//------------------------------// // Now, It's Gone... // Story: The Tale of Hellfire // by Ceehoff //------------------------------// The Tale of Hellfire Chapter 2 Written and Drawn by Ceehoff "Ten-HUT!" "Yes, ma'am!" "Alllll right, troops! This is it! The opportunity to show me what you can really do! A dragon is running amuck, and it's terrorizing Ponyville! We've got to kill the beast before the beast kills them! Failure is not an option! Give 'em he--!" "Obsidiaaaa," Golden Dune said with a increasing, stern tone of warning. "We do not tolerate that kind of language here." "Sorry, mommy..." the little filly hung her head. She turned back to her troops. "I mean, give 'em the ol' left-right! Do I make myself clear?!" She quickly leapt from her place and next to her little toy soldiers, lowering her voice, as well as minimizing it. "Yes, Captain Obsidia, ma'am!" She leapt back to her original spot, and lifted her wooden sword with her magic. "All right! CHAAAARRRRGE!!" The little filly hopped onto her rump, grabbing her toy soldiers with her magic. "Yaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" she whispered. Then, she grabbed her stuffed dragon, rocking it back and forth. "Rargh, rargh, rargh!" "There's the dragon, ponies! Give it to 'im!" Her toy soldiers repeatedly bumped into the stuffed dragon's large belly. "Whoosh! Ka-ching! Whoosh! Ka-ching! Whoosh! Clang! Clank!" he mimicked sound effects, causing little droplets of saliva to fly out of her mouth. "Raaaaaargh!! Whoooooshhh!" she mimicked the sound of a rushing column of fire, as well as the sound of burning villages and ponies. "Sizzle, sizzle! Ahhhhh! It burns!" "Oh, no! The dragon's scales are too thick to puncture through! We're all doomed! Ohhhhh, the agonyyyyyyy! Agonyyyyyy!" she wailed before she accidentally tipped over one of her soldiers. "No time for sleeping, Private!" Sitting next to his wife on the couch just a few feet away from Obsidia, Hellfire sat and watched as his cheeks began to ache from his smiling. He watched every little move his little daughter made, from the vibration of her little lips, her franticly waving forelegs, the faces she makes when she mimics voices, and the little cardboard Royal Guard helmet that rattled around her head like a bell. Hell, who needed a stand-up comedian just to be entertained? "BWOOSH!!" the little filly hissed, knocking down a Lincolt-Log house. "Oh, no! There goes town hall! What'll we do?!" "We have to retreat! The beast is too powerful! Retreat!" "Are you crazy, Sergeant?! We can't turn back now! If you are all going to be wusses about it, then I'll defeat the beast myself!" She hopped up and grabbed her wooden sword with her magic. "Have at thee, behemoth!" she hollered before she began whacking the stuffed dragon like a dirty rug. "Yah! HA! Whooo-CHA! Snack on this! Too slow! Annnnnnnd, thrust home!" She slide the blade between the stuffed dragon's pear-shaped body and the inside of its stubby arm. "Rarrrrrrrrghh... Yaaaarrrghh... Bleaaaaaahhhh..." she mimicked the dragon's death rattle before pushing it over onto its back. Then, Obsidia ran out of the room and ran up the stairs. When she came back down, she was carrying crumpled sheets of red construction paper. She dumped them on top of the "dead" dragon. "Ha-HAAA, you vile creature! Your bloodshed has ended, because your blood has been shed! VICTORYYYY!" She leapt and crouched near her toy soldiers. "Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!" Hellfire chuckled to Golden Dune. "An imaginative little one, isn't she?" However, his wife had other thoughts. "It seems all so violent. It's like she has been bringing up every single little detail about battles. Have you been telling her stories about your missions?" "Mmmmmaybe," he coughed coyly. "Honey, please!" she groaned. "Look at her! Don't you think that she is a little young to be exposed to that kind of detail? She's only a little foal." "She was going to find out eventually, darling. Better early than too late. I don't want her to think being a Royal Guard is all a game to be played. It's much more than that. Being a Royal Guard means sacrifice. It means bravery, more than one would imagine to acquire. It means being ready to be greeted by death every single day." Golden Dune winced at the mention of "death". She hugged around his collar area tighter. Hellfire could easily sense her uneasiness. "Calm yourself, darling," the stallion said soothingly, giving her a consoling smile. "Everything will be all right. She will do fine, I promise you." "I'm not just worried about her, though," she said, not releasing her grip from her lover. He was slightly taken back by what she said. He smiled again. "Don't worry, love. I'm still alive and breathing. I always will be. It would not take a thousand enemy soldiers to allow death to separate me from you or Obsidia." "But..." she asked before looking up to him. "What if we did get separated by death? What then? I mean, all the possibilities! I... I-I-I couldn't possibly imagine the pain and suffering that we would go through without you! Obsidia would grow up without her father and I would be a mere, weeping widow and--." "Darling!" Hellfire barked, forcefully, yet gently turning her head to face his. "Darling... Don't imagine such horrid things. You needn't worry about it. Everything will be okay." WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! The door resounded mightily by heavy hooves from behind, startling the entire family of three. "I'll get it," Golden Dune said when she hopped off the couch. She walked toward the window of the living room, which was directly next to the foyer. Pushing a curtain slightly to the side, she peeked through the window to see two Royal Guards standing at the front door. Their hooves shifted hastily over the welcome mat, and their faces were tense with action. Their chests were expanding and deflating at a fast rate. "Hellfire? I believe these two are meaning to see you." The orange unicorn's eyebrows rose on his forehead in interest. "Really? Who are they?" "Royal Guards." This time, the orange unicorn's eyebrows lowered in concern. He hopped off the sofa and trotted quickly up to the door so he would not keep them waiting. He opened the door and was immediately met with salutes. "Sir! We (pant) come with some (pant) crucial news!" one said while trying to regain his breath. "What is it?" he asked. "A dragon," the other said, trying to regain his breath as well. "Fully matured. It's on the loose." "A dragon? Where?" Hellfire said as his expression deepened. "The last we saw it, it was heading towards the edge of the Everfree Forest. Plus, it was heading directly toward Ponyville!" one of the two guards said. "And its attitude isn't faring well, either," said the other. "You two stay here," the orange stallion said, eyes fully responding to the call of duty. "I'll be back." He ran up the stairs to his bedroom, where he saw his duffel bag lying in the already open closet. He snatched it up with his magic and threw it onto the bed, unzipping it. All of his protective gear erupted from the open seam of the bag like magma and engulfed him completely like a snake wrapping itself around his body. He grabbed his sword from underneath the bed and held it up to his face. He pulled at the sword handle, and a shimmering, chromatic section of his sword peeked out, reflecting the sunset from outside onto his face. "It's nice and sharp. Excellent," he said to himself. Sheathing it back into the scabbard, he quickly strapped the sword onto his left side. He glided down the stairs in full armor. He was facing the door leading out, but he did not leave before he placed a hoof on his wife's cheek. "I've got to go, Dune. Once we get this predicament settled, I will return to you," he said, staring intently into her moist eyes. "I swear upon the Sisters." The blonde mare threw her forelegs around her husband's neck, pressing her muzzle into the crook of his neck, which was partially protected by his armor. "Please return safely..." she whispered, muffled into his body. "I will." "All right, Daddy! I'm ready!" said a small voice just below them. The hugging ponies looked down to see Obsidia, wearing her cardboard Royal Guard helmet and holding a kitchen knife with her magic. Her small chest was pressed out in front of her proudly. "Let's go!" she cheered, thrusting her kitchen knife up into the air. "No, Obsidia," Hellfire said without hesitation. The filly's eyes shot open and her proud posture suddenly dropped into a whining, defeated mess. "What??" she squeaked in utter disbelief, dropping her kitchen knife and cardboard shield. "Whyyy?" "It's too dangerous! You have to stay here with your mother." The filly's mouth hung open and her eyebrows bunched together as her head looked back and forth between her father and mother. "But, Daddy! You promised that I would come with you on your next mission! You promised!" she cried, stomping her hoof loudly on the ground. A sharp knife stabbed through his conscious, leaving venom of guilt in its wake. However, his expression was unchanged. He lowered his head to meet hers. "I know I did, but this is out of the question. Dragons are dangerous and relentless creatures when they are fully matured. They will kill anything that stands in its path when it is enraged. I don't want you to be killed, Obsidia." "But... You promised..." "I know I did!" he barked, startling his daughter. "But you can't come. That is final. I have spoken." "But... But--!" she sputtered, nearing the brink of tears. She turned to Golden Dune. "Mommy! He promised me that I would go with him!" "I know he did, baby, but you have to stay here this time," she said, loyal to her husband's wishes. "It's too dangerous for you to come along with him." Obsidia gasped as tears steadily began to fill her eyes. "Nothing is too dangerous for a Royal Guard! Nothing!" "But, you're not one," her mother said bluntly and abruptly. That did it. The filly gasped even louder. Never in her life had she felt so much betrayal. Her own parents? The two ponies who raised her, fed her, clothed her, cared for her, and loved her were betraying her? Worse, they were denying her dream?? It was not like that to Hellfire and Golden Dune, but to Obsidia, it was just like that. She could only gawk sadly at her parents, gasping in hurt. Then, she mightily pounded her hoof into the ground, expelling a loud grunt that was deeply brewing in her chest. "How could you?!" she shouted with her voice being shaken by angry tears. Then, she whipped around back to Hellfire. "You broke your promise! I trusted you! How could you do this to me?! I... I will never talk to you ever again, you--! You--! You big meanie!!" In an eye blink, she was darting up the stairs, trying her best to conceal her tears. Her sniffling was silenced by the distant "slam!" of her bedroom door. Then, it grew quiet, except for the breathing of the four ponies standing in the foyer of the house. However, one's breathing was noisier than the others. Hellfire's jaw was tight with his clenching muscles. As young as Obsidia was, she had the fury of a grown mare, enough to make the burliest stallion meek and silent. He felt a warm hoof slither over his slender cheek. "You did the right thing, Hellfire," Golden Dune softly said, coaxing him out of his guilt. "Even the smallest of kittens still has sharp claws," he blankly replied. "She'll get over it, darling. She might thank you later." "I hope so." "Sir," one of the guards said with urgency. "We've got to move now." "Right," Hellfire nodded to him before turning back to his wife. "Stay here and be safe. Lock her bedroom door. We never know if she is ever going to make some daring escape again." "She will be safe with me. She is not going to leave my sight until you come home." She slung her forelegs around his neck for a tight hug in case if was the very last time she would be able to see him. They both knew when it came to rampaging dragons, anything could happen, most likely the worst. He never wished to, but he had to separate the embrace. There was no time to lose. He turned to the two guards and placed his helmet on his head. "Lead the way," he said. "Sir!" And just like that, they were gone, running toward the military camp, leaving the golden mare behind to worry and pray for the best. She never looked away from the direction the three stallions ran to. She leaned onto the doorway, lightly stroking it, trying to calm herself from imagining the worst possible scenarios. She never noticed the rope ladder snaking down from the second story window of the house around the opposite corner. A small, tan pony easily slid down to the end, landing on all four hooves. After adjusting her askew cardboard helmet, she crept up to the corner and craned her neck around it to see Golden Dune still standing there. The moment she saw her, the little filly crawled up behind the shrubbery and sat there for a good full minute until the mare slowly went back inside the house. "Go ahead, mommy," she mumbled. "Lock me in my room but, that's not going to do any good. Whether you or Daddy like it or not, I'm helping with the mission! I will be a Royal Guard! I will! I'll prove it!" Then, she ran toward the military camp as well. Meanwhile, Golden Dune was slowly ascending the stairs. She walked down the hall until she was directly in front of Obsidia's bedroom door. Out of motherly and curious instinct, she placed her ear against the door to hear any sort of crying, loud sniffling, or other outcries of frustration and disappointment. She heard nothing. She gripped her chest with her hoof and swallowed. Sometimes, silence is not a good thing, until she heard a smooth hissing of oxygen. She sighed in relief. "Oh, thank the Sisters!" she praised their name quietly. "She's fallen asleep. Poor thing's wasted a large chunk of energy from that fit she had earlier. Bless her heart." She turned the lock into the locking position, until she heard an even longer, louder hissing of oxygen. In fact, she swore she heard something whistle drearily. Then, she felt something cold blow past her hooves. Since when did Obsidia's room temperature grow so cold? And windy? And... silent? "Oh, no..." she peeped. She flicked the lock back into its unlocking position and threw the door open, which was being pushed by the wind going through the open window. A rope ladder was fastened around one of the posts of the bed and the other end crept out of the window, limply hanging over the end. "OBSIDIA!" she screamed in fright. She began to hyperventilate until she saw one of the little filly's hoof paint cups on the floor, spilling bright yellow paint onto the floor. Near the puddle of paint were yellow hoof-prints that led up to the window, made a small cluster on the wall and fade on the edge of the windowsill. Running up to the window, she looked down at the end of the rope ladder and saw more of the yellow hoof-prints making a trail around the corner of the house. She pushed herself back off from the windowsill, scrambled down the stairs, and pushed through the front door to see more hoof-prints cutting in front of the house and up the street towards the military camp. "Oh, no, no, no!" she fretted in her breath, running like the wind. ---------- "Do you see it yet??" shouted Hellfire over the wind blasting past him as he was riding a flying carrier wagon heading to Ponyville. "Not yet, sir! It should be near the edge of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville! Only when it breathes fire would its position be given away!" answered the pegasus driver. "I've got a report saying that this one is bucking pissed off, so it should be any second now!" "'Bucking'... Never heard of that word before. I wonder what that means. Maybe I should ask Mrs. Quill next class," muttered Osidia, who was tightly gripping on one of the axles underneath the wagon with all four legs. However, none of the guards on the wagon heard her. Furthermore, they did not know that she was even under there, because she was able to sneak up and grab onto the wagon the second it launched. "INCOMING!!" she heard a guard shout. The next thing she saw at the corner of her eye was a torn out tree trunk flying at the wagon like a missile. When it collided, the entire wagon violently jerked to the other side, causing her to slide along the pole and hit her head against the inside of the wheel. Nearly losing her consciousness, she lost her grip on the axle. However, she managed to grab it again, only this time, with one hoof. Her cardboard shield and her kitchen knife were still tightly strapped onto her waist. She squeaked in fright when she saw how high she was, higher than the towering trees of the forest. She swung back and forth as the flying wagon swayed, trying to keep a straight course. "What the hell was that?!" Hellfire shouted. "That'd be the dragon, sir! See!" the pegasus driver pointed, pinpointing a bright orange glow in the distance. "Damn! That thing has arms like cannons!" another guard exclaimed. "Well, no kidding, Private Bucking Obvious! It's a matured dragon, for buck's sake!" said the guard sitting next to him. "INCOMING!!" Another torn tree trunk launched at them, but this time, they were able to dodge it. The pegasus drivers violently swerved down, avoiding a brutal headshot. "Watch those trees below! Veer up! Veer up!" The tips of the trees below them brushed and whipped the underside of the wagon. One tree tip managed to knock Obsidia clean off the axle. Screaming, she fell towards the darkness of the forest with branches and other foliage whipping against her body relentlessly, fortunately slowing her fall. In a small cloud of flying leaves, she finally landed into a bush. She crawled out, spitting out the leaves that crept into her mouth, along with some unripe berries. She craned her head around to inspect her body. Other than the scratches, sap, and smudges of dirt, she was fine. Plus, her cardboard helmet was still in one piece. The sound of a rocking tree caught her attention. Through the leaves and branches, she saw the wagon flying overhead, still trying to veer back into a straight flying path. An orange glow illuminated among the thick trunks of the tree toward where the coach was flying. "I'm coming to help, Daddy," she said before she ran off. ---------- "OBSIDIA!! Oh, my Goddess!" shrieked the hysterical Golden Dune the moment she saw her little filly fall into the darkest reaches of the forest. "You've got to land the chariot now! In the forest!" "Yes, ma'am," replied the chariot driver. She thanked the stars that there was one chariot left in the hangar after the rest had launched off toward the mission objective. The moment she saw her little filly fly away, hap-hazardously hitching herself on the axle of the carrier wagon, she had nearly dropped to her knees and collapse into a fretful, defeated mess until she saw the extra chariot. "Around there!" she pointed to the trees that were still rocking back and forth from the carrier wagon's near-accident. Her blood suddenly flowed up to her head as the driver sharply dove toward the area where she pointed. The driver leaned to one side, circling around it as he descended. Finally, the chariot landed. The branches knocked off by Obsidia's fall snapped and sprung from underneath the metallic-painted wheels. The blonde mare leapt out of the carriage. "Thank you so much, sir," she said with an urgently thankful curtsy. "You're welcome, ma'am," he said with a nod. "Should I remain here until you return?" "That'd be great," she hastily replied before dashing off into the darkness of the forest. She could see the orange glow in the distance from the dragon's fire along with the yellow hoof prints that lead straight to it. "Obsidiaaaaaaaaa!" she called, running like there was no tomorrow. ---------- "Landing!" the driver pegasus of the carrier wagon called to the soldiers in the back. "Ten seconds!" Hellfire turned to his platoon. "All right, stallions! You know what I had said to you earlier today? About proving to me that you are the best damn platoon a stallion could ever ask for? Well, now is time to prove it! Give up or give him hell!" "Four seconds!" HURAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHH! Each spine sitting in the wagon cringed in discomfort after the air-piercing roar of the infernal beast waiting for them outside. "Two seconds!" They felt the wagon bounce over what felt like burnt twigs and rubble. They jerked briskly to one side after the abrupt halt of the carrier wagon. They could hear the click of the latch sealing them in open. The door swung open and their eyes were instantly harassed by a bright, orange, hellish glow of a roaring inferno surrounding them. The air waves emitting from the inferno stung the flesh under their coats like acid. "GO, GO, GO!" Hellfire shouted, forcing them to charge forward. One soldier ran out, until a huge boulder bounded on top of him as it flew by. Only a large patch of blood and a splintered helmet remained in its wake. The rest jumped, startled at the sudden, swift, and highly unfortunate death of their comrade. "WHOA! HOLY SHIT!" one of the soldiers shouted in shock. "Move, move, move! Keep moving, dammit!" the orange leader coerced his platoon. They scrambled out of the wagon like cattle. As soon as they got out, they saw their target towering over them behind a flock of tall, burning towers of what used to be trees. It scales glowed a deeper, hellish red against the flames and its razor sharp, jagged claws were stained with tree branches, sap, and blood of unfortunate ponies. A swarm of flying spears cut through the air, deflecting off of the behemoth's yellow, scaled belly, leaving hardly any scratches. "Aim for the head! Aim for the head!" Shining Armor screamed from behind a line of unicorns soldiers. "FIRE!" Another swarm of spears lanced through the boiling air, flying swiftly toward the dragon's head. The dragon read their strategy like a book. Its massive, muscular chest expanded as it inhaled a massive ball of air. As soon as the spears were about one fifty yards away from its face, the behemoth expelled a massive maelstrom of a seething inferno from its mouth. The spears burned into ash instantly like feathers. However, the beast did not let up its pillar of fire just yet. The massive column of fire expanded, engulfing an unwary platoon of pegasi soldiers, who were circling the monster. The painful, agonizing wails of the unfortunate pack of pegasi were flooded by the whooshing of the airborne inferno. Seconds later, they fell out of the cloud and landed onto the ground, twisting, turning, screaming, retching until they were nothing more than a burning pile of flesh. Just seeing the ghastly sight nearly made Hellfire sick to his stomach. However, that was not the time to act squeamish. He knew that a Royal Guard must not give in to ghastly sights of brutality. He lead his soldiers to join Shining Armor's platoon. "Captain! What's the report?!" he shouted over the commotion. "We've lost twenty seven of our troops, including Lieutenant Hammersmith! He was leading this platoon before I had to jump in and commandeer it! That dragon had torn him up into a bloody mess!" he replied as he pointed to the fallen lieutenant. He was lying in a pool of blood, which was leaking from the gaping, crescent wound that revealed small bits of his rib cage underneath. A long, deep gash slanted all the way down his face, running over his eye. "Damn! Has there been any progress in stifling this beast?!" "Horn magic! That was able to stop the beast for a while, but it takes more than seven unicorns to take him down!" "All right, Captain! That's good enough! My platoon and I will back you up!" "Couldn't have asked for anything better myself!" Hellfire whipped around, pointing out to different stallions. "You seven! Take a lance and wait for my signal! The rest of you! Back up the captain's line and use your magic against that dragon! Move!" "SIR!" they replied. They dispersed in an eye blink. The seven unicorns joined the line and their horns glowed brightly in union with the other platoon's. The dragon's torso was engulfed in a rainbow of mixed auras as it was being vicious tugged down. It roared in strain and defiance, trying to pull itself out of it. However, the magic was too strong, having it being annexed to by fresh reinforcements. It was yanked down onto its massive chest, causing the ground to shake from its hard fall. Its back was being mercilessly scratched and hacked by the spears swung and hurled by the swooping pegasus troops. It twisted and clawed on the ground, growing angrier and more irritated by the incessant beatings of the troops. "We got you now, you bastard!" Hellfire grinned in triumph. "Now! Skewer its brain!" The seven unicorns armed with spears charged toward the beast with the sharp ends pointing straight at its eyes. However, somehow, the orange stallion knew in the back of his mind that this would probably be too early to celebrate. The dragon roared mightily against the charging troops, blowing them away with the gust, mixed with its putrid breath. To the dragon's luck, the unicorns blown away by its roar had collided into the line of unicorns, wiping all but three unicorns out onto the ground. However, it did not stop there. It kept roaring until black smoke escaped its throat, shooting it directly at the pile of dazed troops, including Hellfire and Shining Armor. Hellfire felt as if his lungs were filled to the brim of the aerial filth as he cough and gasped for a lick of fresh air. His eyes burned as the smoke made contact with his teary eyes. He pawed through the smoke for a telltale sign of a nearby soldier. His hoof finally made contact with another groping hoof. He tried shouting to him, but his ears were ringing furiously from the dragon's loud roar. It took about a quarter of a minute for the ringing in his ears to slowly diminish. He began to hear the soldier's coughing in front of him. He also heard the sound of air whistling past an vast, incoming mass. Suddenly, a giant, tree-trunk-thick mass landed directly in front of him, making him bounce on top of the ground. He felt hot, pasty liquid splatter against his outreaching hoof. The flying debris diminished and Hellfire could see his hoof still holding the hoof in front of him, covered in fresh blood, which trailed from the mouth of the hoof's owner. He looked up to see the soldier with the entire lower half of his body crushed flat into a bloody pulp, a mess of broken bones, and exploded organs. He cried out in shock as he scrambled away from the squashed corpse. Suddenly, his shoulder was violently grabbed, forcefully turning him around to face the screaming face of Shining Armor. "C'mon! Get up! The dragon crushed most of the unicorns who were trying to pin him down! It's a no-win! We've got to retreat!" "What!? Are you crazy?! We can't turn back! It'll destroy Ponyville next!" "We don't have any other choice! We need to re-crop and regroup! If we stay here any longer, we are all dead! You hear me?! Bucking dead!" Hellfire's head turned to see the twisted, mangled bodies that were crushed by the dragon's massive tail. He saw the burning corpses scattered over the ground like torches. He could only see a small number of troops trying to vend it off. One was snatched up by the dragon's maw and was gnawed to bits. Raining drops of blood and torn pieces of armor rained in his wake. He snarled in frustration. "Dammit!" he growled before he pushed himself up and ran alongside his captain. He saw the carrier wagon land fifteen yards in front of him. He climbed on, calling for the remaining troops to climb on after. "Come on! Come on! On the wagon! On the wagon!" Then, amongst the bobbing, armored heads of the guards, Hellfire saw something that he wished he would have not seen at such a time like this. ---------- The glow coming from behind the trees glowed brighter. Plus the sounds coming from behind them were growing progressively louder and clearer. "There they are!" Obsidia exclaimed, darting quickly toward the lights. He unsheathed her sharp kitchen knife sword from her belt and ducked into the bushes that resided on the edge of the border of the empty patch of the forest. "Retreat!" she heard a soldier shout amongst the clamor. "They have ordered the retreat?" squeaked Obsidia from inside the bush. "Not on my watch!" She leapt out of the bushes, crying out the loudest battle-cry her small lungs would allow. She landed majestically onto the ground, facing the commotion with a confident grin. "Come on! Come on! On the wagon! On the wagon!" she heard her father in the distance. She thrusted her knife into the air, silently hoping that some light would dramatically reflect from her weapon and into her father's eyes. However, he seemed to have seen her anyway. His eyes grew wide in utter terror just two seconds he laid them onto her. "Don't worry, Daddy! Royal Guard Obsidia is here to--!" "NO! OBSIDIA, GO! RUN! NOW!" "I will do no such thing, Daddy! A Royal Guard never runs aw--!" A loud crashing sound erupted next to the filly, which wiped her face clear of the confident grin she just had on and substituted it with a look of sudden terror. Her eyes slowly shifted toward her side, careful not to make any fast movements. She saw a massive, scaly foot, ornate with razor sharp, gleaming claws. They clawed viciously into the earth, tearing up the dead grass that was burnt in the fire. Her eyes trailed up the scaly foot, up to it muscular legs, its massive chest, its long, red, neck, and finally, its head, which was high above the treetops. She gasped loudly at the newly found terror. She had told herself many times that she was not afraid of dragons, but at that very moment, she realized that had underestimated reality. The dragon was so... Big... and... Scary... "OBSIDIA! GOOOO!" Hellfire shouted, throwing his forelegs to the side. The dragon recognized the look of fright residing on the orange stallion's face. Curious to see what he was looking at, the dragon lobbed its heavy head toward his side until he found the small filly standing ten yards away from its foot. Seeing that the filly had a look of fright on her face as well, its eyes squinted, subconsciously grinning in black, sick, evil humor. It bared its long teeth, emitting smoke and sparks from behind them. It pushed out the lowest and most menacing growl it ever growled. Frozen and crippled in fear, Obsidia dropped her knife and shield. Her breaths were more labored and shallow with fright as she slowly inched back. "Obsidia!" cried another voice from behind the foliage of the forest. Hellfire's spine suddenly grew bitterly cold the moment he heard that voice. Golden Dune leapt out of the foliage like a frightened deer and ran up to Obsidia, gripping her forcefully by the shoulders. "Obsidia! What in Princess Celestia's name do you think you're doing?? You can't run away from me like--!" She was cut off by a tearful squeak and a terrified hug from her daughter. "Obsidia, what--?" GRRRrrRrRRrrrrrrrrrr... The mare turned to the hellish sound. Seeing the monster's eyes fully focused on them with a fierce passion for sealing doom, she cried out in terror and hugged her child tighter. "GOLDEN DUNE!!" Hellfire shouted in terror piled on from the last one. "OBSIDIA! GET OUT OF THERE NOW! RUN!" The dragon grinned evilly inside. Its luck could not have been any juicier. It snarled in hellish delight. Golden Dune threw her daughter into her back and darted toward the forest, but was blocked by the dragon's tail. It snaked around the two ponies, creating a small area enclosing them in. The blonde mare's head whipped around, desperately searching for an opening. It was hopeless. The beast had covered all areas. Plus, the tail coiled on top of itself, creating a wall that was impossible to jump over. She heard growling overhead. The dragon's head was looking down at them like a vulture ready to make its dive. She pulled her whimpering daughter off of her back and hugged her close to her chest. The dragon roared directly at them, foreshadowing the worst kind of fate they would face together... "Obsidia... Obsidia, listen to me..." Golden Dune tearfully whispered to the crying filly. The dragon inhaled... Hellfire leapt out of the wagon... "Listen to me, baby... Hold on to me... I've got you..." An orange glow emerged from deep within the maw of the beast. "I'm here... Don't you ever leave my side..." Sparks emerged from inside its mouth... "I love you, my baby girl... I love you so much..." Its head thrusted forward... ... "Hellfire... I lov--." The dragon's fiery column engulfed them both. Bursts of shrieks and screams were flooded by the rush of the inferno. Two silhouettes slowly evaporated inside the rushing pillar of seething rage... Then, it was all over... ... A victorious roar from the dragon cut through the air, echoing for miles... ... Another roar was heard... It was full of anguish and an apocalyptic rage. Hellfire was running at full force, more than his muscles had ever pushed him. He blindly pulled his sword out of his sheath. "NNNRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!" he roared, blindly pushing toward the dragon. "Hellfire! What are you doing?!" Shining Armor shouted after him. However his voice feel upon deaf ears. "Attack! Attack! Charge forward! Kill the beast!" the orange stallion snarled. "After him! Get him back over here!" Two pegasi launched toward him, but were immediately met with retaliation. One was struck in the jaw with the end of Hellfire's sword. Then, the other was met with the blade, slashing him on the side of his body. He continued to charge forward while the two ponies were rolling on the ground. Shining Armor cursed in his breath. "Get him back here!" Four pegasi charged at Hellfire and were able to pin him down. He tried to hack at them with his sword, but one of them stood on it, pinning it to the ground. Hellfire thrashed, groaned, snarled, and cried out in anguished rage as he tried to break himself free. His hooves tore into the earth, still furiously pushing toward his target. Past the shifting legs of the troops pinning him down, he saw the dragon looking at him. Its half-lidded look and its venomous sneer made it clear that the beast was taunting him. It snorted and it turned toward the foliage of the forest. "YOU!! YOU BEAST FROM TARTARUS! YOU FIENDISH BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU FOUL CREATURE! YOU WILL RUE THE VERY DAY YOU HAVE CROSSED PATHS WITH ME! YOU WILL PAY! YOU! WILL! PA--!" A sudden surge of magic shot through his cranium and down his spine. Suddenly, his body went limp with crippling fatigue. Hellfire could not find the will to fight it. He roars of vengeance simmered down to weary, incomprehensible moans. His eyelids felt heavy as lead. A pair of white, smooth, slender, hooves, ornate with golden shoes were the last thing he saw before all was lost in blackness. "Golden Dune... Obsidia..." To be continued...