//------------------------------// // A Dragon Legend // Story: TiM: Best of Intentions, Worst of Results // by Twidashforever //------------------------------// Warclaw “What the buck are you talking about?’ “Ataxia! Language!” “Buck that dad. He’s trying to say I'm special or something.” Spike wanted to reply that she was special. That regardless of what they learned here she was his little girl. That alone made her the most special pony in his life (well, tied with Rarity). However, at that moment their conversation attracted the attention of one of the larger dragons. This newcomer flew down to attack the group of ponies on the roof of the hospital. Spike rose up and met him head on. While Spike was not the raw brawler that these dragons were, he did have one advantage they did not. A little gift his wife gave him, Dragon Steel Armor. The two dragons twist and turned in the air, in terms of raw size they were even, however, the other dragon was far more of a vicious fighter, much to his detriment. Every spot the dragon bit at, every spot the dragon clawed at, merely resulted in loss of a tooth or claw. Spike’s attacks were far more effective. Several times the other dragon would cry out in pain as blood spilt from his wounds. “Ataxia let me ask you this. Spike is your father right?” “Duh.” “Your mother is a pony?” “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” “Spike told me Rarity gave birth to you; that you didn’t hatch from an egg.” “Is this going somewhere?” “Don’t you think it’s weird that you have no physical characteristics of a dragon? You are half dragon after all.” “…” For once in her life, Ataxia had no comeback to that. She never truly considered why her dragon side never presented itself. She did think of one thing though. “I can breathe fire like my dad.” “Time for that later. Aurora, we got company.” Night added. All four sets of eyes looked up; making a beeline for the hospital was a pack of three smaller dragons. Without another word, Night took off on an intercept course for the three interlopers. “Shimmering Night! You get back here this instant!” Aurora took off after her sister, silently cursing her earlier bet against Emperor Icarus. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have pushed it so hard.’ Night blasted the first dragon with a beam from her horn; the impact alone was enough to knock him out of the air. An impressive feat, dragons have a natural resistance to magic energy. When the blast came and did that much damage, it gave pause to the other two. Night flew between the two remaining dragons, her intent to lead them away from the hospital and all the injured there. It worked, as the two dragons looked at each and turned to give chase. Only the one on her right succeeded. The one on the left found itself bucked in the back of the head as soon as it turned. The dragon rubbed the sore spot and turned back to look at who would dare do something like that. A dark blue pegasus blew a raspberry at him before flying off. “Well, looks like I get to try pegasus meat tonight.” The dragon youth said before flying off after Aurora. Ataxia’s head jumped from conflict to conflict. From watching her father tussle with a fully-grown dragon to watching her friends fend off a dragon youth each, uncertainty was written across her face on who to help or how she could help them. “Ataxia, only you can end this.” “How?” “Show them what you are.” “What, a little fire breathing is going to scare them off?” “You are capable of so much more, young one.” “I have my magic.” “Magic won’t cut it; you need to access your inner dragon, now.” ………………………………………………... Shimmering Night led her pursuer on a wild goose chase throughout Warclaw. Up and over every obstacle in their way, several times they would run into a bundle of dragons or griffins. Night got in what shots she could, even rescuing several griffins from what was certain death. She was careful about it, never allowing herself to be seen by these new dragons. She already had one after her and that was enough. “You can’t run forever, little pony!” “Then you better speed up!” It was too easy. While she was not the flyer her sister or mother was. Shimmering Night was ten times better than this dragon could ever hope to be. She easily avoided his flame breath, causing the fire to strike other dragons in the process while she would lose herself in the smoke, or teleport clear just in time to ensure the blame went to whom it belonged. A scream towards her left almost cost Night her life. A young griffin, under attack by a dragon youth screamed a death rattle. The flame from the dragon caught Night’s primary feathers on fire. She teleported above him and blasted the dragon into the dirt. Looking over in the direction of the scream, another dragon almost had the young griffin, with the intent to eat her alive. Night shot forwarded like a bullet. Ramming the dragon out of the way she shielded both herself and the griffin from the dragon's counterattack then teleported them out of there. “Are you ok?” “Yes… Thank you…” The young griffin was sobbing into her chest as Night held her close. “Can you stop all the monsters?” “I hope so, kid.” ……………………………………. Spike scored a lucky claw across the other dragon’s face. Earning a loud scream from his opponent. “Why do you fight us?!” “Because I’m not one of you.” “Have you seen your reflection lately, you’re not a griffin.” “You're right, I’m not. I’m a pony.” Spike kicked the dragon in the stomach as an explanation point on his statement. The dragon roared up in a rage and tried to bite his neck, losing several teeth in the process. “Dragon Steel Armor?!” “A gift from my wife.” “Wife? Dragons don’t marry each other.” “You're right, my wife is a pony, and you were about to attack a building with my kid on top.” “WHAT?????” Spike grabbed the dragon by the neck and threw him across the field. He caught wing mid-flight and flew off. Spike could not help but notice the confused look on the dragon's face when he looked back. Almost as if he wasn’t sure about something. “At least Ataxia will be safe. Now to find Aurora.” Spike took off looking for Aurora; he made a promise on his dragon code that he intended to keep. ………………………… Once more, Aurora cursed Icarus’s name. Her right wing began cramping up, if that arrogant blowhole had not goaded her on, escaping this dragon would be easy. ‘Well, the doctors did warn me.’ She barely managed to duck another flame attack in time. “Night, if I get out of here, I am going to kick your flank all over Equestria.” “Don’t worry about that little pony, you aren’t going to see that other one again.” ‘Shit, I said that out loud.’ She ducked and weaved through another falling building, the other dragons in this attack making sport of hunting the last remaining griffin defenders. In her mind, this was it; this was the dragon’s victory. Whatever Siros was going on about back at the hospital, it was their only hope. Such thoughts cost her precious seconds. It was a rookie mistake, ‘don’t think, always pay attention to your surroundings, react, feel it out.’ She could practically hear Rainbow’s lecture now. Aurora ducked underneath her attacker's flame breath to end up right in the way of falling debris. Aurora screamed in pain as the rock crushed her right wing, there was definitely something broken this time. She fell out of the air and landed badly on the ground. Spraining a leg in the process. She couldn’t walk, she couldn’t fly, and her dragon pursuer knew this. Tears began falling from her eyes, not from the pain but from the wasted gift her brother’s sacrifice would mean. “Sorry Day, see you soon.” The dragon pulled back and rapidly inhaled. His dragon fire struck true. .................. To Aurora’s surprise, it was not as hot as she expected. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst. Yet it was no worse then a very hot sauna. A loud grunting caused her to open them. All around her the fire parted, surrounding but not engulfing the mare. Directly between her and the dragon was the last pony she ever expected to see, or griffin she ever expected to see. Emperor Icarus held a tower shield between her and the dragon fire. It was easy to see this shield was of the highest craftsmanship. An artisan’s touch went into its design. Yet even it could not hold up to the heat of a dragon’s flame. It was melting into his claw. Icarus grunted in pain, unwilling to drop his guard for even a moment. While the burning in his claw would never fully heal, it was a mark of his strength that he would not let go, a mark of his endurance that he stayed standing, and a mark of his pride that he came to her rescue. Far shorter than it seemed to either of them, the dragon's fire stopped. Icarus collapsed to his flank, no longer able to let go of the shield as it was melted to his claw. “The pony got a chicken to save her, interesting.” The dragon taunted them, readying another breath attack. Aurora crawled over to Icarus, the movement causing pain to shoot over her whole body. “Why?” Was all she managed to ask. “You won the bet.” Was his reply. “You fool, now we’re both going to die here.” “I can think of worse ways to go.” Emperor Icarus did the one thing he never thought we would do in a million years: He grabbed Aurora in his one good claw and kissed her, determined that for once in his life he would be true to his heart. Even if it was too late to do anything else. Despite her initial surprise, Aurora soon began to reciprocate the kiss, while it was awkward to kiss a beak; she soon got the hang of it. “Ah, that's so cute, I wonder if your charred corpses will be in that position after I'm done.” The dragon closed his eyes and let loose his flame again. “You call that fire?” The young dragon cut off the flame and snapped his eyes open. In front of him was a fully-grown purple dragon in shining white Dragon Steel Armor. He gulped and booked it out of there as fast as his wings could carry him. “You’d better run.” Spike’s reply taunted the dragon all the way out. He turned around and smiled at the two lovebirds still making out. “Well I hate to interrupt this moment, but you both need to get back to the hospital.” He couldn’t help but think, ‘Rainbow is going to be pissed’. They broke apart and gazed into each other’s eyes, no words were necessary. Aurora turned and looked at the dragon. “Can you get us there Spike? I don’t think either of us will be flying on our own anytime soon.” “Sure thing, this might hurt though.” He picked them both up, and true to form it did hurt. Flying back took only seconds; his Dragon Steel Armor boosted his speed. “Dad!” Ataxia ran over to him. “What happened?” she looked at the injured pony and griffin in his claws. “Get them to safety.” “I’ll take care of it.” Siros flew down into the hospital. In no time at all four griffins accompanied him back up the stairs with two gurneys between them. “Are they going to be ok?” Ataxia asked. “Trust me, they will be seen by the top doctors we have.” Siros responded. “As for us, well that depends on you.” “Not this again.” “No, this time it’s because of that.” He gestured with a claw at three fully grown dragons inbound to the hospital. “No.” Spike rose up on his wings. “Keep her safe, I’ll try and lead them away.” “Dad no!” They both knew he would not stand a chance against those odds. However, Night had yet to make it back, and Aurora was in no shape to help. Without wings, at this distance, there simply was no other option, if they came in range of her spells, it would be too late. They would destroy the hospital. He turned back and looked at her. “I love you.” “I love you too.” Tears fell from Ataxia's eyes as she realized that those might be the last words she ever spoke her father. Ataxia watched in horror as Spike engaged three dragons, each of his size. Against one his Dragon Steel gave him the advantage, against two it would have been an even fight. Three? There was no doubt in the outcome. He gave as well as he got, at first. For every claw that made it through an unprotected joint in the armor he would land two of his own. However, the odds were not in his favor. These dragons learned quickly. Their attacks targeted his unprotected wings and joints. Soon Spike’s fatigue started to show, the dragon put up a good fight. However, the outcome was never truly in doubt. Despite taking one down first, his wings were torn to shreds. He soon lost the ability to fly. Spike crashed into the ground, the other two dragons roared in triumph. “We are lost.” Siros spoke to no one in particular; looking around he noted that there was not a single griffin left in the air. A full week of attacks exhausted them of all their assets. Ataxia had eyes only for her father. She couldn’t believe it, finally she had the family she always wanted just didn’t realize. Yet she was about to lose her father. “Siros, You want to see my dragon side? Cause you’re about to.” The range was impossible. Even her strongest spells couldn’t reach that far. However, if what Siros told her was true, if she had some sort of power granted to her by her father. She would use it now, she would save his life with it or die trying. The two dragons that downed her dad moved in for the kill. Sucking in as much air as she could, Ataxia roared into the heavens with all her might. The sky lit on fire. ………………………………........................... The Frozen North “It’s bucking cold!” “Yes Rainbow, the sky is also blue and the wind blows. Are you going to keep pointing out the obvious or get back to work?” Twilight said with a snarky grin on her face. “When did you get like that?” “Like what?” “Like me?” “Well, I have been married to you for over forty years.” Rainbow ceased her vortex and landed next to her wife. “Forty years huh? Feels like only yesterday.” Twilight scooted next to the mare and forced a wing open, bundling herself up in it. “Well, if you want to take a break, I wouldn’t say no.” “I thought you said you weren’t cold?” “No, I implied you were just pointing out the obvious to stop working.” “Hey it worked, didn’t it?” “Well, if you don’t want to dig right now, I can find other ways to put you to work.” “Now Twi… that will never count as work in my book.” “Then there shouldn’t be any complaining about it.” “I’d never.” Twilight teleported both of them directly into their magically heated tent. The same one they took on their way to Tartarus some forty odd years ago. The heat from their teleportation left the oddest rock revealed in the snow, one that seemed to power up from the magic energy. The snow around the rock began melting. Which started to reveal a very large object buried under it. ………………………………………………… Cloudsdale Commander Firestar shifted through the last of Paperwork Mountain. Which was both good and bad: good because it was finally done, bad because of the relocation tomorrow. Tomorrow night the pegasi would began the arduous task of relocating Cloudsdale from above its current location over the Crystal Empire to a coastal location. The militia would leave, heading straight for where Ponyville used to be, per Princess Luna’s order. Over the past week they assisted in the evacuation of every Equestrian town around Canterlot. It was time for Cloudsdale to evacuate as well. Although, this time she was ready, as Radiant Star’s assistance proved invaluable. That stallion has given up all his free time and more to help her make the transition to more of a delegation standpoint. She had to admit, when he was right he was right. She glanced over to the photo Princess Cadance gave her of Radiant. Whenever she would have a visitor she would lay it down, only three ponies in the world knew she had that photo: Princess Cadance, Miss Deacon, and her. Firestar’s mood always improved when she looked at that photo. Somehow just the sight of the stallion was enough to cheer her up. It’s been days since she last threw somepony out of her window. “Commander?” Firestar looked up from her desk. Miss Deacon was waiting for her to reply. “Yes, Miss Deacon?” “A letter arrived for you just now.” “Just stick it with the rest.” “It’s from the prince.” Firestar flew over the desk and grabbed it from Miss. Deacon with a wing. She tore open the letter with her teeth and looked it over as quickly as possible. Miss. Deacon simply smiled, this stallion, Prince Radiant Star, he was very good for her. She silently vowed to commit regicide on his flank if he screwed it up. When Firestar’s expression suddenly changed she got worried. “Commander?” she asked. “He wants to meet before we move Cloudsdale; he wants to meet at the Crystal Palace.” “Should I ready your formal attire, or the dress Miss. Rarity made for you?” She really hoped for the latter. “No he says to just come normal…” The tone in Firestar’s voice sent a chill down Miss. Deacon’s spine. “Commander, if I may ask, what’s wrong?” “I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling all of a sudden.” ……………………………………………………… Baltimare Bright Dawn ended his impromptu tour of Equestria at Baltimare. This city was only the second worse of all of the country; in truth he could hardly call it Equestria anymore. In his eyes, Equestria was dead. Its murderer ran free, like nothing happened. “Prince Bright Dawn, we're happy to see you.” His self-loathing caused him to completely miss the arrival of Princess Luna. “Princess.” He gave a snarky reply. She stopped her forward momentum and stared at the stallion. “We demand to know what is troubling you, young prince!” Encasing Bright Dawn in a magic aura she dragged the prince back to her. “It’s private.” Was his only response. “We are the Princess of the Night, we are used to keeping secrets.” “It’s… why are we doing this?” “To save Equestria, of course.” She looked at him like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “No, WHY are we doing this?” “Because there is a Titan on the way and we need to save as many ponies as we can.” “Why is there a Titan on the way?” “Because, Princess Twilight...” “Exactly my point.” He cut her off. “We don’t understand.” “Truthfully Princess Luna, I don’t either.” “Enough of the riddle of the words, come, it is time we head back to Ponyville.” She took flight ahead of him. While he followed, she failed to hear his last comment. “What Ponyville?” ……………………………….......................................... Warclaw Shimmering Night clutched the crying griffin child to her breast as she watched the largest firestorm she ever saw cover the sky. It originated in an inferno from the location of the hospital. Whatever was happening, it involved her friends, of that there was no doubt. She concentrated, hard. This inferno would kill every non-dragon in the city. She layered a magic shield around the top of the city. Trapping the fire above it. It was a task of endurance as the magic energy used sapped her strength. Just when she was at the breaking point the fire stopped. The shield cracked and faded. Shimmering Night fell to the ground soon after. Her energy spent. “Miss… Miss… You have to get up!” cried the child she still held in her hooves. “Give me a minute, I’ll fly us back to the hospital after a quick rest.” Her words came weakly under her breath. ……………… Dragons, by their nature are practically immune to fire. It is standard practice of their young to play such games as lava cannonball. Such creatures are not affected by extreme heat. As such, when Siros looked up, he was shocked to see them burning in their scales. The fire Ataxia lit, it was hurting them. Some of the younger fell out of the sky. No longer able to keep flight. The majority of the dragons left Warclaw’s airspace. Retreating to a safe distance, however, much to his dismay, they did not fully leave. “Ataxia, you did it! I said you were special! Ataxia?” The purple pony lay passed out on the ground. “Ataxia!!!” Spike clawed his way up the side of the building, no longer able to fly. His movements spurn on by the cry of his daughter’s name coming from Siros. When he was high enough, Spike stretched his neck over the top of the building. “What’s wrong with her?” He asked as Siros ran over to his daughter. “She's still breathing.” Siros commented as he held his ear to her muzzle. Relief was evident on the two. “Little help.” Spike looked over to his left; Shimmering Night was trying to make it back to the hospital with a small griffin child on her back. Spike reached an arm out and caught her just before she fell. He gently placed the two on top of the rooftop. Shimmering Night collapsed on the hospital roof, her strength spent. She barely raised her head to look at spike, “Was that you?” “What?” “The inferno, the one that chased away all the dragons.” “No, that was her.” Night looked down at Ataxia, who was currently held by Siros. “Is she ok?” “I don’t know.” A powerful wing gust alerted the three that they were not alone; with everything that had occurred; they failed to notice the arrival of the biggest dragon any of them has seen before. A huge red beast, easily twice as large as Spike, he came alone, as all the other dragons stayed on the outskirts of the town. “Who, or should I say what, is that?” his voice echoed throughout Warclaw, ancient and powerful. It radiated with the wisdom of the ages. Spike flipped around, his claws digging into the side of the building. He stretched his damaged wings out in a show of force. “You will not touch my daughter!” The dragon landed, despite the fact Spike was several stories up on the hospital and the new dragon was standing on the ground, he still had to look down to be face to face with Spike. “I have not come here to hurt any of you. However, if what you say is true, as I have reason to suspect it might be, this changes everything.” He gestured a claw to the fallen unicorn. Siros gingerly lay Ataxia down on the roof and walked over to the edge of the building. “It is true, I have every reason to suspect that these two are the ones of prophecy.” “Tell me young dragon, is she truly your daughter?” “Yes.” “Then do you wish to save her?” “Yes.” “Enough to trust me?” He thought about that, could he actually place his trust in this newcomer? ‘Well, if he wanted us dead I doubt that would be beyond his abilities.’ Coming to the only real decision he had left, Spike answered his question. “Yes.” The dragon walked over and took a closer look at the unicorn. “I never thought I would see it in my day, a child of a dragon and a pony. Before we begin, tell me how this occurred?” “I was raised by ponies; they are the only life I have ever known.” “Unusual, but not unheard off. However, that does not answer my question.” “Princess Twilight Sparkle…” “Ah, say no more.” He cut him off; even the dragons knew that name. He placed a claw on Ataxia’s head and immediately removed it, the burning sensation he felt from her causing him pain. “She is undergoing a transformation. However, it is not going well, she is rejecting her dragon side.” “WHAT?” “Your daughter, this is the first real time she has accepted her dragon side isn’t it.” Siros looked down, while it had been necessary to save all their lives, he still felt guilty about it. “Yes.” Spike gave the reply without any doubt. “She will either reject herself, or accept herself. If she rejects she will die here and now, if she accepts her world will forever change, along with her form.” “Can we do anything to help?” Spike asked hopefully. “We, no. She can though.” He gestured a claw at the alicorn lying on the ground. Shimmering Night wanted to bury her face in the roof, the largest dragon she ever saw was pointing and addressing her directly and she did not like it. However, as much as she tried, the roof was not allowing her face entrance. “Night, please.” “Spike… I don’t know if I can do anything right now.” “Will you try, for me?” “What, what do you need me to do.” Despite her exhaustion and fatigue, Night managed to stand up and walk over to Ataxia. Her family needed her, what choice did she have? “She is fighting a battle within herself, however, she needs help. Concentrate on your friend, see into her soul and help her overcome this obstacle, bring your friend back to the waking world.” Night bent down and touched her horn to Ataxia’s horn. She concentrated on Ataxia, on everything that made her, her. Shimmering Night let loose with all the magic power she had left. …………………………………………. ?????????????????????????? “Wakey, wakey niece.” Shimmering Night opened her eyes and immediately jumped back at the sight of the strangest creature she had ever seen in her life. The creature had the head of a goat, one bat wing, and lion’s paw, all sort of other animal parts were also built in. it was an exact replica of the creature in the stain glass windows in Canterlot Castle. “Ah, now is that anyway to react to your favorite uncle?” “Favorite uncle?” “Well, unless somehow I rank below Tartarus, but let’s just say, I doubt that.” “Do I know you?” “Ah, yes, introductions, I suppose that’s the proper way to start this isn’t it, how boring.” He stretched out a claw for her to take. “I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, also known as the Primordial Deity Chaos, please to make your acquaintance.” She indulged him and shook his claw, which immediately came off and started tap-dancing up her hoof and down her back. “I am Shimmering Night, daughter to Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” Fear radiated in her voice. “Ah, so close. Sorry wrong answer, try again.” “What, what do you mean?” “You’re not Twilight’s daughter. “What?” “You my dear, you are the daughter of my sister, Gaia the God of Life and Magic.” “But… But… But…” “No buts!” Hearing her mom’s common phrase caused her to stop. “I know, right know you’re going, ‘but Twilight and Gaia are one and the same,’ and you’re right. However, you see my dear sister fell so in love with your siblings that she wanted to try to have one herself. Her last attempt at offspring, let’s just say, it did not work out so well.” Discord produced a scroll from out of nowhere and unrolled it, showing the Titans of old walking around destroying everything in their path. “I would have told her not to, but, she stopped listening to me a long time ago, plus little Ataxia has just been a hoot.” “Or she was until a few days ago.” “Was?” His expression changed from one of playful banter to one of serious contemplation. “Yes, something is wrong, I can’t see what’s happening anymore.” Night wanted to know more, she wanted to ask this God what he was talking about, unfortunately, this concerned her a lot more than her own fate. “When did it start, exactly? What’s the last thing you remember?” “We were blowing huge holes in the new river by Ponyville. Then, nothing.” ‘That was right before Twilight had her visitor…’ Night thought. “I doubt it’s a coincidence, but that was around the time Tartarus visited Twili…” “What!!!! Tell me what he told her!!!” “He… He wanted her to go retrieve Cronus’s Sickle…” “You need to go, now! Warn Twilight, do not retrieve that item! And whatever she does, do not let Tartarus get his mitts on it!” “Ok… But Ataxia…” “I’ll take care of her, go, NOW!!” With a snap of his claw she was back in her body, her strength fully restored. “Night, what happened.” “Spike, we need to…” Her reply was instantly cut off, a bright light surrounded Ataxia, radiating with magic power. It blinded everypony and dragon on the roof. When their vision cleared, the strangest creature stood before them. It was Ataxia in so many ways, but not in others. The creature was twice the length of a pony, purple in coloring; it had the features of a dragon: Scales, a tail, and dragon wings. Yet even though her face was changed, anyone who knew her would be able to see Ataxia’s in it. However, she still had her unicorn horn, her back legs still ended in hoofs, but her front legs were dragon claws. “What… what happened?” “There is no doubt anymore, you are the first dragacorn ever in existence.” Spoke the ancient dragon. Ataxia looked herself over, she felt strong, magic radiated through every part of her existence. She stretched her wings; they were not the feathered wings of a pegasus, these felt powerful, tough, and fast. Amazingly, her Dragon Steel Armor changed with her form. It became part of her, making up her scales. Ataxia could no more take it off then a pony could remove their own skin. She looked back, disappointed in her lack of a mane, however, in her opinion the light blue scales running down her back more than made up for it. “How did this happen?” Ataxia asked. “You embraced your inner dragon.” Spoke the ancient dragon. “I think Discord helped a little.” Night added. “Discord!!!” Spike turned to Night; he wanted an explanation about that. “I’ll explain later, for now you need to send a letter to Twilight, Tartarus is using her to get the sickle, we need to stop her from finding it.” “I think I can help with that.” Ataxia easily conjured a quill and ink. Siros took it in his claw and immediacy began writing, he addressed the note as from Spike and handed the dragon the letter. Spike took the ridiculously small quill in his hand and blew flames at it. Whatever happened next, at least Twilight would be forewarned. “That should do i-” His reply was cut off by a burp. “That was fast.” Ataxia commented. She picked up the scroll and read it aloud. “Sorry dear brother, I'm afraid Twilight can’t answer any letters right now, feel free to leave a message, and I will ensure she will never get it. Nice try though.” “All my hatred,” “Tartarus.” “PS. To you ants reading this, Cronus will be here soon, enjoy that.” A look of horror spread through the assembled masses. “We have to get back.” Night almost shouted the words. “What can we do, we're in no position to fight.” Spoke Ataxia. “Not on your own.” They all turned and looked at the elder dragon. “Whatever is happening here, its bigger then all of this, I have been alive far too long not to see that, as such, I can promise you our help in this.” “Thank you.” “And ours, for what good it will do.” Siros added. “How are we going to get back, I can’t fly.” Spike added. “I think… I think I can help with that.” Ataxia walked over to her father. He brought his head down to her level. In a flash of magic, Spike felt better than ever. He looked over his wings, all of the tears and scrapes were gone. Despite it all, he couldn't help but think when he looked at his daughter. 'Rarity is going to be mad.' “Can you heal the rest?” Night asked. “I think it might be a dragon only thing.” “Besides, although she might hate it, I would feel better if we left Aurora here.” “WHAT?” Night shouted. “I made a promise on my dragon code to keep her safe. If she comes with us, I will be more concerned with keeping that promise than anything else.” Night thought about that, with the dragon threat neutralized, Warclaw would be a lot safer than where they were going. “Fine, but you’re taking the blame.” “Deal. However, I have to ask, how are we going to stop a God and a Titan?” “I have no idea.” Night replied. …………………………………………….. The Frozen North “Twilight, I found it!” “Found what, Rainbow?” Twilight looked up at the edge of the tent, there was no way Rainbow was talking about the sickle, she had not stepped a hoof out of the tent. “Whatever that thing is, I found it, and you can’t say jack about it.” Twilight looked over Rainbow’s shoulder, sure enough; an ancient structure was plainly visible in the distance. It looked as old as time itself. The snow around it oddly melted away. “Rainbow, I think you're right.” Rainbow mentally added another tally mark to her side of the scoreboard, Twilight’s tally marks dwarfed hers in sheer numbers, but every little bit helps. As the two made their way to the structure, Twilight soon found that she was unable to enter it. “What the hey? I guess this is what he meant when he said I can’t be the one to retrieve it.” “They probably blocked it off from Gods getting access. It would explain why Tartarus did not get it himself.” “I'm not a God.” “Yeah, but you have a God in you.” “Great. Be careful, ok.” “Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow continued the journey on her own; she soon found a set of stairs going down. “Rainbow, what do you see?!” “Stairs!” “You go down them yet?!” “Not yet!” “Why not?!” “'Cause you keep yelling at me!” “I'm not yelling!” “Really?! What do you call this then?!” “Asking questions loudly!” Rainbow shook her head. “Whatever Twi, I'm going down now!” As she proceeded down the stairs, the temperature dropped dramatically. It was only thanks to her wings that she was able to make it at all. ‘Maybe that’s what he meant by it has to be me?’ At the bottom of the stairs was a pitch-black chamber; Rainbow poured her energy into her wings, causing them to light up in the darkness. There, in front of her, was a hundred hoof tall sickle. Without a doubt, this is what they came for. However, there was one major problem. “Twi!” “Yes, Rainbow?!” “I think we have a problem!” “What now?!” “This thing is massive! I couldn’t hope to move it, much less get it out the door!” “You've got to try something!” Rainbow facehoofed at that comment. “Whatever.” She took wing and attempted to grab the handle with a hoof, to her surprise it actually shrunk down at her touch. “Wow…” ‘Crap, Twi gets another check.’ She thought. Rainbow took the sickle and flew up the stairs to her waiting wife. “Well, you were right, again. It shrunk down as soon as I touched it.” “Speaking of which, you don’t feel any different, do you?” “No, it feels like a normal sickle to me.” “Good, ok, let’s get this back to Tartarus and deal with Cronus once and for all.”