“Princess Celestia too? This is too perfect! We can take out two princesses at once and Equestria will be that much easier to topple! Go and roll out the red carpet for her, Surge. Preferably dyed in her blood.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
Words could not describe the mixed feelings of elation and dread that swept through Twilight and Spike in unison. Which emotions came from which of them was indistinguishable and irrelevant. Celestia’s arrival was a beacon of hope, but at the same time she was now in grave danger. Rainbow was the first to act, taking off after Surge, but was stopped quickly by Gilda, who blew Rainbow back with wind magic. Twilight wasn’t surprised at the display though, she had learned that the Dragoon Spirits granted elemental magic to any race. She couldn’t go to help Rainbow Dash though, as the insectoid Varius snapped its pincers at her and Spike, beginning to advance on them slowly. The rapid thrumming of his wings filled her ears, and she forced herself to focus on the menacing dragon.
She forced herself not to look as Surge attacked Celestia far in the distance, if she took her gaze from this Varius for too long, he might take the opening to attack. Besides, Celestia would be alright, wouldn’t she? She was so powerful, after all. She had dealt with so many dangers across the centuries, surely she’d be able to handle herself... Right?
We can only hope that she will be. But we need to worry about this guy here, Spike said, bringing her focus back to the danger in front of them. They both took careful steps backward as the snapping pincer on Varius’ tail got closer and closer. Spike kept his wings unfurled, the webbing glowing as the dim light around it seemed to bend in and get sucked into them. As the glow of his wings got brighter, a glint of light appeared between his horns, floating between the tips as he kept his eyes and horns trained on the steadily approaching dragon.
An explosion in the distance threatened to draw Twilight’s attention away, but Spike reached into her mind and kept her focus steady. She was silently grateful to him, and he returned the feeling. They couldn’t worry about Celestia right now. What did get their attention, however, was the sound of a sharp whistle piercing through the sound of cracking thunder, and nearly 40 fully armed griffon warriors falling from the skies to land directly behind Varius, many of them pulling their weapons free as they began to hover up off of the ground.
That… that we can worry about, Spike thought dryly. Their mutual thoughts rushed between them. How were they supposed to handle something like this? Not just a dragon, but all of these griffons who were undoubtedly aiming to become the next White-Silver Dragoon. And just the two of them? What chance did they stand in this? No, they couldn’t think like that. Their minds came together in mutual determination, understanding that these were the cards they had been dealt, and no matter what, they just had to fight with everything they had. That was all they could really do.
After landing, each of the griffon warriors rose up a few feet off of the ground, pulling weapons that they wore across their sides and backs. Swords. Shields. Halberds. Axes. Hammers. Their armaments were many and varied, and all of them hovered behind Varius with their eyes trained on the pair.
Two words broke through the tension, and started the fight.
"Varius. Kill."
With a feral hiss, the Jade Dragon lunged forward, mandibles opening wide and the pincers within snapping rapidly. Spike reacted first, the spell between his horns bursting forth as a single beam of concentrated white light shot at the lunging dragon. The spell was wasted, however, as with a rapid thrum of its wings, the huge dragon's body swerved to the side, only to zero in on Twilight. Mandibles flaring wide open, it launched its pincers from its mouth along a thin, prehensile appendage.
Twilight felt her body start freezing up, fear taking hold. In an instant, everything began to slow, the snapping pincers hurtling straight for her neck slowed to a crawl. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Not while training. Not any time in her life. Instincts flipped in the back of her head, guiding her hooves as she recalled her time training.
She remembered sneaking out while Spike slept in the dead of night, going to the very edge of the Everfree. She recalled calling out her Casts. The cylindrical barrel formed along the front, funneling wide open as she poured magic through it. She pointed it at a nearby tree and... fired!
BANG!
That first shot had sent her flying back on her flank, and as she returned to reality, the twin shots she fired into the earth pushed her body straight up into the air. She soared over the pincers as they crashed into the earth. A blast of magic immediately followed, and a huge chunk of earth was instantly turned to dust as winds sheared it asunder. If she had been hit, she definitely wouldn't have survived.
As the dust whipped up into a veil around her, Twilight heard Spike call for her, Twilight! Are you okay?!
I'm fine, you worry about yourself for now, she assured him. The griffons will likely come after you while Varius distracts me. It was what she would do in their position, after all. Just be sure not to die.
Got it.
A shadow flickered through the dust, turning Twilight's attention away from Spike. As she reached the apex of her ascent, Varius's tail arched up over its back and lunged at her, attempting another strike with the much larger pincers adorning the appendage. Another movement from the opposite side revealed the pincers from its mouth shooting up to try to get her from behind. Time seemed to slow once more, her perception dilating as that strange sensation took over. Whatever it was, she was thankful for it, as it allowed her time to think of her next move, which came quickly to her mind. Spreading her forehooves wide, she angled one up towards the descending tail pincer, and the other down towards the ones rising from below. Focusing her magic, her horn lit up with magenta light, and the barrels of her weapon mimicked the glow.
BANG!
Concussive waves shot from her weapons. These small cannons on her hooves channeled magic and focused it, and the primary magic they used was one that all unicorns were adept at, telekinesis. Turning the force into a powerful shot, she sent both sets of pincers reeling back and was rewarded with a violent hiss of pain from the dragon below her. The recoil of a concussive shot was high though, and the varied angles caused her to start spinning violently in midair as she descended. It took all of her willpower not to let her stomach empty its contents from the dizzying spin.
Mid-fall, she flung a hoof outward and fired when it pointed upward, sending her rocketing downward and slamming her hoof into Varius’ back, right between the blurred quartet of humming wings. Unsurprisingly, the thick, scaly hide didn’t yield at all to her strike, but that’s what she had her Cast for. Another shot fired in the dusty shroud, a high pitched shriek echoing out as Varius’ back was struck with a powerful wave, crushing him into the dirt. Recoil sent her flipping back and out of the shroud, skidding into the earth.
Wow. Had that really been her? She had practiced quite a bit with her TK-cannon Casts, but that... just wow. It was amazing what adrenaline could do. But was it really just the adrenaline? That strange slow-down she experienced had never happend to her before. She shook her head clear as she looked around for Spike. Focus, Twilight. Fight first, think later, or you're dead. This is probably the scariest thing you've ever done, but you have to pull through! If you don't, then Spike...
She felt that familiar anger bubble up in her just at the thought. She would not let anyone hurt Spike, be they pony, griffon, or what have you. And no one was going to hurt her friends on her watch either.
In the back of her mind, her anger came into contact with a wild, seething ferocity. It was Spike. And as she looked past the clearing dust cloud around Varius, she could see him roaring and snarling, swiping his tail at griffons left and right and rending the air with his claws as primal intinct took over. Starswirl's book had mentioned this. When a Lord is challenged for the Dragoon Spirit, no matter how docile, they will become completely consumed with the instinct to kill their challengers. And as that took him over, a score of griffons surrounded him on all sides and took turns defending and attacking him from all sides. Steel clashed against glittering scales in a racketous din, and no weapon had drawn blood, she could sense a bit of the pain from each reverbrating blow that glanced of his hide.
But only a score of the griffons were around Spike? Where were the rest? Easily twice that number had descended from the sky before.
So much for not thinking too much.
A raspy chittering brought her back to her opponent as it stuck its head from the veil, hissing at her with what she could only guess was anger. A faint glow of emerald light from above its head was the only sign she got before she heard a violent snap, followed by a large bullet of shearing winds being fired straight at her. Instinct took over once more as her mind whipped through pages upon pages of spells she had memorized, resting on a new one she had learned. Channeling the light element through her horn, the glow turned a bright white hue and a transparent white screen formed in front of her. When the shot struck the barrier, she felt the rebound shoot through her brain, but she gritted her teeth through it until the magic was completely reflected, flying back and striking the snapping tip of the dragon’s tail and causing it to hiss in pain again. It wasn’t much though, not a single scratch on its hide, even from the hard blow she’d dealt to its back.
She was holding her own thanks to its savage and simple strategies, but she was hardly making any headway on her own. Spike was holding up against the griffon squadron too, but every blow to his tough hide shot painfully through his body, while he had only managed to take out four griffons, who were retreating with severe wounds and rent armor. From past the attacking griffons, Twilight could see the blood coating Spike’s claws and fangs, blood of the foes he had wounded. The sight of him so feral and covered in blood disturbed her greatly, but this was also something she had done her best to prepare herself for. Afterall, if she was going to be fighting in this war, she wouldn’t be able to avoid becoming bloodstained herself.
Varius hissed at her and skittered along the ground towards her, tail reared back and ready to strike again. Eyes narrowing, her mind raced through her options. Could she really fight this dragon alone, head to head? She was doing good so far, but wasn’t doing any major damage. She was going to wear out well before Varius did.
“Whatcha up to, Twilight?”
“Kinda in the middle of something here, Pinkie, if you didn’t noti - wait, Pinkie?!” Twilight turned to see the poofy, pink-maned mare standing behind her, a big, silly grin on her face. Even more surprising was that Pinkie was wearing a Crystal Thread garment, this one the same dark pink shade as her mane, and resembled a dancer’s dress, with a short hem of a skirt and a sleeveless top that wrapped tightly around her shoulders. “What are you doing here?! It’s dangerous!”
Pinkie merely grinned wider, despite her shock, and laughed, “Of course, Twilight! There’s a big storm and griffons all over the place, so I figured I needed to welcome all the new visitors, Pinkie Pie style!”
The hiss came again, this time much louder, almost right in Twilight’s ear, and turning her head back, she saw Varius almost right on top of her, tail reared back and ready to strike. It moved too fast, the pincer opened wide and the tail snapped down at her, closing the short distance between her and the dragon in an instant. The jagged edges passed by either side of her, and saw the twitch of muscle before they snapped shut.
Twilight felt a sudden yank on her shoulder, and was flung back abruptly and out of reach of the deadly clamp. Immediately after a sharp ringing filled her ears, and she looked up to see Pinkie Pie standing where she had been, propped up on her hind legs and holding one hoof in front of her. The ground beneath her hooves was buckling and cracking from the force that struck her, and the pincers were quivering and jerking, attempting to squeeze tight and completely crush the pony between them, but they were held firmly open by a long silver shaft that was jammed between them, like using a pipe to hold open a gator’s mouth. The shaft game from a familiar silver gleam on Pinkie’s hoof, which she held parallel to the bar. Her free hoof hung at her side, showing the same weapon running along the length of her arm.
Pinkie had a Cast? From the looks of it, it was a tonfa-type weapon.
A strange smile passed over Pinkie’s face, a glint in her eyes as excitement seemed to wash over her. “Now now, mister big mean dragon, it’s not rude to interrupt a conversation! If you wanted to be the first to party, then you only had to ask!”
Twilight didn’t know why, but she felt a smile spread across her face. She was surprised beyond words, but seeing Pinkie stand up to protect her like this… it made her happy. Of all ponies, Pinkie though? She might have expected Applejack to be ready to fight, but Pinkie was the last she would have thought of, right alongside Rarity and Fluttershy. Pinkie’s enthusiasm was infectious though, and Twilight quickly pulled herself back to her hooves. “I’ve never seen this side of you Pinkie, I’m surprised,” she commented to her friend.
Pinkie turned to look back to Twilight, her smile turning into a smirk. It looked strange, but at the same time fitting on her, “Silly Twilight, I’m still Pinkie Pie through and through! I do everything I do just to get a smile from my friends, and it looks like I got one from you.”
Varius hissed angrily at her, mandibles opening wide. Twilight’s eyes widened as the set of pincers in its mouth shot out at Pinkie Pie, only for the mare to whip her other hoof forward and stop the attack. The bar of the tonfa spun on its place on her hoof, and extended automatically, catching the pincers with another resounding clang of ringing metal. Pinkie hadn’t even turned her head to see the attack coming.
“Silly dragon, if you keep playing dirty, I won’t let you join the party!” Pinkie said cheerfully, despite the attempt on her life. Twisting her hooves, she pinned the two sets of pincers to the ground with surprising strength, and chuckled “Well, don’t worry, I have a special playmate just for you!”
Right on cue with her declaration, a bellowing roar filled the air, and a bright blue light shot up over the top of the nearby library. The light came from four glowing fins that accompanied a long, fish-like body. Glittering scales, as pure as the darkest sapphires and with the faintest reflection of green, looked like the rippling waves of the sea as it slithered its body through the air. Unlike a fish though, this creature bore a long, craggily scaled snout that ended in a rounded point, and bright amethyst eyes that stared into oblivion. It opened its maw once more and revealed for a moment a toothless, gum-filled mouth, only for that harmless opening to suddenly sprout dozens of large, jagged teeth that looked ready to rend prey into nothing more than scraps of meat. just beneath its maw were two large, claws with stunted arms only barely long enough to supposedly hold prey within reach of its mouth, but it had no hind legs to speak of. Its tail was much different too, long and covered with spines, which ran all along its back and flattened against the length of it, but then flared open to reveal webbing between each of them. Its glowing fins extended from just behind its claws, and just in front of its tail, the pale blue glow seemed to keep the creature aloft in the air. Easily the same size as Varius, it was both beautiful and terrifying.
Twilight had no doubt in her mind upon seeing it, it was another Lord, and it had to the Blue-Sea Dragon, the Lord of Ice and Water.
The dragon lunged through the air and crashed into Varius full on from its side, the insect dragon releasing its pincers and rolling across the ground, leaving Pinkie behind. The two mares watched as the dragons writhed in a mass of whipping tails, gnashing jaws, and swiping claws. Two feral dragons fighting like just that, feral dragons, ripping and clawing at each other with reckless abandon.
Pinkie bounced on her hind legs and cheered, “Have fun with your playmate, Gummy! Don’t get too rough!”
Fzzzt.
That was it. Twilight was done. She was done trying to make sense of this. Pinkie showing up. Pinkie having Casts. Pinkie being so surprisingly strong. Another Lord showing up, and that Lord being Gummy?! Nope. She was done. Brain was on hiatus now.
“Gummy? Gummy?!” Twilight repeated in shock, watching the two dragons go at it, Gummy managing to push the fighting away from all the other fronts after knocking Varius back with a slap of his tail.
“Hehe, you’re so silly when your brain breaks,” Pinkie giggled, trotting over to shake Twilight’s shoulder and point her towards Spike, who had forced a few more griffons to retreat, but now looked like he was running out of steam, his breathing labored and his body shaking with exhaustion and pain with each weapon that glanced off his scales. “Now go help Spike!”
Twilight kept her bewildered look as she glanced between Pinkie, the dragon Gummy, and Spike. Shaking her head, she pushed down her confusion. There would be plenty of time for questions, observations, and studying later. Nodding to Pinkie in wordless thanks, and giving her a wide, confident smile that she knew her friend would appreciate, she ran off towards her dragon, planning her next move.