, grunting as she leapt from the stone-covered earth to Sky Beak’s dragon wing. She held on tight, moving quickly up his wing and sliding onto his back as he picked off the ground, rising higher and faster into the air. With the unicorn gripping onto the spikes rising out of his scales, Sky Beak looked back only slightly, still keeping his eyes focused on the heart of the battle they were quickly approaching.

“What do you intend to do, Tempest?” Sky Beak asked.

Shadow narrowed her gaze from the rising winds and raised her foreleg just over her eyes, both to block the intense heat of the smoke and get a clearer look at the situation before them. “We’re gonna need more dragons! Just follow my lead! I have a plan to take down the ship!” she yelled, pointing her hoof straight ahead.

Straight into the madness. Sky Beak firmly nodded, turning his glare forward. “Hold on tight!”

Sky Beak roared into the air, numerous dragons both on the ground and near his vicinity turning in his direction. They spotted the unicorn on the dragon’s back, almost instantly acting on Sky Beak’s call. Many took to the skies, several more in the air shifting their focus and direction to instead follow right behind Sky Beak and Tempest Shadow. There were several Hippogriffs that took the form of dragons…

And yet there were so many more actual dragons that followed them. Both young and old. All willing to fight for their home and their people. A united species following the Hippogriff and the pony.

All consumed into the battle, becoming just more faceless numbers in a war.

The plague of Chitauri made it nearly impossible to fly towards the Command Centers. They all seemed to act as one, defending the warships with their very bodies if need be. Tempest could tell as she saw several chariots dive nose-first straight into the dragons flying by she and Sky Beak’s sides. They were sacrificing themselves to ensure victory, giving up their lives to take away their enemies’. Another reason to hate and respect them, Tempest thought.

Streams of bright blue and red fired against one another, from dragon flame to Chitauri gunfire. Explosions saturated the skies, starships and chariots being destroyed more and more as Sky Beak, Tempest, and the dragons behind them made their ascent into the fight. While several dragons were taken out in mid-air from the onslaught of alien fire, Sky Beak was a strong flyer, a strong Hippogriff when it came to the skies. Even with his new dragon form, that didn’t change. He was still quick on his reflexes, on his turns, and especially in his speed. Tempest gripped onto his spines harder just to keep from falling off.

As more and more dragons that followed them plummeted once they were struck, Tempest and Sky Beak kept on the assault, pushing further and further where it was uncomfortable for the Chitauri. They had flown past several Hippogriff naval ships in combat with Leviathans, chariots, starships, so much so that a steady passage was practically impossible. Tempest turned her gaze to the left, watching in awestruck shock as a squadron of Chitauri chariots unloaded on a single Hippogriff ship, their streams of blue firing every second, decimating the battleship and causing its burning remains to fall to the earth. The Hippogriffs that managed to escape were shot on sight, their bodies littering the sky and falling just the same.

Tempest watched it fall. Another Hippogriff naval ship destroyed, leaving only ten. She watched all of the bodies fall with it, forcing herself to shake her head and focus onwards. To the mission. Why they came and sacrificed themselves for the dragons in the first place. She needed to focus…

The Command Centers were just ahead. “Almost there!” Tempest said, stamping her hoof on Sky Beak’s scales. “Don’t hold up now!”

The dragon grinned, narrowing his eyes at the approaching warships. “Wouldn’t dream of it!” he shouted, pumping even harder with his wings than beforehand. Continuously managing to dodge even more alien gunfire, Sky Beak and the few dragons that had survived the attack flew upwards to a safe haven, just reaching the side of the gargantuan Command Center. It was quite the sight to behold, Tempest slowly turning her head left once more just to see the intricate alien designs and sheer size and strength of it all. It almost made her shiver, the unicorn knowing what would have to be done to take down a ship of such magnitude.

And she didn’t even know if she had what it took.

They had already reached the peak of their long, enduring climb skywards, Tempest stamping twice on Sky Beak’s back. “Settle down here!” she called to him, the dragon turning its head back slightly to see where Tempest was pointing.

He followed her direction, Sky Beak and the couple dozen dragons that had survived from the fifty that had flown with them. All of them landed at the top of the warship, gripping on tight with their claws to the hull of the ship, the strong winds trying to push them off. The dragons pulled in their wings, looking about and turning to Sky Beak and Tempest for the next step.

Sky Beak was already on top of it, lowering his wing and watching Tempest slide off and onto the Command Center. Her mane was like a live fire, dancing alongside the scorching hot winds blowing heavily across the surface of the warship. Hearing the loud grumble over the ship’s engines and the howling wind, Tempest turned back to see Sky Beak bend his tower-like neck down to her. “What’s the plan, Tempest?” he asked.

“We won’t have much time before they realize we’re right on top of them, so we do this quick!” Tempest quickly explained, having to amplify her voice over the constant noise. The dragons surrounding her seemed to hear her, nodding their heads in understanding. Shooting out her hoof to Sky Beak, she yelled, “Sky Beak, spread out these dragons across the hull of the ship and get ready to burn this ship to a crisp! On my signal, you let loose the fire! Got it?!”

“I don’t think that’ll be enough to take down a ship this size, Tempest!” Sky Beak shouted back, darting his head back and forth from one end of the ship to the other, trying to see where it ended and where it began. He failed.

Tempest didn’t seem to share his fading optimism. “It won't! You leave that to me!” she told him, watching as Sky Beak and several others turned their dragon snouts to the unicorn. She nodded them onwards, strength and raw fire burning in her irises. “Now go!”

On that command, Sky Beak nodded fiercely and turned to the dragons, roaring at them and shooting out his wings. The dragons roared back, all of them kicking off the ship and flying off at a greater distance. The two dozen spread out, each having several hundred yards of distance between each other as they landed back on the ship, keeping their snouts facing downwards, their slightly-parted jaws hovering just over the face of the warship.

Sky Beak found his place several yards away from Tempest, looking back to the unicorn appearing so utterly small, all alone without a single dragon even close to being near her. Despite that, Sky Beak nodded to her, shouting, “We’re ready!”

“Do it!”

Tempest’s voice cried out so loud that even the farthest dragons heard it, roaring in response and rearing their necks back. Their jaws ignited into pure flame, some even managing to build up a helping of molten lava that spilled from their gaping maws. Sky Beak joined them, rearing his neck back and readying the torrent. Readying the firestorm. Then every single dragon fired downwards, breathing helpings and helpings of red-hot, burning flames and lava onto the face of the Command Center.

The blasts from each dragon caused the fires to spread out vastly from the point of impact, those fires almost reaching other dragons. A wave of fire and smoke had built on the face of the warship, growing so large that a lake of rising flames began to rise higher and higher, the dragons continuing their onslaught, not even once holding back.

Several seconds more, almost a full minute of nothing but the two dozen breathing fire straight down onto the ship they stood on. The flames were so hot that they actually managed to melt the outside armor of the Command Center, the fires digging even deeper once they pierced the hull. And when they had finally run dry for the moment, when each dragon closed their jaws to catch a much-needed breath, they all turned back to Tempest Shadow. They all watched to see what she would do, what her plan was.

Even Sky Beak wasn’t fast enough to properly react when Tempest rushed right for him and jumped straight into the air. She performed a short flip once she reached her maximum height, her face centered downwards and several bolts of magical lightning shooting off from her horn. Sky Beak screeched, the massive dragon flying aside and off the ship once he realized what she would do. All the dragons did the same, flying off the ship just in time for the lightning bolts to shoot through it.

Directing her shot right in the hole Sky Beak had crafted with his fire breath, Tempest Shadow actually screamed in pain when she unleashed the magic she had been storing and building stronger throughout the duration of the dragons’ act. When she actually unleashed the pent-up magical prowess from her broken horn, she wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of it had blown clean off with how powerful the blast was. She didn’t hold back. She used every bit of her strength in both mind and body to ensure the blast from her horn was strong enough to take out the entire ship.

She could only wait and find out, watching as the bolts of lightning shot straight into the dark hole. And the second they did, the hole several yards away to her right exploded, shots of electricity and fire erupting from the hole. Then the next erupted, and it was the same result. Then the next one. Then the next. Tempest’s spell shot throughout the Chitauri Command Center, the magical eruption so unbelievably powerful that it had killed everything inside. Everything… including the engines they stood right over.

Tempest Shadow fell as the ground below her exploded into bright yellows, oranges, reds, and even bright whites. Strands of her lightning consumed the warship, encircling it, eating it, completely destroying it from the inside out. The engines erupted with such ferocity that the shock wave from earlier was like a slight breeze compared to it. Tempest’s fading eyesight had only managed to catch the blast shoot outwards from the hull of the ship, those rising flames ready to devour her.

Had Sky Beak not flown in and snatched her right out of the air, she would have shared the fate of a thousand other Chitauri.

As well as the thousands still in the skies.

It was instantaneous. Once the engines of the warship exploded, so too did the remainder of the Command Center. The detonation was so powerful, so sudden, and so bright it appeared like a second sun had been birthed in the morning sky, the shock wave and blast completely vaporizing anything too close to the initial explosion. Everything else that came from the ship dropped.

Just like that.

Thousands of Chitauri—from chariots, to starships, and even the mighty Leviathans—all simply dropped at once from the skies. Dead instantly, before they were even close to the ground. The remaining Hippogriff and dragon armies still in the skies watched as about half of the entire Chitauri swarm they battled fell from the fight, leaving thousands of other Chitauri gazing back to the Command Center that had been destroyed, then looking over to their only remaining warship still in the sky.

In just that short moment of discombobulation, of actual worry and fright finally gripping the Chitauri that had survived, that’s when the tides of war had truly changed. The Hippogriffs were relentless in their push forward to the final warship, Seaspray leading the final ten battleships and Novo fighting alongside her Hippogriff soldiers and guards in the skies against an unsuspecting enemy. The dragons were even more ruthless, taking out Leviathans left and right, plowing through chariots and burning down starships that got in their way. Ember flew right alongside them, the Bloodstone Scepter being the first weapon fired at the second Command Center.

There was only more.

And the Chitauri could do little to nothing against it.

The Hippogriffs swarmed, the dragons burned, and the Chitauri crumbled. Novo and Ember fought in the air, making way for the elder dragons to take down the approaching Leviathans and clear a path for Novo’s navy. They all turned their gazes skywards, both Ember and Novo watching as her battleships soared over their heads, the massive wings batting up and down and pushing the ships onwards to the final target. Seaspray ordered them accordingly, five on each side in straight lines as they flew past the warship. The Command Center tried to flee, the Chitauri piloting inside pushing the engines to the limit. It just wasn’t enough.

Seaspray sliced down at the air with his sword, screeching directly at the warship. At the Chitauri that remained. Sending a single, clear, and powerful message.

They received it with a barrage of Queen Novo’s naval firepower.

All ten battleships fired at once, the cannons igniting and launching specialized cannonballs that exploded on impact, broke apart into numerous explosions, and many more devastating effects. The outsides of the Command Center blossomed into many bright beads of light, only expanding and growing larger and larger the more the Hippogriffs continued to fire. And they fired for nearly a minute straight, firing, reloading, firing, reloading, and firing again and again and again.

Until the naval barrage did what its intention was. The final Chitauri Command Center fell to the earth, the flames eating at what was left of it. All of the shimmering blue lights upon its surface faded into nothing but blackness, the ship falling straight through the clouds and smoke and striking the ground. Almost completely identical to the first warship, the second and final Command Center exploded with such ferocity and energy that ripples of said energy shot across the Dragon Lands, shaking the earth at its very core. The ship blew up in such a bright eruption it looked as if the very ground had split apart and a new volcano and blown its top. But not just its top, the entire mountain. All of it simply… gone. Nothing but a third star glowing against the earth.

And joining it very shortly was the remaining Chitauri. They fell like rain in the storm clouds, the dead from the smoke and ash. Chariots, starships, and Leviathans crashed and burned once they hit the grounds and landscapes of the Dragon Lands, several thousand more explosions blanketing Ember’s home. The Dragon Lord watched it all.

She watched the alien motherships fall with her own eyes. She watched the alien armies crumble before them. She watched it all—the saving of the Dragon Lands—alongside her people. And they cheered. They roared and they cheered.

They were never alone.

Hippogriffs flew down to meet with their fellow soldiers, some even cheering alongside the dragons. There were several dragons still unsure of the Hippogriffs’ presence at the moment, many more even shocked to see the dragons they had fought alongside with grip the pearl necklaces around their necks, transforming in a flash back into their Hippogriff forms. The tension was rising, yet it was completely overshadowed by the continuous cheers from the two species. Smolder held her mace and tossed her helmet high in the air, Garble behind her doing the same. Numerous teenage dragons kicked and stabbed at the dead bodies of the Chitauri, laughing at the alien corpses that had once tried to take their home. The adult dragons just stared about, watching as the Hippogriff naval ships descended. They softly growled at that.

Then silenced themselves once the Dragon Lord landed. And with her was the Queen of the Hippogriffs, Novo. Several squadrons of Hippogriffs and dragons landed alongside their leaders, some moving off to celebrate with their own kind while the guards stuck with their queen and the older dragons stood behind their Dragon Lord. Both rulers turned to one another, Ember’s fiery gaze meeting Novo’s collected and cool one. Ember snorted, but offered one, tiny nod her way. Novo’s beak grew into a small smirk, the Hippogriff nodding back.

A loud horn sounded off, prompting all heads to the skies to see Tempest’s airship fly overhead, swerving in mid-air and slowly descending to the rocky earth below. The trail of dark clouds behind it blended in with the smoke and fire in the skies, the airship finally landing and hovering just a few feet above the ground. The ramp on the side of the airship fell open, several dragons backing aside or growling in response to that. Ember held out her scepter, the bloodstone shimmering brightly and causing every dragon to hold. The Hippogriffs stood without even a flinch, even smiling to see all of the parrot pirates step out from the underbelly of the airship and down the ramp.

Leading them was Captain Celaeno and her crew, many Storm Creatures with Grubber right behind them. The crew of Tempest’s airship approached the Dragon Lord and Hippogriff Queen, bowing their heads slightly, closing their eyes as they did so. Grubber was right with them this time, not missing a single beat.

As Ember studied the strange parrot creatures and the lone, fat hedgehog scratching himself, Novo took the time to locate the airship’s owner. She darted her head back and forth, her eyes scanning the crew and even back towards the airship, yet she was nowhere to be found. Tempest Shadow was gone. Frowning at that, Novo continued to search, the Hippogriffs surrounding her doing the same, a greater sense of anxiety growing the longer Tempest’s absence was dragged out.

Novo was growing worrisome, that worry slowly changing into something she hoped she wouldn’t feel on their journey: fear. Turning to Celaeno, she asked, “Where’s Tempest?”

Celaeno couldn’t answer for her. She didn’t have time when the dragon roar came from above.

Nearly every head surrounding the airship turned skyward, watching as several more dragons slipped down through the clouds and gently landed on the stone-surface of the earth. Novo instantly noticed the pearl necklaces around only a few of them, the dragon she stared at clearly being Sky Beak if she could recall. His massive dragon wings unfurled, his right wing falling low and allowing his rider to slide to safety below.

Novo and Celaeno both shared a consecutive breath of relief when they saw Tempest Shadow herself slide off of Sky Beak’s wing. She stumbled once her hooves touched the rock, growling and clutching her forehead—the area right next to her horn—in clear signs of agony. The unicorn tightened her jaw, veins growing across her neck as she forced the pain-filled groans to stay inside. It took a lot out of her, almost causing her to black out had Celaeno not kept the unicorn standing.

Tempest lifted her weary gaze over to Celaeno, meeting the parrot captain’s smirk as she kept Tempest on her hooves. “I saw what you did up there,” Celaeno said, nodding slowly. “Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.”

And for the first time in a long time, Tempest gratefully smiled back.

As Celaeno aided Tempest towards Novo and Ember, the two leaders looked over to see many more dragons grip their pearl necklaces and flash back into their Hippogriff forms. Sky Beak and Stratus Skyranger pulled off their helmets, wiping their brows free of sweat and chuckling to one another, as if either couldn’t believe what they had just done. The evidence was still hanging in the skies, passed the Hippogriff battleships hovering over their heads, and resting in the fading light of the second sun. The Chitauri Command Center was gone, destroyed by their fire and Tempest’s lightning. Those chuckles turned into laughs, those laughs into cheers, and those cheers into screeches of victory. They tossed their helmets in the air, dozens of Hippogriffs did.

Queen Novo watched them with a smile on her beak until she felt the claw grip her shoulder, practically pulling the Hippogriff away and forced to turn towards the Dragon Lord. And Ember was not happy.

“So, what’s the big idea of having your Hippogriffs transform into dragons, huh?” Ember spat, clearly fuming over the aftermath of the battle and how many they had lost, the numbers only continuing to grow alongside Ember’s dread the more she thought about it.

“I would consider it a form of flattery in the highest regard, Your Majesty,” Novo answered, smirking at Ember’s growing frown. “Besides… more dragons on the battlefield definitely made a difference. We were happy to help.”

Ember snorted, blowing smoke right into the Queen’s face. “We didn’t need it.”

As the Hippogriffs by her sides didn’t take too kindly to the disrespect sent their ruler’s way, Novo silenced them with a single wave of her left and right wings. Once the Hippogriffs settled, so too did her wings, folding back into her sides. Novo pondered to herself, staring at the ground, not meeting Ember’s fierce glare.

“Pride…” Novo began. The fire in Ember’s eyes died down, but only slightly, confusion slowly replacing it. The dragons behind her felt the same way, looking to one another. Novo shook her head, smiling Ember’s way. “Not a good trait to live by. It divides instead of builds, hates instead of loves.”

“Is there an end to this?” Ember muttered.

“Indeed,” Novo confirmed with a nod, “we don’t need to focus on pride when our entire world is threatened, Ember. And if you won’t admit that you needed help, then we will, because pride doesn’t keep us from admitting the truth. Pride doesn’t divide us any longer… it unites us.”

The Hippogriffs surrounding them all screeched in the air, swords and spears held high. The dragons stared at the Hippogriffs blankly, watching as they came back to the ground, focusing only on their queen. A few teenage dragons snickered at that, the adult dragons snorting at them, keeping the teenagers silent.

Ember watched the display of courage and pride amongst the Hippogriffs. She had to give it to them, they fought like absolute hell in the battle. Like them, like the dragons, they were a proud race, proud of their heritage and their traditions. But unlike the dragons, they weren’t so prideful as to be irrational, ruthless, and cruel. Ember almost slapped herself for practically admitting that to herself, but deep down she knew it was true. The dragons had remained stuck in their old traditions, livelihood, and pride for so long that they didn’t know what it meant to be helped. They didn’t know how to properly react. Since her crowning, Ember was the first dragon to invoke peace amongst another race in over a thousand years, the dragons finally making peace with the ponies. Their pride… stood in the way of peace with another race.

Ember was the first dragon in their history to try and change that.

This was the next step.

“All right, Queen Novo,” Ember said, resting one claw on her hip and sticking the butt of the Bloodstone Scepter into the ground. Smolder, Garble, and the many other dragons by her sides and behind her through every storm watched in silence, turning towards their Dragon Lord. “You came here for more than just lectures on pride. What’s this really about?”

“Novo…”

The Hippogriff Queen twisted her neck back, meeting Tempest’s fatigued eyes, expression, and body language. Her eyes said it all, told Novo that the war was far from over. Tempest looked absolutely winded on just that thought alone, barely even able to hold up her head, Celaeno having to support her. She nodded to the unicorn, turning back to Ember and her dragons.

“The Dragon Lands were just the start. These aliens think they can take our world away. They’ve shown that in Panthera… they almost did on Mount Aris… and they very nearly succeeded in the Dragons’ Lair.”

Ember shot up a brow. “The rest of the world’s in danger, too?”

“You’re right about one thing,” Novo said, her expression solid as pure, unbroken rock. “We didn’t just come here to save your lives.”

Frowning at how Novo worded that, Ember was ready to open her mouth yet again and tell her off. She paused once another Hippogriff fluttered down to the Queen’s right. His armor was more decorated, definitely shinier than the others that stood beside their queen. General Seaspray leaned in close to Novo’s ear, whispering to her.

After speaking with Seaspray, the Queen nodded and brought her neck back, staring grimly at the ground and Ember’s feet. Finally finding the strength to say it, she lifted her eyes and met Ember’s. She said, “The Griffons are losing ground fast. Griffonstone will fall soon.”

“Let me guess…” Ember groaned.

“I cannot even begin to imagine how much loss you’re enduring at the moment,” Novo told her, taking a small step forward. Her voice had dropped considerably, now sounding more considerate. “I know, I feel the same way with how many Hippogriffs we’ve lost in the past two days. But we can’t—no matter how much we want to say otherwise—we can’t fight this war alone. This involves all of us… all of Equus. We can’t turn away, Ember.”

Ember kept on frowning. “Please,” Novo said, ending it there.

The Dragon Lord knew what it meant to care for her people. That was her job, to watch over the dragons, to protect them. To lead them. Hearing Queen Novo’s voice, the desperation ripe and powerful laced around it, Ember couldn’t help but share similar feelings. She could deny it all she wanted, but in the end, she knew they were losing the fight. They had only won… because the Hippogriffs came to them. It would certainly take longer to admit that out loud, but it was a start.

Ember looked about to her people, seeing several tending to the dead and their wounds. The sorrow was there, the grief just as strong. But even stronger, pulsating in each dragons’ eyes was that undeniable fire, that thirst for vengeance. For payback. The dragons wanted to fight more than they wanted to recover. Who was the Dragon Lord to deny them that?

Who was Ember…?

I trust no other dragon… to lead our people…

She closed her eyes at that, struggling to sigh. Her father trusted her to do what was absolutely necessary to win, to lead their people through thick and thin, to be the Dragon Lord. To change who they were and how the world saw them.

“These things kicked our asses…”

Novo, Seaspray, Tempest, Celaeno, Sky Beak, Skyranger, Grubber, and so many more standing on the opposite side to the dragons turned fully on Ember, eyes slowly growing wider. Especially Novo, the Queen of the Hippogriffs meeting Ember’s eyes. And her ferocious grin. Ember nodded to Novo, scepter resting on her shoulder. “Count us in.”

The dragon army roared to the skies, spewing fire from their jaws to create hundreds of towers of nothing but blistering flames.