//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 // Story: The Angel of Equestria // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Chapter 22 Charles and Luna flared out their wings and readied to charge, they took to the air and sped forth at the dragon that was invading the town of Ponyville. As they flew, Luna asked Charles a question. “So Charles, how do we lure this thing out of the town?” Charles smiled at Luna. “Easy, we agitate it and get it to follow us, simple right, just follow my lead.” The dragon saw the two coming and smirked. Charles stopped just in front of it with Luna next to him. “HEY UGLY, YOUR MOTHER WAS A GECKO! BLAAAHHH!” Charles proceeded to stick out his tongue and shake his head around. Luna looked at Charles with confusion. The dragon snarled at Charles’s insult. “You little pest.” The dragon spoke. “You want us, come and get us!” Charles then whispered to Luna. “Go ahead, you try.” Luna responded. “Oh uh yes, ahem, you foul smelling…….lizard!” “Not bad Luna.” Charles complimented. The dragon took a swipe at the two, both saw it coming and were able to evade the beasts claws. “Is that the best you can do, my grandma hits harder then you!” Charles insulted again. “Come on you big lug, come and get us.” Charles then turned to Luna. “Come on, that should do it, let’s fly and see if it’ll follow.” The two then turned and sped off, the dragon spread it’s mighty wings and gave chase after them. Back down in Ponyville, before Luna and Charles started to lead the dragon away, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were hoofing it to find the other guards. Captain Lightning Thrash saw the dragon emerge along with the others. “What in the name of Celestia is that dragon doing here?!” Lightning asked. Fluttershy gripped tightly around Stunner’s neck. Twilight and the others came up to the captain. “Captain, we need you to begin an evacuation, we need you to get every pony to safety.” Lightning looked at Twilight. “What about princess Luna, and where’s Charles?” Applejack answered. “They’re gonna lead that critter away from the town, but fer now, Luna said you need to gather everypony and get them to safety.” Lightning gave a nod. “Right, Dusk Fang, Dawn Fan, you two take the north side of town, gather every citizen you can and have them head for town hall.” Dusk and Dawn gave a salute, “Yes sir!” They said in unison, then they discarded they’re costumes and took off for the north side of town. Lightning then turned to Stunner and Carbon. “Stunner, you and Carbon take the west side.” They gave a salute, Carbon responded. “Yes sir, on it.” They too discarded their costumes. Stunner gave Fluttershy a quick kiss “You be safe Fluttershy, head for town hall with the others and stay there, I’ll come back with others and check on you.” Fluttershy gave him a sad smile. “Ok, please be careful.” Carbon spoke to his marefreind. “Octavia, I’ll come back for you, I promise.” Octavia gave Carbon a smile. “I know you will, I’m looking forward to it.” Stunner and Carbon then left to do their job. Lighting then addressed Fuse. “Fuse, you and me are going to the south side of town.” “Yes sir.” Fuse turned to Vinyl. “You stay safe Vinyl, you hear.” “I know, you go and do your thing.” Vinyl responded before sharing a kiss. Lightning finally addressed the last two. “Storm Chaser, you and Black cloud take the east side of town.” Storm and Cloud gave a salute. “You got it boss.” Storm responded. Derpy spoke. “Lighting, please come back safe.” Lighting smiled at her. “Hey, I’m the captain of the guard here, I can handle this.” Rainbow agreed. “Yeah Derpy, he’s a tough stallion, have a little faith.” He looked them both over. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back, I’m just going to lead the other ponies to safety, you two head to town hall with your friends, I’ll meet you there.” He then gave each of them a quick kiss. Rainbow Dash and Storm Chaser then decided to share a few words, Dash started. “You be careful too Storm.” Storm gave a hoof wave. “Hey, this is child’s play, no sweat, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at town hall.” The two then gave a hoof bump. Storm and Cloud then took off to their assigned area, Followed by the rest of the guards. Twilight then spoke. “All right girls, let’s go.” The six mares then headed to Town hall. Spike was with the CMC getting candy, when their candy hunt was interrupted by a dragon letting out a monstrous roar and ponies started to run and scream. Spike stood in front of the three fillies as they clutched each other in fear and screamed. Spike also had a look of fear on his face. “A dragon, what’s a dragon doing here?” Sweetie Belle found the courage to speak. “Spike, we have to go, we gotta find a safe place to hide.” Spike turned to face the three fillies. “You're right, come on, let’s find the guards and see where they want us to go.” “Good idea.” Applebloom agreed. The four did their best to make their way through the crowed, trying to find one of the guards. It didn’t take long for them to find Dark Cloud and Storm Chaser trying to heard the ponies to town hall. “Guys, over here!” Spike called out to them. Black Cloud was the first to address them. “Spike, you are ok, dis is good, you four need to head to town hall now, we are gathering every pony there for safety.” “But where’s Charles?” Spike asked in worry. Storm Chaser answered. “he’s fighting the dragon with princess Luna.” Spike then remembered something important. “Oh no, guys, you got to take me to Charles!” The two looked at him with surprise. “What are you talking about, is where danger is, why you want to go to Charles?” Black asked. Scootaloo protested as well. “Are you NUTS, you want to go to where the danger is? That’s crazy!” Spike began to explain. “You guys don’t understand, Charles changed his weapon into this toy axe I have for my costume, if I have it, he doesn’t have it, if he doesn’t have it, then he could be in trouble. Please, you got to let me get it to him.” Spike pleaded. Applebloom tried to argue as we. “Spike, it’s way too dangerous there, you can’t go.” “I have to, he’s put his life on the line so many times for us, don’t you think it’s about time some pony here does the same for him, I have to return it to him.” Spike gave the guards a pleading look. “Please you guys, let me do this.” Black cloud looked deep in thought, he finally looked to spike to speak. “All right, I will take you to Charles.” Spike smiled. “Thank you Cloud.” Sweetie Belle approached Spike from behind and put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention. Spike turned around and made eye contact with Sweetie Belle. “Spike, if you’re really doing this, please be careful and come back safe.” Spike gave Sweetie Belle a smile. “Of course I will, you take care of the other two and get to town hall. I’ll be back, I promise.” Sweetie lifted one eyebrow at him. “Pinkie Promise?” She asked. Spike went through the motions of the Pinkie promise. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I’ll come back.” Sweetie smiled at Spike. “Ok then.” She then gave Spike a quick peck on the cheek. Spike smiled big as he gained a goofy look on his face. Black Cloud cleared his throat to get the little dragons attention. “Ahem, comrade Spike, I believe we need to go.” Spike shook his head. “Huh, oh yeah, right.” Black Cloud then lowered himself and let Spike on his back. Storm Chaser then spoke to Cloud before he took off. “You do realize you both will get in trouble for this right?” Black Cloud looked to Storm Chaser for an answer. “What you mean comrade?” Storm first pointed a hoof at Cloud. “You for taking a civilian into a dangerous situation.” He then pointed a hoof at Spike. “And you with Twilight for doing this.” “I’ll worry about that later Strom, we gotta get Charles’s weapon to him.” Black cloud then took to the air with Spike on his back and flew after the dragon that was now heading out of the town chasing Charles and Luna. ----- Charles and Luna were speeding through the air with a black and purple dragon on their tails, Charles spoke aloud so Luna could hear him over the sound of the wind rushing past them. “All right, I think we’ve led the dragon far enough from…..LOOK OUT!” Charles looked behind him to the dragon just in time to see a big ball of dark purple flames heading towards them at an alarming rate, Charles shouldered Luna out of the way just in time, but took the full blunt of the force on his back and was set ablaze. Charles cried out in pain. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!” Luna managed to recover in mid-air and saw Charles fall to the ground like a meteor, she cried out in fear. “CHARLES!” She quickly flew to him lying on the ground in a crater, the dragon landed a few feet away and started walking up to them. Luna looked at Charles as smoke rose up from his body, he was lying on his stomach groaning in pain. “Ooooohhhh.” He managed to turn himself over but stayed down on his back. Luna tried to speak to him. “Charles, are you all right?” Charles groaned out. “Yeah, I think so……BEHIND YOU!” He then shouted, pointing at the dragon right behind Luna. It raised its head, ready to shoot out flames, Luna quickly turned to face the dragon and quickly put up a blue magic shield around herself and Charles. The dragon shot out a stream of purple fire, it encomposed the entire shield as Luna held it up. “I REALLY need to learn more magic like that.” Charles mused to himself. Charles was able to recover, he pushed himself up but kept low to the ground. The dragon finally let up on its flames and spoke. “You little worms, do you really think you stand a chance against me?” It’s voice was deep but feminine, the dragon was female. Luna dropped her shield and addressed the dragon. “Why are you doing this, we have a deal for peace with the dragons, what reason do you have for this act of betrayal?!” The dragon responded back. “Does it matter, you’ll both be dead soon anyway, I see no reason to tell you my plans.” “Not if I have anything to say about it!” Charles called out as he suddenly zipped up and towards the dragon, ready to give her a mighty uppercut. He made contact with something all right, but it wasn’t the dragon’s jaw, at his high speed flight, Charles impacted against a dark purple magic shield. He ricocheted off it and back to the dirt, leaving a trail in the ground. “Uh, ok, OW, since when can dragons do magic?” Charles groaned out. Luna quickly made her way over to Charles. “They can’t, at least I didn’t think they could.” “It’s so funny watching you squirm like this.” Said the dragon. Luna glared at the dragon. “Then perhaps it’s time for you to squirm!” She called out. She then lit up her horn and her body became enveloped in her aura. Her eyes began to glow pure white. The aura grew bigger and bigger as Luna lifted up off the ground. In mere moments, the aura was as big as the dragon, it then shifted about and took on a semi-transparent form that was very much like Luna herself with her at the center of it. Charles looked on stunned. “Whoa, that is a neat trick, I really, REALLY need to start working on my magic.” Luna’s voice boomed out through the magic clone. “You shall not harm another pony, as princess, it is my duty to protect my subjects, I will not let you get away with this assult, you WILL pay!” The dragon was surprised by this, too surprised to react when Luna, in her new giant form, rammed right into the dragon and sent her falling on her back. “GAH!” She cried out when she hit the ground. “An amusing spell, but you still won’t win.” The dragon got back up, but before she could do anything, Luna fired a massive magic bolt at the dragon from the silhouette’s horn. The blast sent the dragon stumbling backwards. “Fine, you want to play rough, we’ll play rough!” The dragon charged forth, Luna doing the same with determination in her eyes. Charles finally managed to get up and took to the air. He circled around as Luna and the dragon clashed. They both collided with one another, the dragon pushed Luna back and swiped at her with her claws, Luna managed to back up to avoid them then fired another bolt from her horn, the dragon managed to put up a shield to stop it then fired another stream of flames. Luna blocked that as well with her own shield. Charles was starting to feel useless at this point, Luna was doing most of the work and all he was doing was just floating there watching the fight. “One way or another, I got to do something.” He said to himself. He noticed that the dragon had its magic shield down whenever it shot out flames, that was when Charles would make his move. The dragon swiped it’s tail at Luna, Luna ducked, reared up and shot her front hooves at the dragon, she made contact with the dragons back and sent it down to the ground on its belly. “Maybe now I can do some damage.” Charles shot downward to the dragon with all his speed, pouring magic into his left fist. Luna saw Charles charging and waited to see if he would succeed in his strike. The dragon pushed herself up off the ground, Charles made impact and slammed into the dragon’s back, forcing her back to the ground. “GAAAHH!” The dragon cried out in pain. Charles began to punch the dragon repeatedly with his fists, hoping to do some damage, his success was evident as the dragon let out a grunt with each punch. Having enough of this, the dragon snaked its tail to Charles and managed to catch him by surprise by wrapping him up in it. She gave a squeeze and Charles cried out in pain. “AAHHH!” Luna began to worry and feared for Charles. The dragon quickly got up and took Charles into her claws, she faced Luna and Spoke. “If you don’t want me to kill this little pest, then I suggest you surrender. “Don’t do it Luna, she’s just going to kill us both anyway!” Charles said with his eyes scrunched shut. His words were met with squeezing. “GAH!” “QUIET YOU LITTLE WORM!” Said the dragon. “Well Luna, what’s it going to be?” Luna began to think, what could she do, the dragon had Charles now. “I….I,” Before she could answer, the dragon let out a cry. “GAH! WHAT THE….” Black Cloud flew at high speed and struck the dragon in the back of the head, causing her to lose her grip on Charles, he fell a ways before recovering and flew away from her. Black Cloud was doing his best to distract the dragon as she swiped and clawed at Black Cloud, but was too fast for her. Charles glided down to the ground next to the front left hoof of the silhouette, he came and got on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath. Luna dismissed her giant form to be next to Charles. “Charles, are you all right?” She asked with worry. “I’ll……I’ll be fine, it’s nothing.” “CHARLES!” Spike came running up to Charles with the axe in claw. Charles and Luna looked to Spike in confusion, Charles addressed him first. “Spike, what are you doing here, it’s dangerous, AH!” Charles winced and clutched at his side as he tried to move. “I had to come, so I could give you back your weapon, you need it don’t you?” Spike stretched out his claw holding the little axe to Charles. Charles smiled at Spike, he took the axe out of Spike’s claw. “Thanks little buddy.” Spike smiled up at Charles. “Now get out there and show that dragon whose boss.” Charles gave a nod. “Charles, are you sure you’re ok, you look hurt.” Luna asked. “I’ll be fine princess, we have a dragon to slay, HEY BLACK CLOUD, YOU CAN STOP NOW!” Charles called to Black Cloud who was keeping the dragon distracted. Black Cloud Quickly flew away and picked Spike up quickly before the dragon could do anything else. He zipped off and to town, away from the fight. “All right, Luna, you get big again like before, we’ll work together to take down this beast.” Charles turned the little axe back into his staff, then formed his twin swords. Luna reformed her giant self, Charles took to the air and hovered next to Luna’s silhouette head. The dragon glared at the two. “So you got your weapon, big deal, it won’t make a difference.” “We’ll see about that you overgrown gecko!” Charles shouted. The dragon let loose with its stream of purple flame, Luna formed her shield, protecting herself and Charles. Once it stopped, Charles zipped around to the left side of the beast while she kept her eyes on Luna. Luan charged up her horn and fired a massive bolt of energy at the dragon, the dragon once again produced her own shield and guarded herself, however the blast sent her recoiling a bit. Charles saw his opportunity and charged forth at the beast to slash at it. The dragon swiped her tail and smacked Charles away, he was sent flying backwards and collided into the ground again. “Nice try worm, you’ll have to be quicker than that.” She spat at Charles. Charles struggled once again to get up just in time to see Luna slam into the dragon, the two struggled to push the other back. “You….will not……harm my subjects!” Luna spoke out through the silhouette. Charles got up again and tried to fly again, he was starting to feel the effects of the beatings he took thus far, but he pressed on, knowing that there was too much at stake for him to fail. He flew up and charged at the dragon’s leg. He slashed at it with all his might, leaving a large gash in the leg. The dragon cried out in pain. “AAAAHHH!” She lost her balance and Luna managed to force her back, gave a mighty shove and forced the dragon on her back, she then reared up and stomped down on the beast’s belly. “GUH!” Charles then flew to the head ready to try and take off her head, but the dragon had other plans, she managed to shoot off another bout of flames from her mouth, causing Luna to get off her and back up, Charles tried to get at her but the dragon managed to smack him away with a claw, he was, once again, face down in the dirt. “I am getting really tired of this.” Charles groaned out. He pushed himself up and turned to face the dragon. “I am getting fed up with you fools, why won’t you just DIE!” The dragon bellowed out at the two. Before another thing could be done, the dragon was struck by a powerful yellow magic bolt from the right. “YAHH!” The dragon looked to the source, as did Luna and Charles. “WHAT, NO, Celestia, curses, I thought I would have more time! I can’t handle all three of these pests.” Celestia was flying fast to the dragon with an angry look on her face. Heavens help the poor souls that mess with Celestia’s ponies, even more so if you threaten her sister. She was flying at high speed with Pegasus pulled chariots holding unicorns in them, Shining Armor at the front of the group. The dragon raised her claws over her head and started to gather a white aura, it formed a ball of light that then exploded, blinding every pony in the area. Celestia stopped in mid-air and shielded her eyes with her left wing, the other Pegasus guards had to stop in mid-air as well. After the light faded and every pony tried to regain their sight, the dragon was gone and a small fox scurried away from the scene unnoticed. Celestia quickly flew to her sister’s side after Luna dismissed her silhouette. “Luna, are you all right, what happened?” Celestia asked with great worry. Luna looked up to her sister. “I’m fine big sister, I am all right, my magic protected me from any harm.” Celestia sighed and smiled. “*sigh* that’s good, but what happed, why was that dragon attacking?” It was then that the other chariots landed. “I don’t know sister, it just appeared in Ponyville and started terrorizing the town, me and Charles……CHARLES!” Luna then remembered Charles. “I’m over here, I’m ok.” Charles waved as he limped over to the princesses and the guards with his armor now gone. Shinning galloped up to him. “Charles, you look hurt, are you sure your fine?” Charles stood at attention and gave a salute. “I’m fine captain, not the first time I fought a dragon, plus, Luna was helping, though it seems she did more than me I’m sorry to say.” The princesses turned to Charles and approached, they then gave a gasp as they noticed something. Celestia was the first to point it out. “Charles, you’re bleeding.” A close look revealed that Charles was indeed bleeding, there was blood dripping down his head, and claw marks across his chest, apparently, the dragon’s claws got through Charles’s armor. He looked down at himself, he dropped down to his knees and fell to the ground face first, his vision was starting to fade as all he could hear were faint voices calling out.