The Price of Power

by kingrulerword

Chapter 27

Canterlot Castle was the busiest it had been in a long time. Although day court had been cancelled indefinitely, no one was on vacation. Servants moved hurriedly through the corridors delivering documents and verbal messages. Reserve guards had been called to active duty and were undergoing new training. The throne room had once again been converted into a conference room of sorts. All three of the princesses sat around the table along with the entire Anti-Sasuke Taskforce. 

“From the map you can clearly see that Sasuke is heading towards the Dragon Lands,” Luna explained, standing in front of a map on a whiteboard. “Additionally we have plotted areas where large surges of magical power were felt. One of them occurred near the incident with Sasuke’s team of griffons. We must assume they are acting out another part of his plan.” Luna’s first attempt to place a marker missed the whiteboard entirely but she quickly adjusted and picked up a few more markers. “We will also add to the map the griffon capital Golden Reach. There was an attack and timberwolves were involved.”

“The main production of voidrock weapons is in Golden Reach, isn’t it,” Cocidius asked. “This is a real problem.”

“Production has since resumed in other facilities,” Celestia said. “Luna, please continue.”

The blue alicorn nodded. “The last plot on this map is Ponyville. Princess Cadence and I encountered escapees from Tartarus in the small town. I do not know if Sasuke was involved in this but it is something that warrants our attention.” Luna sat down and nodded to Celestia. 

Celestia had seen better days. Her body had shrunk to the size of a filly and her normally rainbow mane and tail had turned bubblegum pink. “I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to meet agent Sweetie Drops,” Celestia said. “She will be joining the team. She is an expert monster hunter I’m sure you’ll find invaluable. 

“Twilight Sparkle is here to see you, Princess,” the pony said.

“Thank you, Raven,” Celestia replied. “I’m sure you all have your own preparations to make, so you are dismissed.”

The assortment of fantasy creatures all shuffled out of the room, leaving only the three alicorns. Twilight meekly poked her head through the door, “Princess? You wanted to see me?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her student. “Please come in, Twilight.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped, “Princess!? What happened to you?”

“Oh this,” Celestia chuckled as she ushered the unicorn into the room. “This is just a little ‘severe magic depletion’. Nothing to worry about.”

“Severe magic depletion,” Twilight repeated with a frown. “Isn’t that…. fatal?”

“Well yes and no,” Celestia rubbed the back of her head.

“Is this related to how alicorns are technically not ponies at all and actually entities from Tartarus made of living magic?”  Twilight looked around at the stunned princesses. “What?”

Celestia was the first to recover her composure. “Why do you know that, Twilight?”

“Ummm,” Twilight rubbed the back of her head guiltily. “Well it's definitely not because I traded sanctuary and a library card to a known criminal in exchange for knowledge lost to all of ponykind,” she said with a slightly too wide, please-don’t-punish-me smile.

Celestia sighed. “Which books did he give you?”

Twilight shifted awkwardly in place before speaking. “Children of Tartarus and The Journal of Madame Blueblood.”

Luna’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You have Mama Blue’s journal?”

“Yes, I’ve been reading it with Children of Tartarus,” Twilight explained.

“How far into the journal have you read?” Celestia asked, her voice carrying the slightest bit of worry.

“I’ve read up through the Decimation of Filly Delphia,” Twilight replied.

“Truly tragic, losing so many lives,” Luna sighed. “But without facing such tragedy we might never have seen the depths of Sasuke’s darkness.”

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked.

“It was a turning point for Sasuke,” Celestia explained. “Filly Delphia was the only town he had visited. To see it in ashes with the bodies of the only ponies he knew strung about… It made our war his war. But that’s not why I called you here today, Twilight.”

“Aunty, you can’t just lead us into something like that and not finish,” Cadence almost yelled. 

Celestia sighed. Cadence was visibly excited and perhaps too eager to hear about Sasuke. Something to watch out for. A quick glance at the only unicorn in the room showed that Twilight felt the same way. “Fine,” Celestia relented. “Luna and I will tell you the story after I talk with Twilight.”

Cadence clopped her hooves and squealed with glee. “I’ll be right back!” She teleported out of the room with a giggle.

“What did you want to talk to me about, princess,” Twilight asked.

“How familiar are you with dark magic, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna slowly moved towards the unicorn.

Twilight shuddered. “Not very,” she admitted. “I know the little bit that Princess Celestia taught me, but I haven’t tried to study it at all.”

“What about curses,” Luna came to a stop in front of Twilight and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Have your studies included curses or hexes?”

“B-b-b-but curses aren’t real,” Twilight shrank in on herself. “Right Princess Celestia?”

Luna turned to give her sister a piercing glare. “Curses aren’t real?” she said coldly. “Why are your student’s lessons so incomplete?” Luna demanded. “How is she supposed to defend herself from a dark curse if she believes them to be but mere fantasy?”

“I was trying to keep her off the path of dark magic, Luna,” Celestia said with a strained voice. “I never meant to hinder her studies. Mastery of dark magic has always eluded me. You were always the one who protected me from it.”

Luna’s expression grew softer as she moved to wrap a wing around her sister. “And yet now we find ourselves under a curse that I cannot remove.”

Twilight gasped. “You’re both under a curse!?”

“Yes, Twilight. Sasuke’s great power cannot be used without consequence. All who use it will find their vision fading until they see only darkness. Even now, your figure is blurry to me,” Luna explained.

“We witnessed this happen to Sasuke,” Celestia added. “In fact by the time we first confronted him, he was completely blind and could not call on most of his powers.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Suddenly her entire face scrunched. “But he definitely isn’t blind anymore,” she said. “He was reading books in my library. How did he undo the curse?”

“We do not know,” Celestia admitted. “And I don’t think he’s willing to tell us. That’s why we must rely on you, Twilight. We need you to do all you can to find a cure for this curse.”

“I won’t let you down princess,” Twilight declared.

Celestia smiled. “Thank you, my faithful student. Luna will gladly-”

“I’m back,” Cadence announced as she teleported back into the room. She carried a bucket of popcorn and blanket. “Are you ready yet?”

“Direct your research and offer advice,” Celestia finished.

“Cadence, I feel as though you do not quite understand the tone of this tale,” Luna said. “It is not a pleasant story. It is filled with much suffering and the beginning of our closest friend’s descent into madness.”

Cadence grinned, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make light of your pain. It’s just…. Nopony knows anything about who Sasuke was except you. I didn’t even know he existed before he started attacking us. And as somepony who’s had him in her mind, I’m a little bit curious about him. Plus, there’s got to be a lot of action in this story, right?”

Twilight raised her hoof. “I’m also curious but more from a historical and scientific standpoint.” She conjured a pad of paper and quill. “What if the key to breaking this curse is in one of these stories?”

Celestia and Luna shared a look. “Very well,” Luna relented. “But I warn you, this story does not have a happy ending.”

“We were in the castle of the two sisters trying our best to organize our fledgling country into a war machine,” Celestia started.

“As the three tribes had only been recently united, there were difficulties getting them to cooperate,” Luna elaborated. “There were unsettled grudges and nopony wanted to be the first to volunteer their soldiers.”

Celestia grinned wistfully. “Until Sasuke started talking, that is.”

“We warned you horn heads this day would come! Just because we pegasi are the only tribe with a standing army doesn’t mean we’ll take the full brunt of the enemy forces while the rest of you hide like cowards!”

“Then take those dim-witted brutes with you! They aren’t good for anything but hard labor anyway!”

“Absolutely not! Us ‘dim-witted brutes’ are too busy stopping you from starving to death! Why don’t the unicorns go out to the front lines? Ever since the alicorns took over the sun and moon, you don’t contribute anything anyway!”

“How dare you! We unicorns are busy governing the rest of you low class filth! You obviously can’t be trusted to lead so we must!”

At that point Celestia closed her eyes and let their fighting turn into background noise. It had been like this for months. While the griffons advanced, villages burned and ponies died. She, Luna, and Sasuke had done what they could to evacuate as many ponies as possible but the griffons were spreading too far, too fast.

“Are they still trying to sacrifice each other?” Sasuke had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and sat himself next to the alicorn.

Celestia nodded and turned to face the human. “Any word from Luna?”

“Still nothing,” he frowned. “It’s been three weeks; I’m getting worried.”

“Can’t you use that flying raiju-”

“Flying Raijin.”

“Can’t you teleport to her is my point,” Celestia asked, leaning into him.

Sasuke responded by running his hand through her mane. “I can feel my mark on her but she’s too far away to teleport to. I’m not powerful enough to cover that much distance.” 

“She’s probably fine,  Sasuke,” Celestia reassured him. “Luna grew up in the Dragon Lands and her mother is there. If anypony can convince the Grand Dragon to help, it’s her.”

“I know it’s just…” Sasuke blinked owlishly. “Did you just say Grand Dragon?”

“Yes,” Celestia looked at him curiously. “The leader of the dragons is titled the Grand Dragon.”

Sasuke frowned. “Really?”

“Yes,” Celestia looked at him worriedly. “Is something wrong?”

“I know that this is a different world and all but,” he looked like he was about to say something else but changed his mind. “Never mind. You don’t have the context and I don’t want to explain. I’ll worry about it later.”

Wanting to ease his confusion, Celestia nuzzled him. “You can tell me about it if you ever decide you want to.”

“Thanks but I’ll probably keep this one to myself,” he said, returning her gesture.

**********

“Princess, it almost sounds like you were in a relationship with Sasuke,” Cadence interrupted.

“I was,” Celestia said. “Now back to the-”

“But I thought Sasuke was married to Princess Luna,” Twilight asked, looking up from her notes.

“We are married, true, but I have never held more than a simple attraction for him,” Luna explained. “Our relationship was more akin to close friends than lovers.”

“Then how did you end up married?” Twilight pressed.

“If you would allow us to continue, you’ll find out.”

“Sorry,” Cadence and Twilight said together.

**********

“Suit yourself,” Celestia hummed. She leaned into Sasuke and closed her eyes. After a few minutes she noticed that the room was quiet. Cracking open one eye, she saw that the tribal representatives were looking at her with various levels of disgust. Both her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. “Have you come to an accord?”

“We have tolerated the presence of your pet demon thus far, ‘your highness’,” the unicorn huffed. “But your affection for it is unsuitable for your station. Do remember the laws governing such, or I shall remind you.”

Celestia recoiled but Sasuke held her still. “Laws governing what, exactly?” he asked, confused.

“The princesses hold significant power,” the unicorn smirked. “And their spouse would share in that power. In order to keep that power out of the wrong hooves, the princesses may only be courted by one of noble lineage and the suitor must be approved by two thirds of the current nobility.”

Sasuke gave Celestia a pointed look. “Why would you agree to that?”

“It was the only way to secure support from the unicorns,” Celestia explained.

“Who, I’m just guessing here, make up most of the nobility?”

“Irrelevant,” the unicorn said. “As are any objections you may have, ‘princess’. Both you and your sister agreed to these terms. They are binding, both legally and magically.”

“Say what now?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

“Luna and I allowed ourselves to be placed under a spell that binds us to this law,” Celestia lowered her gaze. “In exchange, our authority over all three tribes is supposed to be absolute, but-”

The unicorn smirked again. “You should have studied the terms more carefully. Your husband, the king of Equestria, would have absolute power. Until such a time, you are merely a placeholder.”

“Putting a pin in the unicorns’ attempt to set themselves up to be god-kings, why did the rest of you go along with this bullshit?”

The pegasus snorted. “We have enough nobles to prevent the unicorns from putting forth a suitor.”

The earth pony nodded. “They’ve got a lot of nobles, but we have some too. Plus, ours actually have to earn their titles. They’re not pampered foals who’ve never worked a day in their lives.”

The unicorn glared at the earth pony but Sasuke cut him off before he could say anything. “I get it, eternal stalemate. It’s not like it matters anyway. I give it four, maybe five months before Equestria falls anyway.”

“What?” The pegasus pushed his face into Sasuke’s.

Sasuke flicked the pegasus on his nose. “I would be happy to explain, if you’d like.”

The unicorn rolled his eyes. “Then enlighten us, infernal ape. How could you possibly know that?”

“First, as I have repeatedly told you, I am a human not a demon,” Sasuke stood and walked to the middle of the room. “Second, it’s easy to see the path you’re on if you bother to look. You’ll keep on fighting about whose responsibility it is to do something until the griffons are knocking on your front door. By then it’ll be too late to do anything about it so you’ll do whatever it takes to save yourselves. Most likely you’ll try to sell out the other tribes but it won’t work. The griffons will have already won and your money will mean absolutely nothing. The earth ponies will be taken as slaves for labor. The pegasi will most likely be stripped of their wings and/or executed. And for the unicorns, those that get to live won’t get to keep their horns, that’s for sure. Being the softest of all the ponies, well, those of you that don’t get eaten will probably serve as sex slaves.”

“Sex slaves?” Celestia shivered.

“Don’t worry,” Sasuke reassured her. “If the worst happens, I’ll take you, Luna, and Mama Blue someplace safe.”

“And the rest of us,” the unicorn pressed.

“I will 100% leave you to a fate worse than death,” Sasuke stated. “So if I were you, I would get working on a joint army. Unless, of course, you prefer to take a barbed dick.” He grinned, “You get it? ‘Cause the back half is a cat.” Looking at the disturbed faces in the room, his smile grew wider. “I think you get the picture.” He walked back over to Celestia and sat down next to her.

“I...think that’s enough for today,” Celestia murmured. “You may leave.”

The light gone from their eyes and the energy stripped from their bodies, the three tribe leaders shuffled out of the room like zombies.

Sasuke and Celestia sat in silence. “Will things really get that bad?”

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through her mane. “If you can’t get the tribes to work together, it’ll probably be worse.”

Celestia gazed into Sasuke’s eyes looking for any hint of uncertainty or exaggeration. She found none. “Did you mean what you said,” she asked. “Would you really take us and abandon the rest of ponykind?”

“I would,” Sasuke said with no hesitation.

“You would even abandon the foals in Filly Delphia?” Celestia pressed him. “You spent an entire day playing with them.”

Sasuke’s calm facade cracked for a brief moment. “Exactly. It was only one day. It's not like they mean anything to me. Humans don’t get attached so easily.”

Celestia smiled. “Weren’t you telling me how humans are so easy to pack bond with, they regularly form relationships with inanimate objects? I seem to remember a story about a cleaning golem with a knife that captured the hearts of millions.”

“Don’t you dare bring Stabby into this.”

Celestia’s smile grew. “You play the uncaring pragmatist but you’re just a big softie at heart. Could you really live with yourself if you just left Equestria to die?”

Sasuke huffed and averted his gaze. “Whatever. Unrelated, I am suddenly feeling very anxious about…. nothing in particular and request that we go to Filly Delphia.”

Celestia gave Sasuke her smuggest grin.

“Shut up!” Sasuke muttered, avoiding eye contact.

“I didn’t say anything,” she replied. She charged her magic for a long distance teleport and extended her hoof.

Sasuke took her hoof in his hand, still avoiding her gaze. Celestia cast the spell and they immediately started coughing.

“What the hell,” Sauske choked out.

Celestia looked up and gasped. “Oh no.”

“What?” Sasuke wiped the tears from his eyes. “What hap…” He trailed off as he looked at his surroundings. 

Instead of a vibrant town full of life, there was only smoke and ash. The bodies of ponies lay limp and lifeless throughout the remains of the destroyed buildings. Sasuke and Celestia walked silently through the wreckage, each using all of their powers to feel for any signs of life. Growing restless from finding none, Sasuke quickened his pace.

“Sasuke, wait,” Celestia pleaded but the human continued to accelerate. He moved so quickly that she lost track of him but she knew where he was going. Leaping into the air, she flew to his destination, leaving great clouds of ash in her wake. She found him kneeling in rubble, cradling something in his arms. “Sasuke what-”

“She was tortured,” he said coldly.

“How can you tell?”

“There are no wounds on her neck, head, or chest, but her limbs are broken and her barrel is covered in bruises and cuts..”

“Oh Faust,” Celestia gasped. “That’s so, so, abhorrent!”

“It is, isn’t it,” Sasuke said.

“How are you this calm,” Celestia yelled. “You’re holding the corpse of a tortured foal! How are you not filled with rage or sadness?” She grabbed his shoulders,forcing him to look at her. “Sasuke, your eyes!”

Sasuke gently placed the foal on the ground and stood up. His eyes glowed red with the power of his newly awakened Mangekyou sharingan. “It looks like you were right,” he said. “I guess I was more attached to this place than I realized.”

“Sasuke-”

“No more half measures, no more holding back,” he declared. He looked into Celestia’s eyes, “I have meta knowledge of both my own powers and the future. From here on out, I’m taking control. Let’s go back to the castle. We have work to do.”

**********

Twilight raised a hoof, “Princess, I’m sorry to interrupt again, but how do you spell ‘mon-geck-yo’?”

“Spelling it phonetically is fine Twilight,” Celestia answered.

“And why did it ‘awaken’?”

“It is fueled by the pain of loss, Twilight,” Luna explained. “It is the antithesis of your own magic of friendship and a dark mirror of Cadence’s love magic.”

“I think the more important question is: he knows the future?” Cadence asked.

Celestia sighed. “He told me about many things that would, have, and may happen. Some of them are hard to believe. Some of them seem downright impossible. But yes he seems to have a firm grasp on future events.”

“Many events he has kept to himself,” Luna added. “He knew I would become Nightmare Moon.”

“He also knew that you would become an alicorn, Cadence, and that Twilight would be the next element of magic.”

“Really,” Cadence and Twilight asked simultaneously.

“Yes,” Celestia confirmed. “Now may we continue with the story?”

“There’s more?”

“There is,” Luna said. “Now hush.”

**********

“How are your eyes, Sasuke?” Celestia sat next to him on a chariot headed to the dragon lands.

“I’m fine,” he replied, curtly. “Are these pegasi going to be able to gather enough clouds?”

“It won’t come to that,” Celestia tried to reassure him.

“And if it does?”

Celestia frowned. “I was assured that they are among the best weather ponies the pegasi have to offer.”

“Have the clouds ready,” Sasuke instructed her. “I’m close enough now.” He disappeared in a flash of light.

One of the pegasi pulling the chariot looked back. “Princess, are you sure about this?”

Celestia looked off towards the sunset. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

“He seems… different from all the stories,” the other pegasus said.

“We went to Filly Delphia last week,” Celestia explained. “It was… hard for him to see that.”

The two pegasi nodded in understanding and focused back on their flying. Celestia silently hoped that Sasuke wouldn’t need to fight. She had seen his great strength but had no idea how he would fare against the leader of the dragons. She hoped it would not come to violence as she was fairly sure Sasuke would not survive a fight with a dragon, let alone the strongest living dragon.

***

When the flash from Sasuke’s teleport faded, he found himself standing on a mountain of treasure. 
“Luna?” He called out. “Where are you?”

“Sasuke? I’m up here!” As Sasuke looked up he couldn’t help but laugh. Luna sat  on the peak of the pile of gold, surrounded by various gems and was adorned with a comical amount of oversized jewelry. “Don’t you dare laugh! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you!?”

Sasuke calmed down. “Sorry, but I really needed that. If it makes you feel any better, I feel a lot better now. What happened? You were supposed to be back two weeks ago.”

Luna huffed. “I explained the situation to Grand Dragon Blaze and asked for an alliance as I am technically a dragon and he has a responsibility to protect me. He decided that having a technical dragon that could move the moon would be better suited as the crown jewel of his hoard.”

“Big yikes,” Sasuke chuckled. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re still here.”

“As a dragon, honorary or otherwise, I am bound to the bloodstone scepter,” Luna explained. “I was given the order to ‘sit here and look pretty’.”

“Well you are looking rather sparkly, I will admit,” Sasuke teased.

Luna rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Find my mother, she’ll have a plan for getting me out of here.”

“Don’t worry, I already have a plan,” Sasuke reassured her.

“Find her anyway,” Luna insisted.

“I got this,” Sasuke reassured her, forming several hand seals. He inhaled deeply.

Luna’s eyes widened in recognition, “Wait, Sasuke, don’t!” But she was too late. Sasuke unleashed a torrent of flames at the mountain of treasure, melting the gold and covering the gems in soot. “Do you know what you’ve just done,” Luna cried out. The cave shook as a deafening roar pierced the air.

“I just got his attention,” Sasuke smirked.

The roof of the cave was shattered as the titanic Grand Dragon smashed through it. Sasuke grabbed Luna and fled through the opening. He stopped on a plateau where the rest of the dragons had gathered. They looked towards Blaze’s cave in fear and muttered amongst themselves. Suddenly, all of the dragons fell to the ground glowing and frantically scratching themselves.

“FIND THE ONE WHO DESTROYED MY HORDE AND STOLE MY JEWEL!!” Blaze’s voice echoed throughout the Dragon Lands, and every dragon in the world could feel his call.

All of the surrounding dragons turned to look at Sasuke, and Luna took a step back in fear. Sasuke, however, just grinned wider. “I’m right here!” He yelled back. “And b.t.dubs, Luna is, was, and always will be MINE! So technically, you stole her from me!”

**********

“You really didn’t have any feelings for Sasuke after a declaration like that?” Cadence pressed her aunt.

“I will admit my attraction may not have been entirely platonic,” Luna admitted. “After all, his open defiance of the strongest dragon was quite moving, especially since it was for me.  But I was well aware of Sasuke’s and my sister’s feelings for each other. I would never betray her trust like that.”

“Oh Luna,” Celestia smiled.

“In that moment however,” Luna couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes.

**********

Blaze’s landing shattered the earth underneath him and he glared at the creature standing between him and his crown jewel.

Luna couldn’t help but notice that Sasuke didn’t falter and his figure stood strong against the Grand Dragon. He even radiated excitement. Luna couldn’t help her sudden growing attraction, she was raised by dragons after all.

“He just takes what he wants and burns the rest,” she whispered in awe.

“What was that,” Sasuke whispered to her.

“I said if we live through this, I’m going to buck you senseless and bear your half-breed foals,” she whispered back.

**********

“Close friends, riiight,” Cadence winked.

Celestia glowered at her sister.

Luna coughed into her hoof and looked away. “Back to the story...”

**********

“YOU DARE STEAL FROM ME?” Blaze roared in rage. “THERE WON'T EVEN BE ASHES LEFT WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!!”

As Blaze prepared to unleash a torrent of his hottest flames, Sasuke spoke up. “I challenge you for all that you own!”

Blaze froze, momentarily caught off guard. “ONLY DRAGONS HAVE THE RIGHT OF CHALLENGE!!” he bellowed. “YOU ARE NO DRAGON!!”

Sasuke smiled and blew out a small flame. “You sure about that?”

“I stand with his challenge,” a voice from the crowd yelled. Luna turned to look and saw her mother, Raze, flying to her. She landed next to Sasuke and leaned down until their eyes were level. “Celestia told me of your plan. I hope you know what you’re doing.” Sasuke nodded. Satisfied, Raze stood up to her full height. “This one is strange, but has no fear. He has stolen the crown jewel from the Grand Dragon and melted the gold with his fire. Is that not what a dragon is? One who takes what is theirs and  Now the Grand Dragon wishes to ignore this challenge? Is Blaze afraid of an uppity wyrmling?”

“I AM WITHOUT FEAR!!,” the Grand Dragon roared. “YOU WANT YOUR CHALLENGE? FINE!” Blaze took out the bloodstone scepter that he had been keeping in his teeth and raised it up. “I, GRAND DRAGON BLAZE, RECOGNIZE THIS CHALLENGE! UNDER THE EYES OF THE GREAT DRAGONS PAST, SHALL WE FIGHT UNTIL ONLY ONE REMAINS!” The bloodstone scepter floated into the air and pushed all of the other dragons away. “NOW NO DRAGON CAN HELP YOU!”

“Yeah but they can’t help you either,” Sasuke replied. He surveyed the area and saw that the scepter had carved the area into a small island and that all the dragons, and Luna, were watching from a distance. “Showtime.” He did several hand seals in quick succession. “Fire Style: Great Flame Annihilation!” He unleashed a massive wall of fire at the Grand Dragon. 

Blaze chuckled and Sasuke felt the vibration in his bones. “What kind of dragon is burned by fire? NOW LET’S SEE WHAT KIND OF DRAGON YOU ARE!” Blaze shot back his own, white hot flame. The flame engulfed the human who stood still and laughed. After the flames died down, the ground around him glowed red, molten from the intense heat. All expecept for where Sasuke was standing. He remained where he had been, unmoved, except to wipe his eyes.

“Sorry,” the human laughed. “Your attack was so weak it bored me to tears.”

“YOU MAY HAVE OUR SKIN, BUT I CAN EASILY CRUSH YOU,” Blaze roared. He swung his claws down on the human, who gracefully dodged them. Blaze’s roars grew louder and his swipes grew more frantic as the human sidestepped every attack.

“Is this it?” Sasuke yawned. “I expected more from a creature with a title like ‘Grand Dragon’. Maybe you should call yourself ‘Big ‘Ol Clumsy Gekko’ instead.”

Blaze’s attacks and roars grew more intense and the ground underneath him shattered more with every missed blow. With his growing rage, his body grew even more massive, and his attacks grew more erratic until the island was fully smashed. He flapped his enormous wings carrying himself into the air and searched for the corpse of his surely dead enemy.

“You know, that was such a nice stage,” the human voice rang in the dragon’s ears. “Such a shame to have lost it.” The dragon searched frantically for the human. “But air battles are cool, too, I suppose.” Focusing his eyes, the dragon found the human, leisurely lying on his own muzzle. The human appeared unconcerned with the dragon, gazing into the sky. “I should probably start fighting back now, right?”

“MY SCALES ARE UNBREAKABLE,” Blaze shouted, letting loose more fire. “I AM INVINCIBLE!”

“Who decided that?”

The human did something strange with its claws and blew out a gust of wind  between Blaze’s eyes. “DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT A MILD BREEZE WOULD DO ANYTHING TO MY SC-” Blaze’s words died in his throat as for the first time since he had become Grand Dragon, he saw his own blood trickle down his nose.

“Your scales can’t be cut? You’re invincible? I can’t do anything to you? And who decided that? I am the one who decides such things,” Sasuke taunted as he floated into the air. Blades of wind rained down upon the dragon who, for the first time in his very long life, needed to dodge his enemy’s attacks. However, most of the wind blades found their target and Blaze’s blood fell like rain into the water beneath them  turning it red.

“YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HURT ME, WYRM, BUT YOUR CUTS ARE SHALLOW!”

“Then shall I deepen them?”

The crackle of electricity filled the air as a rain of chidori enhanced shuriken flew into the dragon’s open wounds. Blaze roared in pain and lost his balance momentarily. Taking advantage of this, Sasuke appeared underneath him in a flash of light and extended a chidori spear through several spots in the dragon’s underbelly and threw kunai into the new wounds. Blaze righted himself and pulled up only to find the human floating above him yet again. 
Thunder shook the skies as the human was backlit by lightning. His glowing red eyes even caused the mighty dragon a moment of hesitation. “I’ll give you a chance, Blaze,” Sasuke yelled over the storm. “Surrender now, and I’ll make your death as quick and painless as I can. Continue to fight, and I will destroy you, your pride, and your legacy!”

**********

“Oh come on,” Cadence moaned. “He had to know that wasn’t going to work. I mean even after all that he only barely injured Blaze.”

“I don’t think he was intending for Blaze to surrender,” Twilight mused.

“Oh,” Luna smirked. “Then what was his intention?”

“It seems like everything Sasuke was doing wasn’t meant to really injure him but set up something else and keep Blaze angry enough to not see it.”

Celestia smiled proudly.

“You have a keen mind for strategy Twilight,” Luna nodded. “You could stand to learn something from her, Cadence.”

Cadence huffed and Twilight blushed.

**********

Sasuke took in several deep breaths with his eyes closed. When he opened them, there was a new pattern. His left eye leaked bloody tears and Blaze’s body caught fire. The dragon fell from the sky, screaming in agony.

**********

“I’m sorry,” Twilight interrupted. “It sounded like you said Blaze, the dragon, was set aflame.”

“Yes that is correct,” Celestia said.

“But dragons can swim in lava with no issue,” Twilight countered.

“And they have a magical immunity to heat,” Cadence added. “How could any fire possibly catch on them, much less hurt them?”

“Amaterasu is the name of the flames that Sasuke commands,” Luna explained. “They are blacker than a starless night and the legend goes that they are flames from hell.”

“The human equivalent of Tartarus, but worse,” Celestia quickly added.

“What we know for certain is that in exchange for burning very slowly, there is no way to extinguish them.”

Cadence and Twilight shared a worried look. “Like at all?” the princess of love asked. “What happens if you try to douse them?”

**********

Blaze thrashed in the lake as the water failed to put the fire out. “WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!?!” he screamed.

“The black flames of the sun goddess Amaterasu,” Sasuke proclaimed triumphantly, his words emphasized by the rumbling of thunder. “You’re strong, I’ll give you that. But I am beyond strength. I am the end. I am your end. Now burn for me.”

Blaze shrieked as the black fire formed into spikes and pierced his scales and flesh burning him from the inside out. “I will not die here! I cannot die here! I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!”  He gathered enough strength to look up at the human, only to see a dragon composed entirely of lightning staring down at him.

“Your compliance is not a factor,” the human said coldly.

As Blaze was engulfed in the light, his last thoughts were not of revenge or anger but satisfaction. “What a terrifying dragon.”

When the battlefield settled, the charred remains of Blaze’s bones and torn flesh floated in the water still covered in black flames. As the blood dripped from Sasuke’s face he couldn’t help but be in awe that anything remained at all. The bloodstone scepter floated into his hands and filled him with it’s magic, marking him as the new ruler of the dragons. Unable to maintain his flight any longer, Sasuke descended rapidly but was caught by Celestia and Luna who gently brought him to the ground.

“Dragons,” he called out. “You witnessed first hand the defeat of your so-called grand dragon. Now begins the reign of Dragon Lord Sasuke!” The dragons roared in response. “We will burn our enemies until not even ash remains! We will roam across the land and take all that we desire! This is the dawn of a new era: my era! Today we revel and feast for tomorrow we bring slaughter down upon all who oppose us!”

Luna and Celestia worriedly looked at each other. “Sasuke are you ok?” Luna whispered.

“Not even a little bit,” he answered quietly. “My vision is fading, I’m out of chakra, and I’m pretty sure every bone in my body is broken. Even if he never actually hit me, the force of his wild swings sure did. Dude hit like a goddamn freight train. But now we have a functioning army that’ll do what I say, even if it is unorganized.”

“They will expect you to let them ravage the land,” Luna said.

“As long as it’s not Equestria they’re ravaging, does it matter? Let me get some rest, then we can talk about the morality of genociding an invading army all you want.”

“Genocide?” Twilight squeaked.

Cadence looked green.“Sasuke really ordered the dragons to destroy the griffon’s army?”

“No, he did not,” Celestia answered, looking at the ground.

“You were able to talk him out of it, thank goodness,” the pink princess was relieved.

Luna turned away. “You misunderstand us, Cadence.” She took a deep breath and looked directly into Cadence’s eyes. “His target for the dragons was not the invasion force. He sent the dragons to burn down every city, town, and village in the Leomhann Empire.”

Twilight and Cadence stared slack jawed at Luna. They couldn’t find the words to respond to the night princess. Every time they tried, their thoughts fell apart and nonsensical sounds came out of their mouths.

“The stench of burning flesh carried for miles,” Celestia sighed. “There were precious few survivors. Only those that had already been in safe places when the attack came had a chance.”

“How could anypony even think of doing something so horrible,” Twilight finally said in a whisper.

“Sasuke is not a pony,” Luna said. “Sasuke comes from a race of apex predators that live for war and violence. His methods are rarely bloodless and his ‘non-violent’ solutions are often far worse than any physical pain.”

Cadence gulped. “What… what do you mean?”

“Do you know why the griffons saw him as a demon?” Luna asked. “How he got the title, Mephisto?”

“No?”

“Mephisto is the name of a demon from his world,” Celestia explained. “A demon that made deals with mortals and collected their souls as payment.”

Twilight and Cadence gasped. Soul magic was a terrifying dark and forbidden magic. Even foals were taught to fear it.

“He made bargains with the survivors,” Luna said. “Offered them immortality and freedom from pain. All they had to do was swear eternal loyalty to him.”

“By sacrificing an innocent soul, he was able to craft an eternal body from the victim for those who took his deal,” Celestia said. “He then ripped the souls from the bargainers and placed them into the new bodies. Faustian bargains, he called them.” She snorted. “As if Faust would ever allow such evil.”

“What happened to the griffons that took the deal,” Twilight asked.

“They rebuilt their homes,” Luna sighed. “And the immortals took positions of power within the new government. After Sasuke’s imprisonment, they worked tirelessly to free him. Celestia and myself hunted many of them down and imprisoned them in Tartarus. But out of the twenty, we only ever found fifteen.”

“So there are immortal griffons working for Sasuke still out there?”

“That we know of,” Celestia sighed. “Faust knows how many more he actually made.”

"I know this isn't really the right mood but I still have to know," Cadence said. "How did you end up married to him Auntie Luna?"

Luna frowned. "Sasuke claimed me and defeated my previous mate."

It was Cadence's turn to frown. "That's it?"

"What did you think it means to be a 'crown jewel'?" Luna said. "I am the crown jewel of Sasuke's hoard. As such I am his mate until he recognizes a new crown jewel. That's how dragons mate. The stronger dragon will claim another as their crown jewel and mate. If the other dragon objects they will fight and the winner's will triumphs. Although few, if any, will challenge a Dragon Lord for a mate. It was quite flattering at the time."

"That.... makes me deeply uncomfortable," Twilight murmured.

"It's kind of..." Cadence stopped and thought about her word choice. "sweet? I guess. Feels kind of wrong."

"Dragons respect only power," Luna explained. "Beating your mate into submission make you highly desirable to them. And it is only for egg laying. Otherwise mates not interact for decades."

"Is that worse?" Twilight whispered to Cadence.

"That might be worse," Cadence whispered back.

As I looked out over the mostly barren, scorching hot rocky formations, I couldn’t help but smile. I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. Coughing up a lung and trying to spit out the sulphur smell didn’t even bring me down.

“It’s good to be back.”