Skystrike was nearly three hours into his stake out. His first few hours were spent stealthily checking the past locations where the mares went missing. Well... the only one he could investigate safely: Quarry and Ruby's picnic. The village residents said they haven't gone in the forest since they've disappeared, so their items should still be there. When he actually arrived with daylight still shining, he found what remained of the picnic.
Flies swarmed around the rotting food, and the smell was repulsing. Of course, that was the least he had to worry about. Whatever took the mares obviously weren't trying to be sneaky. Claw marks were on the ground, along with hoof prints and skid marks in the mud. From the patterns of the marks, he got an idea of what happened.
The claw marks came from the direction of the cave, but started a few yards away from the picnic. Hoof steps also lead away from the picnic area, but only made it a few feet in either direction before two sets of claw marks followed each one of the hoof marks, before abruptly ending along with the hoof marks. Meaning that whatever took Quarry and Ruby came from the mine, one landed, then chased the mares, only for the two of them to get grabbed and carried off by whatever got them.
'Yeah, definitely dragons..." Skystrike thought to himself. He'd need to play this safe. Dragons vary widely in size. These dragons could be young, or fully grown but small dragons. What he was more worried about is what the dragons were doing to the mares. The longest one's been in there is ten days, max. They have to be getting them food somehow. He's only certain they're alive, because they have to have a reason to bring them back to the mine alive. No blood at all.
Now, Skystrike was camping out said cave. Night has fallen by now, meaning the dragons have either woken up, or going home to sleep. He knows there's at least two. He climbed further up the tree he was in, making as little noise as he could. The Pegasus scratched his neck a bit. Three hours in, and still nothing. No blurs flying by, no roars from local beasts, just an unnaturally quiet forest.
Another hour past. It was about 10 p.m. Skystrike was still on the tree, waiting for something to go in or come out of the cave with no luck. He was about to go into the cave, but heard foot steps coming, along with hardy laughter. "Echo, zoom in on the cave entrance for me." Skystrike said, repositioning himself to stand on a branch. Echo zoomed in, and they waited for the origin of the voices to show themselves.
Two dragons came out. Males. One had red scales and ivory horns curling to the sides of its head, its wings extending from its front claws and walking on all fours, said wings having a peach membrane. It's long neck stretched as it looked around the entrance on the mine. The large underbite it had was noted by Skystrike. The other was a green dragon with an orange underbelly and wing membrane. Shorter than the other dragon, but the wings were on it's back, and it stood upright. It was much more muscular than the red one, but had smaller wings. Was probably a slower flyer. Another thing that stood out on the green one was its large, demon like horns coming out of it's forehead. Most likely meant for ramming. Both were dangerous in their own right, but if approached right, would fall easily.
Skystrike listened in as they spoke to each other. Their names didn't matter... He'd refer to them as Green and Red... for now at least. "Euuugh..." Red groaned. "Now of all times for our turn to watch... of course we're the first ones."
"I get what you mean..." Green sighed a bit. "But look on the bright side, we'll get a new one tomorrow, and we're the ones getting her! Finally, I can be out of that cave for at least a bit!"
"Yeah, that is true..." Red thought as he perched on a nearby rock. "Honestly, I'm still surprised we got that pony to tell us where the mares were in the first place." Red laughed. "On top of that, he's so piss scared he'll send one to us!"
Green looked over to Red. "Ah, that reminds me, we need to take it from Vastilok's stash to pay him."
Skystrike frowned at what the two dragons were implying, but he thought as much from the little info he got. So far, he was spot on. He noted that these two dragons would be the same ones coming out tomorrow. He'd have a short amount of time to get the information he needed out of them, but it'd be enough.
Red continued to talk. "Can't believe our luck, leaving the dragon lands, finding a cave full of gems, and being able to have some fun! Hasn't even been two weeks yet!"
Green laughed. "Speak for yourself, I'm not into what you guys are doing... but we should be careful..."
"Why?" Red turned to look at Green. "What do we have to worry about?"
"Well... we are on the run from her..." He shivered a bit. "And I'm really hoping that blizzard was the ponies..."
So, he wasn't the only hunter. They were being hunted by one of their own. Hopefully, he could make a temporary ally if their paths align. Thanks to the dragons being talkative henchmen, he had more than enough information to go back to the village. He was about to do so, but them saying something about 'her' rang in his mind like a bell. He had hopes, but he doubted it was who he thought it was. But if this 'her' dragon was the source of the blizzard, then Skystrike would more than likely find her in the village. He waited a bit more for the dragons to lose focus before flying off between the trees. He went south, further south from where the village was, flying over it. Skystrike passed the blizzard on his way to, and he could still see it in the distance.
After about an hour flight, he landed inside the blizzard, shaking the snow building on his body off from time to time as he walked through. It was freezing, almost enough to make him want to use his powers to heat himself up. Despite the chill, he still kept walking. He tried not to let his mind wander, but he was failing. He does this every time. Every mission, he thinks back to his past, and wanting to right the wrongs that he's made. A guilty conscience. His friends back in Ponyville made him realize that he hurt a lot more than the few in the orphanage.
God, how many ponies... no, not just ponies... beings in general has he hurt unintentionally? The changelings, the orphanage, the ponies, his mercenary group 'All', all so he could 'protect them.' Not realizing he was the one hurting them most. A physical wound would heal much faster than an emotional one. He'd make a point to apologize to them. All of them. Every last one.
He'd make sure to apologize to Astral and everypony else once he made it back to the capital. Then once he went back to Ponyville, apologize to his friends. Given the chance, he'd want to apologize to the changelings, but that would be hard to do. And even though his relationship with Celestia is... odd to say the least, she deserved one too. In their short time together, they did grow a bond with each other. He'll apologize once he gets back... if he made it back. He still needs to find out where the signal is coming from.
But he'd worry about that once the mares are safe. Plus, he had a reason to go back. It would be his birthday soon. more specifically, the anniversary of the day he arrived on Eques. He wanted to celebrate it with friends again. Jeez... this was a bad habit of his, getting all emotional on a mission, rather than focusing. He knew that deep down, it was fear. Fear of what he'd lose, like he lost it all before. He shook the thought out of his mind. He won't lose anymore.
His thoughts were cut short when he heard a roar... well, more like a howl from the center of the storm. Skystrike understood it as a warning of sorts, but also understood that whatever roared was probably the source of the storm. Plus, even though he hadn't heard that roar in years, it was still familiar. It was defiantly her. Now... how mad would she be, given how the group split up?
He didn't have to wait for an answer. After taking a few steps forward, Skystrike was blinded by the blizzard growing harsher. Then in mere moments, the blizzard ended. He was in the eye of the storm, and within it, stood a dragon. Her silvery-white scales and light ice blue underbelly glistened in the sun as she turned to look at the stallion. She had a long line of thick ice blue hair, starting between her horns and ending at the tip of her tail.
The dragoness stared at the pony with her emerald green eyes, spreading and flapping her large wings, waving cold air in his direction. She stood on two legs, crossing her arms as Skystrike looked at her. The armor she wore was worn down from the continuous use and little maintenance. The steel covered her chest and extremities, almost barbarian like, with many scratches and dents from the many battles she's fought. The dragoness slapped her tail on the ground impatiently. "Hey Tethys..." Skystrike greeted awkwardly.
"Took you a while... gone for almost three years, and you finally come looking for me..." She sighed. Her voice was normally pleasing and soothing, but her tone conveyed disappointment and annoyance. "So... must mean you need something, right? Must be if you wanted to come to me directly. Well, the answer is no, I'm in the middle of something."
"Um... no actually... I just... wanted to see you..." Skystrike said hesitantly. "I was in the area, and I was hoping it was you..."
Tethys looked down at him. "Oh... well I'm sorry for assuming... Are you ok? You're talking... acting weird." She leaned over to get a closer look at him. "Normally, you don't act like this... Not... confident."
"No, no, nothing like that..." Skystrike took off his helmet to look at the dragoness. He took in another deep breath before continuing. "I've... been doing a lot of thinking. Even though it was by chance we were in the same area at the same time today, I want to talk with you... if you have time I mean..."
"...Well, not like you could've found me anyway, I move around way too much. Sure, I got time." She nodded. Tethys inhaled, then breathed a breath of ice, making a bench of ice for them to sit on. "Come on." She patted the spot next to where she was sitting. Skystrike did so and sat down. "So... what did you want to say?"
"I'll... be completely honest and just say the words as they come to mind. And I hope you know my intent isn't to guilt you." He looked at her, Tethys nodded in response as she leaned back. "I... took a mission to come up here to save some ponies, as well as to confront a part of my past... I've been doing... a lot of thinking and I... right before I left to come, all my friends got worried. Thinking I'd disappear from their lives again. I... I didn't realize how much I hurt them, and by extension how much I hurt you, and the rest of 'All'. You, Zecora, Casta, Maud, Elytra, Jeshan, Sky beak, Alder, and Celeano... in my attempt to try and protect you all, I put even more pain on your backs by leaving. I... I can never live down that mistake, but... I at least want apologize. You all deserve it..." Skystrike spoke through the regret he was feeling. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know from the deepest pit in my heart, that I'm sorry."
Tethys was taken aback by that to say the least. He wasn't normally one for words from her memory. Anyway, she could tell that something was off with his actions. "Skystrike..." Tethys started. Skystrike looked up to her. "There's something you aren't telling me."
Skystrike sighed again. "There's... there's still a few things I have to hide, but I'll tell you as much as I can." Skystrike sat up from the ice bench. "There's more to this mission than some missing ponies... Something's up here relating to my past, before I faked my death, before I lived in pony society. I... have to confront some not so pleasant memories to say the least." He turned back to look at Tethys. "I'm not confident that I'll make it out alive. Like, I already wrote my will just in case. I wrote letters to you and many friends explaining questions they'd probably have. I guess that this is self serving, but... I'm glad I was able to see you in the flesh again before I confront them."
"Oh... shit..." She ran a hand down her neck. "You're serious..."
"...I'm sorry..."
She sat in silence for a few seconds. Tethys sighed. "I won't lie, I wont say I forgive you, nor do I understand your reasoning for leaving, but you're still someone I would consider... a friend..." She shuddered a bit at the last word. "But I'll make you a deal. I have something to do up here, and I don't want you to die. If you help me out, I'll help you out. On the condition that when you make it out alive, you're going to find as many beings you hurt as you can, and apologize to them like you did me. I also want to talk about this more once all this is over."
Skystrike smiled and nodded. "You have my word." He looked at her expectantly.
Tethys stared back. "What, were you expecting a hug or something?"
Skystrike chuckled. "Eh, now that you mentioned it, I kinda want one."
Tethys sighed and turned her head as she put out her arms. Skystrike got on his hind legs and hugged the dragoness, who reluctantly returned it. They stayed in contact for a few moments before Skystrike let go. "Feel better now?" Tethys asked.
"I do actually..." He gave a small smile. "So, what're you up here for?"
"Long or short version?" Tethys asked with a small sigh.
"Long, but lets walk while you talk." Skystrike gestured his head in the direction of the village. "I have a wagon and food back at the village. I can at least give you something to eat."
She nodded in thanks as she started explaining. "About a month ago, seven juvenile and one adult dragon were banished from the dragon lands for their... aggression towards the other races. It wasn't a big deal when it was a single dragon here or there, but when a group of dragons pillage some ponies or griffons, then we get some problems. Some random griffon called out to me during a flight over Griffonstone, told me they were attacked by the same dragons. I had to report them to the dragon lord, who then banished them. Then, I hear from another dragon, not one of the ones I'm hunting, that the banished are terrorizing ponies up here. I'm here to make sure they don't cause any more problems, no matter the cost."
"Well, that's convenient. I'm up here because some ponies went missing, and I'm trying to find out who kidnapped them. I've identified two dragons so far, one green, one red. I think they know you're after them though. Kept referring to a 'her'." Skystrike explained. "But if there's eight total, this'll be harder than expected... I need to think up another plan."
"If they're up here attacking ponies, then they've learned nothing..." Tethys seethed. "Damn it..."
"Well, look on the bright side, we get to see each other." Skystrike chuckled.
"Shut the fuck up." Tethys gave a playful slap on his back.
Skystrike laughed. "...It's good to see you again." Skystrike put back on his helmet. "Now... once we get there, I got to explain to the villagers to not attack you. So stay behind me when we approach. And about those dragons, don't get too bloodthirsty yet, I got a plan." Tethys nodded.
Bismuth, spear in his hoof, was currently patrolling the village. He told the others in his group that with Nebula trying tirelessly to get their sisters back, the least they could do was watch the village, giving the residents at least some sense of safety. He also felt... uneasy around that weapon that Nebula made. He checked the target designator that Skystrike gave him, being careful not to pull the trigger. It was kind of scary for him to have this. Well... not this, specifically, but what it would mean to use it. Bismuth would have to take the life of another if push came to shove. He tried to bury the thought.
Spelunk was walking beside him. She already got the memo of what was going on from Bismuth about the weapon, and they all heard from Silverspeed parts of what Nebula thinks is going on. Even if it was just a theory, if he's right... they hoped he wasn't. The thought made her blood boil. But she didn't want to make any accusations yet. Spelunk and Bismuth made some small talk between each other, trying to not let their dark thoughts get to them.
"You think he's ok? Nebula I mean." Spelunk asked. "It's almost midnight now, and the forest hasn't even made a sound."
Bismuth nodded. "He has to be. Nebula is one of the strongest ponies out there. Plus, the silence is a good thing. Means that nothing dangerous happened."
Spelunk sighed. "I hope you're right... I just can't believe all this... There may be dragons, they took our sisters, and-"
"Don't finish that sentence... don't know who's listening." Bismuth shushed her. "Lets change the subject... back when I lived in Canterlot as a gemstone appraiser intern a couple years ago, I remember this rumor that after the Church of the Two sisters burnt down, there was one pony that didn't make it out."
"It was... Sky something? I forget the colt's name, but it was sad. Went in to save others, but couldn't make it out. All on the night of the Gala. What about it?" Spelunk asked. "There was also something else about him that made him so well known..."
"Well, that something was probably that he had no magic, among other things. Kid was always being asked to do some experiment on his body. Anyway, back to the rumor, they say they never found his body. They sorted through all the rubble, but found nothing. No burnt remains, clothes, anything." Bismuth explained.
"Oh, wasn't he also the same kid that was adopted by the princess?" Spelunk had a jog in her memory. Bismuth nodded. "Yeah, that colt must've had it good. But why bring him up?"
"Well... his full name was Skystrike Nebula. The guy who came to help us is Atlas Nebula. Not too far off from the same name. Both these guys have blue manes and tails. And this Nebula guy only got his name out there about a year, give or take, after Skystrike died." Bismuth listed.
"...Is this just a big conspiracy you thought of? You really think that Skystrike faked his death and became a bounty hunter?" She looked at bismuth with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean... maybe... It would plug in some holes... but again, just a rumor that's been going around. It'd also explain why we never see his face." He shrugged.
"I mean... that is a valid point, but it's a very large stretch. Like, that just opens up more questions. Like, why fake his death? Why hide this long... and how has he hid this long?" Spelunk did some speculating of her own.
"If he is[ Skystrike, he probably has his reasons. I'm just saying, it'd be kinda neat if I was right." Bismuth shrugged.
Spelunk chuckled. "Tell you what, if you're right, I'll... I don't know what I'll do. Uh... I'll get back to you on that."
Bismuth laughed at that. "Alright... it's a bet!" He looked up before squinting off into the distance. "Hey, you see that over there?" He pointed south towards the outskirts of the village. Spelunk looked in the same direction, seeing what Bismuth was seeing. A large black figure with glowing blue eyes slowly approached. They could tell it was Nebula. What they weren't sure of was the figure behind him. A whitish body, taller than Nebula, was flying slowly behind him. They could tell from the shape of the wings it was "A dragon..." Bismuth whispered.
"Did he... tell you about that?" Spelunk asked, taking a few steps back.
Spelunk had his hoof on the trigger of the target designator. "No... Go stay behind buildings until I can say it's safe." Spelunk nodded, then ran off to do as told. Minutes passed as Nebula and the dragon grew closer, getting more and more unnerved with each passing second. Finally, they were in the village, standing in front of him.
"Back earlier than I figured I'd be. Anything happen while I was gone?" Skystrike asked the earth pony. Tethys landed next to Skystrike, putting a hand on his back and leaning on him.
Only now did Bismuth realize how tall Nebula was next to him. Nearly three times his size. A beast of a pony. But he paled in comparison to the dragon next to him. Bismuth only came up to her thigh. "uh... No, most of the ponies went to their homes when you left. Who.... who is this?" He motioned to Tethys.
She introduced herself. "Greetings, pony. I'm Tethys. A... friend of Nebula." She put out a hand to shake.
Bismuth hesitantly put out a hoof to shake. Tethys grabbed his hoof and did so. "Uh... hey... Sorry, the situation here in the village is a bit tense. It's not every day a pony sees a dragon."
"I understand. I am sorry for what my kin has done to yours." Tethys kneeled down and put a claw on her chest. "I promise that the threat will be extinguished.
Bismuth was confused at what Tethys' words implied. "Wait... so we are dealing with... you know..."
Skystrike nodded. "I'll explain, but not here. Once morning comes, we'll gather. We have a lot of stuff to go over. I'll make sure Astral comes." Skystrike let out a yawn. "I've been up going on nineteen hours. I want to get at least a few hours in before things get serious." Bismuth nodded, before quickly trotting away to resume his patrol.
Skystrike looked up at Tethys. "I don't have much, but I can at least offer a place to sleep and some food."
Tethys shrugged. "It beats a cave. Haven't had a good meal in a while. Can't find that many good gems out in the open, and I can't cook for shit." She sat down next to his wagon. "Well, I won't ask you to cook. Lets head to bed. Make me something in the morning."
Skystrike chuckled at that. "Alright then." He climbed inside his wagon and grabbed a few blankets. One for each of them. Climbing back out the wagon while balancing the blankets on his back, he handed one to Tethys, who wrapped it around herself. Skystrike began wrapping his own blanked around himself, stopping when Tethys pulled him into her own blanket, wrapping her body around him.
"I missed you, Skystrike." Tethys hugged him.
Skystrike hugged her back. "Same here."
Morning came quickly. Skystrike didn't like it, going off of six hours of sleep, but it would have to do. tried to move his forehooves, only to realize that the grip Tethys had on him was similar to Naga's: Deadly. Skystrike tried to worm his way out of her grip, barely able to make it out. He looked back to Tethys, still curled up in a ball, her tail slapping against the ground.
He assumed Astral was staying within the Chief's home, or another residents. Something he'd have to figure out. Opal would probably know. He would do his normal morning work out, made a quick breakfast for himself and Tethys, then would carefully wake up Tethys to eat. It was a simple meal of muffins and fruits, but it was filling for them. Skystrike asked Tethys to stay at his wagon for now while he went to find Opal.
After walking around for a bit, he did indeed find Opal. They exchanged greetings before getting down to business. Astral was staying in a spare room at Magelight's house. They both frowned a bit when that name came up. After a short talk they split up, Opal going to gather the rest of her group, and Skystrike to get Astral Night. Skystrike opened the door to the village head's home, entering the large room he saw the residents huddled in the day before. He rolled his neck and looked around, Magelight and Astral had to be in here somewhere. It was too early for them to be gone.
Skystrike decided to take a walk through the building. First, he'd find Magelight's office, as that would most likely be where he is at this time in the morning. Most likely on the second floor. He flew up, hopping over railing on the indoor balcony and landing on the walkway, making his way down the hall to his left. He came from the right hall yesterday when he snuck in, and didn't see any doors that stood out. this time though, he saw a set of double doors at the end of the left hallway. He decided to be polite, and knock on the door. "Come in." He heard Magelight say after some shuffling of documents and the closing of a drawer. Skystrike opened the door to see him sitting at his desk. "Oh... it's you. What do you want?"
He looked at the unicorn, then around the room, then back to the unicorn. "Where is Astral Night?"
He leaned forward. "And why should I tell you?"
"You really gonna be hard about this?" Skystrike asked with a sigh.
"Telling you could interfere with her work. I will not let that happen." Magelight furrowed his brow.
"We both know that isn't true, so cut the bullshit. Just tell me what room she's in." Skystrike put a hoof on his desk. "One would think you'd be more worried about your ponies going missing, rather than worrying about who talks to who..."
Magelight stood up from his seat. "Of course I worry for my ponies! I worry enough where I wont let you of all ponies get in her way!"
"Get in her way, or your way?" Skystrike leaned on the table.
Magelight flinched, then continued. "I will make sure the Royal guard knows what you're doing here." He threatened.
"Oh really? Cool! I can make sure you never get the chance to notify them." He threatened him back. "Now, will you tell me where Astral Night is, or will I have to force it out of you?" He threw his cape over his neck and put a hoof on the hilt of his sword. "Please... give me a reason."
Magelight became visibly nervous. "...Third room on the left from the stairs." He said with a grown
"See, that wasn't hard? Damn, all this work just to get breakfast together." Skystrike said as he turned his back to Magelight and walked out the room. He knew there was more to Magelight. Just proving his theory more and more as they interacted. He didn't want Skystrike meeting Astral, and probably doesn't want him to take her anywhere. It was suspicious. Skystrike decided to put him in the back of his mind for now as he went to finally get Astral.
Skystrike went to the door and knocked. "Just a moment!" He heard Astral say from inside her room, along with some stumbling and hooves on the floor. After a minute or so, the door opened, and she greeted him. "Good morning, Nebula." She put a hoof over her mouth to cover a yawn. "Sorry for the wait, I'm a... bit of a messy sleeper."
Skystrike waved a hoof. "No problem, I get it." He chuckled before getting serious and whispering. "I can't explain in here, get your armor and weapons. We need to go. We're about to get a lot of info on the missing mares."
Astral jumped a bit. "Great!" She said all too loudly. Skystrike motioned a hoof to signal her to lower her voice. She did so. "We should tell Magelight." She clapped her hooves.
He tried to ignore the cuteness. He succeeded. "We cannot. Again, I can't explain here. Get everything together. I'll wait out here." Astral nodded, then closed the door to get dressed. As she did so, Skystrike sat in silence, ignoring Magelight trying to peak out his office door. He wouldn't put it past him to be using magic to hear what they were saying. Skystrike would have to make sure he was distracted when he went to save the mares. A few minutes passed and Astral came out with her armor and weapons. "Dressing light, I see. Smart." Skystrike got up and the two ponies walked out of the house.
Skystrike led her to the house Opal led him to the day before and opened the door. Opal, Spelunk, Bismuth, Silverspeed, Stormfeather, Emerald Green, and Tethys were all inside, waiting for the two. Everypony, save for Skystrike was visibly uncomfortable from the presence of a dragon in the room. Tethys herself was uncomfortable, but more from having to slouch and tuck her legs and tail into herself to not invade the personal space of others.
Astral pointed out the elephant in the room. "Uh... why is there a dragon in here?" She put a hoof over her mouth, realizing how that could've came off.
"It's about time I introduce her. Everypony, this is Tethys, a friend of mine and a member of 'All', my mercenary group. We met by chance yesterday, and she's agreed to help me and Astral with getting your sisters back. Since she's assisting, she needs to be here for the meeting. We have a lot to go over." Skystrike sat down. Astral took a seat next him. "Astral, I know you didn't have time to prepare or anything, but I need you to tell us what Magelight spoke to you about, as well as what he wants you to do."
Astral blinked. "Oh, uh, alright." She paused for a moment to gather her words before answering. "After he sent you away yesterday, Nebula, he bought me inside and up to his office."
Magelight closed the office door behind him and Astral. The stallion motioned for the mare to have a seat, and she did so. Magelight spoke first. "Well, I hope your travel here went alright." He sighed before continuing. "I'd rather cut straight to the point, but first, I need to know, what is your relation with that Pegasus, Nebula?"
Astral remembered the conversation that she and Nebula had, as well as his parting words: Play it safe. "I... met him before we left Vanhoover. We travelled up here together, and he said he had his own thing going on up here."
Magelight gave a sigh of relief. "Alright, good." Astral found that choice of word suspicious. "Onto business, there have been ponies going missing, and I need your help finding why... That's what I wrote on the notice. There's... much more to it than that." Magelight opened up a drawer and grabbed a small metal canteen. He took a swig and continued talking. "At first, we thought somepony just got lost in the mines, but when we sent out a rescue party... another one went missing. This time, somepony saw something... take her. After that, whatever's been taking my ponies have grown more ballsy... getting closer and closer to the village."
"Dear Celestia... I'm sorry..." Astral breathed through clenched teeth. "...Do you know... what took them?"
Magelight shook his head. "No... only that something is taking residents." He sighed, then took another swig. "I... I was supposed to be in charge... I was supposed to keep them safe..." Astral stayed quiet at that. "...I want you to come with me to investigate the places the ponies disappeared. Today, we'll visit the places furthest from the mine. Tomorrow, we will go to the mine itself."
They all listened to Astral. Skystrike frowned, remembering what the dragons said the night before. "Shit..." He said under his breath. "Alright. Next, who has info on the food stores?" Skystrike looked around the room, seeing Emerald raise a hoof.
Emerald opened a notebook he had on him. "So, I was actually in charge of inventory of a few things before we were sidetracked by the abductions, the food stores being one of them. Magelight and I are the only ones allowed to take the food and hand it out to the residents. When he said I didn't have to do it anymore, and gave me time to grieve for my sister, I thought nothing of it. Thinking back on it, it was a day before Quarry and Ruby disappeared. I bring this up because I haven't been in the stores since, and there is some food missing, proportional to the amount lost if all residents were still accounted for..." The earth pony finished, giving Skystrike the notebook to skim through. "Also, in there were the residents descriptions, like you asked."
"...I see... That gives me some ideas of what's going on, but I just need to confirm a few more things before I can give a concrete answer of what's going on. Next, any information on how Goldwork disappeared? She was the second one to go, right?" Skystrike placed the notebook in the center of the circle they were sitting in.
"Yes." Silverspeed spoke up. "Though it was hard to get the info, being her younger sister, ponies were more sympathetic it seemed. Though this is just their words, I've heard it from three different ponies. My sister, Goldwork, was last seen with Magelight. They told me that Magelight said 'they got split up'..."
"Jeez..." Skystrike sighed. Nearly all but confirmed now. He just had one more piece of info to go over. "Last thing. Did anypony find anything about the night Jasper disappeared?"
Stormfeather perked his head up. "Uh, yeah... I was actually up with my sister, Rainbowshine that night. I just... couldn't get to sleep." He grabbed one hoof with another. Skystrike could tell he was still shaken up from his sister's disappearance. "...We like to sit on the roof and look at the night sky... anyway... I saw two lights that night going into the forest... one green, one orange. That's... all I saw. Nopony else knows anything..."
Skystrike picked back up the notebook he put down earlier, going to a certain pony's description. "Most likely an illumination spell, since it was pitch black in that forest... Opal, what magic color is your sisters?"
Opal shuddered. "Her... her magic color is orange."
"And in this book... Magelight's color is green." Skystrike closed the book with an unneeded amount of force, and unintentionally stomped his foot on the ground. "I'm so sorry. I'm pissed off just thinking about this guy... you all lost your sisters. I can't imagine how angry you all will be."
Silverspeed was seething, remembering what Skystrike told her the day prior. "I am... VIOLENTLY angry."
Skystrike took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Alright, so I know you all won't be able to stay calm, so I wont ask that... I will ask to not immediately run out the room and do what I already want to." Everypony in the room nodded, albeit slowly. "So, as per norm, everything said in here stays in here. I already have a plan on how to handle this, but I need to go over what I saw and heard last night, then everything I put together, and then we'll go into the plan. You all will have a part in this."
"Just get on with it..." Silverspeed seethed. Bismuth put a hoof on her back in an attempt to console her.
Skystrike nodded. "Last night, I have confirmed my suspicions. We are indeed dealing with dragons." The ponies in the room gasped at that. Skystrike tried to quell their worries. "Mostly juveniles, nothing I cannot handle. I can confirm at least three, but there are up to eight. From the two I eavesdropped on, I've learned that there is a pony in this village bringing residents to the dragons, and said dragons give them money. They are expecting another mare... today..." Skystrike said that last part with baited breath. The room fell silent at that, but there was still worse news to come. "Now, from everything I've heard in this room today, I'll piece it together my all but confirmed hypothesis for what's going on in this village."
Skystrike rolled his neck before starting. "The first mare to go, Agate, was abducted by the dragons, as a sad stroke of bad luck. After, this pony that's currently... selling mares to the dragons went searching in the mines for Agate, most likely with good intentions. They went in deeper with Goldwork, only to run into dragons there. No way the dragons didn't hear them coming with the echoing of the cave. Once the pony and Goldwork were cornered by the dragons, he was more than likely given a choice. Bring them more mares and leave Goldwork and get some gold, or die. He took the former option... and they didn't stay away long. I looked around the head's house, and found one of the large skylight windows unlocked, said window big enough for a juvenile dragon to fit through... The dragons were impatient, and wanted to make sure the pony didn't back out of their deal... They went for Ruby and Quarry during their picnic. The two had to tell this pony where they were going for safety purposes of course." Skystrike took a large sip of water from his canteen. His eyes were flickering white as he continued to speak. "The dragons still weren't satisfied. None of the ponies would go into the mines, let alone the forest, so the dragons came to the pony again. This time, demanding the pony bring a mare to them... And he did so, he convinced Jasper to go with him that night, and Stormfeather saw their magic going into the forest... Finally, the last one, Rainbowshine, was on weather duty with her brother, Stormfeather... the pony working with the dragons also had to know this, which is why the dragons went for the mare... I feel we all know who this pony is..."
As Skystrike spoke, he saw the ponies in the room's faces change. From confusion, to realization then to rage. Even Tethys was angry, cold breath coming out of the sides of her mouth. They didn't even need to say the name. All the evidence pointed back to him... "...He was supposed to protect us!" Silverspeed roared. Tears of anger were running down her face. "And he SOLD US FOR A QUICK BUCK!?"
Stormfeather was also angry crying. "What the BUCK is wrong with him!" The Pegasus stomped a hoof onto the floor. "We trusted him!"
Everyone, save for Skystrike, Tethys, and Astral, were all screaming in anger and sadness at what Skystrike revealed. Each had a similar outburst, but different. Opal cried more than anything. Spelunk's magic was flaring. Bismuth punched a wall. Stormfeather was stomping. Silverspeed's wings were twitching, trying not to fly out of the room. Bismuth was putting on a poker face, but was boiling inside. Emerald was stone faced, but one could tell he was furious.
Skystrike just had a few more things to go over. "Everybody, if you can listen for just a bit longer, I'll go over the plan going forward. This is going to sound unreasonable, but I need everyone to keep quiet about this for a little while."
Opal screamed at him with misplaced anger. "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!?"
"Because his comeuppance will be under your hooves." He answered.
They room fell silence at that. Bismuth spoke first. "...We're listening." He grit his teeth.
"Remember, the dragons said that another mare is being brought to them today. Guess Magelight's guilty conscience finally caught up to him... He bought a mare he wouldn't feel guilty about giving up, and nopony would ask where this mare disappeared to." Skystrike looked at Astral, and the rest of the room followed suit.
Astral's face turned to one of horror. "You don't mean..."
"You said it yourself, he wanted you to go with him to look for the mares today. He had a nearly foolproof plan. His only mistake was thinking the other ponies here wouldn't go for help themselves..." Skystrike motioned to the other ponies in the room.
"...I was that close to ending up another victim... thank you, Nebula." She said, trying to control her breathing. Everyone was handling the information differently. Astral seemed like she was on the verge of a panic attack.
"If you all need a minute, we can pause-" Skystrike began to offer.
"No." The whole room said in union. Emerald clenched the floor beneath his hoof. "So... what's the plan? How are you going to get him, the dragons, and our sisters? You said you'd do it in two days... It's day two."
"That's where I'll need everyone's help." Skystrike began writing in Emerald's notebook. "First, he thinks the deal is still going on... We'll let him think that. Astral, once this meeting ends, you'll go to him and give him some bait... Tell him that I said I'll be heading into the caves later this afternoon. You guys will have to leave early, and the dragons are on shifts of two. He'll probably stun you or something, both he and the dragons don't want you hurt. I promise no harm will come to you. I will be right behind you, along with Tethys. Tethys, I'll be quick to restrain Magelight, and I want you to freeze the dragons. we'll have two hours max before the other dragons get suspicious on why their friends have been gone so long. I'll be interrogating the both of them. We can interrogate Magelight once the mares are safe. When the dragons tell us where the mares are, I will go save them." Skystrike wrote on and tore out a few pages from the notebook and handed the pages around the room. The rest of you, you'll have a few things to do while all of that is going down... I want the unicorns restraining Magelight when he wakes. Nullify his magic if you can. Everypony else, check his office for anything useful. Figure out where he's hiding the money he's getting, as well as any evidence I can bring back to Celestia." They all nodded. "Great. Tethys, we're going to the forest to wait to follow Astral and Magelight. When we leave, everypony get to work. And like I said, you'll all be in charge of his comeuppance." Skystrike smiled a bit underneath his helmet.
It was about half past noon, and Astral was taking a few deep breaths as she walked towards Magelight's office. Nebula and Tethys already went into the forest to wait for them. Everypony else, save for Silverspeed, was waiting back in the meeting place to get started. Once Silverspeed saw Astral and Magelight leave, she'd give the signal and they'd all come to raid the place. The only part she was unsure about was being used as bait. Nebula said she'd have nothing to worry about, but she still was worrying. Her life was in danger to be fair. But she also knew that this was probably the best bet on getting everypony out safely.
Astral knocked on the door to Magelights office. "Come in." Magelight said from inside. Astral did so, opening the door and seeing the stallion behind his desk. His voice was disgusting, knowing what he did to the mares, and what he wanted to do to her. "Ah, Astral Night... Nebula came earlier, said something about breakfast. I was getting a bit worried about you, he was... forceful on wanting to see you to say the least. Are you alright?"
Astral tried to act through his disingenuous words. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. We ate, and we hat a bit of a talk about our missions up here." She laid the bait.
Magelight's ears perked up at that. "...What did you talk about? You didn't say anything about the mine, did you?"
Astral shook her head. "I didn't say anything about the mines to me, but he was telling me a bit about the mines himself."
Magelight grew a bit unnerved at that. "What do you mean? When did he get information about the mines?"
"Yesterday after you sent him away, from what he told me. Said he was up here to get a specific gemstone that's common in the northern regions. Anyway, from what he told and showed me, he has a map of the mine, and some of the village folk told him the thing he's looking for is in the mine. Said he'd go in at about 3 p.m." Astral said, before realizing what Nebula's going to do. "...I hope he doesn't run into whatever took the mares."
Magelight tried to keep his composure. If Nebula goes down there, he'll find out. He couldn't let that happen. "We have to leave right away... we need to get rid of whatever's in the cave before Nebula goes in there..." He said, getting his things ready. Astral gave him a look that asked why. Magelight, in turn, scrambled to find a reason that sounds believable. "...We'd have better chances with us two than just him alone. All the rumors about his fights have to be exaggerated. We need to leave right away."
Hook, line, and sinker. She wanted to talk about the duel Nebula had in Canterlot, but put the thought in the back of her mind. Astral nodded. "I'm ready now. Lead the way."
The two unicorns quickly left the house and went into the forest and towards the mine. Opal, who was 'conveniently' walking by, made eye contact with Astral, and shared a look, telling her it's time. After a few minutes, making sure Magelight wasn't coming back, Opal got the others. "They're gone. Time to get to work. Remember, Spelunk, you and I need to get ready to restrain him. Everypony else, search all the rooms for any sort of evidence that proves his guilt! I know we don't have much to go off of, but we can do this. Nebula is helping us out! We can't let him do everything!" The rest cheered in agreement before leaving to help with their part of the plan.
Back with Astral and Magelight. The two were making their way towards the mine, Magelight leading the way for now. Despite agreeing to the plan, she was still unsure what to think about Magelight. All that Nebula said was just theories. Sure, it was based on truth, but... was he that bad? He must have his reasons... "So... any idea what we're dealing with?" Astral asked.
Magelight shook his head. "No... not exactly, at least. Something that's big, with claws, and it can fly... But we should be safe. The cave should slow its movement." He answered as they walked.
"And how are we going to fight this... thing?"
Magelight stayed silent for a moment. "...I'm still trying to figure that out... I'll tell you before we enter the mine." Magelight didn't look back at her as they talked. Astral wanted to at least see his face. The guilt he may have in his eyes. They walked for a while more, stopping once they reached the mines. Magelight still hadn't looked at her since they started walking. "Stand here for a minute. Just going to check if the entrance is clear." He went into the darkness of the cave, coming out a few minutes later.
"You were gone for a bit. Anything happen?" Astral asked in fake curiosity. Finally be able to see his face, she didn't like it. His eyes were... empty. They showed many things. She saw regret in his eyes, but at the same time, none. Like this was something he didn't want to do, but he just had to do. Astral was just a nopony in his eyes. Somepony that he could sacrifice much easier than his residents. Astral had hope, however. Hope that he would do the right thing.
"Oh, uh... no, nothing at all. Just a few scratches on the walls. Whatever that thing is has to be nearby." Magelight said with a huff. Astral thought that was weird. She also noticed a few beads of sweat falling down his brow and horn. He used magic recently. "You're the one with the weapons, you need to go first."
Astral nodded, albeit nervously. She grabbed her dagger from her hip with her hoof and began walking. She passed Magelight, looking back at him once more, the stallion having the same eyes as before. As soon as she looked back towards the mine and got about half way to the entrance from the forest, she felt a blast of magic on her back, knocking her over. Astral tried to move, but she couldn't, feeling some sort of magical force keeping her joints in place. All she could do was look around, eyes full of fear.
"Alright, she's ready!" Magelight yelled in the direction of the mine. Two dragons came crawling out, one green, the other red. "I assume you all kept your part of the deal?" Magelight asked. 'Deal?' Astral thought to herself.
"Yeah, yeah, we remembered to bring the money." Red said, throwing him a large bag, presumably full of bits and gems. "Still can't believe he actually bought us a mare." He chuckled to the green dragon next to him.
"This is it, right!? This is the last one!?" Magelight asked, making sure to stay a ways away from the dragons. "You'll leave my village alone now, right!?"
Green stayed silent and started crawling towards Astral, who was twitching, trying to force her body to move. Red answered "Eeehh, maybe, I'll need to make sure with the others."
"But... you said you'd stop!" Magelight grew a bit angry. "I did all off this for nothing!?"
Red walked up to Green, both now looking over Astral. "Yes, and you'll keep doing this until we say so, unless you'd like to be our dinner here later..." Red threatened. Magelight backed up a bit at that. Red snickered in response. "Now... you look fun... can't wait to have my turn with you..."
Finally, they were far enough away from the mine entrance. Before the red dragon could put a claw on Astral, they all heard a roar. Tethys leaped out from the treetops and flew towards the dragons, charging up her magic in her mouth. She released it, chilling the air around her. A beam of ice breath flew towards the red dragon, freezing it almost instantly in place. The green dragon was a bit slow to react, only moving once Tethys landed in front of him. He flapped his wings, but wasn't fast enough to take off and fly away, falling back down when a ball of ice from the dragoness' breath hit him in the wing. Next, Tethys grabbed the dragon by the neck, pulling it up to her eye level and breathing ice into his face, freezing the green dragon from the head down.
Immediately when Tethys roared, Skystrike also sprang into action. He didn't need his swords for this, only his hooves. Magelight saw the massive stallion land in front of him with a heavy thump, standing on his hind legs and looking down at him. The sun behind the mountain blocked some of the light, the last of it reflecting off of Skystrike's armor. The fear Magelight felt inside when he looked into the glowing blue eyes of his helmet could be summed up simply: terrifying. He tried to run, turning around and booking it as fast as he could. Skystrike, in response, flew above him and landed on his back, the unicorn falling to the ground and sliding to a halt on the harsh forest floor. Magelight screamed in pain, looking back up at Skystrike. "You're too loud." Skystrike stated, pulling back a armored claw and chopping at his neck, knocking him out.
Skystrike picked up the now unconscious Magelight and slung him over his shoulder. "All done on my end!" He yelled to Tethys.
"Same on my end!" Tethys yelled back as she began dragging the frozen bodies of her kin behind her. Quick and efficient, just like they planned.
"Great." Skystrike lowered his voice as Tethys approached. We'll interrogate the dragons first. You handle one, I the other. For Magelight, I plan on doing his myself." Skystrike said as he walked towards Astral. "Thanks for helping with the plan, even though you'd be put in danger. Sorry they got so close, but we needed to make sure. I'll figure out how to make it up to you." He said as he picked her up and slung her limp body over his other shoulder. "I'm not sure how strong Magelight's magic is, but it should wear off... Eventually... However long the paralysis spell lasts, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
It took about ten minutes of light jogging, bringing the still paralyzed Astral and the unconscious Magelight and dragons back, but they were pretty quick about it. Skystrike, having his hooves full, kicked down the door to the chiefs house. "Opal! Spelunk! This is your queue!" Skystrike yelled through the house. The two came jogging from upstairs. He gently set Astral down, and dropped Magelight with a loud thump.
"Jeez, that was quick. We haven't found much yet... Is Astral... alive?" Spelunk asked looking at the mare's limp body.
"She's fine. Magelight casted a paralysis spell point blank. Take Astral to her room for now. Second floor, third room on the left from the stairs. Once she's in her bed, bring Magelight, tie him up, and keep him in his office. I'll deal with him once I'm done with the dragons." Skystrike said as Opal used her magic to pick up Astral, going to do what they were told. "Tethys, they're your kin. Before we start interrogation, I'll let you decide how we do this."
"Thanks for the thought, but these dragons have already been a pain in my scales for a while now. This is the last straw. They will die once this is all over. In fact, you can kill them after this interrogation." Tethys growled a bit. Spelunk shivered a bit at that. Skystrike was about to say something. "And before you ask, yes, you can use their bodies for materials."
"...I was going to ask which dragon you wanted to deal with, but good to know I guess." Skystrike walked over to Tethys. "From the stake out, they're both quite talkative, but the green one seems more afraid of you, so it'll be easier for you."
Tethys hummed at that. "Makes sense... very well, I'll leave the red one to you. Remember, my ice is magical. As soon as you break the ice, they'll be conscious in seconds."
"Already got a plan. Take the green one to the left wing. I'll be back, and take the red one to the right wing." Skystrike stretched a bit as he opened the front door to go back outside. "Don't start until I get back." Tethys nodded, and with that, he left. He quickly made his way back towards his wagon, getting everything he'd need for an impromptu interrogation. The Pegasus got a few things he prepared: A few steel pikes, an enchanted dagger, a few health potions, and a small flask filled white looking rock. He still needed something to stop the dragon from breathing fire... well, there is that way. Yeah, he'll go with that. Thinking it over, the dragon will experience some pain anyway. No point it trying to make it painless. He quickly wrote down a list of questions.
He made his way back to the chief's house, going down the right wing and opening the door at the end of the hall. He passed by Tethys, giving her the go ahead to start, as well as the list he wrote earlier. From the items and layout inside the room, it seemed to be a storage room, the many crates and barrels covered in a thin layer of dust. In the center of the room was the still frozen body of the red dragon. Skystrike unloaded everything on him onto the floor and took a deep breath, preparing to release the dragon from its frozen prison.
There's a time window of a few seconds to break the ice, stop its ability to breathe fire, and restrain it. The hardest part would be the fire breath. There was a gland, similar to a snakes venom sack, that was magical in nature. It was rather small and sat between their upper jar and snout, generating phosphine that ignites on contact with oxygen. It's doable, but finnicky.
He released his breath and sprang into action, punching the ice with a closed hoof, shattering it. The red dragon fell over in pain and confusion, only to be snapped out of it by Skystrike driving a knife through the snout of the beast. The knife glowed, when it was inserted, canceling out the magic, not letting it combust. He stood back up with a roar, spreading his wings in an attempt to gain balance. In response, Skystrike grabbed two of the steel pikes, tackled the dragon into the wall, and stabbed a pike into each of the wings. The whole room shook from the deafening roar of the dragon. He tried to move, but soon stopped from the pain of his tearing elytra. The red dragon finally opened his eyes. "You... bastard..." He said between breaths as he opened his mouth to breathe fire. It was null.
"Wide awake, I see... Make this easy for me. I got questions. You have answers. And I feel we can both agree, the less pain the better." Skystrike sat down and twirled a pike in his metal claws. "I'll start with something easy. How many dragons are you here with exactly?" He asked calmly. The dragon, blood dripping from his mouth, spit some at him. Skystrike blinked, then met him with another pike, pinning his foot to the floor. The red dragon screamed in pain. "Need I repeat myself?"
The dragon panted before answering. "There's... there's four of us."
Skystrike sighed and got in the dragons face. "I already heard you and the green one's conversation last night. Plus, doesn't make sense. Four of you but you want seven mares? Tell me honestly." Skystrike demanded, crossing his fore hooves.
"...There's five."
Skystrike didn't respond, just turning to leave the room to the dragons confusion. He walked to the other side of the house to the left wing and checked on how Tethys was doing. The door creaked, and he felt a blast of cold air meet him. Once the stinging of his eyes were bearable, he saw how Tethys was doing. Both she and the green dragon, who's limbs were frozen to the wall, looked at him. "I asked the first question like the list said. He tells me there's only three."
"Interesting. I got told five..." Skystrike put his hoof under the green dragons chin. "You do know, the more you lie, the more pain you and your friend in the other room get? Be honest, would you? I know you heard the roar of the red one."
The green one didn't growl like the red one. Just nodded with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "There's eight of us... one full grown."
"See, wasn't too hard. Continue with the next question, Tethys." Skystrike said as he trotted back to the right wing. As soon as Skystrike opened the door, the red dragon looked up at him. The Pegasus realized that the red one was in the middle of trying to pull out one of the pikes with his free claws. Didn't matter. He had a reason to restrict them now. "So, guess what? The green one told me the actual number!" Skystrike smiled as he closed the door. As soon as the door clicked, he flew across the room to last a devastating punch, winding the dragon. Skystrike picked up another pike and drove it through one of the dragons hands. "Now it's your turn... tell me how many of you there are."
The red dragon coughed. "...Eight." He said weakly.
"Good..." Skystrike took one of the health potions and poured it down the dragons mouth. It was a low grade one, didn't close any major wounds, just forced his blood cells to speed up the multiplication rate. The dragon wont fall unconscious any time soon. "Next, I already know you're working with Magelight. What all did you offer him?"
"...We gave him gold from... each of our hordes." The red one was still breathing heavily. "I don't know how much..."
Skystrike didn't need to double check that one. "Good, you're learning. Now, where are the mares you took?" Skystrike asked as he pulled out the map of the mines. "Point to it on this." Skystrike made sure to keep it out of distance so he can't tear it up. The dragon used a free hand to point to the deepest part of the mine, where it ended in a large opening and the second entrance was open to the sky. Skystrike got up again to go meet Tethys.
"Wait!" The red dragon held out a hand, hoping the armored pony would stop. Skystrike turned his head to look at him. "There's... a room we dug out to the side of the one I pointed at... they're there."
Skystrike didn't respond, nor react. He went to Tethys to check. Tethys didn't even wait for her friend to ask. "He says there's a room they dug out in the deepest part of the mine where they keep them."
"Good, that's exactly what the red one said. I'll ask him this last question before we go." Skystrike came eye to eye with the green dragon. "What exactly are you doing to the mares?"
The green one hesitated to answer, but then saw the death glares that Skystrike and Tethys was giving him. "I... I didn't do anything to them! I just follow orders!" He pleaded.
Skystrike's eyebrow raised a bit at that. His tone showed a mix of fear and guilt. "Tell me what you meant last night, where you said 'I'm not into what you guys are doing' to the red one."
Tethys kneeled down. "This one was one of the more passive dragons I've known. Believe it or not, I haven't even had to hurt him yet."
The green one spoke after a gulp. "I... I was in charge of keeping watch... I never went into the room the ponies are kept in! This last one was supposed to be for me, but even then, I wasn't going to do anything!"
"...What do you mean by that?" Skystrike stared.
"I don't know what they do with the mares! That's all I know about it!" The still frozen dragon shivered a bit.
Tethys squinted, then sighed. "Call it a sixth sense, but I think he's telling the truth. Plus, he doesn't smell the same as the red one."
They heard the door open behind them. All three beings turned their heads to see Astral, leaning on the doorframe to stay up right. "I heard what he said... I believe him. When I was looking at Magelight and the dragons, he was the only one whos eyes I saw regret in... Of course, that doesn't dissolve him of what he did, but... just take my words into account."
Skystrike flicked his ears at that. "Alright, Astral. Now Tethys... What smell?" She winced. Tethys was having a hard time getting the word out. "Fine, I'll ask the red one. Do what you want with this one." He said with a sigh as he walked back to the red dragon. Upon entering the room, he noticed a small pool of blood forming below the body of the dragon. It didn't have long left, but it wouldn't matter soon. "Yo." Skystrike made the dragon aware of his presence. The red dragon looked up. "What did you do to the mares?" He asked with anger in his voice. Paying more attention now, he did indeed notice a distinct smell that was different from the green dragon. He hoped his senses were wrong for once.
The red dragon chuckled weakly. "Took you a while to ask..." He coughed. "You're one of the smarter ponies... what did you think we did?" He asked rhetorically with a smile. "Heh heh... It was fun."
Skystrike's eyes flashed white under his helmet. "What was fun?" He put a hoof on the grip of his sword.
The dragon laughed harder. "The mares... so weak and helpless... and ti-"
The dragon wasn't able to finish the word, let alone the sentence, due to a sword going through his throat. The red dragon let out one last scream of pain, shaking the whole house, before falling limp, lifeless. Skystrike pulled out his sword with a grunt, some blood spraying into his armored hoof. He flicked the blood of his sword and wiped his armor before the blood dried, then left the room. On the other side of the door, he saw Astral, Bismuth, Emerald, Silverspeed, and Stormfeather were all standing, waiting for him. "Everything ok?" Silverspeed asked, trying to look behind him.
"...Sorry, you guys are going to have a mess to clean up..." He apologized. "You'll need a lot of bleach. Leave the body outside, behind the house. Astral, see if you can collect any blood using your magic and put them in jars or something. I'm going to talk with Magelight..." Skystrike said, walking through him. The ponies didn't respond, hearing the anger leak out of his voice.
The Pegasus walked towards Magelight's office. Quickly opening the door, he was met with Opal and Spelunk meeting eyes with him. Magelight was still unconscious, and was currently tied to his chair. "I guess it's time. We haven't done anything to him besides keep watch. What should we do with him?"
"Well, two things. Cancel out any magic he casts if you can, and confirm whether he's lying or not. you two know him better than me." Skystrike stopped in front of the chair. It was time for him to wake up. With a sigh, he dealt a heavy slap to Magelight.
Magelight awoke almost instantly. His vision was blurry for the first waking moments, but when the first thing he saw was Skystrike, the unicorn's confusion swiftly turned to rage. "You... YOU!" Magelight screamed at Skystrike. "Everything was going fine until you showed up! You ruined everything!"
"Or, counter point, maybe you bought this upon yourself. Here's the deal I'm going to-" Skystrike cut himself off, seeing that Magelight was trying to charge a spell with his horn. "Opal, Spelunk." He said. The two mares didn't need him to say what they needed to do before they both used their own magic in tangent to stop the spell Magelight was charging. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them."
"Or what!?" He struggled in his bindings.
Skystrike answered him by drawing his sword. "Then you'll die. We already know from circumstantial evidence strengthened by testimonies of the dragons that you have essentially sold the ponies you are meant to protect for a quick buck. First, I'll ask an easy one. I know Agate was just by chance. How many of the others were set up by you?"
"Buck you!" He screamed at Skystrike, then spit in his direction.
Skystrike sighed heavily. "The hard way, then..." Skystrike extended his metal claws and dug one of the fingers into one of Magelight's legs. He screamed from the pain. "I'll ask again, how many of the others were set up by you?" Magelight stayed silent, aside from a few huffs. "Fine, more pain it is." Skystrike dug another finger in and dragged it down the unicorn's leg, leaving a large gash as he screamed.
Magelight finally answered. "Stop, stop!" He begged. "I didn't with Agate!"
"You bucking shit stain!" Spelunk decided to have her turn at screaming. "You really did sell out sisters!? I was praying to Celestia that Nebula was lying!" Opal put a hoof on Spelunk's shoulder, holding her back. "Why are we even talking to this guy!? He doesn't deserve a chance to speak!
He turned to Spelunk. "Spelunk, there are times where even when our emotions are heightened, we must still talk. Trust me, I want nothing more to rip this guy apart. But if you dehumanize villains, you become unable to recognize the villain within. One of the reasons what we're doing can be seen as 'good' right now is because we have the moral justification. I simply want to see what his justification is. No more, no less." Skystrike continued with his questions. "Next, the red one threw you a bag of money before we stepped in. He also said that he payed you for the mares you bought him. Where is the money? I know you're hiding it."
"It's... there's a key in my desk, third drawer on the right side, under some papers. It opens a safe in the closet."
"Opal, check it and give me an estimate on how much money it is." Skystrike said, making sure to keep eye contact with Magelight.
Opal did so, getting the key, opening the closet and the large safe inside. "By the sun... It's just... four bags of bits and gems. I'd have to appraise these for an exact amount, but everything together, not including the bag you got, it has to be at least eighty thousand."
"Oh, we got a baller, huh?" Skystrike looked at Magelight. "A shame how it was earned through trafficking ponies." He grit his teeth. He wanted to ask another question, but a quick thought made him come to the answer on his own. He had enough money from the first... sale... to hire somepony to come help. And yet he didn't. "You're a greedy stallion, you know that?" Skystrike flexed his claws and inched closer to Magelight.
"No, wait! The money wasn't for me!" The coward said. "It was Count Caezar! We were making him lose money for the last few months! He told me if we didn't turn things around soon, he'd call us all back and make us abandon this place! I couldn't let him do that!"
"So you decided so sell our sisters, and sell a stranger just so you wouldn't feel guilty, all for a quick buck!?" Opal's magic flared a bit.
"We all know he didn't think this through. Don't worry, I'll bring it up to Celestia and Luna once I give my report. Upper Crust will be punished." Skystrike assured them.
Magelight's eyes widened. "The... the princess sent you here?"
"Yeah, but that's the least you have to worry about. Worry... about what we'll do to you. I'll give you a few minutes to say what you want before I decide your fate. I just want to know why." Skystrike leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
Magelight looked at him. "Fine..." He sighed a sigh of fear. "I... When we lost Agate, we set up a search party right away. I was with Goldwork when we were cornered by a dragon. I ran away, leaving Goldwork to those beasts... the regret ate away at me. I wanted to go get a search party, and I sent out a letter to Upper Crust, but he... he got mad. He accused me of lying, saying there were dragons here, and he told me we haven't made enough money yet to break even on the bits he spent to get us out here... But when those dragons bought me some money, I was surprised... My first thought was to use it to get someone to come help. But before I could even take it, they told me that they'd bring me more if they got more mares... I denied at first, but then they threatened to burn down the village." His voice quivered more and more as he continued to speak. "Goldwork, Quarry, Ruby, Jasper, Rainbowshine... I gave them up to save us! What else was I supposed to do!? We needed to get enough money to get somepony here to help us!"
Skystrike set aside his judgement for now. "...Then what of Astral and I?" Skystrike got up from the wall. "You were combative towards me being here, not to mention you trying to sell Astral."
Magelight paused for a moment, then answered. "...I didn't want to worry you. I only hired Astral. I didn't want anypony else to get involved. I know I was wrong for trying to give away Astral, but... I couldn't give up any more of the ponies I'm in charge of..."
Skystrike stomped a hoof. "Cut the bullshit, Magelight. If there's anything in this world I hate, it's those that justify their actions for reasons after they've done said action. You knew if I found out like I did, you'd be deep in shit, like you are now." He stepped forward. "You knew you had enough money to pay a whole platoon of guards to come if you wanted. You just got too greedy with Astral. Even if we didn't meet along the way, I would've hunted. You. DOWN." Skystrike stomped a hoof again, cracking the floor a bit. "I'm sure you would've taken the money and ran if you didn't get too cocky. The only thing I have a chance of believing is what you said about Upper Crust. But you weren't even going to pay him. You were going to run away with the money I bet."
Magelight leaned back in the chair, trying to get as far away from the Pegasus as he could. "Wh-... what about the mares!? I made sure they were being fed! I made sure the dragons got the food!"
"Be that as it may, you still sacrificed them for your own selfish goals. That one act you perceive as 'kindness' is null here. Besides, how do you know the dragons didn't lie?" Skystrike grabbed him and threw him out of the chair onto the ground. "But if you really want to do some 'good', then you'll confess to your crimes in front of the ponies in this village, as well as hand over any evidence that will incriminate you and Upper Crust."
"...I... I can't do that!"
Skystrike kneeled over him. "Still clinging onto that pathetic life of yours, huh. Fine. Be that way. Opal, Spelunk. Gather the villagers. It's time." The two mares nodded before leaving the room. Skystrike then picked up Magelight again and began dragging him around the building, stopping by everyone inside and telling them to gather at the town center.
It hadn't even been ten minutes before the few dozen of the residents gathered in the center. All were confused, seeing the armored pony with Magelight tied up in front of him, along with a dragon and the six of Opal's group behind him. They murmured between each other before Skystrike flew above them, Magelight dangling from the rope with tears in his eyes.
Skystrike spoke to the crowd. "Good afternoon, ponies. Unfortunately, I do not come bearing good news. As most of you know, some of you have been going 'missing' in and near the mines. And as some of you may know, Both myself and Astral Night have come to find your missing friends, and find out why they're going missing." Skystrike looked down at Magelight. "Now, we have the answers we need. First, the ones who were taking the mares were dragons." The crowd gasped at that, a few eyeing Tethys. "Do not worry, the dragon behind me is of no threat to you, and is in fact helping me rescue the taken residents, as well as neutralize the dragons that mean you harm. However, know that the dragons were not working alone. Your leader here, Magelight was actively working with the dragons. Selling you ponies so he and Upper Crust could make some quick money. The ponies behind me, the ones who's sisters were sold, will vouch for my words, as they have been here for the interrogation, and will continue to search for written evidence within Magelight's house." Once the crowd processed this, they began screaming at the unicorn. Some profanities were shared, stones were thrown, and Magelight tried his best to cover his body from the rocks coming at him.
Skystrike put up a hoof, motioning them to stop. After a few moments, they did. "Now, Tethys, Astral and I will be going to get the ponies back from the dragons as soon as this meeting is over. I bring Magelight to you all because you all deserve to know the truth, and to not follow somepony as shameless as this." Skystrike dropped Magelight to the ground. "Now, as of what to do with him..." Skystrike turned to the ponies behind him. "Opal, Bismuth, Spelunk, Silverspeed, Stormfeather, Emerald Green. Magelight has affected you all second only to your sisters. I believe it's only fair you decide his fate."
Bismuth grit his teeth, trying to think of the words he wanted to say. Stormfeather stepped forward, rage in his eyes. It was almost impressive. "I want him dead! Why does he deserve life when he's made others suffer!? Kill him!"
Bismuth held him back. "Look, I... don't disagree. But we have to think this through. Remember, Nebula has to report this to the princesses..."
"No I don't."
Everyone turned silent and looked at Skystrike. Bismuth broke the silence. "...What do you mean by that?"
Skystrike rolled a hoof. "Well... I'll need to clarify. I do have to report what happens here to the princesses... but if that story gets... 'confused' when I relay it, then there wouldn't be any true consequence, right?" Many ears perked up at this.
"No..." Magelight whimpered.
Skystrike continued. "Say... He backed out of the deal with the dragons at the last moment with Astral at stake. In retaliation, the dragons, feeling duped, killed Magelight." Skystrike looked at the unicorn and pulled out a vial with a few white rocks in it. "At that point, we'd only need to make sure of two things. Making sure the body isn't available for an autopsy, and that everypony here has the same story in case anypony wants to dig a bit further. Nothing some white phosphorus can't handle."
"NO!" Magelight screamed up at him. "Who do you think you are!? You can't do this to me!"
Skystrike looked down at him. "...Well, to answer your question, I'm somepony who, within reason, lets the ponies affected take justice into their own hooves. You haven't done anything to me personally, thus, I am not deciding your punishment. I can't and wont do anything to you, they can and will." Skystrike landed in front of the six ponies he named earlier. "I will tell you this, as somepony who has taken a life, you will never come to a conclusion if they will truly deserve their life being taken. And it's a decision you can never make up for. There will always be that 'what if' in your mind." Skystrike sighed. "So, these will be your two options."
He set down the vial in front of them. "You can do what you wish with Magelight, and I will not tell a soul. If you decide to kill him, then use the vial to get rid of the body. It will turn flesh and bone to ash when in contact with oxygen, leaving no trace of a body. If he's alive by the time we return, he will come with me back to Canterlot, where he will be put on trial." Skystrike finished, leaving the ponies to stand with contorted faces in thought. He sighed again and spoke once more. "If you want my opinion on this, I do not know truly what you should do... You will have to live with the consequence of this for the rest of your lives, and it will not reverse the damage he has done, but it's your choice, I will not deny you vengeance. Instead, I recommend a vote with all the residents here. But make sure to think your choice through." Skystrike got on all fours and walked by Tethys and Astral. "It's time. Help me get a few things from my wagon."
The three left the residents to talk among themselves. Even thought they were walking farther away, the crowd was getting louder and louder in discussion. Hopefully they came to a decision they wouldn't regret. Skystrike hopped into his wagon and grabbed his box of metal pikes, setting them down outside the wagon. He'll need these for the big one. He checked over his swords, pulling them out their sheaths and putting them back in. Astral spoke up. "...Are we not going to talk about what you did back there?"
Skystrike put his swords on his waist. "I suppose we can, but I don't know what there is to talk about."
"Nebula, that was near villainous back there." Tethys added. "Are you ok? I know you do some morally questionable things, but damn... That takes the cake."
Skystrike sighed. "I've... been through a similar situation. Having to decide whether someone lived or died by my hooves, as well as the pain of vengeance never being fulfilled. As I said, they've suffered, so they should decide how Magelight will suffer."
"So what, it was because you saw yourself in them or something?" Astral asked.
Skystrike thought about it. "...Yeah... I guess so. They deserve closure. What type of closure is their choice. Either way, at least they have the chance to give their abuser to meet a fate they deserve." He thought back to his time in the lab... hopefully no one lived through that. "I'd... rather we drop this... Let's focus on getting the mares back."
Tethys and Astral looked at each other, then shared a sigh. "Fine." Tethys spoke, releasing the tension in her shoulders. "I've trusted your judgement so far, but we will talk about this later." Skystrike nodded. "Good. So, what's the plan?"
"We have about an hour before the dragons come out to look for the red and green ones. I'd prefer to get the jump on them, rather than them on us. There were eight total, meaning there should be five juveniles and one adult. Tethys, I'll leave the adult to you. Astral, you and I will be dealing with the juveniles. I'll be the vanguard, you be support. We'll be inside the cave when Tethys brings the big one out. This cave is too small for it, so it has to be in another nearby. Once we deal with them all, I'll go to help Tethys with the Adult. You'll be in charge of the mares. Best if they see a friendly face."
"And how am I going to get them back here? I doubt they're in any shape to walk back here." Astral asked.
Skystrike thought for a moment, then began moving some items outside of his wagon. "We'll take the wagon. That's one of the reasons I rented it. All you need to do is get the wagon in the mine, load up the mares, and bring them back."
"I'll provoke the big one, though I can only really distract him for a while, It'll be hard to kill him." Tethys spoke.
Skystrike looked up at Tethys. "Why's that?"
"The adult dragon is a stone dragon. Known for their very hard and durable scales. It'll be hard to break the scales, so It will be a long fight, and I don't have my axe... It broke a while ago."
"Alright..." Skystrike thought about what to do for a moment. "...I got an Idea. It's a bit risky, but It will work. Let's head out." He finished, hitching himself to the wagon.
It was showtime. Skystrike took a look up the mountain, seeing the sun laying right above the peak. He'd love to take the sight in more, but he was here on mission. He pat himself down, making sure he had everything on him. "Tethys, it'll take us a bit to get to the deeper part of the mine. Sound will echo well through the cave. When you hear a battle, that'll be a good time to go for the big one." Skystrike unhitched the wagon from himself. "Stay between the trees or above the clouds. Don't want any strays to see you. And stay safe."
"Same to you, Nebula." The dragoness said before flying off.
Skystrike then turned to look at Astral. "Well, I know I told you a few days ago, but you still have the chance to turn back now. Nopony would blame you. You are putting your life at risk, after all."
Astral shook her head no as soon as he finished. "And I told you, that it's my turn to return the favor that my brother gave to me and others." She gave a small smiled and held a hoof over her heart. "I know he wouldn't want me to put myself in danger, but this is something I must do... He's watching over me from somewhere."
Skystrike winced a bit at that. She was technically right, he is watching over her. What he winced at was how it feels like... well, he is lying to her by not showing her his real identity. He'd have to address this one they were back in Canterlot. The stallion said the only thing he really could. "I'm... I'm sure he'd be proud of you. Just make sure you keep the life you have. Ready?" Astral answered with a nod. "Alright, lets go."
The two went through the entrance of the mine. Skystrike made sure to remember the map that Silverspeed showed him. Navigating the caves was easy. As Astral followed behind him, she made sure to avoid pools of water that dripped from hanging stalactites. She was also in awe of all the gemstones that stuck out of the walls, dazzling from the few bits of light that were reflected from torches on the walls. The smell of stagnant water was getting to her a bit, but she tried to ignore it. The wind howled through the cave behind them as they entered deep in the mine. "We need to pick up the pace. The wind is behind us, so they could pick up our scent."
Astral hummed in agreement, speeding up a bit. They continued in silence for a few more minutes, the only sound being the dripping water and shuffling of hooves. As they walked, they noticed something. Astral asked about it. "Hey... the gems on the wall are getting more sparse. Does that mean anything?"
"Two things. The gems are of higher quality down here, so they're mined more. Also, the dragons find them more tasty." Skystrike answered. "The richer the gems are in magic, the better they taste according... to the dragons I know." Astral was about to ask another question, but was stopped by a hoof going in front of her. They stayed silent fore a moment before they could hear faint echoes coming from deeper in the cave. They were here, and had to be much more careful. If they can hear the dragons, the dragons can most definitely hear them if they aren't careful. "We'll lure them. Hide in one of the branching paths. A dark one." He said as he put an armored hoof around a nearby torch, snuffing it out. Astral did so, as well.
She looked at the Pegasus, as if asking 'what now?' Skystrike answer by grabbing a large rock and throwing it at the spot where they were just standing, making a loud crack. They heard a moment of silence from the dragons, before one called out. "Ashen!? Askook!? That you?" The voice of a dragon called out. Skytstrike motioned for her to be quiet. The yelling of the dragon returned. "You back with the new one!?" They didn't respond. The scraping of claws grew closer. "...Who's there!? Hey, Lockhead, go check it out!"
"No, I did it last time. It's probably a rat."
"Look, you know I'm bad with tight areas! My wings clamp up!"
"Pussy."
A groan was heard, the scraping continued. Only a few dozen paces away. Skystrike drew his sword, and Astral her dagger. "I swear I'll get you one day for the shit you pull here... You got 5 seconds to get out this cave, before you become my next meal! Five!" The dragon said, as if it had some sort of authority. Eight paces away. "Four!" Beasts like these deserve no mercy, just like the rest of them. "Three!" Six paces away. Something inside Skystrike reached out to him. It felt familiar. He knew what it was. He'd have to hold back his bloodlust.. "Two!" Three paces away. He'd make it quick. That will be their final mercy. "One!" A dragon's foot stomped into Skystrike's view. The dragon didn't get to finish. Skystrike jumped out the crevasse and flew forward, blade first. In a split second, his sword went through the dragons throat. Lucky that the underside of a dragon has weaker scales. The dragon, Skystrike realizing it's orange in color with rather large wings, reached out to Skystrike at it coughed up blood. He twisted his blade and pulled it out, decapitating the dragon. Four left.
Astral looked down at the body of the lifeless dragon. It was the first time she had something sentient die in front of her. She... wasn't sure how to feel... On one hoof, it was a life, taken before their time. On the other, they deserved it. She stared at the body for a while, seeing the pool of blood grow as the lifeless eyes stared back at her. "Astral." Skystrike shook her out of her trance.
Astral blinked. "I'm... I'm sorry... It's just..."
"First time? I was the same, believe me. But this is just part of the job. Try to keep it together." Skystrike let go of her. "Now, there's at least one dragon in the next room. You said you could use a candlelight spell right?" Skystrike spoke rather quickly. It was only a matter of time before the dragons smelled the blood.
"Uh, yeah, but that's only for lighting up rooms and the like, not for combat..."
"Normally, but remember, your greatest weapon is your mind. Follow right behind me, and on my signal, pour in as much magic as you can into the spell."
"But... if you overload a spell, it has the chance of explo-... I get it now, alright. Let's do it." Astral nodded. With that, the two slowly made their way to the dragons lair. They stopped around the corner, making sure they weren't seen. Skystrike put out a hoof, signaling for her to stop. He spread out the digits of his claw, counting down to zero by clenching his hoof. The two rushed out, Skystrike taking flight and flying into the room. There were three dragons in the room of various colors, and they all looked at him. Perfect.
He flew straight up, letting Astral's magic take full effect. Astral, making sure to close her eyes, quickly overcharged her magic, and with a loud boom, the spell overloaded, exploding in a blinding white light. The dragons roared, covering their eyes in pain. Skystrike dove down, arms crossed, blades pointed out towards his side. He went for the largest one first, a yellow quadruped dragon writhing on the ground, back up. As soon as he was on top of the yellow dragon, he made a quick cross slash to the nape, killing it near instantly. Three left.
He looked to the direction another dragon was. This one was bipedal, similar to the green one they captured, but more spikes and a brown color. They were beginning to gain their sight back. Skystrike picked up the pace, jumping towards the brown dragon and going for a slash at their chest. Unexpectedly, it was able to regain their sight rather quickly, jumping back to dodge. It breathed a wave of fire at the stallion, Skystrike making sure to side step it with a spin, and using the momentum to throw his sword at the brown dragon, it going through the dragon and it falling to the ground. Two left.
The last dragon, another bipedal with grey scales tried to fly out of the cave from the opening in the ceiling. Skystrike prepared to take off after it, but the dragon didn't get far. Astral threw one of her enchanted throwing knives at the dragon. It landed in the dragons thigh, doing little damage. The dragon was about to let out a laugh before it was interrupted by its own screams of pain. The enchant on the knife Astral threw was inscribed to explode a few moments after contact. And that it did. The dragon fell to the ground from the pain, holding what was left of its leg.
Skystrike looked at Astral, about to tell her she did good, stopping himself when he saw the look on her face. Her eyes were wide, and she was still in the same stance when she threw the knife, arm out. She shivered a bit as she turned her hoof to look at it. "I... just did it on instinct..." She spoke to herself. "I feel... I don't know how I feel..."
Skystrike made quick work finishing off the grey dragon, stabbing the sword through the heart of the beast. One left. "My guess is that you're feeling a mix of regret and relief. At least that's what is was like for my first kill." Skystrike remembered back to the lab he grew up in. He decided to specify. "The first kill that was by choice, that is... Regret that a life had to be taken, but relieved that they cant hurt anypony else. No true way to describe it, but know you did the right thing." He tried to comfort her a bit as he retrieved his swords.
He had to admit, she was taking it better than he thought she would. At least outwardly. "Does... do you feel this every time?" She asked, trying to stop her shaking hoof with the other.
Skystrike nodded. "Yes, but you must make sure not to get desensitized to it. The less you regret it, the more you justify it. But that's besides the point." Skystrike segwayed, making them get back on track. "There's one more, and only one room left. And said room has the mares we need to save. Think you can handle it, or do you need a minute?"
Astral took a couple deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Yeah... I think I can do it. Besides, what I'm going through can't be worse than the mares..." She tightened her grip on her dagger. "Alright, you can do this Astral..." She said to herself as she went towards the room where the captives were. Skystrike followed behind her, surprised she decided to go in first.
Once Skystrike entered, he saw the mares, behind bars made of scrap wood. Where did the dragons get it? They aren't stupid. They know how to build, but where did they get nails? Nails are expensive, so no way they'd just leave them laying around in the mine. He thought to himself some more, before realizing he already knew the answer. Focusing back on the main objective, the mares were behind bars, and after looking around a bit, he didn't see the dragon.
He blinked when he realized what he thought. He didn't see the dragon. "Shit!"
Astral jumped in surprised. "What!?"
"There's one dragon not accounted for! It must have gone to warn the adult! I leave the mares to you, I can't leave Tethys alone! Check their health, and get them back to the village with the wagon!" Skystrike said, running out the room and flying towards where Tethys would be.
Meanwhile, just after she heard several roars from within the cave, Tethys, who was flying above the skylight, took that as her queue. She roared herself, though much louder. It was a challenge to the stone dragon. A rumbling returned in response, followed by a loud roar. She could feel the sound hit her. She prepared to fly in the direction of the response, but was stopped when she felt a fireball hit her back.
Once she restabilized herself in the air, she turned to see the dragon that attacked her. It was bat-like in structure, with deep purple scales and a sleek build. "Damn it, Sky..." Tethys grunted, opening her mouth and shooting a ball of ice at it. The purple dragon flew to the side, dodging it easily. It laughed as it shot Tethys again, the dragoness making sure to dodge it this time. After a few exchanges, with neither not able to hit the other, Tethys looked towards the direction of the earlier roar. Smoke was coming from a nearby mountain, and the rumbling grew closer.
The townsfolk saw the beams of fire and ice in the sky. The roars and the rumbling put them all in a panic. They all talked between each other, some beginning to doubt Nebula's ability. Opal tried to calm everypony down. "Don't worry, everypony! I'm sure they have this under control!" She knew her words weren't really getting through to them, but she at least tried. While the rest still talked between each other on what to do with Magelight, Bismuth looked down at the marker that Nebula gave him.
Bismuth looked towards the forest, seeing the smoke. "Uh... I think we might have a problem." He motioned toward what he saw, seeing that it was getting closer little by little. They looked between each other in mild worry.
"I tried! I tried to stop this!" Magelight yelled at them. "And this is what I get!? For protecting us!? Now that Pegasus is dooming us all!"
Stormfeather kicked the unicorn in the side, causing him to cough, "Shut your bucking mouth before I send you to Tartarus myself! Every word you've just spoken has pissed me off even more! Why are we even leaving him alive!?"
Spelunk grit her teeth. "Sacrificing us to stop something that will come was the worst move he could make. Lying to us on top of all of this... I know my vote. I want Magelight dead."
Opal cleared her throat. "Let's vote once we're out of potential danger, alright?" Opal was about to continue talking before a loud boom was heard from the forest. Everypony turned in the direction of the forest, seeing a blue streak in the sky go by at an astounding speed. "...What was that?"
Skystrike was flying, looking for the last juvenile. His eyes darted between the trees as he flew above them. No luck. He did notice how some of the treetops were either frozen or on fire. They had to be above them. Skystrike looked above, and sure enough, Tethys was in a dogfight with a purple dragon. He could tell from the anger in Tethys' eyes, as well as her missing many of her shots that she was struggling a bit. Wasn't her fault, just a bad match for her, being rather slow compared to other dragon.
Skystrike flew up, trying to slash at dragon. It noticed pretty quickly, barrel-rolling out of the way. The Pegasus did a quick spin, trying for another slash and getting a nick on their wing. The purple dragon stabilized itself, hissing at him. "Sorry about that, Tethys... Seems this one it rather quick."
She flew beside him and grunted, rubbing her shoulder. "I've noticed... The smoke's getting closer, so some help me out once you're done here."
"Will do." Skystrike said, crossing his blades, flying between her and the purple dragon. "Now tell me dragon, and make it quick, how many souls have you hurt?"
"...What?"
Skystrike sighed. "Know what? I don't even want to know. I'll make it quick." He flew towards the dragon prepared to cut him down. The dragon swiftly dodged with another roll, but wasn't expecting a kick to the gut from the stallion. Despite being winded, it was at least able to dive to avoid the blades going for his wings. The dragon grit it's teeth as it dove, turning around and shooting the biggest fireball it could muster. It was a direct hit.
What the dragon didn't know, is that Skystrike's armor, let alone his body, was fully able to tank the hit and shrug it off. As the smoke was subsiding, he made sure to get into the proper stance, tightening his grips on the blades and diving straight down. The smoke trailed behind him as he lunged towards the dragon. It wasn't able to react fast enough before the iron pierced the lungs of the beast as they crashed into the forest floor.
He made a note on where it landed for later, and decided to rush to Tethys. The dragoness was having her own problems. "...Today is just not my day..." Tethys groaned, analyzing the approaching stone dragon. Word of mouth did nothing to describe how massive the dragon in question was. It was easily the size of a train, having to walk on all fours due to it's weight and lack of wings. She could hear the tree trunks snap as it approached.
The dragon had scales like stone, almost like it was made of rock itself with the moss growing off its back. The large jaws of the beast roared, looking to the sky and seeing Tethys. "You dare challenge me on my territory!? Do you know who I am!?" Tethys responded with silence to the dragons annoyance. "I am Vastilok! The strongest dragon only second to the dragon lord!"
Tethys raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Why don't you back it up with a source?"
"My source is that I made it the fuck up!" The dragon growled. "But it's not like you'll live to go rat about that. By now, my underlings would've heard my roar and they'll be here any minute!"
Skystrike flew up next to Tethys. "They're dead, so tough shit I guess." He chuckled, wiping some blood off of him. "Lucky for them, it was quick. I'll try to make it quick for you too, as I'm on a schedule."
"You..." Vastilok growled, taking a tree in its claws and tearing it from its roots. "I will admit, it takes a bit of strength to kill a dragon..." He threw the severed tree at Skystrike who swiftly dodged it, landing with a boom behind him. "But It'll take more than that to take me down!"
Skystrike and Tethys flew to opposite sides of the dragon, starting the battle. Tethys tried to slow Vastilok down the best she could, firing continuous beams of ice at his joints. Skystrike darted around, trying to cut at the neck any chance he could get. Both did nothing to stop him. Realizing his blades were doing nothing, Skystrike sheathed them and jest began being annoying, flying around Vastilok like a fly.
Tethys wasn't joking, the scales were hard like stone. Punching the beast would, and was currently doing more than his blades, solely because he cant chip his hooves. He grunted as he was slowly getting pushed back. "Nnngh..."
Tethys called out to the Pegasus as she fired more beams of ice. "Sky!... You got a plan or...!?"
Skystrike yelled back. "Yeah! Just keep this up, follow my lead!" Vastilok, growing annoyed at the Pegasus, continued to follow him.
Astral had just finished bringing the wagon to the mares and loading them on. They were not in good shape, but could be worse, all things considered. The abuse they've taken, both physically and mentally, required medical attention. Some of them screamed as soon as Astral touched them. Thankfully, most of the mares didn't give into despair. They'd have a hard road through recovery.
As she pulled them out of the cave and through the forest, which was much harder than Nebula made it look, they spoke to each other. Astral was able to get their names. Rainbowshine, Stormfeather's sister, was a pegasus with a pale indigo coat with a light fuchsia gray mane. Jasper, Opal's sister, was a unicorn with a orange coat and beige mane. Those two were the only ones awake and in the mood to talk, as little talk as it was. Each had a blanket around themselves. The two made sure to name the other mares, making sure they had everypony.
Agate, Bismuth's sister, was an earth pony with a grey coat and a cream mane with rainbow highlights going through it. She was huddled in a corner of the wagon, her head barely sticking out of her blanket.
Goldwork, Silverspeed's sister, was a unicorn with a pale yellow coat and a golden mane. She was sleeping... Well, as best she could, lying on her side, forcing her eyes close.
Quarry, Spelunk's sister, was an earth pony with a salt white coat and bronze mane. She was trying her best to comfort those around her.
Ruby, Emerald's sister, had the same orange coat as her brother, but had a ruby red mane. She just curled herself into a ball as the wagon moved.
But at least they were alive. They'd be able to see the next day. The road would be hard, but they have hope for a better future now. Astral gave a long exhale, thinking about what they'd have to go through. She hoped to herself that no more harm would come to them. That hope was immediately put into question when she saw the tree tops, some frozen and some lit aflame. She looked to the sky just in time to see Nebula fly off somewhere behind her, then a few minutes later, an entire tree land a few yards in front of her to the side of the path. She made sure to pick up the pace, turning her trot to a full on gallop now.
With luck, Astral was able to tow the rest of the mares back without much of a problem. As soon as they approached the center of town, the townsfolk turned to see her. The siblings of the mares ran over, making sure their sisters were alright. Hugs were shared, tears were had, apologies were made, but their families were back together. It was a sweet moment.
Skystrike, able to see that Astral was back safely, quickly flew over to her. "Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but we got a situation. Astral, Bismuth, Opal, Spelunk, I need you three! Everypony else, get clear! Get the injured mares inside!" He quickly ordered. The villagers quickly did so, some picking up the mares and taking them into the town hall, others taking themselves and their kids back into their own homes.
"What's happening!? What's with the smoke!?" Bismuth asked.
"You'll know soon! I've left Tethys to hold off the adult, but there's only so much she could do! The scales are too thick, and there's only one piece of equipment that can get through." Skystrike said through tired breaths.
Spelunk looked at him. "You don't mean..."
"Bismuth, on my queue, fire it at the dragon, I'll make an opening! Spelunk, Opal, you're gonna pour as much magic into Astral as you can when you see the dragon come over! Astral, max force paralyze spell onto the rod that Bismuth shoots! All of you, when Bismuth fires, cover your ears!"
They all looked between each other and nodded. "Got it!" Bismuth said, running to the Stake launcher, pointing the marker towards the forest, ready to fire. Opal and Spelunk flared their horns, the magic seeping out of their bodies and going into Astral's horn.
Skystrike quickly flew to where he left his stuff, getting his black chains and connecting one end to the hilts of his swords, and the other to an apparatus on his back, reeling in the chains. He quickly flew back to Tethys, who was still leading the dragon back to the village. "Are they ready!?" Tethys asked as she dodged a few thrown boulders, even freezing some in the air.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Skystrike answered. Tethys near instantly turned around and followed behind Skystrike. Vastilok sped up himself to follow the two.
"Where are you going!?" Vastilok chuckled as he chased them. "You will not leave here alive! And these ponies are next!"
Astral saw the dragon approaching, beginning to charge her spell. She wasn't used to all the magic flowing through her, but she had to control it. They were counting on her. Bismuth waited for Skystrike's queue, who was leading Vastilok into the weapon's range. In a moment, Bismuth had a clear shot on the beast. But it wasn't time yet. Skystrike flew straight up, above the dragon, using gravity to speed him up as he dove. A trail of vapor followed behind him as he dove between the clouds, right above the head of Vastilok. "Tethys, Ice me!"
Tethys didn't hesitate, sending a ball of ice where Skystrike would be as he dove. right before the ice hit him, Skystrike rolled into a fetal position, his armor folding into a ball. The ice wrapped around his armor, increasing his mass when he hit Vastilok. "Comet Smash!" That mass and that speed was bound to hurt, and hurt it did, hitting the dragon point blank on the forehead, ice splintering as Vastilok went to grab his head in pain.
He reeled back, but Skystrike wasnt done, uncurling from his armor and loosening some of the chains on his back. As Vastilok opened his mouth to roar in pain, Skystrike went for the weak points. With the mouth wide open, it was easy to swoop in and stab his swords into the roof of the dragons mouth, blood spurting onto him. Quickly flying out as Vastilok tried to breathe fire, Skystrike used his chains to wrap his jaws shut before landing on the beast's back and pulling with all he had.
Vastilok was forced onto his back legs, taking his underbelly off the ground for the world to see. "Bismuth!!!"
With his queue heard, Bismuth covered his ears, aimed the target marker at the dragons chest and pulled the trigger. The stake launcher quickly turned to its target and fired. Fire came from the sides of the machine as it released the energy used to fire the metal stake directly into Vastilok with a large BOOM! Even with his mouth closed, the roar of pain was still deafening.
This time, it was Astral's queue, releasing the charged spell directly into the stake. Vastilok began spazzing as volts upon volts of magical electricity surged through him. His body was smoking once the spell ended, the heat making his eyes boil out of his sockets. Skystrike huffed as he loosened his grip on the chains, dropping them of the side of the dragon.
"Hah... Nice job, everybody..." Skystrike said as he walked towards Bismuth.
Tethys gave a few huffs of her own. "Yeah... Thanks..." She landed next to the body of Vastilok. "Just one more thing..."
"Still breathing, I know..." Skystrike picked up the Stake launcher of the tripod and carried it on his shoulder, finger on the manual trigger. "Open his mouth, Tethys..."
The dragoness did so, squatting down to dead lift the Vastilok's jaw open. She eyed Skystrike as he walked on his tounge and aimed where the brain would be. "Tethys... cover your ears..." She did so right before Skystrike fired, blowing the brains out the beast, the stake coming out the top side of the head. And with that, Skystrike walked out. "Mission complete..." He rolled his wrist as he dropped his retrieved swords and the Stake launcher.
"Yeah..." She said as she sat down, finally able to relax. "By the way... why do you... call out your attacks?"
Skystrike processed the question, then chuckled for a bit before answering. "Because... If I call out a move and you don't dodge it... that's their fault..." He said. The two shared a tired laugh.