//------------------------------// // 90. The Execution // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Rarity sat at the helm of the small boat being guided by Celestia’s magic to the nearby island where Celestia had detected the dragon. There was apparently a cave on said island where the beast was recovering from its dire wounds, and Rarity was to lead her fellow students and slay the demon before it could return to Equestria. She felt oddly melancholy about the whole situation. When her little dinghy departed from Baltimare, the town was no longer on fire, but it was still in very bad shape, and it was hard for Rarity to not think about the screams and panicked cries of families and innocent ponies as their lives were torn away from them, sounds that echoed in Rarity’s mind every time she placed her fingertips across the dragon fang hanging from her neck. “Spitfire!” Tempest shouted agitatedly, breaking Rarity out of her thoughts. “Get down here already!” The pegasus in question was flying through the air, while Rarity and her other two comrades sat in the boat, and while Rarity could sympathize with Spitfire’s desire to stretch her wings, she was flying far faster than the boat could move, and was almost out of their sight at this point. “Just let her be, Tempest,” Coloratura said, her tone attempting for ‘gentle scolding’ but Rarity could tell she was at the end of her rope just like Tempest. “You know she isn’t going to leave us behind or anything, and Spitfire always takes these things seriously. You don’t need to babysit her.” Tempest merely glared at Coloratura before stomping up to the helm, nearly shoving Rarity aside. She leaned out to shout again but Rarity put her hand on Tempest’s chest and cleared her throat. Rarity’s horn lit up and she sent a mental note to Spitfire, asking her to please return to the ship. While Rarity generally agreed with Coloratura, that the team all dealt with pre-battle stress in their own ways and should be allowed to operate by their own devices, Rarity would prefer the team stick together, just in case anything happened. “Geez, you guys are too uptight,” Spitfire groaned as she sat down in the boat. “It’s really a matter of caution, Spitfire,” Rarity said, being sure to speak quickly before Tempest could. “We just saw what should have been a dead dragon come back to life. I don’t want to take any chances.” Spitfire wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms, and the way she puffed up her cheeks made Rarity smile; Spitfire knew when she was bested, even if she didn’t want to admit it. The rest of the trip was spent in near silence. Rarity watched the sea and tried to remain calm, Tempest held a ball of electrical energy in her hands and focused on it, Spitfire pulled out a pair of small dumbbells and lifted them, and Coloratura hummed a somber tune. But soon enough, the island was within view, and it rapt everypony’s attention. Coloratura was the first off the boat, using her connection to the earth—and a small disk that she placed on the ground, etched with lines that glowed a soft teal—to scope out the location. “Is it here?” Spitfire whispered excitedly, perched on the rim of the dry-docked boat. “It is,” Coloratura nodded and pointed to the large mound of gray sand and rock in the center of the small island. “It’s in that cave, just as Celestia predicted. No other living creatures to speak of.” “Living creatures?” Rarity hummed. “So the dragon is definitely still alive, then?” “Yes,” Coloratura nodded. “What, did you think it was gonna be some undead dragon?” Spitfire asked teasingly, hopping onto the sand. “I’m not willing to discount anything right now,” Rarity said urgently, stepping cautiously onto the beach, with Tempest following behind her. “But at the moment, all that matters is that the dragon is still alive, and we need to rectify that problem.” The four ponies slowly— and carefully— approached the mouth of the cave; even Spitfire hovered very cautiously in lockstep with the rest of her team, unwilling to break ranks with them when the battle was at hand. But then Coloratura stopped, and each party member stopped in turn, watching her. “Do we need information from it?” Coloratura asked, and Rarity was baffled by the question, but no moreso than Spitfire or Tempest. “Information?” Tempest said in disgust. “What are you talking about?” “Don’t we want to know why it attacked,” Coloratura said weakly, clearly intimidated by Tempest’s resistance to her suggestion, “or something?” “Uh, I dunno, Rara,” Spitfire snickered and dropped to the ground next to Coloratura, putting an arm around her shoulder, “cuz it’s a vicious, bloodthirsty dragon, maybe?” “It doesn’t seem a little fishy to you though?” Coloratura huffed. “That this dragon would suddenly attack, right out of nowhere? It seemed pretty prepared for a serious fight, what with all those defensive spells it cast. Why would it do that if it were just trying to eat villagers or whatever?” “It doesn’t matter,” Tempest grumbled. “Even if I thought for one second that it was worth interrogating it instead of simply executing it, any information we could get from it would be useless.” “I agree with the grump,” Spitfire said, holding her arms behind her head. “Let’s just get in there and end this thing.” “I know you’re both right,” Coloratura muttered, “but something still feels off to me.” “Rarity,” Tempest said firmly, shoving Rarity’s forearm and breaking the concentrated thinking that Rarity had engaged in while listening to her companions’ conversation. “Are you coming?” “It didn’t cast any magic,” Rarity replied, much to the frustration and further confusion of her fellow students. “It didn’t?” Coloratura asked inquisitively, and Rarity remembered that Coloratura wasn’t actually present for the battle itself, just the preamble. “What about all those protection spells?” Spitfire asked, arms crossed and hoof anxiously tapping against the sand. Tempest’s eyes widened in realization. “Shit.” “You’re right, Spitfire,” Rarity said dourly, “it had those protection spells. Many, many, protection spells. But during the fight, it didn’t cast any magic.” Spitfire cocked her head, but Coloratura gasped. “It didn’t cast those protective spells either,” she said. “It has a partner,” Rarity concluded. “Or a lackey,” Tempest grunted, and she turned on her hooves to stomp toward the cave’s mouth. “Like I said, we can’t trust any information we get from this thing. We’ll just have to tell Queen Celestia what we figured out, and let her figure out the best way to deal with it.” “Rarity’s the one in charge, chief,” Spitfire said drolly, causing Tempest to stop in her tracks. Now all eyes were on Rarity as Spitfire asked, “So what’s it gonna be, Rarity?” Rarity took a deep breath, knowing she would have to decide her answer in an instant, and so just going with her gut instinct. “I want to at least see what it says when we ask it,” Rarity said, trying to project confidence she didn’t entirely feel. “We don’t have all the information at play here, and perhaps something it says will mean something to Celestia. Maybe it won’t, but that can be for her to decide. I at least want to know.” “And if it becomes hostile immediately?” Tempest asked. “Well,” Rarity scoffed, “then we simply revert to plan A. As soon as it becomes hostile, or even threatens it, then we execute it.” “Sounds good, boss,” Spitfire said, clapping Rarity’s shoulder as she walked past. “Let’s get to it then,” Coloratura said with an assured nod, and a comforting smile sent Rarity’s way. Coloratura followed behind Rarity as she joined Spitfire and Tempest at the cave mouth. When the four ponies entered the cave, the sight that greeted them was gruesome— a dragon, obviously, but its teeth, hands, eyes, and wings were all butchered beyond recognition, coating not only the sand in its blood, but also the cave walls that it was frantically scratching against. The hole in its chest was mended, but it was an exposed sore of flesh and muscle, with no protective scales covering it. It was scratching against the walls and making a horrible noise, like the groaning of an opening steel gate that hasn’t been touched in ages. “Its protections have disappeared,” Coloratura whispered. “I guess without all its buffs,” Spitfire spat, “it’s just a big coward.” “Perhaps,” Rarity said hesitantly, feeling as though something was horribly amiss about this situation. “But I think there might be something else going on here.” Animals backed into a corner generally became more vicious in a desperate bid to survive, but Rarity had the distinct sense that the hideous noise the dragon was making wasn’t a groan or a growl, but a miserable whimper. “Dragon,” Rarity said coldly as she walked into the cave, her three comrades taking a defensive stance behind her. The dragon’s ears twitched, and it turned its head toward Rarity, giving her a good look at the grisly fate that had befallen it; glazed eyes that oozed with caked blood, several large puncture wounds decorating its face that were also covered in combined blood and saltwater, and some kind of noxious grey ooze was coating its wounds as well. It was almost pitiful. “Pony,” the beast’s voice was haggard and dry. “Why did you attack Baltimare?” Rarity asked, not wanting to waste time or spend even one second longer in this cave that reeked of blood and filth. “The pony port town you descended upon this evening, why did you attack it?” “What are you talking about?” the dragon groaned. “I don’t know anything about any pony towns.” “Then how do you account for your injuries?” Rarity scoffed, unimpressed by the beast’s tales. “I don’t know.” That was the worst lie Rarity had heard yet, and she turned to her comrades to check how they were faring. Tempest was as stone-faced as ever, simply waiting for her opportunity to perform the execution. Spitfire just looked bored. But Coloratura, she looked concerned. “What’s the matter?” Rarity whispered, trusting Tempest and Spitfire to keep their eyes on the dragon when she turned her back on it. “I don’t think it’s lying,” Coloratura said, everything in her face and tone indicating confusion but no hint of hesitation in her statement. “How could it ‘not know’ how it got injured?” Spitfire growled under her breath, her eyes locked on the dragon. “Ask it,” Coloratura suggested, and despite the eye roll from Spitfire, Rarity intended to do just that. “You don’t honestly expect me to believe you,” Rarity said incredulously, “that you ‘don’t know’ how you got injured?” “Believe whatever you want,” the dragon sneered. “I know you ponies have no interest in diplomacy with dragons.” “I want to know what happened to that town,” Rarity said firmly. “I don’t know what happened,” the dragon replied. “Why not?” “I can’t remember.” “Your life is on the line!” Rarity screamed. “You pathetic, piteous, wretched creature! Don’t you even care about your own life!?” “Of course I care,” the dragon hissed. “I have a family waiting for me back home.” “That old cliché?” Spitfire groaned, and Rarity tried to ignore the smart remark and the gagging sound Spitfire made to accompany it. “Yet you can’t recall anything?” Rarity spat, her voice being strangled by impatience and rage with each new word. “Something doesn’t add up here, it would seem.” “If I give you the information you want,” the dragon leaned its head down to Rarity’s level, and Rarity could clearly see its creased brow, almost like it were concerned, or… pleading, “will you let me go back to my family?” Rarity took a deep breath. She knew what she should say, what was the ‘right’ thing to say, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She needed to be honest instead. “No.” And without another word, without waiting for the dragon’s reply, Rarity raised the onyx blade granted to her by her Queen, and with her magic, plunged it into the dragon’s head, right between its eyes. Tempest fired off a bolt of energy at one of the dragon’s hands, disintegrating it, and Spitfire flew into the air, tossing Coloratura down toward its other hand while she flew through the gaps in the dragon’s teeth, burning the inside of its mouth with red-hot flame. Coloratura touched her hand to the dragon’s, twisting the bones inside the creature’s body into a mangled, unrecognizable shape. But all that was just theater; the dragon was dead as soon as Rarity landed her blow, the curse enchanting Celestia’s onyx blade killing the dragon as soon as Rarity activated it, just as Celestia had said it would. “It’s done, Rarity,” Coloratura confirmed. “Good,” Rarity grabbed her weapon and turned away to walk out of the cave, her hands shaking as they caressed the deadly blade with her fingers. “Coloratura, come with me. Spitfire, Tempest?” “Yeah, boss?” Spitfire asked with a sadistic grin, and even Tempest cracked a slight smirk as the two women were all too aware of the order Rarity was about to bestow. “Destroy the body.”