Needless to say, every Dragon Clan at the funeral reception was shocked to find their Dragon Lord alive and well before she announced what had happened and why she faked her death. In an instant, every clan leader swore their service to her in anger at the thought that Clan Redskull would dare betray their leader, even those who didn’t like Ember offered their assistance. It was one thing to stand against the Dragon Lord and argue your position, it was a different matter to betray them and try to murder them. For now, she had them find any clans loyal to Redskull and have them purged save for the younger ones and eggs. Their fate would be decided later. Much as she wanted to bring an entire army on Lord Redskull’s face, the action alone could cause more harm if Spike was already attacking Equestria.
Once Ember was done with the clans, she summoned her Scale Guards and gathered them around her palace throne room just as Princess Twilight Sparkle was finishing the teleport glyph. “So what does this thing do exactly?” Blitz asked, staring at the strange glowing design that was being drawn by Twilight’s horn.
“Teleporting is a hard enough task on its own, even at my level of power. Fortunately, a teleport glyph can have the stored energy of teleportation so long as there are two of the same design,” explained Twilight as she put in the finishing touches. “I made one back in Ponyville just incase I needed to teleport back for any reason. This should get us there as quick as possible as well.”
“As long as it gets us there, I don’t care what it does,” Ember said as she walked forward, her golden armor clanking against her scales. She had ordered all her dragons, including her friends, to come with the best armor and weapons they had. Not just to fight off against Clan Redskull, but to also to reign in Spike should he be already under the effects of the rage potion.
“Finished!” Twilight shouted. “Everyone gather around!” Ember, her friends, King Thorax, and all their forces crowded around Twilight. “Hold on everycreature!” She closed her eyes as her horn began to glow along with the glyph.
A split second of a flash later and they were all gone.
***
“Oh my gods...”
Ember couldn’t help but agree to her horror. We’re too late...
Half of Ponyville seemed to be on fire and the roaring out in the distance seemed to indicate that Spike had already been turned by the potion. Screaming and pleas for help could be heard everywhere as the others stood there in stunned silence before exiting the castle in a haste. Other ponies saw them leave and, at first were grateful that Princess Twilight had returned, but soon shouts of fear and anger were spreading upon seeing Ember and her dragons.
“Dragons! Run!”
“What are they doing here!”
“Princess Twilight! Get back from them!”
“EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!” Twilight shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. A small skill she had been working on for some time. Needless to say it managed to get everyone to quiet down.
“That was impressive,” Aquafire stated with wide eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight calmed herself before answering, “Everypony! I know you're scared but trust me when I say that these dragons are here to help us! The dragon that attacked was not of the right mind and is being controlled at the moment! We’re going to help everyone, but I need to know what happened!”
“Twilight!” shouted a voice that was pushing past the crowds. From them came a smoke and bruised Applejack that galloped towards here. “Thank Celestia and Luna yer here. This dragon came out of nowhere and started breathin’ fire everywhere! We got a lot of ponies injured and homes destroyed here, but it’s managed to fly away before it did more damage.”
“Any casualties?” Twilight asked, biting her lip.
“A few close calls, but no,” Applejack said much to the groups relief. “Rainbow Dash got nicked in the wings tryin’ to stop it and is getting medical help. Rarity and Pinkie are helping relief efforts and Fluttershy... well, she fainted and is still out.”
“Okay,” Twilight turned to the changelings. “Thorax, you and your changelings help put the fires out while the Crystal Guard restores order and helps civilians.”
“Right, come on everyone!” King Thorax shouted as his group followed Applejack past the crowd towards the giant fire wave in the distance.
“What are we going to do about Spike! We can’t just leave him in that rage state!” Blitz shouted before Ember covered his mouth, however, it was too late. Already ponies were muttering to each other about who it was that destroyed their homes.
“Spike did this?! Our Spike?!”
“Why would he do this?! He’s our friend!”
“Monster!”
“HEY!” shouted Ember as she stepped forward, growling. Upon seeing their scared faces, she bit her lip and lowered her head for a moment before looking back up. “Look, this is all my fault. A group of traitors in my country where trying to kill me and ruin relations between Equestria and the Dragon Lands. Spike is currently under the control of a potion that has him acting like his against his will! He would never do this if he could help it!” The ponies stared at her, various emotions going through their faces as Ember continued, “I swear on my father’s blood that I will pay and help restore your homes and anything else you lost, but don’t blame Spike. Blame me for failing to protect him and keep my nations politics out of your home.”
She didn’t bother to wait for a response from the crowd as she turned to Twilight. “How are we going to stop Spike in his rage state?”
Suddenly a voice shouted, “The princesses!”
“Well, the Princesses could help, but we need a more immediate solution... “ Princess Twilight then looked up at the direction everyone was looking and realized. “Oh, you mean they’re here.”
Everyone watched as Princess Celestia and Luna, armored in gold and silver battle armor each, landed with a legion of pegasus Royal Guards armed with spears. Everypony made an effort to bow, but Princess Celestia raised a wing to hold on such things. She turned her steely gaze to Dragon Lord Ember who actually gulped upon seeing such coldness towards her. She had heard of the alicorn sisters being powerful beings growing up and feeling the powerful stare directed at her made her realize the stories were true. In Celestia’s eyes there was a burning flame that was ready to be aimed at whoever it was that was hurting her ponies, but for now it was not fully aimed at Ember.
“Dragon Lord Ember, I wish to know why one of your own is attacking my ponies,” Princess Celestia asked, emotionlessly as her guards aimed their spears directly at the group of dragons. Said dragons aimed their weapons back, causing a thick tension in the air.
Thankfully, Twilight got in between the two and flared her wings out. “Princess, this isn’t here fault! Let me explain.”
***One Explanation Later***
“I see...” Celestia stated, ordering her troops to stand down. “If this is true, then I do not blame you Dragon Lord Ember, but I am disheartened to see that even despite our efforts some on both sides refuse to see peace between us.”
“As am I, Princess,” Ember said, nodding. “Rest assured, I will see the traitors taken care off, but we need to think about Spike.”
“Agreed, if Spike is indeed in a rage state, we do not know how to take care of him without resorting to ending his life,” Luna muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Such an action would be the quickest to end this problem-”
Ember actually got in front of the Princess of the Night, glared into her eyes, and growled. “We’re not going to do that. Not at all. Got it!”
“We were going to say that since a potion has done this perhaps a counter potion could work as well?” Luna replied, unflinching in the face of the young dragon. “Your concern for your friend is noted and we see young Spike as our friend as well. Fear not, he will not be killed if we can prevent it. Now please back away before my Night Guards stab you.”
Ember noticed them all ready to stab her so she backed away and nodded. “Well, a potion did this so a potion might be able to solve it. Do you have someone skilled enough?”
“I know just the zebra!” Twilight shouted before looking into the crowd and spotted Derpy Hooves looking in two directions as always. “Derpy! You know the way to Zecora’s right?!”
“Yeah, I deliver mail to her all the time,” Derpy shrugged before sighing in annoyance. “And let me tell you, those Timberwolves are a mean bunch. I mean I thought regular dogs were bad, but jeez. None of them have tried to kill me before.”
Summoning quill and paper, Twilight wrote down a quick note to explain everything and handed it over to Derpy. “Take this to Zecora as quickly as you can! Tell her it's an emergency and then whatever it is she gives you hoof it back to me!”
“You got it!” Derpy said, saluting with her eyes crossed.
“Aquafire, you go with her to make sure nothing happens!” Ember ordered.
Aquafire nodded, but before she left, Blitz turned her around and kissed her on the cheek which resulted in her turning red. “Good luck,” he said winking.
“U-uh, yeah. You too!” Aquafire quickly said before flying towards the Everfree Forest with the mailpony.
“We need to stop or slow down Spike before he does anymore damage!” Twilight stated as she turned to Ember and her forces. “Let’s do what we can. Maybe we can reach into him and get him to stop.”
“What about Lord Redskull and Chrysalis?” one of the scale guards asked.
“Leave them to Luna and I,” Princess Celestia said, her voice cold as ice despite the surrounding flames. “It is time I remind the dragon race why we are not to be trifled with.”
***
“It’s time we got going,” Lord Redskull ordered as he and his entourage watched the flaming town from their distance in the forest. “Pack up, it's time we return home.”
“What? We’re not going to join in on the fun?” Chrysalis pouted from his shoulder.
“No, it will only be a matter of time before the army gets involved to try and kill Spike. I aim to be long gone before anyone can link this to us,” Lord Redskull mentioned as he spread his wings out. “This is also where our alliance ends.”
“Fine. Fine. I might as well get back to my subjects so I can fix whatever that stupid King Thor-what is that?”
Looking up, Lord Redskull’s eyes widened upon seeing a giant flaming missile heading towards them. He roared for everyone to take cover as he jumped back from the oncoming ball of fire, but one dragon wasn’t quick enough as a large explosion of light burst upon contact as well as a scream of agonizing pain. Lowering his raised claw, Lord Redskull felt his eyes widen and his spine shiver upon seeing one of his loyal clan members burned to a crisp. Something that was near impossible for a dragon to become due to their high resistance against fire.
Yet there was a fire that was greater than that of the dragons. The fire of the sun.
Bathed in a golden aura as embers danced around her like petals of a flower, the burning form of Princess Celestia, levitating giant spears of light in her aura of magic, was a both a beautiful and deadly thing to behold. The dragons were stunned to see the legendary Princess and slayer of dragons before them. The tales told of her battle prowess echoed in their minds as the instinct to flee grew fiercely inside their minds.
“Which one of you is Lord Redskull?” She demanded, her tone that of like a living goddess.
Lord Redskull gulped but raised his head. “I am. And I-”
Three seconds later he felt three strong blows enter his chest and exit right out his back. He slowly looked down on his chest and saw he had three perfectly clean holes melted right through his once bright red scaled chest. He could see right through them to where the nearby spears of light had landed. A second later his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed with a thud that echoed across the forest.
“Who's next?” Princess Celestia asked as she summoned more spears.
From the distance of the town of Ponyville, ponies watched as bright streams of light sailed through the air while large dragon like figures fell like fallen birds from the sky.
***
Stupid, useless, dragons! Cursed Chrysalis as she ran through the forest. The sounds of dragons wailing out their final death cries echoed in the air, causing her to push herself faster. Well, at least I got away from that Princess. Even I dare not face Celestia without some kind of plan... or Shining Armor’s love at least.
She couldn’t help but grin at her most precious plan that almost saw her take over Equestria without anypony knowing better. Marrying Shining Armor was only the first step. It was then a matter of switching his royal guards with her changelings and arrange his death in a training accident. She would play the grieving widow before slowly manipulate various nobles into supporting her to get her own kingdom. From there her changelings would have grown and increased in a horde while switching ponies with changelings until the time to strike Celestia and Luna was right. A tragedy for the whole kingdom and it would be left to her “Princess Cadence” to rule in their stead.
Except that stupid Twilight and her friends ruined everything! Well at least she’s dead and rotting now! I hope Spike burns all of them to the ground before joining them in oblivion! She laughed to herself. Nopony would ever know she was involved. All would blame the dragons and another war would occur.
Meanwhile, she would take back control of her kingdom and grow in strength before another attempt to take over Equestria would begin. No matter what happens. I always survive!
And that’s when her felt something hit her in the neck. It was painful at first, but then it stopped for some reason. Also, she felt... cold? She paused to look around, wondering if she was alone before turning fully around and seeing something that made her freeze up.
It was herself. More specifically, it was her decapitated head and headless body lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Nearby was Princess Luna, cleaning her blade with a wipe before addressing two nearby Night Guards. “Dispose of the body. Bury it in a ditch or toss it into a river. No need to give her a nice farewell. I will see how my sister is doing, but I’ll assume she’s already finished. We’ll then join up with Princess Twilight and Ember in their efforts to save young Spike.”
“Yes, your highness!” The guards said as they levitaed her body and head.
“W-what! Where are you going with me!” Chrysalis shouted as she tried to blast them with her magic, but nothing came out of her horn. She then dived after them but she phased through them which really made her gasp.
“W-wait... am I.. am I... dead?” Chrysalis whispered in horror as she slowly got back on all fours. “N-no! I can’t be dead! I cannot die! I have to take over Equestria! I have to get my revenge! I-”
Suddenly, the air around her became icy gold as she felt a presence behind her. Slowly turning around, she saw a large black cloaked being with a large scythe and raven skull face staring at her. It slowly reached out for her and Chrysalis screamed like she had never done before in life or death.
Unable to move, the sheer terror of the Reaper in front of her, the skeleton claw of the cloaked being wrapped around her throat as she struggled to escape. Its cloak slowly opened as a vision of darkness, flames, spears, pain, and cruel laughter echoed in her ears.
Realizing what it was, Crystalis started begging, pleading, and crying for mercy. She wanted a second chance. She swore she would change. Be a nicer changeling. Make peace with the ponies. Never hurt anyone again. Yet, her efforts were in vain and she was soon swallowed by the cloak with her cries ending in silence.
It wasn’t a nice place she was going. And she was going to be there for a long time.