The Shadowborn dragon didn’t seem amused, disturbed in its own lair by its own prey. It should be glad that the prey had actually found its way into the cave alone, but after two of the delicious snacks had just disappeared in a glowing orb and the other one, who had caused a cave-in before, was now hidden behind some darn magical shield, it could not bring itself as far as to enjoy this interesting turn of events. It would have probably taken it with amusement, if it had not been for the disturbed slumber and the lack of food in the last days.
The whimsical pony before him seemed to have created some sort of barrier, keeping itself safe. He had not seen this kind of pony before, as it seemed to be some mutant hybrid between these nasty insects with their hard-to-open shells and the rare travelers, which most of his conspecifics liked to feast upon. Although their taste was much more refined than the insects’, the often did not put up much of a challenge which he favored over simple slaughter. This one, however, would be different. It would put up the well known challenge, but its taste would most definitely be a new experience.
The question however remained, how he could destroy that magical shield. His own body would prevent any magical tricks that this pony could try to pull on him, but it would not help him simply getting through the barrier. If he could startle this pony, there were good chances that it would just let go of the shield in shock. He had revealed his graceful body already and the cave itself was not much to work with. He had to do something that the little pony would not be prepared for, something that the tiny pony would never expect… An idea formed in his mind, a simple trap, but maybe just enough to get more. He could simply wait out the pony’s magical strength and consume it at the end of the week, or month, or year. Would it even matter? There was something much more appealing than that though. Why should he be content with one little pony, and why not three of them? The other two had escaped, but his mighty wings were stronger than those stumpy things they call legs. To get those other ponies though, he would have to open the cave. And that is where this little unicorn could come in handy. Of course he could have done it with his own mighty claws, but then it would have taken an hour maybe, too long for his prey to escape. Maybe, if the unicorn would see no other choice than destroying the wall behind it…
The dragon seemed to pander about something, not having moved for almost a minute. Its empty eyes just stared at him, almost as if the pure act of staring could bring it prey. Surely it was thinking about a way to destroy that shield of his. He had put a lot of effort into the spell, but he could already feel his powers being drained. It was wonderous that the shield had even worked, as for the entirety of his desolation every spell he had tried to cast had failed horribly.
Suddenly the shadowborn dragon started moving again, but neither in a defensive stance nor really emitting raw aggression. It definitely had something - The first hit caught him off guard. With incredible velocity the Shadowborn had stopped moving and sprung towards the shield. The impact thew him off his hooves as first holes appeared in his shield. He intensified the effort, but the dragon was already attacking again. This time, he was prepared and instead of taking another serious hit, he evaded a bit backwards, just for his hoof to collide with the heavy pile of rocks. Slowly he started climbing upwards, which was a really difficult task without leaving the shadowborn out of sight. Maybe that is what the cunning dragon wanted: If it could bring him to fall while pushing him back into the pile of stones, it would have an easy meal. If however, he could reach the top of the pile without falling, he would require much less energy as his sides would be safely covered by rocks.
Another strike fell down from up above, almost bringing him out of balance. The top half of the shield had broken apart and he would not be able to fix it fast enough. He desperately tried to climb further up, where the ceiling would cover that weak spot. The dragon roared, showing off its giant teeth once again. He was almost at the top, just two more stones… and done. The shadowborn however was relentless. It jumped towards the small sphere, pushing its teeth deeply into the magical barrier. At some spots, the barrier just burst under the pressure, letting the sharp teeth come closer and closer. With every spot breaking, the teeth gained an inch, already eagerly eying thier precious prey. He gave it all, trying desperately to repel the mighty beast, but his abilities were limited. From one predicament, he had come into the next. Down there, he could have run. Down there, there had not been sharp teeth closing in on him, inch after inch. One already touched his leg and he could feel the blade slowly cutting it open. Another one had reached his flank, also sinking into the hard shell of his. The teeth seemed to simply push through the hard shell, almost as if they were snapping through air. There was only one way left. The sharp teeth didn’t leave much of a choice, neither enough time to properly decide. Either inevitable death or the chance to live on.
While the sixth tooth found its way inside his body, he started to channel what could be the last spell. The pain was unbearable, but he did not allow himself to think about it. Either life or death. While the spell was far short of being finished, he had to let it go. The eighth tooth was already scraping at the surface of his neck, while the first one was already pushing out through the other side of his leg. It would be a mighty explosion, split into two parts. One would hopefully open a hole in the wall behind him, potentially pushing him into the teeth by the sheer shockwave. The other one would hopefully catapult him away from the dragon. There was no time left. It had to be done…
With a mighty roar the tiny pony closed its eyes. The dragon already thought he had accidentially gone to far, when the wall behind his little snack burst apart in a magic aura. What he had not expected was the second explosion following shortly afterwards. The explosion deafened his ears and blinded his eyes, but the pain it inflicted was even worse. The heat as nothing but a well known feeling, but the incredible pressure almost ripped his mouth apart. He could barely see the prey flying through the small hole behind it, leaving a trail of blood behind. Slightly overwhelmed by the sheer intensity, the dragon had to take a step back. For a second it seemed like his stomach could empty, but he quickly regained his senses. Even though it had been a painful exercise, the hole was open and there were still some ponies to be crushed. It took him not more than half a second to push his mighty body through the small hole. Bits and pieces of the stone wall were thrust into the air as his muscles tensed up to make his way into the much deserved freedom, taking half of the wall with him.
Out here was the burning sun again, the hot desert air and the black ground beneath him. It had not always looked like this, but in his young days he had liked to watch the stones burn and with them everything that those ponies had held dearly. It had been better days, more prey and less effort. Now the landscape had been declared hostile and the amount of ponies traveling through his lands had dramatically decreased. Right now, there were two ponies on the loose.
It took him not more than one mighty flap of his wings to burst highly into the sky, letting out a roar, vibrating through the vast emptiness below him. He quickly found what he had been searching for. While a couple of hundred hooves in front of his cave lay the prey he had found, not only two, but five ponies were another hundred hooves away. There was another, particularly strangely colored rainbow pony lying very closely to the group. Seven ponies… What a feast on this bright day.
“A dragon?!” Pinkie Pie screamed.
Twilight cringed, not only upon seeing the giant beast having freed itself from its prison, but much more because of the expression of Pinkie’s face; The fear in those eyes which were usually bright stars of joy burned into Twilight’s mind. While she could understand that feeling - seeing how her own legs had began to tremble - , she still hated to see Pinkie Pie experience it. Her friend who had always stood strong against any threat, laughing into the face of evil, was now cowering behind her. She couldn’t explain how the dragon had escaped the cave after that damned Changeling had caused a cave-in. It should not have been possible and yet the dragon’s shadow was blocking the sun above them. Rainbow Dash had somehow managed to come closer to Fluttershy, both only slowly recovering. Twilight wished she could have taken the advice and made a pause from her training. Now she was exhausted, especially after performing that teleportation spell. She had not eaten for two days now and her body reminded her painfully of that fact. If that damned Changeling had not lured them into a dragon cave like a madpony, it would have all been fine. This Changeling had brought nothing but trouble. As the shadow quickly grew bigger, Twilight knew that the dragon had started its attack without having to stretch her neck. The shield she created was a simple shield, but it should be enough to stop a dragon, even one this big. She had seen bigger, but the black scales reflecting the sunlight made it impossible to stare at it longer than just a moment.
Before the dragon would hit the shield, Twilight quickly performed a magical ice bolt. A very difficult spell which she had found in the Canterlot library in “Advanced Masteries of the Art of Magic” by StarSwirl himself. It had taken her years to perfect the spell, but she had never given up. The small snowball didn’t seem like much of a threat, but as soon as it impacted on the dragon’s skin, it quickly spread its freezing power. Within seconds, the entire dragon was frozen in its motion, falling down from the sky like a stone. She already wanted to scream in delight as the ice vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The dragon quickly corrected its angle and just burst THROUGH the shield. No, really. A dragon penetrated her shield. To be honest, it was a simple shield, yet it should still not have been possible. Was she really this tired?
Instead of crushing to the ground as she had planned it to, the dragon softly landed a couple dozen hooves in front of her, only barely catching itself. Without losing any time, it just jumped towards Twilight, opening its mouth broadly. A mouth filled by hundreds of sharp teeth, even with a Changeling leg stuck in between them. If she had fought alone, Twilight would have just jumped to her side. Here she was not only protecting herself though, but also her friends. For them, she would have to stay strong and she didn’t plan to disappoint them. A giant chunk of the ground before her slit upwards as her horn had barely started to glow. She had indeed become faster than her magic aura. The time it took for the visual light to be emit from the magic was longer than it took the magic to actually reach its target.
The dragon crushed into the stone wall, ripping it apart with its heavy body, then flying just over their heads, its angry teeth snapping for anything in their proximity, and finally landing far behind them. When the dragon jumped up for another attack, Twilight had already created another shield. The sharp teeth dug deeply into her magical barrier, slowly ripping it into pieces. Any normal dragon would have lost its teeth by this time… Either she was much weaker than she had thought to be or this dragon as not just a normal dragon. With a last effort, she created a magical spear and accelerated it towards the dragon. It flew like a bolt, simply piercing through the dragon’s neck, and stopping before it could leave on the other side. The dragon, however, took its revenge before Twilight or anypony could have possibly reacted: The huge tail swung like a whip and crushed through the shield, digging its spiked end into the only ponies still standing.
The world seemed to disappear so incredibly fast. There was so much to still be done, so much she had not said. This couldn’t just be it. It was not suposed to end like this. Her entire life, those years of studying. Every second she had spent, every moment she had enjoyed, every heartbeat she had despised. All of this ending here, with a small mistake? There was another explosion, or maybe she dreamt that. A burning pit of fire and thousands of pillars. Celestia talking to her about studies, her mom and dad looking at her with that certain spark in their eyes, the spark of loving parents. Was this really it? She felt a tear running down from her eyes, followed by another one and yet another one. Soon she could not decide if it were her tears or the rain coming from empty clouds. A hellish nightmare of a pony laughing maniacally, a night as dark as no other. Chaos and disruption, anger and distrust, hatred and betrayal, Discord and Chrysalis…
Was this the end?
Scrift laid down into his soft, comfy bed and let the events of the day pass by again. They had been ordered to search that newling he had rescued. By now he was almost sure he should have never saved Ethereal Tear as that ling had not brought anything but troubles. Neither had the rescue been recognized nor had the newling proven very useful. And now Scrift was seen as the fault for all the unnecessary searching, just because of this heroic sacrifice. How could a newling even be able to evade the entire hive like this? He moaned as he moved just a bit further under the blankets, a bit deeper into the comforting warmth. A strange tradition, these beds. He would have usually preferred the sleeping chambers and not these beds, but since they had started the search, he had felt uncomfortable sleeping at their side. Sleeping while having to worry about some sort of vengeful strike just wouldn’t work.
Before he could drift into sleep though, the small wooden door was burst open. It was strange to have a door, such an inconvenient little thing. Why would you make it difficult to get into your own room by putting a wooden board in front of it? It was so much easier to just leave an entrance open, because that is what an entrance is supposed to be: Open! How could you even think it would be beneficial to put a board in front of it? What had the person inventing this “door” thought? ‘Oh, I am just going to put this wooden plank here to make it difficult to get into my own room.‘ The door could not even keep any unwanted visitors out, as the guards had simply knocked it down. Now it was nothing but a pile of rubbish anyway, so there was nothing to complain about anymore.
“You! Come with us! The queen wants to see you for some reason. I guess, the hive will.”
The guard with that incredibly deep voice. There was something about that Changeling, but Scrift had never cared or dared to ask. Whom would he ask anyway? The leader of the guard? Probably not, he wouldn’t be too excited about some strangeling asking him about his guards.
“Are you deaf? The queen wants to see you!”
Scrift quickly got out of the comfy blankets and followed the growling guards. Even through their aggressive appearance, he could still make out the excitement in their eyes. Or could it be mischievousness? The guards seemed to be a lot hastier today; There was definitely something going down...
As Scrift began to wander alongside the guards, he began to wonder: What could be the premise of the guard’s escort in this late hour? And where were they heading towards? A real escort only made sense if it would either lead to the hall of the queen or to the grand entrance. So either punishment by the queen herself would await him or his exemption from the hive. Neither of both alternatives sounded too delightful…
The heavy metal doors opened very slowly and with a loud screeching sound. They should really get the thing fixed at some point, or maybe it was the sound to prepare one before meeting her. A screeching sound, much like the promise that something terrific would await you, beautiful and vengeful at the same time. A queen like no other before her, ruling her fellow Changelings with incredible might and cruciality and yet caring for every single one of them.
“Ahh, Scrift.”
For a moment he was just completely perplexed. Not only had she spoken before he had bowed to her, but she had also mentioned his name. Had he become famous over night or what was this supposed to mean?
“Your majesty!” he quickly added with a deep bow to her. He kept his eyes down on the ground, not daring to look up to her legendary beauty.
“I have decided to promote you.”
What? So he was getting promoted now? This would be too good to be true, there had to be some trick to this, some veiled agenda.
“I promote you to leader of the search troup delta. Your assignment is to search the newling. And now get out of my sight, I have more important business to deal with than the misfortunes of single Changelings.”
With that, she pointed her hoof towards the door again. Scrift had no real choice but to turn around again, not really having fully arrived. Why was the queen so busy? And more importantly, why would she promote him to a search troup leader? He had not done anything showing leadership qualities except saving a random newling, which shouldn’t be considered as anything important anyway. Either this was some totally inconceivable plan that only such a genius like the queen herself could create, or it was some kind of hidden punishment. Or maybe she just had to promote someling and he was just the one in her mind at the moment.
Each option had its own weirdness inside: If it was a genius plan, how would a search troup partake in it? If it was some veiled punishment, why would she punish him with a promotion? A promotion was furthest from the idea of ‘punishment’ he could possibly think of. So it had to be some random promotion… Yes. The most probable thing was that it was just some kind of weird randomness going on right here, a machine set in motion by the throw of some dice. Then again, why would the queen ever rely on randomness? Every plan of hers was cunning and ingenious and she never relied on such things as ‘luck’. Leader of the search troup. That actually sounded quite nice and a promotion was something he most definitely deserved after that most epic rescue of his, raining down from the sky into a deep pit of dangerous, giant, ling-feasting spikes and helping that poor firstling out of his misery. What if he could actually get a bit further? What if he could become squadron leader? Or the queen’s personal guard? Finally, after years of being ignored, he had found his way up the ladder of success.
The silent darkness surrounded her, leaving her no place to hide from her own fears. The picture quickly changed into that of the strange amulet that she had seen in her dreams. The amulet that was the sole reason for their adventure and the sole reason for what had happened. Shortly after having her first dream interrupted by the ruby encased in a golden necklace, she had sent a letter to Celestia asking about the strange amulet. Celestia’s answer though was disappointing: Under no circumstances should Twilight try to find the amulet and Celestia herself would deal with it. The visions didn’t stop occurring though, and as dream after dream kept stealing her nights, she had to start researching. She couldn’t just let her nights vanish into these weird nightmares, which kept waking her up.
The problem to the whole thing was just that she didn’t know where to search. She had searched about a red amulet, but there are hundreds of red amulets and thousands of stories about amulets in dreams. It was plain impossible to find out what those dreams were all about. She had almost given up when she had noticed something more in the shadows than just the amulet itself. There was a figure back in the shadows, a figure with holes in their legs. She could not make out much more than that, but that was already enough for her to make her way down - Not without her friends of course.
Once again the picture changed, showing the unholy darkness behind the amulet, filled by a deep laughter echoing from unseen walls. She tried to move backwards but there was only darkness left, only the cold, wet wind blowing into her face. Suddenly it was the first day of their journey again, a stormy day, thunder and lightning crashing down onto the earth again and again, making it impossible to sustain a good mood. Only Pinkie’s entertainment package made the whole excursion bearable.
The picture in her mind almost seemed to react to her thoughts, as the sudden sound of the train whistle startled her. She was still encompassed by the darkness, only hearing the sounds of a busy train station in her thoughts. The train station in Ponyville maybe, or the one in Appaloosa, guessing by the path of their journey. They had decided to ride the train from Ponyville southwards without waiting for further confirmation of Celestia. The problem had to be dealt with as she had started to accidentally misfire her spells in her tiredness. The victims of those unfortunate accidents had been a certain musician pony with three hooves, a stallion crushed by a giant deformed apple, and another stallion transformed into a mare after startling her. To reverse the spells had actually been much more difficult as she could often not remember what she had actually cast in this state of fatigue.
The picture changed again, turning into a bright, blinding light. Suddenly her body was being thrown to the side, then up and back down again while lines were forming around unrecognizable schemes. With time flowing by like honey, the blurry lines started to turn into a more recognizable figure: It seemed as if Rainbow’s head was hovering somewhere in a black sky.
“Twilight?”
Even though it was nothing but a distorted echo, she could clearly make out Rainbow Dash’s voice. As she tried to move her body however, she could feel nothing but an overwhelming numbness in her limbs. She was barely able to hold her eyes open as another sudden rush of fatigue pulled her back into darkness.
“Twilight! Don’t leave us now!”
Why was Rainbow Dash so upset? She wasn’t going anywhere, just allowing the comfortable blackness to surround her, sheltering her from the harsh light of the desert. However, There was something about Rainbow Dash’s voice that kept her awake. Dash was just too upset for her to simply ignore the pegasus. Don’t leave us now. Could that be…? This darkness… A lie! This all was a lie, the comforting darkness was a sweet angel of death, whispering softly into her ears. She had to get up and escape from this darkness. Almost overhastily, she pushed her body into the air.
“What are you doing?”
When she finally opened her eyes again, the whole world was blurry, but at least it was not the dangerous darkness anymore. While the world slowly started to deblur, she could make out more and more. It wasn’t only Rainbow Dash standing in the darkness, but six ponies and a small dragon. While Rainbow Dash was still standing very close to her, the others sat around a burning tree. As she started to slowly step towards the fire, Rainbow Dash quickly rushed to her side, holding her up. Even though her expression showed concern, she didn’t say anything. Instead, Twilight had an important question:
“Who is that other pony over there?”
Rainbow’s mien seemed to darken a lot upon hearing the question. Either that, or the fire’s shine had suddenly changed, letting dancing shadows hush over the pegasus’ face.
“The Changeling. Fluttershy decided we should keep him after he… well… he saved us. I had everything under control though!”
It was almost painfully obvious that the inability to help her friends tormented her. Twilight wanted to say something, anything, but what do you actually say in such a moment? It isn’t your fault? Of course Rainbow Dash would always see it as her own fault when her closest friends were attacked. You couldn’t do anything? She would never be contempt with that, as she would always tell herself that something could have been done. Furthermore, it would seem as if Twilight believed in the incompetence of Dash, not trusting in her awesome abilities.
Twilight wasn’t sure as how to react to the appearance of the Changeling. On one hoof she absolutely hated those nasty creatures whom had almost took her brother. She would never be able to forgive such crime, even though it had been the queen, not her subjects committing it. On the other hoof however, the Changeling supposively saved them. She shouldn’t even think like this. If Rainbow Dash said that the Changeling had saved them, the Changeling had saved them no matter how despicable and cruel and monstrous such a beast was. Then again, how could a Changeling save them? Changelings had almost killed Princess Celestia and had tried to steal her brother. It was far beyond unforgivable and they should suffer!
Her anger resided though as she got a bit further towards the campfire. What she had thought to be just an illusion of the dancing shadows was in fact not an illusion. The Changeling… His front left leg was just… missing. She quickly looked away as the Changeling seemed to have sensed her glooming stare. With a mixture of disgust and pity, she couldn’t get it over herself to sit down next to him. Instead, she decided to squeeze herself in between Applejack and Spike. All of her friends seemed to be horribly wounded. Either burnt skin or deep flesh-wounds were covering everypony, definitely painful but never mortal. It was absolutely horrifying to see her friends in such a state. Once she would regain her strength, she would be able to care for their wounds, but for now she would have to watch their pain without the ability to help them. This feeling of helplessness… She suppressed the anxiety as she looked down at her own body and noticed some sharp bruises, and one or two deeper wounds. Although the wounds seemed quite painful, she had not yet experienced any. She should rather be grateful for that fact instead of complaining about it. Spike once again used his fiery breath to keep the fire going.
“This is not going to hold for long. The wood is just too burnt already.”
There was this… heavy atmosphere spread over everypony. Pinkie “the happy party pony” Pie herself was just poking holes in the ground. Applejack was staring into the fire as if there was the entire Apple Family orchard, a beautiful sundawn above the field of thousands of apple trees, all ready and ripe to be bucked down, to make some sweet cider together as a family. Rainbow Dash sat down next to the Changeling and started to stare into the distance too. Rarity however seemed to try to get her hair into order again, which seemed quite difficult without any professional equipment. To see Fluttershy like this was unsurpassable by any horrible emotion. It ripped her heart apart. The fear and sadness in those eyes were worse than anything she had ever seen. Twilight quickly looked away into the fire again as she could not stand it any longer. Fluttershy had always been the definition of innocence, but now it was so obviously missing. She knew it would never come back and that was a burning dagger in her heart.
Oh, Fluttershy…