//------------------------------// // Episode 7: Harmony // Story: The Drake Six // by JNKing //------------------------------// Twilight was almost glad Spike wasn’t suffering with her.  It should have been a day of joy and happiness: Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, was going to get married. And to an alicorn princess of all things: Princess Cadence. Twilight’s former babysitter.  But the day was ruined by Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, who had taken Cadence’s form and tried to pose as her for the wedding.  When Twilight had exposed the evil queen for what she was, she had retaliated with a horde of changelings, turning what should have been a wonderful, perfect day into a nightmare. And though Twilight and her friends fought bravely alongside the Royal Guard, there were simply too many changelings for them to take on alone.  They needed the Elements of Harmony. And as Twilight had discovered, the changelings had already intercepted and taken the gems for themselves.  As the horde closed in around Twilight and her friends, she began to realize that it was truly all hopeless.  But just before the changelings could fully capture them… a shadow fell over the sun. Even the changelings paused in confusion, looking up at what had blocked out the light. “Luna?” Pinkie asked curiously.  But it was not a second eternal night. Twilight’s eyes bugged out as she saw a horde of dragons bearing down on the castle.  And the one in the lead…  “Is that… Spike?!” Twilight demanded.  “No way!” Rainbow protested.  Indeed, though the dragon in question was far bigger and muscular than Spike had ever been, there was no denying that purple and green color scheme. And the point was driven home as Spike slammed into the ground between Twilight and the changelings, and unleashed a shockwave of flames that blasted the insectoids back.  “Not my Twilight, you freaks,” Spike snarled, as the rest of his friends touched down as well:  Jackknife landed in front of Rainbow Dash, squashing a changeling into the ground before whipping his serpentine tail like a flail, clearing a whole section of monsters.  Swift opened his wings, keeping him from landing, and created a gust of wind that blew the changelings back from Fluttershy.  Phoenix squashed five changelings that were ganging up on Applejack, and sent twenty more packing with a roar of flames.  Night Fire ricocheted between thirty changelings before leaping into the air. “THE FUUNNNN HAS ARIIIIVVED!” She then landed in front Pinkie with a grin. “Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.”  And finally, Diamondback landed with a rather spectacular BOOM that created a shockwave throwing the rest of the changelings away from the ponies. She lowered her wings, and the diamond dogs clambered down from her back.  “Secure the city,” Diamondback ordered them. “Not one changeling will remain to lay a stake on this land.”  “Yes, ma’am,” the dogs barked, before racing after the few changelings still left standing. Twilight and the rest could only stare in open-mouthed shock. “S-Spike?” Twilight stammered, approaching her friend. “Is that… you?” Spike grinned. “You didn’t think we’d just leave you to handle this alone, did you?” Twilight smiled lovingly at him, while Rainbow laughed.  “Dude, I could kiss you right now!” she cheered.  “Uh, hate to be a party pooper,” Applejack noted. “But we still got a problem!” She pointed, as the others found even more changelings coming after them.  Led by the Queen herself, who hissed in anger at the sight of the dragons.  “No-no-NO-NO-NO!” The Queen was shrieking. “This was my day! The day that Equestria fell to the Changeling Hive of Chrysalis!” She pointed at the dragons. “You hold no claim here, dragons!” Diamondback smirked. “On the contrary, ‘Your Grace,’” She said with a mocking bow, “We have had a claim here much longer than you realize.”  Chrysalis sneered. “What are you talking about?”  Spike stepped forward. “This is my home,” he said bravely. “The ponies here are my family.” Flames flickered around him as he grew bigger. “My TREASURE!” He began to tower over Chrysalis, but remembered his greed and took a breath.  “They are mine to protect,” he declared. “Mine to safeguard from every threat.”  Diamondback stood by him. “Including you,” she growled, pointing at Chrysalis with a rapier.  Chrysalis covered her fear with a laugh. “If this place holds such meaning to you, then why are you not its ruler? Why did you fail to safeguard it’s greatest treasure: the Elements of Harmony?” Six changelings rose up behind her, smugly holding up the gems. Spike and the dragons snarled, standing ready to fight. Unfortunately, the horde of changelings stood ready to fight as well. And this time, they clearly weren’t going to be easily knocked back by surprise attacks.  Twilight stood in fear for her dragon. For her surrogate son and all the friends he had made. There had to be a way to ensure they didn’t get hurt defending her.  Then it came to her: all the letters Spike had sent. The lessons each of his friends had learned!  A victorious grin came to Twilight’s face, and she stepped forward, standing alongside the dragons.  “You’re wrong, Chrysalis,” Twilight declared. “You think you can just take the Elements of Harmony like that? The spirits of the Elements of Harmony reside not just in us, but in them as well.” She indicated the dragons.  Chrysalis sneered. “What madness has possessed you, little foal?”  Twilight unveiled the letters Spike had sent her, and read from them.  “Phoenix, who understood the sins of her past and sought forgiveness for them, represents the spirit of… HONESTY!”  Immediately, the gem of Honesty was yanked from the changeling holding it. The changelings backed up as Phoenix stared in shock at the gem now circling her.  “I, uh… okay?” Phoenix mumbled. But she couldn’t say much more as Twilight continued.  “Jackknife,” Twilight continued, “Who pushed himself to the limits to defend his friends, embodies the spirit of… ‘LOYALTY!’”  The gem of Loyalty freed itself from it’s changeling captors, and swirled around Jackknife as he pumped his fists.  “So just guess what I’ll do to you, punks,” Jackknife challenged, completely uncaring of the magic around him. Chrysalis snarled. “STOP HER!” she roared. The dragons, however, moved to defend the unicorn, Spike bashing one of the changelings in the face. “Hurry it up, Twi,” Spike recommended as they held back the changelings swarm.  Twilight quickly shuffled her papers. “Swift Winds, who found the strength to stand up to cruelty for the sake of others, constitutes the spirit of… ‘KINDNESS!’”  The changelings tried to flee with the gems, but the gem of Kindness escaped them, empowering Swift as he summoned a gale force wind to keep the changelings back.  “ENOUGH!” Chrysalis screamed, trying to shoot Swift out of the sky.  Swift dodged, and countered her with wind, but his expression was one of fear. “Spike, can you friend go a little faster?”  “She’s doing what she can,” Spike said, “Just hang on a little more!”  “Night Fire,” Twilight continued, finding her page, “Who put her own happiness on the line for the sake of others, characterizes the spirit of… ‘LAUGHTER!’”  “Laughter?” Night asked. “Shouldn’t it be like, ‘joy’ or something… OKAY, WHOA!” she yelped as the gem hit her alongside a horde of changelings, with her barely able to keep the changelings back with a burst of fire.  Chrysalis was seething, rushing to impale Spike with her horn, only for Diamondback to cut her off.  “Diamondback!” Twilight cheered, before going back to her notes. “Who discovered the secret origin of dragons as guardians rather than hoarders, exhibits the spirit of… ‘GENEROSITY!”  “NO-NO-NO-NOOOO!” Chrysalis screamed, desperately blasting at Diamondback, only for the gem of Generosity to go to her, twenty five changelings dragging it all the way, only for Diamondback to smugly flick them away before standing tall over Chrysalis.  “And all of these Elements,” Twilight continued. “Were brought together and ignited by a single spark.” She gazed lovingly at Spike. “By Spike; the element of magic.”  Spike grinned back at her, before looking up as the entire horde tried to stop the Element of Magic from going to him. Surging forward, Spike blasted them away with his fire, and grabbed the Element of Magic from them.  Chrysalis tried to blast Spike away, but Diamondback batted her spell aside. At the same time, Jackknife pummeled Chrysalis with his first, before uppercutting her into a blast from Swift, followed by a stomp from Phoenix to keep her down.  As Chrysalis and her horde tried to rise back up again, the dragons joined together, as their Elements combined, forming a massive rainbow beam that hit Chrysalis and her changelings full force, blasting them away from Canterlot. As the elements powered down, the others saw that they had created armor around the dragons, almost like ceremonial guard armor.  Jackknife whistled as he checked out his armor. “Heh-heh, it got my abs right,” he noted, hammering on the chest plate.  “Eh, I think I look better without it,” Night Fire replied.  “Oh, my, it even got my diamonds,” Diamondback gushed.  “How is this thing not triggering my scars,” Phoenix mused. “I normally can’t wear anything like this.” “Does this make my butt look big?” Swift worried. However, Spike only had eyes for Twilight, as the pony and dragon embraced lovingly.  “Oh, Spike…” Twilight whispered. “Thank you.”  “Hey, it wasn’t just me,” he noted, smiling at his friends. “I had a lot of help.”  “No kidding,” Applejack noted, turning and smiling up at the dragons. “Thank you. All of you.”  “This can’t be just a wedding now, you know?” Pinkie noted. “It’s gotta be a ‘thanks for saving us/congrats on being new Elements’ wedding!” She cheered in glee. ## After much partying and celebration - both for Shining and Cadence as well as the dragons - Diamondback approached Celestia.  “Princess Celestia,” Diamondback noted with a grin. “Or should I call you… ‘My Queen’ now?” She tapped at the Elemental Armor she wore. “You know… considering…?” Celestia smiled and waved aside Diamondback’s thoughts. “Only if you want to,” she replied. “After all, you are technically of the Dragon Lands, and thus do not have to submit to my authority.”  “Even though we now bear the Elements of Harmony?” Diamondback asked.  “The Elements should not just be restricted to just ponies,” Celestia replied. “Anyone who is willing to accept the values of friendship should not be refrained from wearing them.” She approached Diamondback. “And I must say, I’m happy that it got to be you and your friends that proved that friendship is not restricted to the ponies of Equestria.”  Diamondback smiled back. “Well, it’s only fitting, considering dragons used to guard the treasures of the world.”  Celestia grimaced. “But the dragons had to guard it alone. No doubt contributing to them being corrupted by Greed. I would rather you not have to face such things alone.” She stood. “As of now, consider Equestria your home just as much as the Dragon Land.” Diamondback blushed. “Oh, careful, Princess,” she said. “My Inner Greed might explode from sheer bliss.”  Celestia paused and stepped back. “Right, of course.”  Diamondback took a breath. “Regardless, we will be more than happy to watch over Equestria and aid it in times of need.”  Celestia nodded gratefully. “I imagine that will make many ponies very happy.” She turned notably to a certain Princess of the Night, who was watching Night Fire as the dragoness danced with Pinkie Pie.  Though Night Fire didn’t notice her, Luna couldn’t help but cover her mouth with a hoof.  “It can’t be…” Luna mumbled, too quietly for anyone to hear. “Star Wing?”