“Is the demon bunny still in the living room?”
Poking his head out, Gallus looked out from his hiding spot, Yona right beside him. They had bags under their eyes, their fur was dirty and wrinkled, and Gallus had far fewer feathers than usual. Checking every nook and cranny of the room and finding it vacant, Gallus sighed in relief. He turned to Yona, who was clutching a tennis racket as a weapon.
“We’re all clear,” Gallus said as he tiptoed into the living room, Yona not too far behind.
He didn’t even know where the others were, but he was willing to bet that they were either in hiding as well… or it was already too late for them. Just last night, they’d heard Sandbar begging for mercy before letting out a fearful cry as an explosion echoed across the house. None of them had gotten any decent sleep, and even getting food was a risk all its own. To make it even worse, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were supposed to have come and helped them, but they’d been called away for an emergency by the map at Twilight’s castle. They were on their own.
Gallus and Yona hid behind the couch, which was covered in honey, mustard, and who knew what else. “Okay, we’ll just get to the front door, open it to check if the coast is clear, and run like the wind,” Gallus whispered. “No looking back.”
“What about friends?” Yona asked.
“It’s every creature for themselves at this point, okay?” Gallus hissed as he looked at the front door. “Okay. In three. Two. On-”
Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Gallus and Yona clung on to each other and screamed “Don’t kill me! I want to live!”
“Well, you two seem to be getting closer.”
Gallus and Yona stopped screaming and looked up to see a familiar face that, thankfully, wasn’t Angel Bunny. It was, in fact, the Spirit of Chaos himself, Discord, sipping from his teacup in amusement. He was sitting on a big pink chair made out of cotton candy, a large tea table with horse legs next to him. He wasn’t even alone. At the opposite end of the table, lying on a chair made of red velvet cushions, was Pinkie’s pet alligator, Gummy, dressed in a mini-tux, a top hat, and a monocle over his right eye.
“Discord!” Gallus shouted as he practically launched himself at the feet of the chaos lord, tears in his eyes. “Thank whatever powers that be that you’re here! We’ve never been so happy to see you!”
“Huh, creatures usually say the opposite whenever I pop in.” Discord giggled as he looked around. “I take it Fluttershy has you all on Angel Babysitting duty?”
“Yona will stomp all bunnies flat when she leaves this den of nightmares,” Yona muttered, her left eye twitching.
“Yes, I keep telling dearest Fluttershy she needs the Royal Guard to watch that rascal, but she doesn’t believe me when I say that thing is a monster from Tartarus,” Discord said before sipping more tea. “Where is she, by the way? We were supposed to have our regular tea session this week, but she hasn’t been answering my calls.”
“She went with Smolder on some journey to light a big torch or something, but forget about that!” Gallus shouted as he gripped onto him even harder. “You have to get us out of here! Teleport us someplace else! Even another realm of existence! Anywhere is better than here!”
“Hmm. I would, but I’m afraid I have a truce with Angel.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a large contract appeared before the two young creatures. On the bottom was Discord’s signature and Angel Bunny’s paw print. “Under our agreement, I am forbidden from interfering with any of Angel Bunny’s tortu- I mean, play sessions with his babysitters. In return, I’m allowed to use the guest quarters whenever I stay over, and he doesn’t do anything to interfere with my sleep.”
“So you’re saying you can’t help us?!” Gallus cried out.
“Oh, I didn’t say that,” Discord tisked as he snapped his fingers and the contract went away in a puff of smoke. “I’ll just find Fluttershy, zip her over here, and get her to calm Angel Bunny down. Sound good?”
“Yes! Great! Do it now! Go go go!” Yona urged.
“Alright, I’ll be back… soon. Whether or not it’s with Fluttershy, I'd prefer to get a tea party in before the day's out, and something tells me I won't get to her until the timing's just right. Toodles.”
And with another snap of his finger, Discord and Gummy disappeared.
“...So now what?” Yona asked, before the two of them heard a surprised yelp from above that sounded like Cozy Glow. That was followed by thumping, a toilet flush, and the angry bat cries that numbered in the dozens.
Without saying a word, the two rushed back into the closet and shut the door.
“Any sign of the First Flame?”
“No, Dragon Lord. Nothing yet.”
Ember sighed. She rubbed the back of her neck, but did her best to look calm. It would do no good for the new Dragon Lord to show any sign of weakness, especially worry for the dragon she’d personally selected to light the Flame.
While there was technically no age requirement for the journey, it was traditionally given to older, stronger dragons. Smolder was the youngest to date, and some dragons were against the whole idea of sending her, but Ember had her reasons. With so many of her subjects still hesitant about befriending the other races, there was no better way for her to prove that the power of friendship would make dragonkind stronger, not weaker.
Of course, she also knew that there was a chance she was sending a young dragon and an Element of Harmony, both of them Spike's friends, to their deaths. If something happened to either, it would ruin relations with Equestria.
They had been provided an extra week than the usual two on account of starting in Ponyville, but even so, only four days remained. Already there were whispers that Smolder and Fluttershy were dead, and if the deadline passed with no sign of the First Flame, Ember would have no choice but to declare the rumors true. Even if they managed to light the flame past their assumed deaths (an event that had, albeit rarely, occurred in the past), the delay would be seen as a sign of bad luck, defeating its whole purpose.
Ember didn't want to believe the whispers, but admitted in a letter to Princess Twilight that she was worried such a horrible fate had indeed befallen them.
Twilight had merely answered:
I have faith in them. They’re alive and I know it. Trust them, Ember. I promise they’ll be okay.
So Ember decided to have just as much faith.
“Dragon Lord Ember!” one of her dragon scouts called out as he landed in front of her.
“What is it?”
“Metallic Dragons were sighted on the edges of our border!” he said, which made Ember’s tail freeze up. “It’s a large group, and there appear to be more miles away. It might be an army.”
“Shoot,” Ember whispered. Were the Metallics planning to invade? A part of her wanted to assemble their own forces as a show of force, but she hesitated. Even the Metallics would not attack during the events of the First Flame. It was as important of a tradition to them as it was for the Chromatics.
Plus, her father often told her that the Metallics were not ones to attack first unless they deemed it absolutely necessary. And while things were tense, there was nothing to indicate relations between the two dragon nations were breaking down. Maybe something else is going on. But just to be sure...
“Tell the clans to be prepared for any attack on our lands, but that nobody is to leave the border of the Ashgem Mountains,” Ember ordered. “Also, send a messenger to tell the Metallics I wish to speak to one of their representatives. We'll meet at Swordrock Point, no more than ten dragons a side. I want to see what this is about and hopefully avoid a war.”
“Yes, My Lord!” The dragon saluted by crossing his arms over his chest and took off.
Ember sighed and shook her head. And I thought all I’d have to worry about today was The First Flame.
Morning came, but it didn’t bring many good tidings for the three who had nearly escaped death at the hands of the demonic shadow beings. While they were happy to have slept uninterrupted, there was still the issue of stopping whatever it was that Valaxis planned to do.
“So how does it look, Professor?” Smolder asked as Fluttershy checked Jaden’s wound one final time.
“A few scars, but it's cleared up quite well. I’ve never heard of a creature healing so fast before,” Fluttershy said in amazement.
“It’s a blessing from Bahumat that all Metallics have,” Jaden said. He got rid of the last of his modified cast and did a few light stretches.
“Do Chromatics have a blessing?” Fluttershy asked.
“No, we think those gifts are too much of a crutch. You don’t want to depend on them to the point of weakness,” Smolder said with a shrug. “Though I admit, faster healing would be a plus.”
“You could always join our religion,” Jaden joked.
“Only if I want to give my old Pops a heart attack,” Smolder joked back with a grin.
“Anyway,” Jaden said, clearing his throat and crossing his arms, “we need to focus on finding Xieru and the others. I still believe they’re alive, and we’ll have a better chance of stopping Valaxis with their help.”
“But where would they be?” Fluttershy asked, doing her best to gather her courage.
“The Sacrifice Pit is the best place I can think of,” Jaden answered with a grim look. “Knowing Valaxis, he won’t be able to resist sacrificing them to Null.”
“You sure?” Smolder asked, tilting her head.
“Yeah.” Jaden nodded with a growl. “This guy’s already sacrificed some of our people. I won’t be surprised if he does it to them too.”
“Then we’d better stop him before that happens,” Smolder said, flaring her wings out. “But we can’t rush in without a plan. Plus, we don’t know where this Sacrifice Pit is.”
Suddenly, the three were nearly blown from their feet as a bright purple light exploded outside of their cave. The three of them rushed outside and looked up with wide eyes as a giant purple spiral of dark energy erupted in the distance. The sinister cries of the damned could be heard in the wind.
Jaden raised his finger. “I’m going to hazard a guess and say it's over there.”
The spiral could even be seen from the Dragon Lands. Ember stared at the distant glowing spiral and got a bad feeling in her chest. Despite not being a master of magic, even she could tell that it didn’t look good. The spiral was deep in Cyclops territory, and the Cyclops themselves were barbarians who worshiped the dark god Argos, but not even they could do something like this.
Weren’t Smolder and Fluttershy going through Cyclops territory? Ember thought with a horrible realization. What if they’re near that?!
Ember wanted to order her dragons to investigate, but she had to remind herself of the rules. She couldn’t get involved in the Journey to the First Flame, or else it would be worth nothing.
Gritting her teeth, Ember instead made her way to Swordrock Point for the meeting with the Metallic Dragons, who had agreed to her summons. All the while, she prayed that the two were okay.
If you two get killed, Ember thought, I swear I’ll drag you both back from the afterlife to yell at you!
The Sacrifice Pit’s name didn’t do it justice. It was a giant colosseum, all of it encircled by large benches so its former cyclops occupants could watch the events within. To them, the dark sacrifices were not just a means of religious worship, but a manner of entertainment.
Nightwalkers were chanting in unholy dark tongues to a purple-flamed tower of dark energy emitting from the large pit. It was large enough to swallow a fully grown dragon; in the ritual’s center, the three dragons intended to be sacrificed were still struggling to get out of their chains.
“Can either of you break free?” Xieru asked his comrades, who had awakened not long after the Nightwalkers began the ritual.
“It’s no good,” Sykir muttered with a defeated groan. “I’m not strong enough.”
Oasis shook his head as well.
“Damnit,” Xieru growled. Seeing the Nightwalkers still worshiping the pit's dark energy, he closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry. I have failed you as a leader. I brought you two to your deaths, and now we are to be Null’s playthings in the afterlife.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Xieru,” Skyir whispered, smiling at him. “We all volunteered for this. We knew there was a chance we’d end up dead.”
Oasis nodded and smiled too. The three of them wrapped their tails together in unison and, silently, began praying to Bahamut.
But just as he was finishing what he thought might be his final prayers, Xieru spotted something at the top edge of the pit’s structure. His eyes widened. “...Actually, we might have a chance.”
“Huh?” Skyir asked, opening her eyes.
“Just be ready to fight.”
The two dragons and pegasus reached the Sacrifice Pit without a moment to spare. They flew to the top of the stadium, hiding behind one of the statues dedicated to the dark god of the Cyclops race. From there, the three could see everything: the Nightwalkers, the Pit... and the three dragons they'd been looking for.
“Thank Bahamut, they're still alive," Jaden said, seeing Xieru, Skyir, and Oasis below. "Told you they'd be."
"They won't be alive for much longer if we don't do something. And those are a lot of Nightwalkers,” Smolder muttered with a growl. “Way too many for us to take out. And no offense to you, Professor Fluttershy, but you aren’t really a fighter.”
“None taken,” Fluttershy answered, shivering at the sight before her. She’d spent her entire life knowing the aura of creatures, even dangerous ones, and she had rarely felt such a palpable sense of malice from any of them. Fluttershy wondered if it was in the Nightwalkers’ nature, or if it had come from their realm, or even their summoner himself. She liked to think that no creature was completely evil, but it was clear they would only react with violence.
The swirl of dark magic was just as worrying. Fluttershy hated to find out what would happen if she were to even touch it. No doubt it would be a grim fate, one she wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially the captive dragons down below.
“If we can free Xieru, Skyir, and Oasis, then we stand a better chance.” Jaden turned to Fluttershy. “Can you free them?”
“Me?!” Fluttershy asked with a squeak.
“You’re the quietest of us. Plus, Smolder and I can keep them distracted while you sneak in,” Jaden replied. “It’s our best shot at this point.”
Fluttershy wanted to argue, but stopped herself. As much as she was afraid, she couldn’t leave the others to be sacrificed. Reluctantly, she nodded in agreement.
“Alright, ready to burn these suckers back to the shadows?” Jaden asked with a cocky grin.
“Thought you’d never ask,” Smolder shouted. She and Jaden flapped their wings and took to the skies before diving down as fast as possible.
The Nightwalkers were too distracted to see or hear the two dragons until they swooped down and unleashed their flames. Upon hearing their fellow shadow demons cry out before burning into dark dust, the Nightwalkers hissed at the two dragons flying above them.
Grinning, Smolder turned around and shook her rear at them. “Come try to kill us, you overgrown shadow farts!”
The Nightwalkers responded by firing sharp, pointed bolts of darkness at them, forcing Jaden and Smolder to fly in opposite directions. They took turns skillfully flying around and avoiding the projectiles, all while spewing out flames to counterattack.
Fluttershy waited a few more seconds. When she was sure the Nightwalkers were all distracted, she glided towards the three captive dragons as quietly as possible. Recognizing that silence was key, the three of them said nothing as Fluttershy approached (an especially easy feat for the mute Oasis).
However, she soon saw a problem. The dark red chains that were keeping the three from moving were obviously magical in nature, and Fluttershy had no skill in disabling them. Biting her lip, she quickly asked, “What do I do to get rid of these?”
“I don’t know,” Xieru said with a growl. “Valaxis made them. Unless you can use some kind of magic to destroy them-”
“Look out!” Skyir shouted, before quickly breathing fire. The cone of flame dispelled several shadow projectiles that had been heading right for Fluttershy’s head. The shy pegasus couldn’t help but let out both a gasp and a scream as she saw four Nightwalkers grinning at her from only a few feet away.
Fluttershy looked up, hoping that Smolder and Jaden could come to her rescue. They saw that she was in danger, but were held back by the growing crowd of Nightwalkers. Gulping, Fluttershy tried to think of something to do, anything. She didn’t have the magic or power to break the chains, nor could she fight off all the Nightwalkers. If only one of her other friends was here. Someone powerful enough to-
With a pop, Discord and Gummy appeared, floating in the air with their weird tea set. Needless to say, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the odd scene that had spontaneously appeared.
Discord, who hadn’t noticed the staring, kept talking to Gummy. “-and then I said, ‘Oatmeal? You’re crazy! I would have preferred to use peanut butter with...jam...um...’”
Discord looked around, noticing the situation he was in, before focusing on Fluttershy. “Dearest Fluttershy, next time I come find you, can you please not be in a stadium full of Nightwalkers and dragons? I’d at least want to tidy up for these events.”
“...She really is friends with the Spirit of Chaos,” Skyir whispered in awe.
“Discord! We need your help!” Fluttershy shouted. “Save us from the Nightwalkers! There’s no time!”
Sighing, Discord turned to Gummy and sadly smiled. “Sorry, but it seems I have to help out a friend. Same time next week?”
Gummy only blinked twice in response.
“Excellent! See you then.” Discord said as he snapped his fingers, making Gummy and everything he’d brought disappear.
The four Nightwalkers that had tried to attack Fluttershy finally snapped out of their confusion and launched themselves at the Spirit of Chaos. Discord just yawned and snapped his fingers, catching the four of them in a giant, floating net before throwing them to the side. Seeing the new danger, other Nightwalkers started throwing their magical dark shards at Discord, who twisted his body into a giant tennis racket and batted them back at them. The Nightwalkers mostly ducked, but a few were hit by their own attacks and disappeared into the shadows upon impact.
“Woah,” Jaden said up above in awe.
“Yeah, you should see him when he’s really trying,” Smolder said with a grin. “Come on, let’s help him out!”
Smolder rushed over to one of the stone railings and broke off a piece long enough to be used as a weapon. She then dove towards an unsuspecting Nightwalker and knocked it off the ledge with a blow to the back of its head. Its face planted hard enough onto the ground that there was a crack before it poofed out of existence. Smolder grinned and charged at another one. “Fore!”
She smacked one after another, taking out any stragglers who weren’t focused on the Spirit of Chaos. Jaden soon joined in and shoulder checked one in the face, knocking it off the level to its doom below. He unleashed a series of fireballs that smoked entire groups of them into burning ashes as he and Smolder stood back to back. They took on whatever came towards them with perfect teamwork, occasionally switching sides to relieve the other.
Meanwhile, turning back to himself, Discord snapped his fingers, suddenly wearing a maid outfit. “Now, look at these pesky rodents in my house. I better get Mr. Hoover to deal with them.”
He snapped his fingers again, and this time, a giant vacuum clear appeared in the air and turned on, sucking in the air around it. The Nightwalkers screamed in dark fury as they were swallowed up by the giant machine. Many tried to run or fight back, but it was all futile, as they were gathered up like dust bunnies on a carpet. Even the ones that Smolder and Jaden were fighting got sucked up; much to their disappointment, as the brawl was getting fun. The other Metallic dragons were stunned to see that the creatures that had been giving them so much trouble were being easily thwarted - and by a giant vacuum cleaner, no less! Just as soon as he did this, the giant spiral of dark magic ceased to function, and all was quiet once again.
Discord made sure to get every last one of the dark creatures before he snapped his fingers again. The giant bag holding them all was placed on a large slingshot whose rubber band started to rear back. Discord changed into a classic naval admiral outfit and held out a sword before striking it down, screaming “Fire!” before the slingshot was sent loose. The giant bag went sailing into the air, right into the direction of the sun. It twinkled in the sky before disappearing completely.
“Where’d they go?” Smolder asked, flying next to Discord.
“Oh, I figured being from a world of darkness was terrible for their skin, so I decided to help by showing them the best place for a tan,” Discord said as put on some sun shades and started drinking from a coconut cup with a little plastic umbrella inside. “The sun.”
Squealing with joy, Fluttershy rushed up to her friend and hugged him by wrapping her arms around his face. “Oh, Discord! Thank you so much! You saved us!”
“Well, I was getting a little bored at that tea party. Gummy might be quite the talker, but he doesn’t have many interesting stories,” Discord said with a grin before he snapped his fingers again, freeing the trapped dragons from their chain. He then folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Now what are you doing here in what I can presume is Cyclops territory, all while surrounded by Nightwalkers, Metallic dragons, and a giant shadow gate to the netherrealm? Your students informed me that you were on some kind of heroic journey with Smolder; I assume it’s gotten out of hand?”
“Believe me, you don’t know the half of it,” Smolder said as she and Jaden landed next to everyone else.
“I can’t believe that we’re right in front of the Spirit of Chaos,” Jaden whispered in awe. “And he’s actually friends with a pony.”
“I can’t believe he just saved all our lives,” Skyir said with a grin. “Now I really want to try those cucumber sandwiches Fluttershy says he makes.”
“You can focus on eating later,” Xieru said with a growl, fear in his eyes. “We need to get to the First Flame now, before Valaxis gets to it first.”
“Valaxis is going to the First Flame? Why?” Jaden asked in surprise.
“Because he’s going to use it as a sacrifice to summon a being of pure destruction not even he can control. If he does so, not only will the Chromatic Dragon Lands burn, but ours and Bahamut knows how many others as well,” Xieru said, before turning to Discord. “Even you would have a challenge against such a beast, Spirit of Chaos.”
“But what is he planning on summoning?” Fluttershy asked.
Xieru closed his eyes and was silent for a bit before he opened them again. “He plans on summoning a Typhon.”
Everyone gasped in horror. Even Discord.
“A...A...A Typhon?!” Skyir shouted in horror. “But that’s-”
“Yes,” Xieru murmured, “the very same creature that wiped out nearly half the entire world’s population thousands of years ago. The one that wiped out eons of civilization. If we don’t stop it, millions of lives are going to be exterminated!”