MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro.
All characters belong to their respective owners.
Please note that some details in this chapter are the not consistent with previous chapters. These details may be subject to change. Please refer to this blog post for more information.
From Skies Above – Skin of Steel, Breath of Fire
KA-BOOM!
The sound echoed in Glade’s ears as the fireball struck ground. It exploded in a cloud of dirt and snow, sending debris high into the air. The emerald dragon recovered from his initial shock quickly, narrowing his eyes. It was a show, a display of force to scare them into a retreat. A small crater marked the impact, testifying to the might of the weapon. It seemed that it did not rely on flames to cause damage, but sheer explosive power. Glade had no doubt that it could do serious harm to a dragon, but he was not one to be intimidated.
Drawing air into his body, he felt his inner flames ignite, building up inside his body. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sappharon’s face, the shock evident. But he wasn’t looking at the aliens; instead his eyes were locked on Glade.
In a storm of noise Glade let the flames free, shooting a column of emerald fire into the ground below. The stream of flames burned hotter than any natural fire could hope to, cooking the ground and sending clouds of vapour into the air.
“Glade! What are you doing?”
The emerald dragon ignored his companion’s cry, instead sweeping his head slowly back and forth, allowing the torrent of flames to burn arcs into the ground before him. After almost a minute of continuous fire, Glade finally let the flow stop. The ground below was completely scorched. The snow had melted and evaporated into thick vapour, revealing the blackened dirt underneath. A huge, still glowing arc marked where Glade had directed his flames.
“Glade!” Sappharon hissed, “Do not provoke them! Your pride is not worth dying over. We must leave before they attack.”
The alien airships didn’t seem to react, and for several long, tense moments the two sides stood rigid, waiting for the other to make the first move. Glade let out a low growl. The dragon hated to admit it, but he was nervous. These tiny creatures in their metal ships had the nerve to not only stand firm before him, but provoke and threaten three dragons at once. It had been many years since the emerald dragon had found himself facing such an enemy, and it scared him. Their attacks could easily wound, or even kill any of the dragons. Was it really worth the risk? Deep down Glade knew he was being stubborn, and that he should adhere to Sappharon’s request.
Without taking his eyes off the alien ships, he began to back away, slowly at first. His powerful wings tilted back, propelling his body back in the direction he had come. Sappharon and Pyrite were quick to follow suite, and soon enough the trio had turned, flying at a steady pace away from the crash site.
As they departed, none noticed the pair of airships breaking off from their group and setting off in pursuit.
*
The chariot touched down with a loud thump, shaking its occupants. Valiant Effort winced as his weight shifted, putting more pressure on his injured hoof. His entire body ached, but the hoof was the worst of it. Pushing the pain out of his mind, he moved to disembark from the chariot, favouring his injured leg.
The tall towers of Canterlot loomed over them, like a massive forest of white and gold trees. The city was the pride and joy of Equestria, most of the country’s citizens making an effort to visit it at least once in their lives.
Another chariot landed roughly in the large courtyard, the pegasi pulling it slowing down rapidly as their hooves touched the ground. The third and final chariot landed down hard somewhere behind Valiant. With a loud crash, it hit the ground, one of the pegasi pulling collapsing out of exhaustion. The trio of chariots had flown without breaks straight to the capitol, eager to put as much distance between the crash site and themselves, and to deliver their precious cargo. The rest of the survivors had split away soon after the retreat, setting course for the much closer Stalliongrad.
Valiant looked toward the second of the chariots. A burly unicorn stepped down, a figure resting on his back. The biped was still wrapped up in the same ropes used to catch it. It seemed to have ceased its previous struggles, instead taking in its surroundings. Under its helmet, its eyes shot back and forth between the ivory towers and the growing number of guards.
“Captain Valiant!”
Valiant’s ears twitched at the sound of his name. He spun around to find a unicorn adorned in pale purple armour approaching him. Valiant saluted, wincing again at the weight he put on his leg. “Captain Shining Armour.” He greeted.
Shining offered a weary smile. “ I’ve sent a runner to let the princesses know you’re here. They’ll want to speak with... with...”
The unicorn trailed off mid sentence, his eyes drifting over Valiant’s shoulder, widening as they did. Without turning his head, Valiant knew what he was looking at. What else could it be?
“Valiant,” Shining’s voice betrayed his uncertainty, “Would you care to explain that?”
*
“We are being followed.” Glade growled.
The crash site was a mere dot in the distance where the emerald dragon stopped and come to ground. The other dragons hadn’t noticed immediately, having to turn around and fly back to their companion when they realised that the group was one short.
Sappharon cast his eyes back toward the alien’s camp, and sure enough there were two small shapes hovering some distance away. Glade’s eyes narrowed, and his scaled lips pulled back into a snarl. His previous anger still burned in him like his flames. The alien creatures had the nerve to threaten him, and now even follow him. They were brave, he would give them that, but they did not have numbers in their favour now.
“Glade.” Sappharon warned, “Glade, do not-”
The green dragon ignored his friend’s words, instead choosing to launch himself back into the air. And he was heading straight for the airships.
“Glade!” the blue dragon called, flaring his own wings wide. Sappharon rose into the sky, giving chase, but the emerald dragon had an impressive lead.
If the sudden change in course of their targets did not alert the alien airships, Glade’s ear-splitting roar did. The emerald dragon barrelled toward the airships at an impressive speed for a dragon. The airships, however, responded quickly.
A steady thumping sounded off across the snowfields as the airships responded. Glade veered off sharply as he felt sharp pains erupt through his back, but they were minor enough for the dragon to simply ignore. A dragon’s scales were the toughest armour formed naturally on any animal in the entire animal kingdom. There were few attacks that could pierce the lattice of scales that covered the majority of a dragon’s body, and Glade’s scales were no exception. As long as he protected his underbelly, face and wings, Glade was sure there was little the airships could do with that particular attack to harm him.
The alien’s fireball, however, he was not so sure about.
Tiny stabs of pain lanced through his wings, forcing Glade to keep his distance from the pair of airships. It seemed that the thunderous spitting was ineffective at a long range.
Another pair of simultaneous roars announced Sappharon and Pyrite’s appearance. The duo split up, Pyrite swooping down under the airships, and Sappharon circling around to the other side of them, opposite to Glade.
The airships veered away in an attempt to get away from the dragons. Glade snarled. They would not escape while he could still move his wings. Flapping harder, Glade soared upwards, positioning himself over the airships. Sappharon and Pyrite seemed to catch on to Glade’s plan, as they began to circle around the metal beasts, drawing their fire and keeping their attention.
Glade reached the peak of his ascent, swooping down into a dive just as one airship loosed a fireball that arced toward Pyrite. The crimson dragon flew out of its path, but much to his surprise the ball of smoke and flame changed its course. Pyrite moved again to evade, swooping down under the fireball. The missile sailed over the dragon’s body, not having enough time to turn. It attempted to correct its course, but failed, slamming into the ground.
KA-BOOM!
Glade glared at the attacking airship, choosing it as his target. He dived down, bringing his wings closer to his body and preparing his claws.
WHAM!
The emerald dragon slammed into the top of the airship, sending it spinning out of control as he clawed and beat at its metal surface. His claws left deep scratches and dents, but did no major damage. Calling on his inner flames once again, he concentrated on creating a jet as hot as possible. The airship struggled and shook, fighting to maintain balance and altitude as he prepared, its mate unable to help in fear of collateral damage.
When the flames in his chest felt hot enough, Glade opened his maw, letting loose the stream of emerald fire. The torrent burned almost painfully bright, bathing the metal surface below. The feeling tickled Glade’s claws.
Glade released the flame, letting the airship fall the rest of the way. Its shiny head had exploded open, and the metal across its back glowed red and white. Molten metals dripped off Glade’s claws, following the destroyed airship on its journey back to the earth.
As soon as he let go, the emerald dragon launched himself away as not to make himself a target for the other ship. The remaining airship fought to get away, attacking anything within range as it retreated away from the dragons. Glade ascended once again, intending to strike the beast in the same way he dispatched the other, but Pyrite was already moving.
The crimson dragon shot by, flying directly underneath the airship. The metal flyer fired at him, by the tough dragon shrugged its attacks off. Before the airship could loose a fireball, Pyrite was already underneath it. As he passed under, the dragon flicked up his tail, striking the airship’s stout wing.
The metal flyer was sent spinning from the blow, losing altitude as it struggled to regain its balance. Sappharon took his chance, swooping down and latching onto the front of the airship and preparing to incinerate it. Glade wasn’t surprised the blue dragon had decided to take a direct role in the fight. He may not be happy that it had taken place, but he wasn’t one to stand on the side while his brothers faced a dangerous foe.
Sappharon opened his maw, but no fire came. Instead there was a bright flash of light from the head of the airship, and a familiar sound.
KA-BOOM!
In a huge spray of blood and smoke, the blue dragon’s grip loosened and his broken body fell away. Glade blinked. Sappharon crashed into the ground, laying still in the snow. There was no movement, not even the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Only sapphire scales and crimson blood.
Glade roared, the mighty bellow laced with the dragon’s overwhelming rage. Within moments he found himself barrelling toward the airship, slamming into its side where he began to claw, beat and burn whatever he touched. The snow, the sky and even the other dragons faded away. There was only Glade and his prey. Metal melted and bent under his might, and his angered bellows filled his ears, drowning out all other sound.
Soon enough he found himself sitting on in the snow, surrounded by the glowing, deformed slag that used to be the alien ship. Glade just rested there for a moment, breathing heavily as he took in the smell of his flames. The melted metals dripped off his body, falling to the puddles below. All the snow around him was gone, evaporating into mist because of the intense heat. Soon enough Glade shook himself off, and launched himself into the air, heading straight for the blue and red figures nearby.
*
“So you returned it?” Banewin’s tone was neutral, not giving away any insight into how the gryphon felt about the situation. Balik had no idea what his superior was thinking, and that scared him more than anything.
“Yes, sire.” He kept his eyes on the stone floor, unwilling to meet the clan leader’s own. “It was too much of a threat to hold on to. The others did not chase us when we fled, so they must have wanted only the crash site, and not our destruction. Capturing one of their own would only give them a reason to follow us, and I fear we would not survive another encounter.”
“I see. Leave us.”
Balik’s heart thumped in his chest. He had been entirely truthful in his recount, including his orders to defy the council’s commands. There was no honouring lying, and he was willing to face his punishment head on, but Banewin’s decision surprised him. Not willing to push his luck, he bowed, then scurried out the door.
When the heavy doors closed behind him, there was silence, but it wasn’t long before it was broken.
“This is not good.” Banewin said.
The elders shared worried looks. “What are we going to do?” Hyava asked.
“We should have known this would happen.” Yalek said, “We should have known.”
“But we didn’t, and we acted anyway.” Kyarth stated, “It will do us no good to dwell on past mistakes.”
“Well, what do you suggest we do?” Yalek shot back. The elder was afraid. He tried to hide it behind his anger, but it still showed clear.
“We don’t do anything.”
“What?!” Yalek cried, “We have an army of vastly superior monsters on our doorstep and you want to do nothing?! Have you lost your mind?!”
“Calm down, Yalek.” Hyava said softly, “Now Kyarth, I must agree with him, albeit not so dramatically.”
Yalek grumbled quietly.
“His concerns are understandable,” she continued, “What can we accomplish by doing nothing?”
Kyarth smiled, the corners of Yalek’s mouth falling as he did. “Commander Balik reported that the creatures attacked his forces, but only when he struck first. To add to that, they did not chase his army when they fled, meaning that their intentions were not war, but just to secure their lost ship and their stragglers. Balik may have been acting out of line when he ignored out... request to collect a prisoner, but this may work out for the best. I suggest we merely stay out of the alien’s way, and allow them to gather what they came for.”
“And if you are wrong? What if they came with the intent of war?” Yalek asked.
Kyarth pondered for a moment. He sucked in a breath, exhaling loudly a few moments later. “We can only hope that you are wrong.”
*
“Sappharon...” Glade murmured.
For the first time in decades, the emerald dragon felt despair. It was almost unfamiliar, an alien feeling that he wished to be rid of as soon as it reared its ugly head. But no matter how much he wished, it still remained.
The blue dragon lay still in the snow, eyes open in an endless stare and blood running across his sapphire scales. The fireball had struck him just under his right foreleg. The thick scale armour that covered the limb and his back were scratched and disorganized, with some even missing, but it was relatively intact. The same could not be said for his underbelly. The smaller, lighter scales had been torn to shreds, along with most of the flesh underneath, leaving a gaping hole in the dragon’s underside. The membrane on his nearby wing had also been ripped apart in many places, and whilst his body could resist the heat and flames of the attack, the force of the explosion had smashed the bone in the blue dragon’s foreleg.
Glade hung his head. It was his fault, and he knew it. He attacked purely out of anger, out of defence of his own pride, and now Sappharon had paid the price for his actions.
“What do we do?” Pyrite asked, his voice was low, bordering a growl.
Glade exhaled loudly. There was no anger left in him. No rage, no fuel for his violence. Only regret. “We leave.”
“Leave?” Pyrite stared at Glade, as if his answer was some sort of joke. When the emerald dragon’s features didn’t change, he waved his claw in the direction of the crash site. “There are more of them out there. We should-”
“We should leave before more arrive!” Glade snapped.
The red dragon growled, but backed down under Glade’s glare. “Look at this!” The green dragon waved a claw over Sappharon’s body, “I attacked out of my own anger! Now Sappharon had been killed because of it!”
Glade sank back down, lowering his head once again.
“He tried to warn me, but I did not listen.” The green dragon grumbled, “I will not make that mistake again.”
Pyrite didn’t respond.
Glade snorted loudly. He reached down to Sappharon’s body where he began to work away at a patch of scales. After a few minutes the emerald dragon managed to separate a large sapphire scale from the rest. Clutching the shining token, he took his last look at Sappharon’s body.
“Goodbye, old friend.”
With a powerful stroke of his wings, Glade launched himself into the air.
//Hope
A city. A massive, white and gold city, resting on the side of a mountain. A mountain! Reyes couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw it. Waterfalls streamed down from the city, stretching hundreds, maybe even thousands of metres into a massive river below. It was truly a sight to behold.
After the brief pause to admire the view, Reyes spoke again into his radio. He was glad his captors hadn’t done anything to silence him. Perhaps they just thought that he was rambling like a mad man.
“My name is Aaron Reyes. WSC Officer assigned to the CRA Yamato. Can anybody hear me? I’ve been captured by hostiles and need immediate assistance. Is there anybody there?”
There was not reply. There never was. The channel had been empty soon after he had been taken out of the crash site. There had been so many talking at once, screaming for help just like he had, but they all faded, leaving nothing but silence on the radio. He hoped that his friends had survived.
They were in the city now, the ivory towers passing by as they headed toward a huge palace at the back of the city, closest to the mountain. There was an overwhelming presence of the flying horses, all dressed in golden armour. Their numbers only seemed to grow as they drew closer to the palace. Reyes gulped. His heart raced at a hundred miles a minute. This was the end of the line. He had no idea what they would do to him, especially since he had killed several of their own. Maybe they would give him a trial before cutting his head off? Or just skip straight to the decapitation. Maybe they’d dissect him, or torture him for his crimes. Reyes shuddered at the thought.
The chariot shook as it touched down, and the lone human felt his bonds tighten as they began to glow again. He rose off the floor of the chariot and onto the back of one of the unicorn horses that had carried him before.
“This is Aaron Reyes, WSC Officer in need of immediate assistance! Can anyone hear me?!”
The horse stepped down out of the chariot into a courtyard. There was no shortage of armoured aliens in the area. They were in every direction, more and more seeming to converge on the landing zone.
“WSC Officer Aaron Reyes in need of immediate assistance! Is anyone there?”
A horned horse in purple armour strode out of the palace with a shout, heading straight for the pegasus horse that Reyes recognised as the one he had attacked with his knife.
“WSC Officer Aaron Reyes! Can anyone hear me?!”
The purple armoured horse seemed to trail off from its conversation as it noticed Reyes. Reyes stared back at it, trying the radio once more.
“Is anyone there?! Hello?!”
Aaron’s heart skipped a beat when there was a crackle of static before a voice found its way into his ears. “Officer Reyes?”
“I’m here!” he said, trying to keep his voice low. “I’ve been captured by hostiles. They’ve transported me to a city... it’s... uh...”
“Don’t worry! We’ve got a lock on your helmet’s beacon.” Reyes couldn’t hold back his grin. He was glad that they hadn’t taken his helmet, otherwise his captors might have suspected something from his sudden change in expression.
“Just hang tight, Aaron, we’re on our way.”
I can't help but feel there was a bit too much tell and not enough show in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one anyway! Don't forget: Rate, fave, comment and tell your friends!