After a few minutes of fighting off the ponies, Shinigami felt his energy start to fade; his moves slowed and his breathing became heavier. He suddenly growled, jumped up, and flew away from them, but Dash was right behind him. When she got close enough, she delivered yet another blow to Shinigami's head; this time he was sent falling back to the ground. Ryujin was there to catch him before he hit the road. He looked at his brother in his arms, beaten by sheer exhaustion from fighting what he called "weaklings." For one moment, Ryujin thought that this would teach his brother a lesson and perhaps change him.
Shinigami tried one last time to strike at his brother, but Ryujin easily blocked the pathetic swing. This act showed that there was no hope for changing his brothers mind, he was gone. Ryujin looked at Shinigami and threw him to the ground. The princesses -and every other pony that fought- walked over to Shinigami; they all stood over him. Shinigami saw his brother, with all the ponies standing at his back, then let out a low growl.
"Fine, have your ponies for now," he said as he struggled to stand up.
Ryujin yelled, "Give up!"
Shinigami looked around, then suddenly spotted the Ever-free Forest. He quickly took off and disappeared behind the plants.
He zoomed behind the tree line until he was sure his brother and the ponies could not see him. He looked back at the creatures he now despised. Ryujin was talking with them when he suddenly collapsed onto the cobblestone roads. Shinigami let out a quiet chuckle at the site of his brother falling to the ground. Suddenly a sharp pain once again ignited from his chest; he cringed and fell to his knees holding his wound. As Shinigami stood up his vision blurred and blood leaked from his body; he limped forward into the forest to find someplace to hide out. He walked until his legs were ready to give out when he spotted a lonely cabin among the vast trees of the forest. The house appeared to have one of its lights on, so Shinigami tried to walk towards it. But with his next step his legs failed and he dropped to the ground with a groan. He slowly picked up his head and crawled onward. He finally reached the front door and managed to get a knock in before losing consciousness.
Inside the house, Zecora was preparing her dinner when a loud bang erupted from the from the door. She walked over to answer it when, to her surprise, she found an unconscious dragon lying on her front porch in a pool of blood. The creature appeared to be breathing, but there were countless wounds scattered about his entire body. Just then the dragon opened its eyes and warily looked at Zecora.
"Oh my, what the hay? Why on my door does this dragon here lay?"
"W-why are you r-rhyming?" Shinigami passed out.
Zecora ignored the creature's comment and decided to help. She dragged the dragon into her home and placed him on the bed. The creature was losing blood fast. Zecora ran to her kitchen and grabbed bandages and several herbs. She slowly got the bleeding to stop. Once that was done Zecora started mixing together different herbs and spices to create something that would bring the fever down. She continued to heal the dragon for the next hour or so. When there was nothing more she could do, Zecora sat back and waited. Eventually Shinigami slowly blinked and opened his eyes. He looked around the room when he noticed the bandages covering his body. He ripped them from his wounds and found that he was healed all except a small scar on his chest. Beside him in a chair was a sleeping zebra with blood-stained hooves; after a few minutes the zebra awakened. Zecora looked to see Shinigami sitting up.
"Where am I? What have you done to me?"
Zecora stood up, "You were hurt and near your end, so I took you in and patched you up as, perhaps, a newly-found friend."
"And why do you continue to talk like that? It's very annoying."
Zecora looked a bit irritated by Shinigami's tone, "I could say the same to you. But it is none of my concern; every-pony may speak as they do."
Shinigami cracked his fingers, "Oh so you're friends with those ponies are you?"
Zecora smiled, "I am, indeed, friends with the pony folk. We met over some unfortunate poison joke."
Shinigami frowned, "I see."
"The strength you once had should be with you now. Just walk the length of this room; see how much your body will allow."
Shinigami stood up and walked around Zecora's house. After a few minutes he was satisfied with his ability to move around; he looked at his fist and smiled. He faced Zecora and asked her name; after she introduced herself Shinigami did the same. It was customary in Shinigami's world to introduce yourself to those who helped you, even if help was not asked for. It was at this moment that Zecora expected some type of explanation as to why Shinigami was practically dead on the door way.
"Let's get one thing straight, I didn't ask for your help so don't expect a thank you."
Zecora's smile slowly faded, "I do not wish for a thank you. But maybe you could give me the reason I had to make a healing dish for a dragon in much worse shape than a pony with the flue."
Shinigami's brow wrinkled, "I don't have to explain shit to you! And I certainly don't have to sit here and let you insult me."
Shinigami began to advance at an alarming rate. Zecora lowered her ears and started back towards the door. As he approached, Shinigami cast a large shadow over Zecora. He growled and angrily grabbed the zebra by her neck and lifted her up. As she hung in Shinigami's grip, Zecora struggled for breath. She quickly looked around and saw a bottle on a nearby table. With a little swing, she managed to knock the bottle to the ground, smashing it to pieces and freeing its contents. The room quickly filled with the emerald smoke of the potion; it disoriented and stung Shinigami, causing him to drop Zecora and cover his eyes. She got on her feet and galloped to the door; she had to tell the others about this dragon. But before she could get away Shinigami swung his tail around and tripped the poor zebra. The smoke cleared and Shinigami could see once again; he was angrier now and sprung himself on Zecora. She tried her best, dodging claws, legs, tails, and wings. But eventually Shinigami got the better angle; one of his spikes managed to slice Zecora's thigh, leaving her with a great gash. Zecora screamed and held her bleeding leg.
She fell to the floor in agonizing pain; she cradled her leg and tried to drag herself to the door, but Shinigami was right behind her. He approached at a steady rate and, before she knew it, Zecora was being lifted up a second time. This time Shinigami lifted her by her bad leg; Zecora squealed in pain as blood dripped to the floor below. She saw another bottle on a table and attempted to repeat her trick from before, but this time Shinigami was ready and walked to the center of the room with Zecora in his grip. He had her just out of reach of anything she could use to get away. She started kicking Shinigami with her good legs, but since he was back to his full strength, the kicks were nothing to him. He squeezed the gash on her leg and Zecora screamed again; blood poured from her at an alarming rate. Shinigami covered her mouth with his wing so she wouldn't be heard by the ponies in town. Slowly, he lifted Zecora so the two of them were looking into each other's eyes.
Shinigami's gaze was steady and focused.
"I am a dragon, the greatest and most powerful thing in this world. I don't need your or anybody else's charity."
Shinigami lifted his wing and readied a spike at Zecora's throat. The zebra struggled as hard as she could; small rapid squeals escaped her mouth. Then Shinigami pulled his wing back with great force; all that was heard was a quick....
....SLICE.
Blood dripped from Shinigami's wings as he dropped the pale corpse.
Shinigami slowly sighed, "Well that takes care of that."
He then turned and left the small hut, but before he went deeper into the forest he turned back and faced the house. He smiled and suddenly the scales on his neck lit up once more and fire sprung from his mouth. The flames engulfed the hut and laid waste to everything inside. Zecora's corpse was left burnt to a crisp. Shinigami walked on into the forest with the ruble burning behind him until he spotted a large cave. He approached the dark structure to find that it was unoccupied. He went to the inner-most part of this damp and disfigured cave and crafted a suitable shelter. He then laid down, feeling completely at ease, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep. This was the same time that Ryujin and the ponies were sleeping back in Ponyville. The night had ascended upon the town and everything went calm.
Ryujin knelt in the center of a large dark vacant room. He slowly looked around, finding nothing but shadow until he spotted a door barley visible. Suddenly two large figures walked to the doorway from the other side. Ryujin smiled and jumped up when he saw his parents. He ran and embraced them. Once again he smiled as wide a smile as he could mange. After a few minutes he took a step back and found a third figure far behind them. The third figure came closer and closer; Ryujin could make out the creature's red eyes, sharp teeth, and blood-covered claws. He quickly urged his parents into the room while he tried to bar the door. But it was too late, the creature was upon them. It burst through the door and knocked Ryujin to the ground. Ryujin looked up just in time to see the creature rip his parents apart while they screamed. He tried to help but he couldn't move his body, he was paralyzed. He watched as his parents fall to the ground dead. Suddenly the creature turned to him and Ryujin could see the monster his brother was. Shinigami sprung towards him in a vicious leap.
Ryujin sprang up, "No!" he gasped.
He was sweating and breathing rapidly. He quickly looked around the room but found nothing but hospital equipment. Ryujin let out a gasp of relief and leaned back once more. He rubbed his eyes and calmed his breathing. A nurse walked by and heard the commotion; she quickly peaked in.
"Is everything alright?"
Ryujin glance at the pony and cleared his throat, "Yes I'm fine, thanks."
The nurse left and Ryujin let out another sigh. He closed his eyes and tried his best to get least a couple hours of peaceful sleep.
At the break of dawn, the various ponies began to awaken from slumber. Rainbow Dash had woken up to perform her weather duties in Ponyville. She slowly dragged herself out of bed, took a shower, and had breakfast. Then she headed out and started clearing the skies. When she stepped outside she was not greeted by the usual pleasant morning smells, instead there was a foul Oder that completely took Dash's nose hostage.
She cringed and covered her snout, "The things these ponies cook."
Dash shrugged the smell off and resumed her duties. Once enough of Ponyville was visible from below, she descended to meet her friends, shop at the market, or just go back to sleep on a rogue cloud (she hadn't decided yet). She watched from the sky as the many ponies started their days; walking, running, talking, ETC ; except for Twilight, who was using her magic and her assistant to fix her castle. When she was about half way down to town, a small line of smoke coming from the Everfree forest glistened from the corner of Dash's eye. she recognized the spot to be where Zecora's house was. Dash instantly flew towards it; at first she just thought that Zecora had been making something strange and that the smoke was nothing to be concerned about. But as she got closer to the forest, the foul smell from before got stronger and stronger.
Dash became worried and quickly flew back to town to gather her friends. She found Applejack working on her farm. Dash had not realized how fast she was actually going and crashed in to interrupt her, knocking over a wagon of apples by mistake.
"Rainbow Dash! You need ta look where yur goin',"
Dash stood up and brushed herself off, "Sorry A.J. But I saw some weird smoke coming from Zecora's place and there was this terrible smell too. I think we need to check it out,"
Applejack turned toward the forest, "So that's where that awful stink's comin' from. Alright, you go round up the rest of the ponies and I'll meet ya at the forest entry."
Dash did just that and gathered her friends to meet at the start of the forest. The smell was getting to be a real nuisance and all six of them were worried.
"What in Celestia's name could she be doing to cause this horrible smell," Twilight asked.
"Well I guess we'll have ta find out," Applejack answered.
They all walked onward into the dark forest until they came across the smoking remains of what was Zecora's house. They all gasped in shock at what they saw. The mane six slowly entered the building; they looked around at all of Zecora's artifacts and trinkets now burned and unrecognizable.
Rarity glanced around, "What on Earth happened here?"
Dash rapidly looked around for anyone hurt, "Where's Zecora?"
The ponies started searching the hut for any sign of their friend; they called out her name but there was nothing. Suddenly Applejack's face was filled with fear and worry.
"Y'all don't think that silver dragon got to her do ya?"
Twilight prepared to answer when they heard Fluttershy scream in terror. The rest of them quickly ran over to her. Fluttershy was frozen where she stood; it was like she just saw a ghost. The other five gathered around her, wondering what she was so frightened by (Although they knew it could be just about anything).
"What is it?"
"What's got you so spooked?" the ponies asked.
Slowly, Fluttershy lifted her hoof up and pointed at something in the corner. The ponies all turned and gave witness to what she had seen. Every-pony's eyes widened when they saw the smoking corpse. Fluttershy fainted as the others gasped in horror; they had found where the strange smell was coming from. Twilight approached what was left of Zecora; her body was burnt and disfigured, not to mention the unbearable stench. Every-pony's eyes became wet and glossy; tears flowed down each's cheeks. Twilight could only get out one word...."No". They all bowed their heads in grief. It was several minutes before any-pony could speak clearly.
"She should be buried," Dash said.
"Ah reckon so," Applejack agreed.
"I need to tell the other princesses about this. Some-pony should tell Ryujin as well."
Suddenly Dash wrinkled her brow in anger, "This is all his fault! If he hadn't brought his brother hear in the first place then Zecora would still be alive!"
Twilight walked up to her, "Rainbow, this is no-pony's fault."
"Of course it is. We should march up to that dragon make him take his brother and leave."
Applejack, Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity all started to argue as to whether or not to go with Dash's plan. While this was going on, Twilight just stood there and looked at Zecora; remembering all the times she had helped her when she had gotten into trouble. the poison joke, when Trixie banished her, when Spike went out of control, the list goes on. She looked back at her friends who were still arguing; Twilight tried to get their attention but they just kept yelling. Suddenly she became angry.
"Will all of you just shut the buck up!" the ponies stopped and looked at Twilight, "Can't you see our friend is still laying here. Don't you ponies have any respect!?"
The ponies looked at one another then at Zecora. Grief, sadness, and guilt filled their faces. They all apologized, remembering the issue at hand. The ponies gathered around the corpse. Dash flew up and grabbed some torn piece of curtain to cover her friend, and then they all carried Zecora back to town (except for Applejack, who carried the still unconscious Fluttershy).
Upon arrival in Ponyville, the ponies struggled to carry Zecora to the funeral home. They left a trail of tears behind them. As they arrived, the many ponies of town started to investigate. Soon they too saw the horror of what happened. It was at this time that Fluttershy woke up. She looked at Applejack and said nothing. Instead she just started to cry harder than she ever had; Applejack tried to comfort her.
"It'll be alright sugar-cube."
Back at the hospital, Ryujin slowly awoke and looked around. He began to sit up and rubbed his eyes, wondering what he should do about his brother. Suddenly he heard loud voices outside. He looked out the window and saw every-pony gathered around the funeral home entrance.
"What in the world?"
Suddenly Ryujin began to fear the worst and sprung from his bed. He raced out of the hospital and joined the pony crowd.
"Pardon me. Excuse me," he said as he fought his way passed to see what was going on.
Finally he had reached the front. There he saw the mane six gathered around a coffin. Ryujin's suspicions were correct; his brother had struck. The mane six turned and looked at Ryujin, he saw the tears fall from their eyes. He stood there with his mouth open. Dash and a few others looked angry when they saw him; he heard one pony call out.
"This is all your fault!"
Ryujin looked at the ground, ashamed; he then slowly walked up and gave witness to Zecora's body. He stood there and stared at her; suddenly the image of the dark room and his parents being attacked flashed before his eyes. He saw their bodies on the floor, felt their blood on his hands; it was like he was experiencing the horror all over again. Suddenly Ryujin snapped out of his nightmarish daydream and rubbed his eyes.
Dash walked up to him, "You can probably guess what happened."
"Who was she?"
"Her name was Zecora, and she was a friend," said Twilight.
Ryujin now felt a huge wave of guilt wash over him.
"I don't know what say. I should have been there to protect her."
"She wouldn't of needed protection if you hadn't brought you brother here in the first place," Dash commented.
Twilight turned to her, "Dash you're not helping."
Ryujin looked at the ponies, "No she's right. I brought death into this world, and have to take full responsibility for what happened."
The ponies looked at Ryujin; they saw the guilt and general grief in his eyes. Dash was still angry, but she decided to put her anger aside and focus on Zecora.
"We should start to bury her."
The other ponies agreed and started the funeral. As they all said their goodbyes and told stories about their adventures with Zecora, Ryujin stood at the back of the crowd and listened. The longer the funeral went on the more guilt he felt. He had to fix this; he had to find his brother.
When the funeral was over and all but the mane six had left, Ryujin approached the ponies.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."
As he spoke, Princesses Celestia and Luna arrived in Ponyville. It seems that Twilight sent spike home to send a letter while she stayed at the funeral. They had heard most of what Ryujin had said. Ryujin walked up close to the grave once again, not noticing the princess's arrival. He stared at the tombstone in the ground. Suddenly the image of his parents' graves flashed before his eyes. Once more he was reminded of their fate, and now he had brought that sorrow to the ponies. He turned and walked out of the building; while he did so, he kept his head bowed in shame of his failure. Princess Luna watched as he did all this, then she followed him out.
"Twilight told us what happened and I wanted to tell you that this is of no fault of yours."
"Yeah, tell that to them," Ryujin said sarcastically as he pointed to the ponies inside.
Luna continued to try and cheer him up, "How do you think you could have avoided this? Do you believe you should have killed your own sibling?"
"Maybe."
"Then how would that make you any different than he?"
Ryujin looked at Luna and he started to understand what she was trying to say.
The princess continued, "You may not be able to save every-pony, but I for one am well aware that if it wasn't for you there would be many more burnt houses and dead friends; if not in this world then in the next."
Ryujin continued to look at Luna; he felt a little better after listening to what she had to say. But he still felt as though he had to do something about his brother to make up for the death of Zecora.
"Thanks Princess."
"Please, call me Luna."
Ryujin knelt down and gave the princess a hug. Luna was surprised at first, but then she found the hug to be welcoming and warm. She felt her care for this new dragon to be growing.
Ryujin stood up and walked back into the funeral home; he saw the ponies standing around comforting each other. Suddenly their attention shifted to the dragon.
"I'm going after him," he said in a strong voice.
The ponies looked at him, shocked.
"I have to find some way to stop him but first I need to do a little reconnaissance. I need to find out where he's hiding and what he's up to."
"Alone?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. I can't risk anymore of you ponies getting hurt on my behalf."
Dash turned to him, "But what if he were to catch you tailing him? If something happens to you, there would be nothing stopping him from attacking here. We can't take that risk; we're coming with you."
"No, that won't work, we would be too noisy. One can be much quieter than seven," he said, "Besides, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore."
Dash looked at the dragon; she was angry, but she did not hate him. Her friends and Ryujin's own words had helped her to realize that Shinigami was the real villain. Of course Ryujin was not completely off the hook. After a few moments, she spoke.
"I just want to get this over with."
Twilight spoke up, "Well if we all can't go, then who?"
"I can only risk two others coming with me."
The ponies looked at one another, trying to decide who would go. Finally Twilight spoke.
"I'll go."
"No; by the looks of you you're another princess, so I can't risk you getting hurt. But it would be good to have someone that can use magic. If we are caught they can quickly teleport themselves away."
"But the only person ah can think of that can teleport and isn't a princess is....Discord," said Applejack.
"Well then he'll have to be one that comes. Now I have room for one more."
Dash looked around at her friends; she couldn't bear the thought of any of them being hurt. She had to stay loyal to her friends and do whatever she could to protect them.
"I can go. I'm the fastest flyer around, so I could escape easily. Plus we all have some experience with fighting if it comes to that."
Ryujin looked at the pony; he again admired her bravery. Hopefully when all this is was done he could get to know her better. But to the matter at hand.
"Alright sounds good. First things first, where's discord?"
"Oh I got it," Twilight said.
Twilight walked outside to the middle of the street; the ponies and Ryujin had followed. Suddenly Twilight's horn began to glow as she concentrated. There was a large poof of light and when it cleared Discord stood in front of her. He was confused as to why he was summoned.
"Honestly, are you just going to summon me willy-nilly? You must give a guy some warning; I was having so much fun at home."
"Alright enough of that," Dash said, "We need you to come with us."
"Oh but where ever are we going? And why does it have to be me?"
"I need you and dash to come with me into the forest to do reconnaissance on Shinigami."
"No thanks, sounds too dreadful for my taste."
"Well too bad you're going!" Dash yelled.
"Alright, alright, no need to yell. You ponies always over react."
Ryujin looked at Discord questioningly, "You do know that Zecora is dead."
Discord's face became much more serious. He discarded his sarcastic tone and paid attention.
"And now we need our help to stop him," Ryujin continued.
Discord saw the severity of the situation and finally decided to agree to go with them. Of course this does not mean that he really had a choice.
Every-pony wished the group good luck as they departed into the forest. The three had mixed feelings about this mission, and all of them were a bit frightened about what could happen. They walked into the forest without saying word to one another.