"So, how about it?" Discord spoke with his usual cheekiness. "Shall we all skip merrily to Ponyville?"
"We'll go our own way, thanks," Leash growled, still upset over what had just happened to her.
Discord put his open palms out and shut his eyes in an innocent manner. "You're right. We have our own paths. Yours will have to be riding down a mountain on a rock face."
The ground underneath the group began to rumble and split as it lifted up and over the buildings of Canterlot. Billy moved to the edge of the stone plate and looked down at Discord as he just watched it hover over.
"I recommend seat belts, if there are any!" Discord called up. "We have to worry about personal safety after all!"
Billy didn't know how to respond to the draconequus as they kept getting further away. Jimmy moved beside him and gave a wave to the god they had fought against. "Thanks! We guess!" Jimmy called out, prompting Discord to cross his legs and bow down in response.
"Different," Jimmy said, letting the word sink in with his brother. "He didn't seem as bad as I had initially thought."
Billy sat down and shut his eyes before bringing his two fists together at his chest. "We need to rest for this small moment."
Honor Bound watched as the stone platform they were on began to descend closer to the side of Canterlot Mountain, making him nervous. "A god of chaos says we need a seat belt. A large rumbling, I think, will be felt."
The platform hit the mountatin side and began to slide down, making the group bounce around for a few moments before stabilizing themselves.
***Mountain Surfin' Brah!***
Changelings swooped down from the sky to land on the platform, assaulting the group as the rock occasionally hopped and swerved.
Billy took a look down the mountain and ducked as a sudden stone came flying toward his head. The changeling behind him didn't know it came as it cracked over its head and made the creature dizzy. "It's gonna be a wild ride, guys!" Billy yelled out, feeling the wind go across his scales. With a side kick, Billy sent the changeling off its hooves.
Jimmy and two changelings circled each other, exchanging shots of fire and magic at each other. Seeing the moving mountain wall behind the changelings, Jimmy ran up and brought both of his feet into the duo and landed on his back. He watched in enjoyment as the changelings stumbled, rolled, and screamed into the distance before kipping up and addressing a new challenger.
Leash saw something capture her eye as she somersaulted to the edge of the platform and held out a claw to a large rock. Her arm crashed through and in her hand was a sparkling diamond, making her give a small chuckle. With the diamond in paw, Leash tied it to her whip and started to use the diamond-whip connection as a makeshift mace of destruction. After braining a changeling with her weapon, she smirked with confidence.
Shining Armor was on anti-air duty, keeping any flyers from firing their own magic as they hung in the air above. Sensing an opening to one of the changelings, Shining Armor fired his magic bolt and watched the changeling panic before running into three more flyers and making them all spiral to the ground. A smile of his own came as the other flyers became unnerved, now knowing that they could be next in the line to be shot down by this unicorn.
Honor Bound was having trouble protecting his back, becoming further irritated as the changelings, despite hitting his weak spot, were barely hitting him with any force. Having enough of these insects, Honor Bound gripped a changeling by the leg and began to swing it around his head and body, creating a swirling battering ram. "Don't have patience? Get some vengeance!"
A sudden jump, left the group free falling briefly before hitting the platform again. In a simultaneous motion, each member brought a fist or hoof down as they were coiled from the landing and rose up to send it crashing into the jaw of the changeling in front of them.
Billy and Jimmy high-fived each other, feeling the positive energy that they were all building up. Giving quick glances in front of them, the brothers noticed the sudden drop and their eyes nearly jumped from their sockets.
Without warning, the platform was sent sailing into the air, along with everyone on it as they found themselves falling towards the center of Ponyville.
As they fell, two young dragons were holding a conversation below them, both unaware of the falling stone and its multiple passengers.
"-and this is why I'm afraid of badgers." One of them finished.
With a loud THOOM the stone landed on top of the two dragons, and the group landed on top of it, each lying down in a mixture of pain and reaction to vertigo.
***Pick Yourselves Up!***
With the sun setting on Ponyville, the group got up and dusted themselves off. The town was unusually absent of activity, making them nervous as to what they might be looking for. From where they had landed, it appeared to be right on the edge of the town and its path towards the Everfree.
"Never saw the town up close like this," Billy whispered. "It's... beautiful."
Jimmy only shrugged and kept his eyes open for movement. A quick motion in the alleys made him give a tap on Billy's shoulder. "We have company."
Drakes began to surround the group, some of them stopping in response to noticing Billy and Jimmy.
"Hey!" One called out. "Our mistress told us to fight those guys, turn around and attack them!"
Billy and Jimmy felt confused at the fact this dragon was addressing them. "You must be confusing us with dragons that like Chrysalis."
The drakes gasped in surprise, "They're the ones she warned us about!" The red one that looked to be their leader yelled out. "Traitors! You will either join us, or you will be extinguished!"
The drakes leapt forward from all angles, prompting the group to split while they had a chance. Leash kept rolling from the fire breaths, occasionally giving a snap of her whip to an open target before continuing her acrobatic dodges. Some of the more lucky dodges resulted in fire being breathed into other drakes, causing frustration to some of the attacking enemies.
Shining Armor struck two drakes with a nimble leap and simultaneous blows with his right forehoof and left backhoof. Rolling through, he collided into a third drake with a crossbody. Magic against dragons would be foolish, their resistance against it making their hides legendary to anyone lucky enough to own a set of it as armor.
Billy and Jimmy found fair challenge in these young dragons, making them both consider a possibility to create a dojo specifically for them to hone a craft in the martial arts. Straight attacks were blocked and countered, forcing the brothers to rely on their advanced techniques in their hurricane kicks and spinning back fists to gain the upper hand. Billy trapped one drake in a standing arm lock, catching the incoming punch. A swift kick behind him kept another drake from approaching; giving him time to throw his grappled opponent over his shoulder.
Honor Bound brought a heavy hoof up, making a drake feel his full force of a kick. In this moment, he felt alive as he gripped another drake in a harsh bear hug and watched its eyes cloud up from the lack of air. The more that fell around him, the less brave the remaining opponents felt about approaching or even fighting against him.
Jimmy struck a drake in the shins, fooling his opponent to think that the strike was coming for his face. With the drake hopping on one leg as he gripped his wounded limb, Jimmy finished his attack with a jumping spin kick. He watched the shaky knees of his opponent still try their best to keep him up, forcing Jimmy to unload a heavy fist to send the drake flipping once before it landed on its back.
The red drake remained, stumbling backward from the advancing group that had laid waste to his friends. "You're in trouble, now!" The drake screeched. "Wait until my brother gets here!"
A confirming roar, made the confident group stop and look up at an approaching shadow, soon locking eyes with an enormous, full-grown dragon.
"Billy!" Jimmy yelled out in shock. "Why are there actual dragons here?! I thought WE were the dragons!"
***Big Bad Dragon***
The dragon gave a roar towards the group before letting off a cloud of smoke that blocked their vision. With no other alternatives besides feeling around for who was where, Billy and Jimmy shot up into the sky. With a clear focus on the dragon, the brothers went after the muzzle of the beast, hoping to break some teeth or block up the nostrils from letting out more smoke.
Meanwhile, on the ground, more drakes appeared in the smoke. Thankfully, with their shadows being seen to let Honor Bound, Leash, and Shining Armor know where they were. Shining Armor put himself between Honor Bound and Leash, hoping to focus on a spell to clear away the smoke.
Honor Bound kept his fists swinging in any way possible. He made sure to keep a wall of pain around himself, even if he couldn't tell where he would be attacked.
Leash didn't need to worry about the smoke. Her natural disposition to not being able to see in dark mines kept her other senses sharp. A lash here and there made the drakes that thought they would have an advantage, suddenly very cautious in approaching her.
With the spell completed, Shining Armor pushed the smoke away, revealing the three remaining drakes that didn't know how to get past the devastating strikes of the minotaur and diamond dog. A smile came up on Shining Armor's face as he struck a battle pose.
Billy and Jimmy kept swooping around the large dragon's head, acting like pesky flies as they would kick or punch in an area before forcibly moving themselves to a different location to try and find the weak point.
"How come we're not getting a reaction from this guy, besides annoyance?!" Jimmy roared, getting desperate. With a diving kick, Jimmy struck an open eye and made the dragon bellow out in pain.
Billy moved back to ground level, looking back up at the dragon as it gripped at its eyes for protection. "Any suggestions for taking this beast down?"
Honor Bound hummed in thought. "Perhaps a shared weakness like I, but instead of the back, his thigh?"
"You're not wrong in your theory," Shining Armor answered. "It's not the thigh, its his belly. Because the dragons like to strike from either up high or extremely close, they keep their bellies protected. It's where dragon's have the weakest scales."
"And how exactly do we get under there?" Leash asked, pointing to the gut of the dragon as it remained on the ground.
Billy kept thinking and looked back up at Jimmy, still fighting and looking for a weakness. "Armor, I hope you can lift a dragon up with your magic."
Shining Armor began to blubber. "B-B-But dragon's are resistant to magic! I can't wrap it around the whole thing!"
Billy gave a quick pat on the shoulder to Shining Armor. "You just need to move two legs." With that, he shot up again and tagged out with Jimmy, giving his brother a breather and allowing him to continue the distraction.
"What's he planning?" Jimmy gasped out, landing back on the ground.
Shining Armor didn't answer as he tried to focus on the right set of legs on the dragon.
"A way to kick a dragon's butt!" Honor Bound spoke. "By flipping it on the side, we punch its gut!"
Jimmy went silent as he thought the answer out, "Oh! Because the dragon's protect their bellies by staying way up in the air or keeping it to the ground!"
Shining Armor found his magic wasn't working at its fullest, but he at least had the legs wrapped. "I can't get him off!"
Jimmy snickered before being smacked in the back of the head by Leash.
Leash yanked on Jimmy's arm, "Come on, let's help the unicorn by pushing the freakin' thing."
"We p-?" Jimmy went to protest, before Honor Bound wrapped his arm around him and began leading him to the side of the beast.
"If it means a kick in the tush," Honor Bound cried as he readied himself for his shove. "Then we'll all give a push!"
The combined force of Shining Armor, Honor Bound, Leash, and Jimmy Lee made the dragon topple over.
Billy watched the shock on the dragon's eyes as it fell with a mighty thud. With little time, Billy Lee went into a Superman pose and built momentum in the air before aiming himself straight into the chest and hitting it with his full force.
As though Billy repeated the move from multiple angles, some involving slow-motion, the dragon fell.
In combination, the group each gave smiles to each other and picked out their air instruments. Billy and Jimmy on air guitar, Honor Bound on air drums, Shining Armor on air bass, Leash on vocals.
***Mission Complete!***
It was this moment of unity that made each of them feel a sense of confidence and pride. They had beaten a fully grown dragon and Chrysalis was now in their sights. Jimmy gave a grin to his brother and began to run into the Everfree with his friends.
Shining Armor, Honor Bound, and Leash chased after the brothers, ignoring the wild dangers of the Everfree as they felt the need to back in Jimmy's vocals.
(Glad I Am!)
(Glad I Am!)
(Glad I Am!)
Awfully familiar
They try to kill ya,
Every time..
It's a crime
You're getting stronger, (He's gettin' stronger!)
While ever longer,
You resist,
With your two fists (Enemies cease to exist)
It's okay
I'm here to stay,
And I'm glad I am!
Glad I am!
Glad I am! (I'm chasin' all the bad guys away)
Always alert,
Down in the dirt,
Bringin' the hurt,
And I'm..
Glad I am!
Glad I am!
The forest grew darker, but their speed didn't wane as each member leaped, swung, or bashed through what may have been in their way.
I get the picture
They try to hit 'cha
They try to kick ya
When you're down and out
But they don't know ya (Yeah, they dunno ya!)
Quite like I know ya
I know .. what you're all about
We'll help each other
Cause you're my brother
We'll win no matter what the odds are..
We'll turn the heat up
Even if we're beat up
We'll stomp our foes without a doubt!
As a keyboard solo went off, the group crashed through a timberwolf camp. While others would have reacted in horror to see these mystical creatures, the party kept bouncing along in their joy. Some bashing through the beasts, others lighting the sticks on fire. After passing through, the remaining timberwolves gave confused looks to each other, wondering what had just happened to let two dragons, a unicorn, a minotaur, and a diamond dog to do this.
Keep gettin' wailed on,
But never bailed on,
Till the end,
Got a friend!
I got your back now,
Pick up the slack now,
Never fear,
Army is heeeere! (Fools better run for their lives)
I've appeared..
Alive and feared!
Aren'tcha glad I am!
Glad I am!
Glad I am! (You know we're grabbin' life by the beard)
Sharing our might,
I'll be all right,
Bringing the fight,
And I'm..
Glad I am!
Glad I am!