//------------------------------// // Ambush // Story: Dragon-Hearted // by Marion330 //------------------------------// Five heavily armored griffons laid waiting among the trees of the Everfree Forest, watching as their pray approached from distance. A pair of dragons with two young hatchlings slowly covered the distance to the edge of the forest. The largest griffon signaled the rest, and the ambush sprung to life. The largest of the dragons spotted the griffons before they were in crossbow range. It began to pick up speed, closing the gap between the griffons and itself. The smaller griffons fired their crossbows at the approaching dragon, now in range of one of their targets. The bolts bounced off the scarlet, armor-like scales to the younger griffons' dismay. The largest of the group now loaded an odd looking bolt in his crossbow as the other griffons fired again. The dragon shot a cone of fire out of its mouth. Bolts disintegrated mid flight. The dragon had closed the gap, and smashed through the griffon line sending the group of smaller griffon mercenaries into disarray. The griffon Dragon Slayer aimed into the fray. He adjusted his sights as one of his underlings narrowly avoided getting scorched by a second cone of fire. The dragon spotted the griffon taking aim at him, and charged. The dragon was too late. The griffon fired the malevolent bolt with pinpoint accuracy. The bolt struck the dragon's scales, but pierced through unlike the other bolts. The red scales shattered as the magic took effect. The dragon's wings shredded and muscles locked up. The hatchlings watched as their protector plummeted into the forest below. The griffon closed in on the dragoness as her elder helplessly fell to the forest below. _________________________________________________________ Ponyville was in an uproar. Rumors spread like wildfire. "Those griffons that came into town last week? I think they might be the first wave of an invasion force!" "No, that can't be right. I heard Princess Celestia hired them for extra protection against the dragons!" Both warring factions had sent diplomats, and the air in the royal castle had literally been heated after the griffon diplomat had called the dragon envoy a 'shameless cave-dwelling gecko'. The dragon representative was very displeased, only calming words from Celestia kept him from burning down half the castle. Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom went undeterred though. They were too caught up in their crusading to notice the rampant rumoring going on in town. Applebloom suggested that they try identifying trees in the Everfree forest. To Scootaloo's dismay, Sweetie Bell agreed. Scootaloo reluctantly followed the two aspiring woodsfillies. They reached the trail that entered the forest near Fluttershy's cottage, making sure she didn't see them. No need for anypony to get all huffy about going for a little nature hike. "Do yah think anypony saw us?" Applebloom whispered. "Nope, they would’ve probably stopped us if they had." Sweetie Bell responded. Scootaloo trailed behind, "I kinda wish they had." They skimmed the edge of the forest, naming the trees with a book they borrowed from Twilight. Twilight had been skeptical at first. She had been hesitant trusting them with her books since the love potion incident. But when they explained they wanted to identify a tree near the gazebo, Twilight saw it as a search for knowledge and caved. Scootaloo wasn't really trying, kicking rocks around on the trail and making up names for the trees as she went. She was the first to notice smoke coming from within the forest. The cloud of smoke rose like a pillar into the air. Scootaloo coughed as she inhaled a bit of the smog. She ran off to regroup with her friends, who had also spotted the thick rolls of smoke coming from the forest. "Ya'think it's a forest fire!?" Applebloom said. The smoke grew thicker by the second. "We should go warn every pony," Sweetie Bell quickly added. This was the most exciting thing to happen all day. Scootaloo wasn't going to just pass up a chance for some action. "You guys go get help—" Scootaloo knew her friends wouldn't let her bum-rush head first into a forest fire. "I'll go…access the situation." Scootaloo gave a weak smile, hoping her friends wouldn't catch on to her crazy plan. Her friends looked at each other, wondering if they really should leave Scootaloo near such a dangerous event. They nodded between themselves, and turned back to Scootaloo. "We'll be back in a jiffy," Applebloom said. "Just don't do anything silly, OK?" "I promise," The orange filly crossed her hooves behind her back. The two ran out of the smoke, leaving Scootaloo alone to do as she pleased. _________________________________________________________ A manticore is a truly aggressive creature. Attacking without being provoked, even if outnumbered or outclassed immensely. A fight between a manticore and a dragon is usually quite one sided in favor of the dragon. If the dragon is severely crippled and you add two more manticores however, you get a bloody brawl that is brutally even. The dragon crippled by the magical bolt was quickly discovering how even the fight could be. The dragon was slowly being paralyzed by the manticore stings, and the magical bolt shredding him from the inside out was not helping. His scales were falling off, leaving him exposed to the slashes from the manticore's claws. The manticores were no better off. The dragon was still able to breathe fire, and had already finished off one of them with a fiery blast. The other two were burnt, but not detoured. They circled the slowly weakening dragon, waiting for it to give in to the poison they had already injected it with. The dragon fought on, killing another manticore with a combination of ripping claws and burning fire. But it had strained itself to much and had sped up the movement of the poison through its body. The dragon collapsed at the brink of total paralysis. The manticore moved in, taking advantage of its wounded prey's inability to move. The manticore closed for the kill. Out of nowhere a rock flew through the air colliding with the manticore right in the jowls. "You leave him alone!" _________________________________________________________ Scootaloo sped through the smoke, swerving between fallen trees and burning brush that appeared in her path. Her wings left a wake in the smoke behind her. She had left her goggles at home, leaving her eyes vulnerable to the stinging cloud. She blazed a trail searching for the source of the inferno. She finally exited the other end of the cloud. She parked her scooter and examined the crazy sight that lay before her. A dragon was fighting off a bunch of manticores. Nothing too extremely out of the ordinary, but she could tell something was off. The dragon wasn't using its wings. The dragon almost looked crippled, barely able to defend itself. At least that's what she thought until a huge fireball consumed one of the three manticores. During the fight Scootaloo noticed something lodged in the dragon's side. It sporadically pulsed, and with each pulse of magic the dragon obviously felt extreme pain. Another manticore fell to the claws and fire of the dragon, but the dragon couldn't fight anymore. It collapsed. Scootaloo swore she saw something in the dragon's eye. She couldn't tell for sure, but she couldn't resist the urge to help. She picked up a nearby stone, and chucked it in the manticore's direction. "You leave him alone!" The stone made direct contact, and she stole the creature's attention. The manticore decided to secure an appetizer before he feasted on the dragon. The manticore roared, and charged quickly at Scootaloo. She dived behind a tree, and the manticore slammed into it unable to stop itself. The manticore fell back on its behind temporarily stunned. Scootaloo looked at the dragon, smoke still pouring from its mouth. And where there's smoke… Scootaloo ran around towards the wounded dragon's head. The manticore had regained its senses and chased after her again. Scootaloo had reached the dragon's mouth. She nodded at the dragon, and it seemed to understand her plan. She stood directly in the path of the manticore, as if planning to take the mass of brute force head on. The manticore took the challenge, and charged even faster at the little brave filly. The manticore had completely forgotten about his larger, still very dangerous prize. The path it took went straight in front of the dragon's still functional mouth. The manticore realized this trap a second to late, and was consumed in a fireball. The manticore, scorched and defeated ran from the clearing leaving the triumphant filly and the heavily wounded dragon alone. The dragon moaned as Scootaloo watched the manticore flee. She turned and remembered the thing lodged in the poor dragon's side. She searched for the object. Finding it, she ripped it out and threw it away. The dragon's body relaxed, and Scootaloo heard and recognized voices in the distance. She was going to have a LOT of explaining to do.