//------------------------------// // Act 2/Chapter 1: Behind Enemy Lines // Story: Power of the Dragonflame: The Resurrection of Torch // by Mystic Mind //------------------------------// They left port at moonrise. The sky ship Luna’s Blessing soared above the clouds; its crew protected from the wind by unicorn magic. While Moonlight Eclipse preferred to fly under her own power, she always felt a certain serenity as these modified Equestrian vessels drifted through the sky at a leisurely pace. “Drifting” was an apt word for this mission. Crossing over into the Dragon Lands, stealth was priority number one, and that meant reducing the ship’s propellers to minimum thrust. Moonlight was just glad Rainbow Dash wasn’t among them. For all her skills, patience wasn’t one of them. She would’ve gone stir crazy three times over by now! “Captain, what’s our ETA?” she asked, turning to face Captain Skyworth, a peach-coloured earth pony with a brunette mane. “Should be at t’ drop zone at the stroke o’ midnight,” he dusted his curly moustache with one hoof as he eased the ship’s wheel to the right. “Ye be certain I can trust those dragon scallywags yer workin’ with?” “With my life,” Moonlight replied sternly. “They’re part of the Canterlot Night Guard and have demonstrated unwavering loyalty to Lord Ember. You worry about navigation, and I’ll worry about order among my squad, do I make myself clear?” “Aye, ma’am,” Skyworth huffed, tugging uncomfortably at the red bandana around his neck. “Good. I’ll tell my squad to make drop-off preparations. Try not to set the ship on fire in the meantime, okay?” “I told ye before, that was one time!” the Captain grumbled. “…Alright, maybe three, but ‘twas still a heroic end fer such a fine vessel, I tell ya!” Making her way down the stairs to the lower deck, Moonlight knocked on the recreation cabin’s door. Upon entering, she saw her fellow lunar guardspony playing a quick game of Ogres and Oubliettes with their dragon allies to pass the time. “Commander Moonlight,” the bat pony stood to attention and saluted. “Forgive my impatience, but is it time to start the mission?” “As intuitive as ever, Star Spectre,” Moonlight smiled at the trans stallion. “Be at ease, we’ve got ten minutes until we reach the drop zone. I’ve just come to review the plan before we jump.” “Works for me,” said the stocky dragon with similarly grey scales, folding up her GM screen. “Need me to fire up the projector?” “If you would, Smoky,” she gestured to the white screen in front of her, as Smoky slipped the map under it. “Our primary goal for this mission is intelligence. We need to get as much info as we can on the cult’s battleplans, so Stellar and the Princesses can formulate an effective strategy against them. “As such, I ask our dragon assistants here to lead us in a ruse. They will put us ponies in chains—fake, of course—as soon as we land. We need to convince the cultists that we are their slaves, and once their back is turned, we slip into the shadows to find those plans.” “Me and Sulphur will try and coax information out of the guards,” he added. “I doubt the dragons will speak common equish in front of the slaves.” “That might take a bit of work,” said Sulphur, a heavy-set dragon with green scales and a noticeable overbite. “If push comes to shove, we’ll have a fight on our claws, which may provide a minute or two’s worth of distraction.” “Not a problem,” Spectre stretched his wings. “We’ll be in and out faster than you can say ‘Sonic Rainboom’!” “Let’s not get carried away, Spectre,” Moonlight replied with a mild admonishment. “Speed is important, but haste could get us killed. That’s why we’ll all be carrying shadefool grenades, just in case.” “Of course,” he cleared his throat and lowered his wings. “Sorry, ma’am.” “It’s quite alright,” she waved her hoof in dismissal. “Just cover my back, and we’ll be fine. Any questions?” Sulphur raised his hand. “What happens if we run into aerial patrols?” “We won’t know until we break cloud cover,” Moonlight’s voice dropped to a more serious tone. “As such, keep your eyes peeled. We’ll be gliding toward the drop zone, but we may have to choose another location, depending on who you encounter.” “Yeah, I’ve got a question, too,” asked Smoky as he switched off the projector. “Y’know that weird crystal thing on your breastplate? It ain’t on ours. Not tryin’ to sound ungrateful, I’m just curious. What’s it do?” “These are our shadow orbs,” Moonlight answered, holding her hoof beneath it. With a flick of her wrist, the gem began to glow, revealing an eerie green eye in the centre. “They’re crafted by Princess Luna herself specifically for the lunar pegasi. It contains the same magic that turned us into bat ponies to begin with, allowing us to walk through shadows unseen.” To demonstrate this, Moonlight picked up one of the tableside lamps and blew it out. Now with a patch of shade to work with, all she had to do was step into it and, just like that, she vanished from sight. “Woah!” both Smoky and Sulphur gasped. “Pretty slick, huh?” Spectre grinned. “All creatures have magic,” Moonlight continued, her body slowly uncovered as she stepped back into the light. “But so far, shadow melding has only worked on children of the night. We think it has something to do with our unnatural origins, although we aren’t certain.” “Besides,” added Spectre, “you guys don’t need to sneak like we do. You’ll blend in well enough without us!” “So long as we’re not in your way, me and Smokey will always have your backs.” Once Moonlight’s body regained visibility, the voice of Captain Skyworth echoed down the voice tubes. “All hooves on deck! The hour has struck, an’ we’re ready for deployment!” “Alright, armour up, every creature. Don’t forget your weapons and equipment packs. That means you, too, Spectre,” Moonlight snickered. “Yeah, yeah, I heard ya,” he said dismissively, arching an eyebrow. “I've got everything prepared in advance this time.” “Good. Now, every creature, be on deck in no less than five minutes, ready for the jump, got it?” “Yes, ma’am!” Now fully prepared, the Lunar Guard convened on the starboard deck. The lead unicorn met them there, saluting Moonlight. “Are you ready?” he asked. “Ready!” the squad said together. “Alright, lowering the shields in five. Good luck out there!” Lowering their goggles, the Lunar Guard stepped up to the ship’s edge. “Five… four… three… two… one…” The magic bubble faded away, and the Lunar Guard jumped. Leaning forward to pick up speed, they soon broke through the cloud cover, greeting the charred landscape that defined Ember’s kingdom. Without the night vision of the lunar pegasi, the dragons could see little of the ground beneath them, but it didn’t matter. The bright, golden orange glow of the erupting volcano in the near distance was all the beacon they needed. At long last, the dragons were home. At first glance it had changed little. It was still a land filled with rivers of molten lava, rocky crevasses, and sulphuric fumes – but they knew it was only skin deep. It would be easy to pretend everything was fine, but they all knew such fantasies wouldn’t last for long. The Dragonflame cult was out for blood, working just below the surface to undermine the unity both Twilight and Ember had worked so hard to build. That’s why they were here. Even if they couldn’t take Torch head on, they could still give Ember a head start. “Alright, every creature,” Moonlight announced. “On my command, we break. Now!” The night guards threw open their wings, catching the wind like a parachute and slowing their fall. Leaning inwards, they each turned into a circular flight pattern, with the dragons flying just above their pony comrades. “Bloat dragon, three-o'clock!” cried Spectre. “About two-hundred meters!” “Bank to seven-o'clock, change heading and drop fifty meters,” commanded Moonlight, raising her left wing to roll into a short dive. She only saw the bloat dragon for a moment, but it was enough to validate the descriptive name. A truly enormous, slow-moving beast that dwarfed ponies like her by a nearly incomprehensible magnitude – barely kept aloft by its stubby wings. She could easily imagine what it would look like up close: decaying scales dropping off its flabby belly, maggots crawling all over. Were she not a disciplined combatant, Moonlight would've wretched at the thought. Though she knew encountering one was inevitable, she made a point to avoid them until absolutely necessary. Just as she levelled out, a flash of red scales caught her eye. “Air patrol, right below us!” she warned. “We're still high, so they won't see us. Pull up twenty meters and straighten out our path. We'll fly parallel to the volcano at our eleven-o'clock and hide behind the ash cloud.” “Aye, aye,” her squad sounded out, flapping their wings hard to ascend. Soon, they passed the small patrol, only to run into another obstacle. “Second bloat, dead ahead!” cried Smoky, pointing to a yellow-scaled monstrosity emerging from the smoke. Spectre had worse news. “Second group patrol, five of 'em, ascending from below at five-o'clock!” “Commander, I still see the patrol from before,” added Sulphur. “They're heading right for us, seven-o'clock.” “Damn! They've got us surrounded,” Smoky cursed. “What do we do, boss?” Moonlight had no immediate answer. Damn the luck! She scanned the sky ahead for a way out. “I have an idea, but it'll be risky,” she said. “On my command, dive into the ash-cloud. We can hide there until the patrols pass.” “You sure, commander?” Spectre asked. “If we're unlucky and get disorientated, it's all over.” “It's risky alright, but we'll make our own luck,” she glanced around to note their pursuer’s positions. “Alright, ash cloud in approximately one-hundred meters. Tighten your goggles, we’re moving in!” With one last gulp of air, she lead night guards into a dive, dropping head-first into the rising gas plume. The burning jot dust blasted against her skin, the force of which threatened to knock her off course. Gritting her teeth, she fought the urge to breathe, wiping the ash from her goggles as many times as she dared. Though she could hardly see, she knew her squad was still close by. Like her, they would hold strong, grim and bearing the pain to maintain flight unity. It took all her flying skills just to maintain course, threading the needle between the molten plumes of lava and the rotten bulk of the dragon patrols. Then, she noticed Sulphur looking back at her, using sign language to communicate. “I can't hold on much longer!” he signalled, fighting with equal measure to remain stable. “We're almost there,” Spectre signed to offer some mild reassurance. “We're close to the ground; I can almost see it. Orders, commander?” Before Moonlight could reply, her wings gave out and she dropped, landing hard and rolling over several times before she skidded to a halt, mere centimetres away from a pyroclastic flow. Spectre, Smoky and Sulphur followed suit, with the latter two pushing themselves just to fly a little further and splash down into a lake of molten mud. For a second, they remained submerged, but soon popped back up to climb ashore. Though the dragons had plenty of cuts to show for their experience, the bat ponies were arguably in worse shape. Despite their efforts to keep their breath held, they coughed and sputtered violently, their bodies tried to expunge all the rock particles they inhaled prior to landing. “You guys okay there?” asked Smoky. “We'll be fine,” Spectre insisted before coughing up a small puddle of blood. “I've got a couple healing potions in my saddle bag. It'll keep us going for now.” “Good thing I reminded you, huh?” Moonlight threw a jab at his front leg. “Ow! Careful with those hooves, Moonlight!” he groaned, retrieving four glass vials. “Did we lose 'em?” Moonlight looked around her. “Yep, the coast is clear. We've earned a breather, but stay alert. Like I said before, we make our own luck.” Spectre handed a vial to Moonlight before offering the others to his dragon squadmates. “Nah, I’m good,” said Sulphur. “I feel better after that lava bath.” “Same here,” added Smoky. “Weird quirk of dragon biology. Thanks anyway, though.” “Suit yourselves,” Spectre shrugged, downing his potion before replacing the remaining vials. “Just take care in close combat. Freshly healed wounds are an easy exploit.” “You don’t need to tell me twice,” Sulphur shrugged. “Anyway, tell me when you’re ready and we’ll put you in chains.” Spectre smirked, cocking an eyebrow. “At your favourite part already, eh?” Sulphur just gave a blank stare. “Wasn't this Moonlight's plan?” “He’s pullin’ ya leg, pal,” Smoky patted his fellow dragon on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” Sulphur shrugged. “Ponies are strange sometimes.” “To answer your question, yes, you may put us in chains,” Moonlight sighed. “But first, we need to don our disguises.” “Comin’ right up!” opening his other saddle bag, Spectre removed and unfolded a pair of ragged, grey cloaks, just big enough to shroud his and Moonlight's bodies without getting in the way. “Not exactly the height of fashion, but they’ll do.” “I’m sure even Rarity understands function over style,” Moonlight said, putting on her cloak and removing her goggles. “Let the charade begin.”