Defenders Assemble

by Maxis122

Chapter Seven : Mission One

Each of the members of the team were strapped into some kind of box machine. All they were told about it was that it was another prototype thing that they had been developing, called the VTOL. And it was going to get them to their destination in the fastest time. An uneasy emotion seemed to resonate in all of them as they sat together in silence. Max looked around, knowing that something was up between everyone. He wanted to say something, but being the only one from Trottingham, and the only stallion, it kind of singled him out.

“We’ll be over the drop zone in one minute” The pilot said through the speakers.

Everyone became slightly more uncomfortable as they could feel that the time was coming when they would be put straight into a conflict. Lyra looked up and noticed that the team was uneasy. Each one of them was trying to do something to get the feeling of their mind, but it was to no success.

“Hey, just remember” Lyra began, getting everyone's attention, “We’re a team, we look out for each other. Alright?”

The group nodded in unison. A green light then flashed above the door and it began to unlock itself. Twilight looked down at her mask, the one thing that could protect her precious identity. Each one of them put their masks on and stood together. This was it it. Time to go.

“Ready for this?” Derpy asked, looking to her side.

“As ready as I will ever be” Max nodded.

“Sure, it’ll be fun” Twilight joked.

The door then lowered and a blaze shot at the opening. The team ducked and then looked out at the fire which was building. What was wrong with this dragon? For a second the team stood together and watched. Max then jumped out of the safe space and landed on the ground. And with that, the rest of the team followed. They were now at ground zero.

Everything was burning, there was no one about. Just them in this town. This town they called home, well, most of them. Lyra took the lead and trotted forward first, and the rest of the team followed her. They could hear the dragon in the distance. He was close, but they needed to get closer.

“This place is a wreck” Max sighed as he watched the surroundings burn around him. He could feel the tension within the group. “I bet it was a nicer place before the dragon attacked”

“Yeah, it was” Lyra kept the pace up, she even might have sped up at that moment.

“I guess you don’t travel much then” Twilight suggested.

“With my curse, not likely” Max huffed as he kept his pace with the rest of the team.

“Go figure” Derpy then flapped her wings and began to hover.

The sounds of the dragons rage became increasingly loud as the team go closer and closer. They all then came to the side of a building, lined up and ready. Lyra took a quick look around the corner and saw the dragon. Nodding back to the team, they all prepared themselves. But in the second of them being ready to charge, they heard a boom in the sky.

“What the buck was that?” Max shouted as he walked out into the open to see what was going on.

He was then hit by a blast of air and was pushed back a little. The rest of the team began to emerge and look at what Max was looking at. In the sky was a splash of rainbow colours and a trail headed towards the dragon. The dragon had seemed to have caught something inside of its claw, something cyan blue. The dragon shook it about for a bit and then threw it in the direction of the ponies. Instinctively Derpy flew forward, but Max was faster and he shot forward - catching the cyan blue thing in the air and then flying back to the team.

In his hooves was an unconscious pony with rainbow hair. Max put his hoof to her neck to check her pulse and sighed in relief. She was out cold from the attack but she was lucky to still be alive. He then placed her down on the ground with her leaned up against the wall.

“Is she alright?!” Twilight cried as she knelt beside her friend.

“She’s just unconscious” Max explained as he felt her temperature, “What’s her name?”

“Rainbow Dash” Twilight said, still a little shaken by what happened.

“Alright, I’ll make sure she’s ok” Max said as he looked around to the rest of the group. He nodded and they nodded back, they knew what they needed to do.

“Let’s show this dragon why he doesn’t mess with home” Lyra shouted as she turned back to the dragon with the rest of the team behind her.

The dragon held its head in its claw as it seemed to be fighting some kind of headache. It took a moment until it shook its head and returned its gaze to the group ahead. Snarling, it picked up a rock and hurled it towards them. The group then began their charge, dodging the rock and picking up the pace. Derpy began to fly as she drew an arrow on her bow, ready to attack. Twilight began to charge some kind of magic and Lyra just kept on running at full pace. Each second felt like a year as they got closer and closer to the dragon.

With the group fully in motion, the dragon grabbed another rock and tossed it at them. Derpy fired her arrow at the rock, the arrow head then exploded, causing the rock to be shattered. Twilight then used her magic to take the rock shards and create a board. Lyra used this as an opportunity to get closer and she jumped onto this board. Twilight then threw this board at the dragon with full momentum. When it was about to collide with the dragon, Lyra jumped off it and landed on the dragons head.

In a moment of confusion, the dragon crossed its eyes as it tried to search for the pony that stood on its head. It then began to shake its head and swipe. Lyra held on for few moments before she lost her grip on the dragons head. She fell down and grabbed the dragons claw as it moved up. In an instant she then landed on the dragons back. A sense of happiness struck through her as she succeeded.

Derpy then fired another arrow at the dragon, this one bursted into a flare, distracting the dragon for a brief time. With that, Lyra jabbed her hooves into the back of the dragons head. The tasers went off and began to lightly electrocute the dragon. In a heartbeat, the dragon fell down to the ground and knelt down, breathing heavily.

“I think its working” Lyra shouted as she continued her assault.

The dragons eyes suddenly snapped open and the dragon threw its head backwards, sending Lyra back in a daze. Derpy saw this happen and she flew forward to try and catch her. She whipped underneath the dragons feet and caught Lyra just before she smashed into the ground. Taking her position behind a nearby building, Derpy checked on Lyra.

Back in the middle of the street, the dragon was about to pursue Derpy. That was until Twilight fired a bolt of magic at the back of the dragons head. The pissed of dragon then aimed its rage at the lone unicorn and fired a bolt of fire at Twilight. She then quickly teleported to the side and let the fire bolt pass by. The dragon then breathed fire, leaving no room to avoid the attack. Instead Twilight created a magical shield and used it to avert the fire from her. Once the attack was over she pulled the shield away and moved forward for her attack.

She began to charge a spell as she ran towards the dragon, the dragon then breathed fire again. But when the fire passed over Twilight she disappeared. For a moment the dragon was perplexed, as his target had disappeared. It was then when a flash appeared in front of it and ended up in Twilight firing a bolt directly at one of the dragons eyes. After this hit, it was time to run, so Twilight jumped down and teleported safely down to the ground.

The dragon held its claw to its now damaged eye and leered back in pain. Twilight then made her run back to where Lyra and Derpy were hiding. She skidded around the corner and stood with them.

“Hows it going back here?” Twilight asked, trying to catch her breath.

“Lyra took quite a hit-” Derpy began before Lyra pushed her away.

“It’s fine, really. I just lost my footing” Lyra responded, holding her head in her hoof.

“Not, you’re not fine!” Derpy protested as she tried to see the damage on Lyra’s head.

“So, not so good then” Twilight assessed, looking back to the annoyed dragon. She then aimed her gaze over to where Max and Rainbow Dash were hiding. “Heard anything from Max and Rainbow yet?”

Derpy shaked her head, “Sorry Twi”

“Wait here, I’ll go check on them” Twilight said, getting ready to go, before she was held back.

“No, you can’t just run an errand in a battlefield. It doesn’t work like that” Derpy explained.

“What do you mean, its just a short run...”

“A short run into hell, two steps is all that it takes to die” Derpy then stopped and swallowed before continuing, “So stay back here, we need you here anyway”

With hesitation, she followed the order and knelt down next to Lyra, “What can I do?”

Back at where they began, Max continued to watch over Rainbow, checking her pulse and making sure that they weren’t in the line of fire. Max walked out a little to see Twilight charge at the dragon, with her horn lit up. He then looked to Rainbow, seeing that she was safe, and he began to run as well. But then a bolt of fire flew past Twilight and hit a building rather close to where Max was, causing him to be thrown back.

After a brief moment in the air he landed on a cart and caused it to break apart. He sat up and looked to what was coming ahead. The dragon then breathed fire. With fear running through him, he rolled back and held the cart’s remains up, using it as a temporary shield. The warm fire just missed him, scorching the wood from the cart. After the fire was gone, Max thought that it might be a safer idea to stay back for now.

As he got up he saw Twilight escape and hide behind a building, and with that relief in his mind, he retreated to where Rainbow was laying. After running around the corner he sighed with relief and relaxed a little. He then turned his attention to the still asleep Rainbow Dash. He checked her again, making sure that she wasn’t dying or anything. Max then felt the mask covering his vision a little, plus it felt rather uncomfortable. And since the population had run away and had been evacuated, Max pulled his mask off and threw it on the ground.

The air touched his face and cooled him down, though he hadn’t done very much yet. With his mask off he felt a lot more aware of everything around him. And because of this he then remembered something very important. Placing his hoof on his ear, he spoke:

“Hello, this is Plasma, you guys alright?” he waited for a few seconds before hearing some background sounds, meaning they were replying.

“We’re alright over here. Lyra’s taken a hit but we’re holding out. How copy?” Derpy’s voice responded.

“Rainbow is still unconscious and I was almost roasted back there, copy” Max said as he checked Rainbow again.

“Good to hear that you’re holding out, we’re about ready to make the next move. How do you think we should play it out from over there?” Derpy said through the headset. Max then peeked his head around the corner and observed the dragons movement as it searched.

“Looks like its lost us for now. We should use the element of surprise for now, hit it from two directions” Max suggested, hiding again.

“Sounds good, just give us the signal and we’ll attack”

“Roger” Max then took his hoof away from the headset and walked over to Rainbow. With a quick motion he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. He then ran over to a spot that was further away from the battlefield and placed her down carefully. “Hold in there girl” he whispered as he then flew up onto a building.

The next part required stealth, something that Max used a lot in his normal day to day life. He crept forwards, keeping the dragon in sight. The tension began to build up in his mind as he watched the dragon, knowing that if it looked towards him it could fry him in ten seconds flat. But he reminded himself that he needed to stay strong for everyone. He couldn’t fall out now.

Max took a quick look to the other side of the street where he saw the rest of the team, ready to attack. He put his hoof to his ear again and spoke again:

“I’m ready over here”

“Is Rainbow alright?” Twilight asked.

“She’s fine, I moved her out of the way if this got any worse” Max replied in a calm tone, hopefully giving Twilight peace of mind.

“We’ve got to finish this now. So we could use some of that rage power about now Plasma” Derpy said.

“I’ll see what I can do” Max responded, taking his hoof off his ear. He then sighed and regretted the thought of having to use his power. A sense of fear struck through him as he thought about what could go wrong, but he hoped more that this suit would be able to aim the energy. And as he came to think about it, he had no idea what would happen. Or worse still, if he would be able to control his power. But that had to be put aside as the present matters still needed attention.

Derpy drew an explosive arrow from her bow and fired it at the ground, near the dragon. With the dragon looking at the arrow, Max took the chance and flew forward. The arrow then exploded, causing the dragon to flinch a little. Max then rammed into the dragon at full force, pushing it backwards and causing it to fall onto its back. Twilight and Lyra and teleported into the air, above the dragon, and fired a joint magical blast at the dragons chest.

The dragon then suddenly jumped up and batted the magic away, leaving the two unicorns suspended in mid air. With this advantage, the dragon began to breath fire. Twilight attempted to create a shield with her magic but the fire was working away at it. Max saw that this was causing them some trouble, so he flew over to the two unicorns and grabbed them. He then used what strength he had left to throw them further into the air, giving them more time to teleport.

He then turned around in mid air and activated his power. The energy worked through his body, suddenly making him feel stronger. A new feeling then hit him as the energy didn’t throw itself out randomly, instead he felt like he had a cap on it. He then looked down at the suit and saw that the lines of blue had lit up with a lighter plasmatic blue. It worked, the suit actually worked. His happiness filled him, maybe even blinded him as the dragon fired a bolt of fire at him.

“MAX?!” Derpy yelled at him, causing him to snap out of his trance and face the bolt of fire. He then pointed his hooves at the bolt and forced his power through the diamonds, causing a small blast of white energy to come out. This blew the fire apart leaving him unaffected. Another moment of happiness came through him and he celebrated in mid air. On the other hand the dragon was not celebrating and it was actually quite angry. It then launched itself forward and swiped at Max.

This time Max suspected the attack and he ducked down, going under the swipe. Derpy then flew in to assist Max, firing an arrow at the dragons claw. Max then blasted the belly of the dragon, causing it to fall down. This was now it. The moment to end this battle. Twilight and Lyra then teleported back after recovering and jumped at the dragon. Derpy and Max joined this attack, all of them placing their fist forward. An almighty surge of energy surrounded them as they flew at the dragons head. The team was assembled, the energy of teamwork surrounded them as they all made the final blow on the dragons head. When the hit landed a blast of energy flew through the town, blowing the debris away.

After a couple of seconds the dust began to settle, showing a group of four ponies standing together in front of a knocked out dragon. And for a dragon, it sure took a beating. Then again, they are rather thick headed, on the most part. And with the battle over, the town came back to life. Ponies began to exit their homes and look around, hearing the battles end. Their eyes then laid upon the four who stood in the middle of the street. Each of their suits almost identical, except for the strip colour. And then, ponies started cheering.

“They saved us!” One pony called.

“Them four beat that dragon up? AWESOME!” Another yelled.

“Their costumes are so fashionable!” A familiar one called out.

“They defended us...whoo hoo” a slightly quieter voice called out.

“They’ve all got masks on, except for that one, how mysterious!” another shouted. The team then all looked around, confused at the comment. Until they all saw Max and sighed.

“So much for laying low Plasma” Lyra commented.

“It was tight and itchy. Besides, no pony actually knows me” Max replied.

“Who are you guys?” Another called out. The team then looked at each other, exchanging smiles and grins.

“We’re the Defenders” Derpy announced. And with that, the two unicorns teleported away and the two pegasi flew up, up and away. Just as they had almost began their journey back, Twilight remembered somepony.

“Hey guys, what about Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked through the headset.

“I’ll go check on her” Max responded quickly, “I’ll meet you all at the VTOL afterwards. I won't be long”

“Thanks Max” Twilight said gratefully. Max swooped down into the lower street levels to avoid being seen from above. He then trotted over to where he had left Rainbow Dash, hoping that she would be alright.

It didn’t take long for him to find her, just about coming to, groaning a little at the slight pain. He then knelt down in front of her and put his hoof to her head to feel her temperature. She was a little dazed, but just about conscious when Max found her. Her temperature was about normal and she didn’t seem to retain any major injuries. She then opened her rose red eyes and looked into Max’s chocolate brown eyes. A moment sustained as they looked. A short moment until it had to be broken.

“You feeling alright?” Max asked, sustaining the eye contact.

Rainbow blinked, and then sharply looked away, “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine”

“You sure about that?” Max pressed.

“I’m sure” She then attempted to get onto her feet. Max stepped back, allowing her to get up. She then looked at Max and frowned at the clothing that he was wearing. “What are you wearing?”

Max looked at himself for a moment, remembering what he was wearing, “Oh, it’s my... supersuit”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at his answer, “You’re supersuit?”

Max rubbed the back of his head as a cold sweat fell down his neck, “It’s technically a power insulator suit. To contain my...” Max then realized what he was saying and snapped out of his sentence. “Actually, I shouldn't be talking about that. Just forget everything I said”

“If you say so...” Rainbow continued to frown as Max then turned around, spreading his wings, ready to fly away.

“As long as you’re alright, then that’s my work done” Max then flapped his wings, gaining some altitude. He then kept his back to Rainbow as he flew away. Rainbow was left, still a little dazed, and probably just as confused as she was to begin with. But then again, we are talking about Max here, the one who has avoided being in any social life due to his abilities. And quite frankly, we can all agree, he did only come to do one thing - and he did.