//------------------------------// // A Dragon's Revenge // Story: Moon Fall // by 007Delta //------------------------------// Dash was beginning to feel hopeless. She had checked everywhere she could think of, including all of her friends houses, Everfree, and a quick peek in the clouds. During her search, she found nothing. Ponyville was deserted, and Dash was looking for one Pegasus among of thousands of ponies. Then she heard the boom. It scared the Pegasus half to death, as she covered her ears and let out a startled yelp, flapping her wings in defense. When she realized the noise had come from somewhere in the sky, she lowered her wings and continued walking. "What the hell was that?" She thought, "It certainly wasn't thunder,". She just happened to glance over at the Mountain that Canterlot resided upon, and noticed flashes of purple and black that seemed to come from the city. She knew it must be magical, and the caster would have to be powerful for the light to be visible from this far away. Then it came to her. The only casters powerful enough to do that were the princesses themselves, which meant that they were battling, just as Dash looked for Fluttershy. The teal mare bit her bottom lip as she realized just how small the amount of time she had left might turn out to be. If Celestia won, then everything would go back to normal given a little time. If Nightmare Moon won, then... Dash thought, trying her best to imagine what Nightmare Moon would do once she reached power. She couldn't help but wonder if she would banish Celestia to the sun, or perhaps enslave the population of Equestria, dooming them forever to build colossal monuments to her eternal and everlasting glory, like Haydolf Hitler and the Trotzi regime did when Daring Do- Rainbow Dash shook her head. Even now, those books couldn't stay out of her mind. As she thought about this, she looked up at the moon, and immediately, her face contorted in thought. Something had changed about it... She was sure of it. But she couldn't quite place what it was. It just seemed... Different. She quickly turned her thoughts to Fluttershy once again, trying to envision what the the shy little pony would do in a time like this. Then she had a horrible realization. Fluttershy probably left with Twilight, who was almost certainly on her way to aid the princess, which meant... "Oh no,". Dash said aloud. Fluttershy was on her way to Canterlot, where two rulers of god like power were settling their differences like barbarians. She stared at the mountain as the purple flashes began to grow and expand. Rainbow Dash didn't know a whole lot about magic, but she did know that every unicorn had their own different color to their spells, and as she stared at the lights, she only saw one; deep, ghostly, lavender. She never really paid a whole lot of a attention to details like this, but she was pretty sure that Celestia's aura wasn't purple. This only made her stomach flutter as she contemplated her next decision. Somewhere between here and that war zone was her last chance at a clear conscious, and Dash wasn't going to let it walk away. She began to fly towards the mountain, when suddenly the purple flashes began to brighten to blinding magnitudes. Dash had to turn her head away due to the sudden brightness of the lights, resulting in complete loss of visibility, which nearly caused her to crash into the ground. When the lights finally faded, she stared on in awed silence, watching the unbelievable sight before her. The beautiful city of Canterlot was sliding down the mountain, crumbling and collapsing as it tumbled down the rocky slope. Dash put her hooves to her mouth as she watched the Capitol of Equestria roll into a pile of broken architecture. Several large sections of the city spilt off before the entire mass disappeared into a colossal, amorphous cloud of dust. Dash was mortified. She had no idea that Nightmare Moon was that powerful, nor did she think she would do something as extreme as destroying a city. Now the teal Pegasus wasn't so sure that looking for Fluttershy was such a good idea, "what if Canterlot isn't the only city she's destroyed?" She began to worry in her head. "If Nightmare Moon even caught sight of me, she would kill me on the spot". She began to subconsciously hover backwards, her mind desperately trying to keep as much distance from the enemy as possible, but Dash merely shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "I gotta do it, I gotta do it for Fluttershy." o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o The two ponies, one dragon and one Draconequus were only about a mile away when Canterlot came crashing into the earth like a meteor. No one spoke. What could they possibly say? The Capitol had fallen, which meant that Celestia had failed, and was probably dead. Fluttershy looked on as tears began to fall from her large blue eyes, and Spike merely gazed into the wreckage, his brain trying to process the ineffable tragedy that played out before him. Applejack looked away, and even Discord had a face of sadness. "Twilight..." Spike uttered. He knew that she and Trixie had traveled here to try and aid in the fight against Nightmare... But now they had failed,..." Spike sat down and began to cry. He sobbed profusely as the one figure in his life that he could call a mother was presumed dead in the wreckage of Canterlot. The clear tears rolled down the purple scales beneath his eyes before falling from his cheek to the ground. His lonely, white eyes were closed shut as he tried to imagine a life without Twilight, only to find that deep inside, he was angry. The lividity glowed white hot inside him, boiling deep in his soul, marinating in his hatred. Applejack looked over at Spike, who had stopped crying and began hyperventilating. "S-spike? Are you alri-" Spike hopped to his feet and turned to Discord, completely disregarding Applejack's question. "Teleport me now!" The little baby dragon screamed at Discord. "What?" Said the Draconequus in complete confusion, which was an emotion he rarely felt. "Teleport me up there!" He pointed to the cliff where Canterlot was once sitting. "You can't be serious,". Said Discord with a sudden frown. "Did I stutter?" Yelled the dragon at Discord. The mismatched being in front of the tiny purple dragon scowled at him before he raised his left lion paw, preparing to fulfill Spikes request Applejack stepped forward and looked into Discord's eyes. "Don't you dare," Discord smirked mischievously before he snapped his fingers, and disappeared abruptly, along with Spike. o.0.O== A Few Minutes Earlier ==O.0.o High above the spot where Canterlot formerly resided, two ponies sat nestled discreetly in a nearly invisible cloud. Twilight had cast a spell on Trixie that allowed her to walk in the puffy cotton like platform which they both dyed black, to camouflage it against the sky. With a pair of binoculars, Twilight spectated on the battles, watching Celestia get tricked by Nightmare, and seeing the City of Canterlot fall like an oversized stone into a puddle. Twilight felt depressed and morose, as she watched her teacher struggle helplessly against her sadistic sister. Not only that, but the city she lived just a few years ago, sat in rubble several hundred feet below. She wanted to cry, but she knew the tears would travel down her face and into the binoculars, so she forced herself not to shed any. She needed to be alert for when Nightmare Noon did it. There was one mistake that Twilight was betting on Nightmare to make, and they could not miss it, no matter the cost. Trixie was watching the battle as well from another section of the cloud, and for the entire course of the brawl, she had said next to nothing, when all of a sudden, she shrieked in despair. Trixie managed to say one word before Twilight began tearing over the side of the cloud. "Spike!" Suddenly, something grabbed hold of her tail and pulled her back up to the black mass of condensation. Twilight was desperately trying to fly down to the battle. She had just witnessed Spike teleport onto the cliff by himself, and from the look on his face, he was seeking revenge. The purple mare reeled around, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was holding her, and she let out a surprised gasp when she saw the God of Chaos himself, where Trixie used to be. "Oh no you don't, you little maverick you,". Said Discord with a mocking tone and a sly smile. "Discord! Spike is in trouble! Let me go! "No he isn't, I have a plan, and I need you to listen." "Why should I trust you?" She yelled back at him, momentarily stopping her struggle. "I don't have a reason to give you, Twilight, just know that I am on your side this time." Twilight sat back down in her cloud, fidgeting and sweating, her nerves practically palpable. "You'd better be right,". She said through gritted teeth, before she practically stabbed the binoculars back into her eyes. o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o The colors around Spike warped and turned into a jumbled spiral, before rearranging themselves into a totally different view. He was now overlooking the edge of the cliff where Canterlot was previously fixed to the mountainside, and as he looked around, he noticed a few strange things. Celestia was shackled to the ground, and it looked as if her horn was gone. Nightmare Moon was standing over the sun princess, seemingly talking to her, and Celestia could do nothing but listen. Her eyes were fixed on the moon in the sky, while Nightmare carried on her monologue. Discord was nowhere to be found, but Spike cared little for that. The absolute blinding hatred that had built in his body was about explode, when he opened his mouth to speak. "Nightmare Moon, you black hearted, cruel and sick minded bitch!" Nightmare Moon turned around, sheer surprise on her face, but it all turned to laughter as she witnessed the dragon that uttered these words of contempt. "I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to avenge Twilight." Said the little purple dragon as he stared daggers into Nightmare Moon's eyes. "Are you now?" Said Nightmare through a smile. "It seems a bit backwards doesn't it? The dragon comes to slay me?" Nightmare Moon laughed uncontrollably. "The only thing keeping you alive is your bravery, dragon, but be forewarned; my amusement won't last long." Is the only sentence she managed to sputter out before doubling over in another fit of ridiculous laughter.. Spike began to walk slowly toward her as she laughed and gasped for breath. Just as Spike was a few feet away from Nightmare, he wound up his arm and bared his claws. He jumped forward, using the momentum of his air time to launch the palm of his hand into the black cheek of the laughing villain. Nightmare was caught completely off guard. Her eyes were open wide with shock as she felt the hard claw slam into her face before digging deep cuts into her skin. Spikes face was a hard scowl as he forced his sharp nails as deep as he could into her evil facade. The loud sound of a hard hand smacking against flesh drew even Celestia's attention while it was fixated against the moon, and she turned, slack jawed toward the baby dragon. That day, Celestia would have a new found respect for that little wyrm. Nightmare Moon stood up and towered over the little dragon, her eye twitching with anger and annoyance. She was going to kill this little purple nuisance. She was going to make sure he died as painful of a death as she could manage to administer, and she was going to make him wish he never hatched out his wretched egg. Nightmare Moon stood on her hind legs and prepared to stomp on the little dragon, who only readied himself and clenched his fists. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon felt something touch her underbelly, before it pushed up on her, causing Nightmare to fall squarely on her back. She looked back, refusing to believe that the tiny dragon had managed to overpower her, but when she looked, she realized she was in much more trouble than that. Discord had emerged in front of Spike, with a smirk on his face, and his finger on his lip, as if to say, "oopsie,". Discord looked over at Celestia, noticing the shackles fixed to her body. The god of Chaos couldn't help but smile as he spoke. "I'd ask you to join the fight, Celestia, but I see your a bit tied up at the moment,". A small drum set appeared overhead and played a loud sting to punctuate his joke. Celestia looked at him, disappointment and disbelief written in her eyes. She spoke through a hoarse grunt. "You're making puns now?" Discord threw his hands into the air. "Puns are beside the point, I see your horn just doesn't get it." Another sting from the drum set above. "Here she comes!" Yelled Spike as Nightmare Moon charged at the two. "I wouldn't worry about her so much,". Said Discord with a wave of his hand, "you see, her mind's just a bit scrambled,". Discord snapped his fingers and watched as a puff of smoke engulfed Nightmare Moon. She emerged from the cloud, only to have her limbs swapped with each other and rotated at strange angles, causing her to shuffle on her hooves, before toppling over. She let out a scream of frustration as Discord laughed maniacally. "I guess you could say it'll take a while for her to get back on her feet!" the drum set exploded above him and began to rain purple kittens. Discord was on his back rolling around, before Nightmare Moon used her magic to correct her limbs. Without Discord noticing, she launched a beam of black energy from her horn. "Discord, watch out!" Yelled Celestia, but it was too late. Discord turned toward Nightmare Moon, only to be zapped and engulfed in light. His figure stood incredibly still, and when the light dimmed, it was revealed that he had been once again imprisoned in stone. Celestia sincerely hoped that this was another one of his games, because he was quite possibly the last person capable of ending this disaster. Everyone on the cliff looked at Discord's frozen body, waiting to see if it would show any signs of life underneath the rocky facade. When no such move was made, Nightmare Moon smiled a devilish grin. "Now it's just you and me, little dragon." All of the anger from Spike's face had drained to show fear. After seeing what she did to Discord, he realized just who he was up against, and how hopeless the fight had been for him all along. He backed away from the black mare, who only strutted slowly toward him, smiling her evil beam every step of the way. "Where's all your startling bravado now? Is it because your pesky bodyguard has gone, you've taken to feeling... Vulnerable?" Nightmare Moon was only a few yards away from Spike, who backed up as far as he could, until his foot almost stepped over the edge of the cliff. Nightmare Moon was now standing directly over him, her eyes fixed on the young dragon, thoughts of indescribable evil pulsing through her skull. A strong gust of wind tipped Spike over the side of the cliff, who barely managed to grab hold of the edge with his claws. He began to try and desperately climb back up, but Nightmare crushed his hands with her hooves before leaning in, and putting her lips beside Spike's head. "Long live the queen,". She muttered in his ear, before scooting his hands off the rock and sending him plummeting into the land below. The air rushed past his body, hissing against his ears and buffeting the small dragon on his journey to the ground. In his mind, he felt satisfied. He had done all that he could do within his power, even though he failed. He did his best, but there is little that a baby dragon can do against the sheer evil of a jealousy driven Alicorn, and in the end, he knew that he would die. On his way down, Spike spoke his final words to Twilight, whom he hoped was listening to him from heaven. "Thank you". He began. "Thank you, for making the little time that I had on this earth worthwhile, I love you Twilight. Have fun in the stars," He closed his eyes, let his body go limp, and calmly embraced his fate.