//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Smoke on the Horizon // by Tmega87 //------------------------------// Only two kinds of pony stand directly in front of a dragon, the unfortunate or the stupid. Dragon zealots are unfortunately stupid. - Journal of Style Wenz, Vice-Captain of the Royal Military “She's not doing very well milady,” Rarity said respectfully. “The fire caused some internal damage, and she hasn't woken up since she was rescued. We're all very worried.” Celestia walked over and sat next to Twilight, a concerned expression on her face. She said nothing as she looked down at her unconscious student. The princess' horn started to glow as her spell enveloped the lavender unicorn in a cocoon of white light. The light steadily grew in intensity until Rainbow had to turn her head to keep from getting blinded. Then, as quickly as it it came, the light faded away. Rainbow looked over to the bed and saw nothing really changed. Twilight was in the same position as she was before. “What was that all about?” she blurted out. “That was a healing spell,” Rarity replied. “And, while magic isn't really my area of expertise, even I could tell that was an exceptionally powerful one.” Celestia nodded her head, “Indeed it was. I was able to heal most of the damage and she should wake up soon.” She looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash with a smile, “So until then, why don't you two tell me how you saved my student.” “Oh man a story!” Pinkie Pie practically yelled. “It's been forever since I've heard a good story and I bet this one's going to be a doozy!” Rainbow looked over at Applejack, with a huge grin on her face, “So do you want to tell it or should I?” “You go ahead,” Applejack sighed. “Ah'll just make sure ya don't go completely overboard.” “All right, suit yourself.” And with that Rainbow Dash dove into telling their tale. She started with the meeting with Pinkie Pie, and quickly moved into the blaze. She added her own flourishes here and there of course, and true to her word, whenever she started to exaggerate, Applejack would step in and set her straight. Somehow, Pinkie Pie managed to get a bag of popcorn, which she happily split with Celestia. Rainbow was soon finished, and everypony stared at them. “Well, that was interesting,” Rarity said. Pinkie Pie hopped to her feet, “Interesting? That was super-duper amazing!” “Yeah, I am kind of amazing,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile. Before Rainbow could say anything more, a dull moaning came from the bed. Everypony turned their heads in surprise as Twilight sat up, rubbing her head with her hoof. “Oh man, my head,” she moaned. Twilight looked around in confusion, “Where am I? And why is everypony smiling like that?” Pinkie Pie was the first pony to react. “Twilight, you're okay!” she exclaimed as she practically smothered the lavender unicorn in a massive hug. “Pinkie Pie,” gasped Twilight. “You're kind of choking me!” Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie and shook her head in amazement. “You should kinda let go now. We don' want Twilight to slip back into a coma now do we?” Pinkie Pie released Twilight with an embarrassed look on her face. “Sorry, Twilight. I was really worried though.” Rarity put a hoof on Pinkie Pie's shoulder. “We all were, darling. However, she is awake now, so we don't have to worry anymore.” “Hey, nopony's answered my questions yet,” Twilight said. “Would somepony please tell me what's going on?” “You were in a huge fire!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “I had a combo, then we saw your house was on fire, then Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran in and saved you! Now we're in the hospital, and I made muffins and cupcakes for when you got better, which you now are!” “Well, that answers both my questions. Thank you Pinkie Pie.” “No problemo!” Pinkie said, her smile as big as could be. “I'm glad to see you're okay Twilight,” Princess Celestia said kindly. “Thank you very much. I'm sorry to worry you all,” Twilight said as her expression darkened. “There is something I have to tell you though Princess.” “And what is that my student,” replied Celestia, a touch of concern edging her voice. The lavender unicorn took a deep breath, “It's about the fire. It wasn't an accident.” At those words, every smile in the room disappeared in an instant. The tension in the room grew so thick, they could have cut it with a knife. “What do you mean it wasn't an accident?” Rainbow cried out. “I mean I was attacked and the fire was meant to finish me off,” Twilight said flatly. “The ponies who attacked me gave me a message for you princess. He said “The true Lord of Flame shall rise again. Does that mean anything to you princess?” Celestia turned and stared out the window for a few moments before replying, “Unfortunately it does.” She turned back towards the group. “Have any of you heard of Crom?” Celestia smiled as five pairs of eyes immediately turned to the unicorn on the bed. “What?” Twilight said. “Why are you all looking at me?” “Well, sugarcube, whenever somethin' like this happens you're usually the only pony to know a darn thing about it,” said Applejack. “You are the biggest egghead around,” quipped Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, well, it doesn't mean I know everything,” sputtered Twilight. “I've seen the name in footnotes, but never anywhere important. I just thought he was some assistant. Why, is he important?” Celestia nodded, “More important than anypony knows.” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves together, “I smell an origins story!” Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but immediately thought better of it. Sometimes, Pinkie Pie's answers only raise more questions, she thought to herself. Celestia looked at them, letting out a small sigh before continuing, “A long time ago, centuries even before the attack by Nightmare Moon, Equestria was a very different place. There were three main races that traversed the lands. They were the ponies of course, the gryphons, and the dragons.” Fluttershy let out a meep at the word dragon. Celestia ignored her and kept going, “The ponies were led by myself and Luna. We did our best to keep the peace between the gryphons and dragons, as well as provide goods, like food and tools, for everypony.” “So wait ah' minute, if ya'll made all the goods, what could have ya possibly gotten in return?” asked Applejack. “We were given knowledge and safety,” Princess Celestia replied. “You see, the gryphons were great scholars. Most of them traveled the world gathering knowledge.” Celestia smiled, “Their leader, Timus the Sage, took all of that information and cataloged it in their great library. Over the years, the number of books in that library grew to exceed even the Canterlot Royal Library.” “They have a place like that?” Twilight said excitedly. “Why did you never tell me? Imagine all the spells gathered, all the history, all the--” “All the ashes,” Celestia said quietly. “The library was destroyed immediately before the fall of the Gryphon Kingdom.” “Oh,” Twilight said. “I'm sorry Princess, I didn't know.” Celestia gave Twilight a sad look, “It's alright Twilight, I didn't expect you to know.” “Oh my,” Fluttershy said quietly. “What happened?” Celestia looked at her, “Crom happened.” “I'm going to ask you to stop right there.” Rainbow whipped her head around to see the source of the voice. Rainbow's eyes widened when she saw a unicorn stallion wearing a black dragon mask and a black cloak emerge from the corner. Rainbow's surprise only grew when Twilight said through gritted teeth, “That's him. He's the pony who attacked me at the library.” “Ya' got a lot a nerve coming here,” growled Applejack. “Indeed,” Celestia said. “Though I do thank you for saving me the trouble of having to track you down.” As Celestia spoke, her horn started glowing bright white. “I take it you have come to surrender yourself?” The masked stallion chuckled, “Hardly. I have simply come here to keep you from spreading lies about Lord Crom.” Rainbow couldn't believe her ears. Here was a regular pony actually challenging Princess Celestia! “I guess I'll have to use force then won't I?” He just spread his arms, baring his chest to Celestia, “Fire at will.” Celestia complied immediately, loosing a bright white bolt at the stallion. Rainbow cringed in anticipation of the impact, but it never came! The bolt passed harmlessly through him, obliterating the chair behind him. The stallion lowered his arms and shook his head. “It's a real shame when our great and powerful leader cannot even tell when somepony is using a basic projection spell.” “What do you want?” asked Celestia through gritted teeth. “I already told you, I'm here to prevent you from spreading your lies.” “Crom was a monster that ruined the Gryphon Kingdom and nearly destroyed Equestria,” spat Celestia. “He is the greatest dragon to ever draw breath and he is entitled to take what's his,” he shot back “His demands were outrageous!” cried Celestia exasperatedly. “We could never accept them!” “They were completely fair!” the stallion practically shouted back. “He was Equestria's defender! He made those who would do us harm think twice! You should have given him anything he wanted!” “He wanted ponies for food!” “We would have gone willingly!” the stallion roared, shooting little plumes of flame from his mouth as he spoke. “We would give our lives to please him!” The entire room went silent, save for Spike's snoring. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what this mysterious stallion was saying. This stallion is completely insane! Rainbow thought to herself. Who would want to be eaten by a dragon? “You have got to be kidding me!” Rarity finally cried. “Why would anypony want to give themselves over to such a brutish creature?” “A brute? That's what you think he is?” the stallion said quietly. “Such a description does not fit him. He was a king; a god! Do you know what he did for Equestria? He and his flight of dragons were our sole defenders. They kept the dark denizens of the world away from our little country.” The stallion's eyes narrowed and his voice filled with malice, “That is, until he was betrayed by those he swore to protect. His demands were simple, easy to meet.” He turned to face Celestia, “All you had to do was let him have a few ponies. But no, you defied your defender, snubbing centuries of servitude.” “He had no right to ask for ponies,” Celestia said calmly. “He had every right! Do you know how many of his dragons fell to defend us?” Celestia glared at him, “I am well aware of what the dragons had to do to keep us safe. Don't you ever say that I don't know what they sacrificed.” “Then why,” roared the stallion. “Why did you not sacrifice a few ponies in return?” Celestia looked him in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity before replying, “Those dragons died to protect the ponies and gryphons. To sacrifice them in such a needless way would have dishonored their memories.” The masked stallion laughed loudly, the sound chilling Rainbow to the bone. “It would have dishonored them? That was your reason? You were a fool. When you denied to give our lord his do, that would have caused them more pain than a useless death.” “Which your lord seemed determined to give them,” Celestia said coldly. “Well, when a foal misbehaves you punish it, so our lord did the same.” Celestia looked away from the stallion, unable to bear the sight of him, “So if my reasons for leaving him were foolish, then what are the reasons for your joining him?” The stallion immediately clammed up. For the first time since he appeared, the stallion seemed at a loss for words. “My reasons for joining him?” he spun around, facing away from the group. “I think I'm going to take my leave. I'm sure we'll speak again in the future.” “Wait!” Twilight called out. “What's your name?” Everypony stared at Twilight in shock. The stallion chuckled, “You think I'm going to just tell you my name? You really are foolish.” Twilight shook her head, “I didn't think you would. So what should we call you then?” The stallion paused, “Hmmmm. How about Acre? I am the avatar of Lord Crom, so why not?.” With that, the illusionary Acre disappeared, leaving the room once again in silence. Rainbow glanced over to her friends to try and see what they were thinking. Applejack's mouth was twisted into a scowl, her eyes seething with anger. Fluttershy was curled in a ball, trembling, while Rarity patted her on the shoulder, trying to calm the shy pegasus. Pinkie Pie's hair had lost its color, but had yet to lose its bounce, her eyes starting to tear up. The look on Twilight's face was one of pure concentration. Rainbow could see the wheels in her head turning as she put every bit of new information into place. Rainbow felt anger welling up inside her at the sight. “Who does he think he is?” she said. “He attacks Twilight, then he comes in here and tries to convince us he's the good guy? If I could've gotten a hold of him, I would have taught him a lesson.” Applejack gave Rainbow a fierce grin, “Yeah. And Ah' would've been there with the next one.” “Princess,” Twilight Sparkle said quietly. “Could you please finish your tale. I want to get all of the facts.” Princess Celestia smiled inwardly at her student, “Of course. In return for protection, the ponies provided Crom and his dragons with great living quarters, the architecture of each rivaling even that of Canterlot Castle, and took decades to build. The gryphons provided them with rare and strange gems they discovered on their travels.” Rarity's eyes brightened at the mention of rare gems, but she respectfully kept silent, making a mental note to ask the Princess about it later. “After decades of meeting his demands,” continued the Princess, “Crom started demanding more and more. It grew to the point that we could barely finish one project before having to start on the next one. His greed knew no bounds till finally he demanded the ponies and gryphons to give them foals and hatchlings.” Applejack wrinkled her nose in disgust, “What in tarnation would a bunch a dragons do with foals and hatchlings?” “Applejack, when dragons get bigger they need more than just gems to sustain themselves,” Twilight said flatly. “They become carnivorous, hunting other creatures for food.” Fluttershy started trembling and it looked to Rainbow like she was going to burst into tears. “Okay, I'm pretty sure we can guess what they wanted them for, can we move on please?” Rainbow nodded her head towards the terrified pegasus. Celestia nodded her head, “When Crom gave us this demand, Timus and myself both immediately refused. We could not meaninglessly throw away the lives that so many dragons had died to protect. When Crom heard of our refusal, he became enraged and declared war upon us.” Celestia turned away from the group and stepped over to the window. She took a deep breath before continuing, “The destruction he wrought was unimaginable. Entire towns gone, with no warning or fighting chance. The gryphons were the first to strike back, halting his advance temporarily. Crom turned his entire force on the Gryphon Kingdom, and wiped it out. Crom personally led the flight against the great library reducing the whole place to ash. Timus lost his life defending that library, choosing to fight Crom face to face to buy time. His sacrifice saved dozens of lives.” Celestia paused again, struggling to maintain her calm. When she resumed speaking her voice was flat and even, “The surviving gryphons regrouped and joined up with our troops. Our combined forces were able to hold back the dragons for a time. But my sister and I knew it was not to last, so we came up with a plan. Alone, a pony is no match for a mid-size, let alone a full size dragon, and when they attacked in numbers, we lost most of our advantages over them.” “What we needed were ponies that could, on their own, defeat a dragon. We ended up getting so much more.” Twilight furled her brow, “What do you mean?” “It was Luna's idea actually. We used an old magic syphon spell to transfer magic from one pony to another, only on much larger scale.” “How big of a scale?” asked Twilight with wide eyes. “The whole pony race,” said Celestia. Rainbow watched in amusement as Twilight's jaw dropped. “Wh-wh-what do you mean the whole race?” sputtered the unicorn. “I mean the entire Pony race. Princess Luna and myself labored for days on the spell, checking every tiny detail to make sure it was perfect. The actual casting of the spell lasted but an instant, drawing magic in from every pony and storing it in six crystals. Those crystals were actually a precursor to something you ponies know a lot about.” “The Elements of Harmony!” Twilight practically shouted. “Correct. The elements were created using a similar spell. With our spell now complete, Princess Luna chose six ponies to wield them. They donned the crystals and went out to face the dragons on their own. The power they wielded was beyond even my expectations. They tore through the dragons, scattering the army to the four winds.” “Alright!” Rainbow cried triumphantly, a huge grin on her face . “I'm glad somepony gave those overgrown lizards a good beat down.” “Indeed they did Rainbow Dash. But the victory was short lived.” Rainbow's grin immediately disappeared. “I thought they were kicking all kinds of flank! What could stop them?” “Crom,” Celestia stated flatly. “Crom himself took the battlefield. The ensuing fight lasted for hours, neither side willing to give up. In the end the six warriors were victorious, but they were unable to destroy Crom. They managed to seal him away, where he could do nopony harm ever again.” Everypony in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief, the tension that had been building in the room finally released. “But all was not well. While Crom was being sealed away, one of the warriors was fatally wounded, the magic of the crystal being useless for healing him. His tomb eventually became the resting place of the other five, each choosing to be with their comrade, and it is where the crystals were hidden.” “Ya' mean ta tell me, that the greatest weapon known ta ponykind is just sitting in a tomb in the Everfree Forest?” Applejack asked skeptically. Princess Celestia shook her head, “Of course not. There are powerful enchantments and fail safes around them, along with the wildness of the forest, they are completely safe.” “So, what does this have to do with us?” asked Rainbow. Celestia took a deep breath, “I need you six to venture into the forest and retrieve them. If Crom is indeed returning, then it is going to take more than the Elements of Harmony to stop him.” Everypony exchanged looks, each knowing what had to be done. Rainbow Dash stood up, “I'm in. Any dragon that thinks he can mess with me is in for a big surprise.” “Ah'm in to. Ah've got to keep an eye on this hot head.” “Hey!” cried Rainbow indignantly. “Well,” Rarity interjected before Rainbow could reply. “It would be very uncouth of me if I just allowed some ruffian to have his way, so I'm in too.” “Well I'm going,” said Twilight. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime. All the magic and history there. Who knows what we could find?” “I'm all for an adventure!” said Pinkie Pie with a huge smile. “Adventures have all sorts of fun stuff like treasure and pirates and huge parties and-” “I think we get it,” Twilight said. “I don't know,” Fluttershy said quietly. “The Everfree Forest is full of awful stuff. And won't those ponies from the cult try and stop us?” Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder. “Don't you worry about that. Anypony that tries to mess with us will get a lot more than they bargained for. Besides you faced down a dragon before, so this is exactly the same.” “I guess so. I'll just have to find somepony to take care of the animals while I'm gone.” Princess Celestia smiled, “I'm sure that can be arranged. The crytals are only a back-up plan. Since the dragon cult has shown their faces, then the royal guard can track them down, hopefully before they break Crom's seal. You shouldn't even have to face Crom.” “Alright then,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “We'll leave in two days. That should give everypony enough time to prepare and make arrangements. Is that alright?” Everypony in the room nodded, “Well okay then let's do this!”