Chapter Fifty-five
Rainbow Dash
I held out my broadsword before me, ready to block an incoming attack. I gripped it with both hands, though my left arm was still a little stiff from its recovery. Spike tripped ungracefully in running back to the group, but wrapped it up nicely into a roll to his feet. He seemed panicked, ready to fight but extremely loathe to do so.
The noises of clatter echoing darkly from the cavern increased in volume. The dragon was on its way, fast. I turned to Applejack, nodding tersely. We were as ready as we were going to get, but my heart was hammering inside my chest. The noises continued to rise in intensity for a few moments, then stopped abruptly. The cave remained dark.
Before any of us could wonder what had happened, a jet of blood red flame erupted from the opening before us, and we dove to the side to avoid the attack. I popped to my feet quickly, my wings catching the heated, smoky air and lifting me into the air. I stabilized as quickly as I could, surveying the battlefield while I had a chance. The others had all escaped the first attack easily enough, though now we were divided. Rarity and Applejack had ended up on the same side of the plateau as me, with all four of the others on the opposite end.
With mounting horror, we all watched as the dragon, scales as blood-red as his flame, dragged himself out of the cavern. He was a great deal larger and more monstrous than any dragon I’d ever heard of; with foot long fangs and horns, giant flat orange spikes running down his spine, and soulless yellow eyes. He squinted in the waning sunlight, accustomed to the darkness of his cave, and I knew we had until his night vision wore off to make a move.
“Spike!” I yelled. “If you’re going to do something, do it now! This won’t last long!”
He looked up at me upon hearing my words, bewildered, but nodded. He was back in control. “Dash, cover Fluttershy for me! Everyone else, help me keep him occupied! Don’t do any serious damage, though, just enough to distract him. I don’t believe negotiation will be out of the question once we calm him down!”
Finishing his orders, he stepped forward and threw his arms back, exploding into a mass of light and emerging as another dragon. He looked more-or-less the same as I remembered Twilight described him as: Purple scales, green spinal-fins, barbed tail. While twice as tall as his normal human form and much heavier set, he was still rather insignificant in comparison with the red dragon.
Spike stomped forward, arms outstretched, looking like he intended to wrestle the other dragon. Finally regaining his sight, our opponent watched Spike curiously for a few moments, then lunged forward at him, jaws open wide to reveal several rows of dagger-like teeth. Spike had little chance to dodge, as he was a great deal slower in this form, but his arms shot out quick enough to brace against either side of his opponent’s mouth, holding it open.
I shook myself out of my intense focus on the scene, gripping my weapon. Spike seemed to know what he was doing, even if no-one else did. I looked around wildly, and spotted Fluttershy hovering above the plateau a short distance away. She looked worried, but determined in whatever she was preparing to do.
Gritting my teeth and nodding silently to myself, I flew over to where Fluttershy was floating. My broadsword twirled idly in my right hand, and I began charging a disc of wind energy in my left. I kept my eyes locked on the enemy, but I could feel Fluttershy’s nervous eyes on my back. I watched as Spike threw off the jaws of the other dragon, diving to the side clumsily. Pinky darted around in front of him, holding his interest.
Behind me, I heard Fluttershy clear her throat, then she began to sing. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but they had a calming effect all the same. I quickly realized she was using the song that calmed people’s minds- the ‘Heron Galdr, as Spike called it- to try and pacify our enemy. Good idea... I guess this is what Spike was planning. I’ve got to make sure Fluttershy has enough time to finish the song.
In both good and bad fortune, the giant red dragon heard the song loud and clear. As good as this was, since he had to actually hear the music for it to work, he didn’t seem to want any part of it. He swept his clawed arm forward angrily, swatting aside Pinky and Twilight like insects. Applejack clung for dear life on his scaled limb- one hand grasping for a handhold, the other on her battle axe, the head sticking fast beneath the scales.
The dragon whipped its head back heavily, then brought his gaping maw down to bear on Fluttershy. Another jet of fire blasted out of his mouth, headed straight for us. I clasped my sword with both hands, the wind in my left leaping onto my blade, and threw it as hard as I could towards the attack. The weapon spun lighting-fast towards the center, the powerful wind rallying around it dispersing the flame as it went. Fluttershy’s voice wavered, but the song continued.
We were about halfway through the Galdr, and the dragon was focusing his full efforts on shutting Fluttershy up. The other four members of the team quickly pieced together what was happening. Rarity dove forward, launching a beam of light past the dragon’s face. His attention momentarily drawn, Applejack yanked her weapon out of his arm, and he reacted by snapping towards her. She leapt backwards, landing roughly but out of the path of danger.
I caught a glimpse of something darting around behind the dragon, going unnoticed in the commotion before him. Not stopping to catch her breath, Pinky swung onto the dragon’s back, wrapped her arms around one of his neck-spikes, and pulled back mightily. The dragon yelped in surprise, and tried fruitlessly to shake her off. His arms were too short to reach her, and she was to high up on his head for him to be able to bite at her.
Spike had recovered his balance by now, and threw himself at the enemy dragon. He landed on the beast’s back, behind Pinky’s perch, and was heavy enough to pin the dragon to the ground. He struggled brutally, but gained no ground. Twilight and Rarity both stood a fair distance away, each a powerful spell charged above them, aimed threateningly at the dragon. Applejack limped away from the battle, weapon hefted over her shoulder, and came to stand near me and Fluttershy.
“You alright?” I asked her, but didn’t take my eyes off the action.
“I’ll live.” was her simple answer. “Looks like the real show’s about to begin...”
Somewhat shakily from the violence, Fluttershy’s song finally concluded. We were able to watch as the blind rage in the dragon’s bright yellow eyes faded away, to be replaced by softer dazed ones. He struggled feebly against the other dragon holding him down, but there wasn’t much energy in it. Spike slid off his back, decidedly relieved, and trudged around to face him. Pinky followed shortly, but backed away to join Twilight and Rarity on the other side of the plateau. Whatever Spike was planning to do next, no-one else seemed to want any part in it.
As he walked, Spike made the short transformation back to a human. He walked around the dragon’s dejected, confused body, approaching him fearlessly. Spike slowly reached out with one arm, the dragon sniffing tentatively. When no hostile move was made, Spike went as far as to put his hand on the dragon’s snout gently. In a voice almost too quiet to catch, Spike addressed him: “So I was right... Fenrir, old friend, what has happened to you...?”
Fenrir? Wasn’t that... Before I could finish putting this new piece of the puzzle into place, the dragon began to respond. While he spoke in deep, gravelly tones, barely understandable, it was definitely human speech. From where I was, I couldn’t understand much of what he said, but I caught Spike’s name at the beginning. I also heard ‘Celestia’, ‘Guardian Dragons’ and ‘weapons’, none of which came as much surprise. He spoke for a long time, and while the rest of us understood very little of it, Spike was hanging on his every word.
“That’s insane...” Spike exclaimed once he had finished, stunned. “But... I don’t doubt it for a second. But how did she... No. No way.”
“It is as the king feared...” The dragon, Fenrir, said clearly enough to be understood by all. “She has brought the cursed drug back from the dead.”
“No!” Spike screamed, panicking. “How could she possibly have known about that?! And she’s been using it on others?! Agh, Goddess Ashunera help us all...”
“Spike, what’s he talking about?” Twilight asked, worried.
“We’ve got to get you back to normal, Fenrir.” Spike said, ignoring the questioning gazes of the others, myself included. “I don’t know what we’ll do after that... but we need you to be able to tell everyone what’s happened. Fluttershy can use the Galdr, but only knows bliss... if we can find someone who knows the words to rebirth...”
“Spike!” Twilight yelled, finally drawing her guardian’s attention. “What’s happening?”
“Sorry.” Spike said, wringing his hands nervously. “I’m having some difficulty accepting all this myself... This dragon is Fenrir, the very same shipmate we lost almost seventeen years ago. Apparently he was washed out to sea when the Longsword sunk, and drifted for several days, until royal soldiers from Eclipse found him. They realized he was another Goldoan Dragon, and could be another valuable addition to Celestia’s forces, so they brought him in.
“But they didn’t tell anyone what they had found. The soldiers brought him directly to the queen, and none of us were told he had been recovered. Celestia hid him away for a time, but then...” Spike stopped, choked up, and I knew something terrible was on the way. “It seems as though the queen has lied, and has had some previous contact with Tellius. She has, one way or another discovered something that should have remained dead and buried after all these years.”
“A horrible drug, used by the Mad King and his advisors in the wars eight hundred years ago, has somehow fallen into Celestia’s hands. This drug was used turn ordinary Laguz into super-soldiers, called the Feral Ones, but at a terrible cost. The drug destroyed the mind and warped the body, making any being afflicted by it a horrible shell of a person, living only to kill and sate their bloodlust, until they were consumed by its effects and collapsed. It was used a few times on Beorc as well, with still worse results.”
My jaw had long-since dropped, as had Fluttershy’s and Twilight’s. “And the queen has her hands on that?” I asked, just as stunned as Spike. If this was true, what he was saying would have cataclysmic implications.
Spike nodded, yet shook his head in wonder at the same time. “I don’t know how the formula survived its supposed destruction after the war, but there’s no mistaking it. The queen of Equestria has put the Feral One’s back in action. It seems she gave Fenrir here a triple-dose of this new, improved version, and you can see the result. He’s become more powerful than any of us could imagine, but you saw the bloodlust in his eyes before the Galdr calmed him. It’s been a slower process, but his mind is rotting away, and the time he’s used to tell me all this has been a struggle.
“It seems like she wanted to turn Fenrir into another living weapon. But when he became too strong and lashed out, escaping into the world with her secret, Celestia wanted him dead at all costs. She was blinded by this desire, and didn’t think when Luna offered to send for us. The young princess clearly wanted us to reach him and do what we can to help him. But... I’m afraid Fenrir is not the only one who has been subjected to this.”
That was what I was afraid of hearing, but knew I would hear. If this disastrous drug was a regular part of the queen’s arsenal, our mission just went from difficult to near-impossible. Spike continued, despite my silent willing for him to stop. “Celestia has apparently been working on this drug for years, trying to perfect its effects. She seems to have gotten what she wanted quite recently, and already a toned-down version has been used to enhance her soldiers’ abilities. We’re not sure if she has- or plans to- make anymore super-soldier weapons like Fenrir with it, but it has already taken root and boosted her soldiers power beyond normal human limitations.”
“This is terrible...” I managed to breath out. That was more than I could say for any of the girls, as they were all in the same awestruck silence I had been in a moment before. “If the queen has a weapon like that... how can we hope to stop this?”
“There’s gotta be a way to reverse it or somethin’...” Applejack muttered.
“There is one,” Spike confirmed, “but I’m not sure how we’re going to get it. Another heron song, the Galdr of Rebirth, is capable of a full reversal of the drug, in a nice calm environment. Problem is... We don’t have that song, and the only people who do, the Heron Clan in Tellius, has been known to guard the lyrics zealously. I can’t imagine how we could even get to them to ask, let alone convince them to teach Fluttershy. There’s no known way from Equestria to Tellius, so we can’t exactly reach them.”
“We might be able to.” Pinkie said suddenly. All eyes turned to her, to hear her idea. “Don’t we know an extremely convincing information gatherer, who can teleport?”