//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Gift of the Dovah // by Liirian //------------------------------// Chapter 2 The group of six ponies burst into the throne room, where the Princess was waiting. The group rushed towards Celestia, with Applejack being the first to speak. “Princess! What happened?! You said Appleloosa was attacked, is my Cousin Braeburn safe?” she asked in a panicked tone as the six gathered around, waiting for the Princess’s answer. “Your cousin is fine Applejack. The nearby buffalo tribe helped him and most of the other citizens flee the town safely.” the Princess said reassuringly. The six sighed in relief. “However,” she continued “Not everyone made it out. The dragon killed at least fourteen ponies in the attack, and injured many more. The town itself was practically destroyed in the attack, its orchard burnt to the ground and many of its buildings razed.” she said, her voice full of sorrow. The group stood there in shock, eyes wide open and mouths agape. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Fourteen ponies? The death of even a single pony was rare, even in frontier towns like Appleloosa or towns close to dangerous areas like Ponyville. But fourteen ponies dead? That was completely unheard of. Nothing like that had happened in years. None of them could even recall ever hearing about even half that many ponies dieing.         “Fourteen ponies? That’s...” Twilight began, but she couldn’t finish her sentence, the shock being too much. She couldn’t imagine how this must of effected the Princess, each death must of been like a punch straight to her heart. And she couldn’t help but think ’If I didn’t kill that dragon, would it have done the same to Ponyville? Would it have killed my friends?’         Celestia continued. “After I found out about the attack, my sister took a team of her personal Night Guard and went after the dragon, while I stayed here in case another dragon attacked someplace else. She managed to bring down the beast with no causalities and only minor injuries to some of the guardponies.” This information brought some relief to the six ponies, knowing that the dragon was dead, but Rarity couldn’t help but wonder about something. “Princess, beg your pardon, but if the dragon is already taken care of, then why are we here?” The white unicorn asked. She was quickly answered, but not by who she was expecting. “We may have felled the beast, but it did not stay dead for very long.” The six turned to see Princess Luna walking into the throne room, accompanied by one of her ‘Night Guard’, a pegasus. Twilight recognized the the appearance of the guard from when Luna visited Ponyville on Nightmare Night a month ago, although some changes were made to the illusion maintained on the armor since she last saw it. Gone were the bat-wings and slitted reptilian eyes, instead replaced with normal eyes and black feathered wings that somehow looked sharper then a normal pegasus’s. The purple armor itself was also a bit different, covering more of the body in overlapping plates that appeared to offer more protection then the old armor, while still not appearing to be that encumbering. Twilight hypothesized that it the armor was either an attempt to appear less scary to the populace, or it was actually designed for combat while the other was for ceremonial purposes. “Wait, the dragon came back to life? Like a zombie?” Twilight asked, a bit confused. Her words seemed to frighten her pink friend. “Z-Z-Z-Zombie Dragons?” stuttered Pinkie Pie. “Thou may be correct, however it’s doubtful.” replied the Princess of the Night, before turning to the guard next to her. “This is Nightwing, he was on patrol of the area around the town to ensure that no more dragons attacked. Tell them what thou told I earlier.” Nightwing coughed into his hoof a bit before beginning to speak. “As the Princess said, I was patrolling the area around Appleloosa, on the lookout for more dragons. It was nearing night by the time I first saw it...” o-0-O-0-o Nightwing flew through the cool evening sky, his keen pegasus eyes searching the skies for any signs of dragons. As he flew, he spotted something large and black flying above the cloud cover that had gathered from the lack of pegasi maintenance. Suddenly, bursting out of the clouds, was a massive black dragon, bigger than either the ones the guard or Celestia’s student fought, although still not as large as the average Equestrian Dragon. The dragon hadn’t spotted him yet, and knowing that he was no match for a dragon by himself, he took cover in a nearby cloud and watched the dragon from a distance. The dragon descended down towards the corpse of the dragon that was slayed earlier and landed in front of it. It seemed to observed the corpse for a moment, before speaking in a tongue that Nightwing did not recognize. “Struntoordrog, ziil gro dovah ulse!” It began. “Slen Tiid Vo!” As it said that last word, a wave of energy flew out of its mouth and struck the dead dragon. The cuts and gouges in the dragon’s flesh seemed to glow and reform, before the dragon itself stirred and rose, life given back to it. “Alduin? Tol ken?” Said the resurrected dragon, presumably in the same language as the other. “Geh, Struntoordrog.” Replied the larger of the two, looking down at the other. “Voy ah key krif norok” Said the smaller dragon, looking away as if in shame. “Geh, mi miin. Fin key tol filok krii. Felfoviing fen grah voth ken. Vok, Faal Zuh Dovahkiin fen meyz. Rek los suleyk, orin ruz zan Dovahkiin, nuz los kiir. Nid kendov, fen ni krii.” Said the larger as the other turned back towards him. His words seemed to give some vigor back to the smaller dragon. “Rek fen krii! Nust fen krii!” Roared the smaller dragon. The larger black dragon nodded its head, satisfied that his task was complete, and flew off into the night. The resurrected dragon soon followed suit, flying in the opposite direction. After a few minutes of waiting for the coast to be clear, Nightwing left his cloud and flew off as fast as he could towards Canterlot, the Princesses must be told. o-0-O-0-o “After they both flew away, I came to Canterlot as fast as my wings would let me and reported to The Princesses.” finished Nightwing. Luna gave a nod of approval. “Thank you Nightwing, thou may leave us.” said the Princess of the Night. The guard bowed his head and briskly trotted out of the throne room. Twilight meanwhile silently contemplated the guard’s story, holding a hoof to her chin as she considered the implications. “So, this larger dragon somehow resurrected the dragon that you and your guards brought down...but why didn’t do the same to the one I....killed?” She questioned. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other before the latter began speaking. “I believe I may have an answer. When my guards and I struck the final blow against the dragon, the phenomenon that my sister said you experienced did not occur. The dragon did not begin to disintegrate, it remained whole until Nightwing saw its resurrection.” the Night Princess said. “Considering that this larger dragon would of had ample time to resurrect the dragon you slayed, as from what I’ve heard it’s skeleton has yet to even be buried, there’s only one conclusion.” Twilight’s eyes widened as her mind reached the same conclusion that Luna was alluding to. “I....I’m the only one....that can k....kill them...” She stuttered out as she turned towards her mentor, hoping that she would show some sign that she was wrong. The Princess of the Sun simply nodded her head, eyes closed with a grimace on her face. “I’m afraid so, Twilight.” She said sympathetically. The unicorn fell backwards onto the ground, landing on her rear, as her mind fully processed the implications of this. ’I...I’m going to have to kill...more of them...’ She thought in horror. Every fiber of her being was screaming that this was wrong, killing was wrong. They had always been able to solve problems with relatively peaceful solutions in the past. The dragon that was choking Equestrian skies with smoke a year back, the Hydra at the bog, the Manticore in the Everfree Forest, the other dragon in the Everfree, the Parasprites, the Cockatrice, the Ursa Minor, Nightmare Moon, Discord, they were able to take care of all of those problems without resorting to killing. Even when the worst came to past they never considered killing, until now. How could anypony even consider killing as a viable option? ’I..I can’t do this!’ But...those problems weren’t as bad as this. Yes, some ponies got injured when the Ursa attacked Ponyville, and Discord caused some mental trauma, but nopony was ever killed by them or any of the other monsters she and her friends fought. But these new dragons, they’ve already killed 14 ponies, and would of killed more if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of the Buffalo. Ponyville was lucky to escape with just some burned down houses and major injuries, it could have been a lot worse. ’If I don’t do it...who will? If Luna’s right, I may be the only one that can permanently...kill them...And if more ponies died because I couldn’t bring myself to kill a rampaging dragon...I’d never forgive myself...’ The unicorn felt a hoof touching her shoulder and looked up to see Celestia standing in front of her, the hoof being hers. The Princess’s eyes were full of sympathy as Twilight wiped away the tears she noticed were collecting on her face. "Twilight, I'm sorry that I have to ask you to do this..." began Celestia. "I wouldn't ask if there was any other way, but there isn’t.” "I...I know Princess..." Twilight paused for a moment, closing her eyes, before taking a deep breath. "I'll do it." o-0-O-0-o The group arrived with a flash as the dark aura of Luna's teleportation spell dissipated. The group consisted of eleven ponies, Luna herself, Twilight and her friends, three of Luna's Guardponies; Nightwing, another pegasus, and a unicorn mare with bow on her back along with a quiver of arrows, and one of Celestia’s guards, a bulky earth pony clad in thick plates of heavy, gold armor. Shaking off the aftereffects of the spell, Twilight turned towards her friends. "You know, you girls didn't have to come. I would of understood if you wanted to stay behind..." she started, but was cut-off by Applejack. "Hold it Sugarcube, you know we wouldn't let you tackle a big mean dragon all by your lonesome." "Yeah! Plus, I gotta make up for that dragon that took me out!" added Rainbow Dash. "Silly Twilight, we couldn't let you do this all by yourself!" "Really darling, you know we wouldn’t just sit on the sidelines hoping that you managed to beat the dragon and not get injured yourself." "Um, what they said." "...But I knew you'd come regardless." Finished Twilight, a warm smile on her face as she saw how much her friends believed in her. ‘I really do have the best friends in Equestria.' She turned her attention to the Princess, who was gazing at the sky while Twilight was talking to her friends. "Princess Luna, where are we exactly?" The Princess of the Night turned to her sister's pupil. "We are near the camp the Appleloosians have taken refuge in. My sister said that your friend would most likely wish to see her cousin before helping you fight the dragon." She replied to the unicorn, before pointing a hoof towards the camp visible a little ways away. "Braeburn's over there?" asked Applejack before she went galloping off towards the camp. Twilight's other friends shortly followed. Twilight herself started to follow, before she noticed that Luna wasn't moving. "I'm afraid I have to return to Canterlot Twilight Sparkle, there are matters that I need to attend to." said the Princess. "My guards and Celestia’s Titan Guard Ironhooves however will remain with you and help you carry out your task, they are skilled and will be an asset when fighting the dragon." Twilight glanced at the four guards, before turning back towards the Princess and bowing her head slightly. "Thank you Princess Luna." Luna nodded her head, before her horn started to give off a dark purple aura. "Farewell, Twilight Sparkle, and good luck." She disappeared in a burst of darkness. o-0-O-0-o Twilight entered the camp with Luna’s four guards in tow, looking around the hastily constructed encampment. All around ponies were huddled by makeshift tents, mothers comforting their foals that were still shivering in fear, and older ponies walking around trying to make themselves useful, although the way they carried themselves and the expressions on their faces made it clear they were still in shock from the attack. As Twilight tried to find her friends, she glanced into a tent that she passed by and saw several ponies inside lined up and laying on the ground, completely covered in white sheets. She stopped and stared quizzically at the ponies, before her brain put two and two together and the stark realization hit her. They were the ponies the dragon killed. Squeezing her eyes shut and looking away, she started walking a bit faster than before, away from the tent, trying to drive the image of all those ponies out of her mind. She felt nauseous. After walking a bit further she saw her finally saw her friends. They were talking to Applejack’s cousin Braeburn, who was sitting on a nearby log, shoulders slumped and head lowered. His eyes were clenched shut and tears could be seen streaming down his face. “...It’s all my fault AJ. He’s dead because of me.” Twilight heard the Earth Pony say as she approached. “If I didn’t freeze up he wouldn’t of pushed me out of that lizard’s way and got hit himself.” He sobbed. His cousin in response wordlessly pulled him into a hug. “There, there, Braeburn.” Applejack said as her cousin cried into her shoulder. “You have ta stop blaming yourself, anypony would of panicked in a situation like that.” “But he’s dead AJ! The Sheriff’s dead and it’s all my fault!” he cried. “Hush now Braeburn.” said Applejack, silencing him, before she pulled away and held Braeburn by his shoulders, looking him in the face. “We’re going to finish that varmint that killed Silverstar, and all those other ponies, and make sure that he doesn’t touch a hair on a pony ever again.” she said resolutely. “Now I need you to pull yourself together while we’re gone, ok Braeburn? What would The Sheriff say if he saw you like this?” Braeburn sniffed, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit. He waved a hoof in no particular direction. “Go, take down that...that monster that killed all these ponies.” he growled with barely contained rage, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Make sure he doesn’t get away this time.” Applejack nodded and turned to her friends, who were silently watching the scene with concern. She straightened her hat and started walking towards the perimeter of the encampment. “Come on, we have a dragon to help Twilight kill.” she said darkly. o-0-O-0-o The group stopped at the ruins of Appleloosa, where the resurrected dragon was last seen flying around. Celestia was right, the town was a ruin. Buildings were smashed and burnt, some completely collapsed. Blood marred the ground in a few places, and the orchard was nothing but a field of blackened stumps, shredded trees, and ash. Lots of ash. The ponies couldn’t help but gape at this wreck that had once been a town that hard working ponies had put so much effort into building, all destroyed just like that. They pushed those feelings to the side though, focusing on the task ahead.  The group stopped at the center of the town, Twilight turning to the others. “Alright girls, and stallions,” she added, referring to the two male guards in the group, “Do we remember the plan?” The others nodded in affirmative. “Alright, le-” She was cut off by a roar in the distance. The ten ponies turned towards the skies and saw a black dragon rapidly descending from the clouds. It roared again as it landed hard on one of the more stable structures near the group, which nonetheless gave a groan and cracked a bit under the strain, but remained standing as the dragon stared them down. “Right..” Twilight said with a gulp. “This is it, get r-” She was cut off yet again by another roar, although this one didn’t come from the dragon. She turned around and saw to her horror another dragon flying towards the group, this one with a hide of light grey and a back adorned with dozens of black spikes. It landed on a building opposite the black dragon, this one also groaning and creaking in protest but remaining standing. The girl’s eyes widened as they looked between the two dragons on either side of the them, not planning for this at all. The two opened their maws and streams of fire and ice flew towards the group, threatening to end them all right there.