//------------------------------//
// Accept That Time is Cyclic 
// Story: Urohringr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"'Oboy?!'" Booster Spice sputtered.  "Shouldn't that be 'hoboy?'"

"Quiet, you!" Rainbow wheezed.  She threw a look across the lopsided cockpit.  "Roarke—?!"

"Gravity-defying as we speak—!"  Gnashing her teeth, the metal mare banged a console and yanked hard at the controls.  "Nrnnnnnghhh!"

Sw-Sw-Sw-Sw-Sw-Swisssh!  Hundreds of treetops swiped at the curvaceous underbelly of the miniature Lounge sphere.  Despite Roarke's best efforts, the vessel was still plunging one inch at a time into the forest canopy.

"It's still out there!" Booster Spice shouted, staring through his goggles out the cockpit window.  A distant draconian shriek confirmed his exclamation.  "If we crash here, we're sitting ducks!"

"Still working on the albatross part!" Roarke snarled.

"Maybe if I got out and pushed!" Rainbow yelped.

"Dammit, you!  Don't be you right now!"

The cockpit echoed from dozens of tree branches ricocheting off the glossy black hull.

"I c-can't... g-get it to lift up!" Roarke sputtered.

Booster Spice shouted, "Have you considered checking to see if there's a buildup of redundant manafire in the lateral auxiliary assembly?!"

Roarke shot him a wild look.  "What?!"

"If you vent it, it should give us enough thrust to ascend!"

"Where would I find the lever to do that?!"

"Presumably on your lower right!"  Booster pointed.  "Over there, by your flank!  Jeepers, lady!  Don't you know your own manaship?!"

"She hijacked it from a bunch of talking lizards!" Rainbow barked.  "Roarke—?!"

"Got it!"  The metal mare's hoof hooked around a tight lever.  "Hold on!"  Chtungg!  The entire vehicle shook with a deep bass hum, followed by the explosive release of mana gases.  A half-second later, the sphere jerked violently upwards in a twirling fashion.

"Aaaack!"  Booster flailed.

"Not again—OOMF!"  Rainbow caught the brunt of his weight as the ship lifted violently up.





The Lounge sphere shot up, spitting amber gases everywhere like a spinning firework.  At last, it ascended until it was out of reach of the treeline.  Roarke brought the vessel around—glinting through the fog with reflected sunlight.

In the distance, the mutant dragon swooped low, lining up with the ship.  Its antlers flickered brightly, and soon it was launching a pair of burning green fireballs their way.





"Incoming!"  Booster Spice yelped.  "Gaaie!"  He fell over.

Rainbow sat up with a grunt, having tossed the stallion off her.  "Cram your ins inside your comings, already!"  She leaned over Roarke's seat.  "Think you can dodge them?"

"I didn't come out here with you to sing ballads."

"That much is certain."  Rainbow gripped the chair behind her.  "Do your best and worst, Roarke!"

"Doing..."  Roarke jerked the controls to the side.





The sphere rolled through the air, dodging the burning projectiles at the last second.

Behind the vessel, a cluster of trees caved under the weight of the crashing fireballs.  A plume of emerald flame erupted in the middle of the forest, sending branches and frightened birds flying everywhere.

Just as quickly as it had dodged sideways, the black sphere evened out, sputtering in random places with loose manafire.





"Good job," Rainbow Dash said, patting Roarke's shoulder.  "You get a cookie."

Roarke's brow furrowed.  "I don't do cookies."

"Mmmfnngh..."  Booster fumbled in an attempt to stand upright.  "Are we burnt to a crisp yet?"
"Postively smoldering."  Rainbow leaned forward and looked straight down through the cockpit window.  She caught an edge of the creeping green flame as it burned to a quiet simmer across the forest floor.  "I swear to Luna, that is the strangest dragon's breath I've ever seen."

"This isn't an opportune moment to catalogue draconian flame, Rainbow..."

"I know that, Croarke!"  Rainbow frowned.  "But it just doesn't make sense!  Nevlamas didn't have that!  Why would she pass it on to her brood?"

"When the thing gets closer," Booster wheezed, "You can ask her yourself!"

"I don't intend to."  Rainbow turned to the metal mare.  "Roarke, are we good enough to fly right?"

"Rainbow..."

"Let's get a head start!  No need to become dragon treats while we're still young—"

"Rainbow, look!"  Roarke pointed.

Rainbow did so.  Her ruby eyes twitched.

The chaos dragon was flying in the opposite direction.  It's body became tinier and tinier across the northern horizon.

"She's... fl-flying away?!" Booster stammered.

"It would appear so," Roarke droned.

"Why isn't she finishing us off?" Rainbow Dash's voice cracked.  "We're like fish in a barrel out here!"

Roarke fidgeted.  "Would you at least give me some credit?"

"Roarke!  Quick!"  Rainbow slapped her shoulder.  "Go after it!"

Roarke's lenses retracted as she looked up at her.  "...go after it."

"You heard me!  Hurry!  While she's still in our sights!"

"Hrmmm..."  Roarke began accelerating the ship in a humming glide.  "She's going to end up a lot closer... and uglier."

"Are you nuts?!" Booster wheezed, his goggles lopsided.  "We've never chased after the dragon before!"

"You've also never been in an airship over these mountains before!"  Rainbow Dash said, her eyes firmly locked on the fleeing drake.  "Booster, for some miraculously stupid reason, none of the ponies of Amulek have died from this freak.  Now, I've been around enough dragons to know that they usually don't spare pony flesh like that.  I want to find out why, and this is our opportunity!"

"Yeah, well..."  Booster gulped and produced a feeble smile.  "Could it just be your opportunity?"

"Shush!"  Rainbow shook Roarke's shoulders.  "Come on, punch it, girl!"

"Consider it punched.'  Roarke threw a lever forward.

Rainbow and Booster were flung back to the rear of the ship as it sped forward.





Schoooooooom!  The world spun dizzily around the Lounge sphere as it bulleted after the aquamarine monster.  The dragon's twin tails thrashed, and it took a sharp left.  The sphere jerked after it, effortlessly manuevering on a mid-air dime.

With a loud shriek, the dragon jerked right.  When the sphere matched its movements, it dove low and entered a tight ravine lined with craggy rocks and jutting fir trees.  The earthen trench bent towards the east, and the dragon swerved along with the sharp turn, its wing-tips scraping along the edges of the shallow canyon.





Roarke's lenses pistoned out as she struggled to see past the dirt, dust, and debris pelting the sphere's windshield from the dragon's flight up ahead.  The vessel shook from the sheer friction of threading through the tight ravine.

"It c-can certainly m-move fast!" Booster sputtered as his body shook.

Rainbow hovered in the middle of the cockpit to breathe and speak evenly.  "But it's still not trying to crush us like tinfoil!"

"We're certainly giving it every reason to," Roarke droned.

"Not yet, we haven't!"  Rainbow pointed.  "Fire a missile!"

"I... doubt it will kill her, Rainbow."

"No, not at the dragon!  Just—next to her!  Scare her!"

"Scare her?!" Booster gasped.

"Just trust me!"  Rainbow barked.  "Roarke—?"

"Firing..."  Roarke yanked a lever overhead.





Ka-POW!  A rocket sailed out from the sphere and exploded into a piece of the canyon wall ahead of the dragon.

The creature let loose one shriek.  With one heavy wing-flap, it lifted straight up and out of the ravine.

The air thundered from the Lounge projectile's impact.  Without wasting a second, the black sphere raised up and chased the dragon into the clouds.






"So, tell me..."  Rainbow clenched her teeth.  "What kind of a dragon—much less one raised by Nevlamas—runs from both a manaship and a rocket?"

"Perhaps she's just trying to distract us!"  Roarke grunted while desperately jerking the controls to maintain pursuit.  "We did find its layer, after all."

Rainbow took a deep breath.  Her ears folded back as she spoke in a contemplative tone:  "I think it's trying to distact us, alright.  But it's more than just the layer."

"Rainbow...?"

"Here..."  Rainbow turned, grabbed Booster, and forced him down into a seat.  "Stay put."  She strapped a canvas belt around him.  "You're going to need this.  You too, Roarke!"

"Huh?!"  Booster gasped.  "You mean we had seatbelts this entire time?!"

"Rainbow, what are you doing?!"

"What do you expect?!"  Rainbow trotted across the tight compartment and gripped the handle to one of the lateral doors.  "You know me well enough by now!"

Roarke gasped over her shoulder.  "No!  Don't—"

FWOOOOSH! The compartment thundered with billowing air as Rainbow opened the door to the cloudy atmosphere outside.  Once the pressure had equalized, she shouted, "Face it!  This is something I have to deal with, face to face!  You've got a nice ship, Roarke!  But it's still not the fastest thing in the universe!"

"Rainbow, maybe it's afraid of a ship!  But a defenseless pony—?!"

"Neither you or I can pretend I'm 'defenseless,' Roarke!  Try being cute when things are calm and quiet for once!"

"But I just can't let you—"

"Yes you can!  And you will!"  Rainbow slapped the hull as she stepped out.  "What's more, you're going to get me into position to leap on the antler'd jerkenstein!  You can bite my head off about it later!"

"Rainbow..."  Roarke snarled.  "At this point, there won't be a 'later!'"

"Your faith is appreciated as always!  Now hoist!"  Rainbow was outside at this point, slamming the door shut as her hooves clamored over the sphere's exterior.

As the compartment quieted down, Booster panted and panted and ultimately said, "How in the hay do you put up with that mare?!  She's crazy!"

Roarke sighed so hard the windshield fogged in the middle.  "She also happens to be the only mare I've ever truly loved."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."  Booster nodded.  A gulp.  "So you are sisters, then?"

"Searo damn it..."  Roarke yanked up hard on the controls.

"Gaaaaaah!" Booster clung to his seat.

"Hoisting now, Rainbow!" Roarke hollered into the hull.





Rainbow Dash carefully, carefully perched atop the miniature Lounge sphere.  Her muzzle's skin rippled and her mane billowed crazily in the heavy winds.  She inched her way up into a full standing position, her tearing eyes locked onto the thrashing pendulums that were the dragon's tails straight ahead.

Meanwhile, Roarke accelerated the vehicle as gracefully as she could, approaching the dragon five meters per second.

Rainbow held her breath.  When she felt that she was close enough, she uncoiled her wings, spreading them to either side of her in a snap.  The air instantly whistled, and vaporous trails streaked immediately behind the pegasus' feather tips.

There was a glint of bright light.  The eastern sunrise momentarily pierced the fog, breaking shadows in the shapes of the mutated dragon's antlers.

"Rnnnnnghhhh..."  Rainbow Dash tightened and untightened her legs.  "Hrnngh!"  She leapt forward, propelling off the roof of the hurling sphere.

The dragon's twin tails thrashed together, criss-crossing.

Rainbow twirled, threaded through them, and came to a tumbling stop across the dragon's back.

The beast let loose a shriek and instantly dove.

"Mmrmffnng—Haaugh!"  Rainbow slid across the scales, reached a hoof out, and grabbed an antler.  She held on for dear life, watching as the forested world suddenly twirled overhead.  The dragon was flipping, and she was along for the ride.  Panting, she gripped tighter to the antler and began working her way down to the creature's scalp.

Then something unexpected happened.  The branch of the antler Rainbow Dash was holding onto... disappeared.  It didn't break or snap off or shatter into crystalline bits.  It simply vanished.  The sensation was so startling that Rainbow Dash didn't realize she was being flung into empty skies until she saw the leathery wingspokes of the beast sailing past her.  With one deep breath, she flapped her feathers and propelled herself forward.

"Httt!"  She grabbed the wingtip of the dragon with two forelimbs, clinging tightly.  One forelimb at a time, Rainbow climbed her way back onto the dragon's backside.  By now, the creature was spinning, twirling, doing everything it could to toss Rainbow off—just short of actually attacking her.  "What's the matter?!" Rainbow hissed, sticking to the dragon's spine in a full-on body hug.  "Lost your teeth?!  Huh?!  Strange... being killed by Axan only made me tougher!  So what's your excuse?!"  With a gnashing teeth, she raised two hooves and brought them violently down.  "Maybe if I beat you hard enough, I'll find it!  Hrrnnngh!"

WHACK!  Rainbow's blow struck pure scales.  She knew it.  This is why she was shocked when it didn't feel or sound like slapping dragon scales.  The body beneath her rattled like a giant jar full of pebbles.  What's more, there was a flash of light—green like the flames coming out of the beast's maw.

"Huh?!"  Caught off guard, she wasn't ready for when the dragon's body undulated, its spine bending at an impossible angle to throw her off.  "Yaaaaugh!"

Rainbow went sailing upward.  She smashed through three clouds and landed against the foggy belly of a fourth one high in the air.  Hovering there, she glanced down through flickering eyes.  Once the yellow and red had returned to white and ruby, her vision came into focus.  She saw the dragon flying low to the ground.  Its wing-flaps were labored and its momentum had been severely slowed.  If Rainbow Dash didn't know better, she'd say that the monster was getting tired.

At last, Rainbow gritted her teeth.  A slow snarl built up in the center of her chest, eventually rolling out her throat like a panther's growl.  "You are not Nevlamas..."  She dove violently down, spitting into the wind.  "Do you hear me?!"

There was nowhere for the dragon to go, only it didn't know it.  But Rainbow did.  The pegasus hurled down towards the weakly fluttering beast like a bright blue meteorite.

"You are not Nevlamas!"  At the last second, Rainbow Dash spun her body around until it was plummeting with a murderous dive-kick.  "Hraaaaaaaaugh!"

Milliseconds later, Rainbow Dash slammed into the dragon's spine... and tore straight through.  In a brilliant flash of emerald light, the chaos creature exploded into three dozen pieces.





A wave of manaflame erupted in every direction, singeing the tree tops of the alpine forest.

Inside the Lounge's sphere, Booster Spice gasped, covering his goggles with a pair of forelimbs.

Roarke gnashed her teeth as she decelerated the vessel and spun it towards its side.

The wave of flame hit, shaking the entire ship towards its core.

Both ponies jolted and grunted, weathering the thunderous turbulence.





At that precise moment, inside the Noble Jury's mess hall...

Eagle Eye was dipping his spoon into a bowl of fruit salad.  He was inches away from scarfing down a cluster of apple slices when he heard a loud shriek from the kitchen, followed by clattering dishes.  His eyes widened.

Across the table, Josho looked up, his chins wobbling.

Both stallions kicked out of their chairs and galloped into the kitchen.

"Ebon...?!"  Eagle Eye panted.  "Ebony?!"

As he and Josho entered, they found the stallion collapsed on the floor, surrounded by rattling pots and pans.  He held his skull with both hooves, his clenched eyes tearing.

"Rnnnnghhh!  Mother!"  Ebon Mane whimpered.  "Mother... it hurts!  Mmmmgnngh!  Make it stop!"

"What in Ledo's blood-stained saddle is going on?!" Josho barked.

"I..."  Eagle hyperventilated, sweating.  "I-I..."

"Come on, sunshine!"  Josho levitated the convulsing cook and hoisted him over his backside.  "Help me get him to the infirmary!"

Eagle fought back a sob, nodded, and lent a hoof.





Swoooosh!  The Lounge's sphere flew crookedly towards the earth.  After a weak serpentine descent, it found its way towards a clearing in the middle of the forest.  Thump-Scraaaaape!  It crashed lightly and slid to an awkward stop.  Manaflame hissed out of the once-glossy surface, now covered in scrapes and smeared tree sap.

At last, the doors opened.  Roarke jumped out.  Booster fell out.  The mare helped the stallion up to his hooves, and both gawked at the center of the clearing ahead of them.

The grass was burning in random places, forming a perfect circle of smoldering emerald embers.  In the center of the soft crater sat Rainbow Dash, shivering and covered all over in green smoke.  She struggled to get up, wheezing and sputtering for breath.

"Rainbow...?!"  Roarke gulped.  "What happened?  Are you alright?"

Rainbow said nothing.  She looked up, blinking wearily.  A ruby light pulsed from her pendant, and she steadied it with a shaking hoof.  At last, her vision returned to normal, and she became aware of several dark bodies lying limply in the grass all around her.  A sharp gasp escaped her lips.

Frantically, she crawled across the charred grass and lifted one of the limp bodies, cradling it in her hooves.  Her eyes narrowed, studying every square inch of the changeling's onyx carapace.  The creature was breathing—albeit lightly.  Its gossamer wingtips twitched as its eyelids fluttered above its fanged muzzle.

"What in heaven's name...?"  Booster Spice stammered, gawking at the bruised and stirring bodies around him.  "How fascinating... are they insects or are they ponies?"

"They'll be you if you give them long enough," Roarke sneered.  She trotted briskly forward.  "Rainbow Dash!  We have to—"

"Roarke, stay back!"  Rainbow hissed behind her shoulder.  "There's easily over thirty of 'em here!  They could overtake us in a heartbeat!"

"Then why in Searo's name are you cradling one of them?!"

Rainbow bit her lip.  "I-I need answers, Roarke!  And something tells me that I'm the only one who can—"

"Mmmmfnnghhh..." The changeling in Rainbow's grip stirred.

Rainbow gasped, looking down at the metamorph.  "Hey... Hey!"  She shook the creature lightly.  "Come on!  Smell the salts!  Talk to me!"  She narrowed her eyes.  "Where do you get off, impersonating Nevlamas, huh?!"

"Nnnngh... the b-beast... we've lost cohesion..."  The changeling curled its forelimbs before its chest.  "Gghhh... mother, n-no..." it squeaked.

Rainbow gritted her teeth.  "Your mother isn't here.  Chrysalis isn't here!"  She blinked.  "...is she?"

"Hrmmgnnnh..."  At last, the changeling's eyes fluttered open.  Upon seeing Rainbow, a flicker of bright green emanated from beneath the thing's carapace.  It gasped like a startled foal, its fanged maw hanging agape.  "It's you..."  The green in its eyes shrank to glossy pupils as freckles briefly adorned a fuzzy orange face.  "It's really you!"

Rainbow grimaced.  She glanced over her shoulder.  Every changeling flickered orange for a second, then turned back to their glossy blackness.  Somehow, it was enough to stir them from unconsciousness.  One by one, they stood up on aching limbs.

Booster stood close to Roarke, shivering as the bodies rose around them.  Roarke clenched her teeth while the metal braces around her legs whirred defensively.

"How... h-how did you find us...?" the changeling wheezed.

"I... uh..."  Rainbow glanced towards the tallest mountain.  Deep in its belly, the same symbol flickered as always.  "...let's just say I followed my nose."

"You... sh-shouldn't be here..." the changeling sputtered and coughed.  Its body grew limper and weaker in Rainbow's grip.  "Nopony... sh-should be here..."

"Hey... hey!" Rainbow barked, shaking the pony.  "Stay with me!  I need to know what's going on!  Why are you changelings here?!  Is this some sort of nest or something?!  Why were you impersonating Nevlamas?!"

"The beast..."  The changeling whimpered.  "...the beast was all we knew.  It was M-Mother's weapon.  It... could spread fear..."

"Spread fear?!  Why spread fear?!"

The changeling's eyelids fell as it drifted off.

"Come onnnnn... come on!"  Rainbow fumed and fumed.  She took a deep breath, lowering her eyes as she calmed herself.  Then, leaning forward, she hugged the changeling tenderly, her face face nuzzling the creature's fragile carapace.

"What...?"  Booster raised his green goggles and squinted.  "What is she—?"

Roarke slapped a hoof over his shoulder.  "Shhhh!"  Nevertheless, her lenses too pistoned out.

Slowy, a green flame crept over the changeling's body.  Its colt turned to a fuzzy brown while red braids fountained out from its scalp.  With a deep breath, the creature convulsed.  Two seconds after opening its bright emerald eyes, a pair of lenses materialized over its sockets.

Rainbow exhaled, reopening her eyes as she smiled gently at the doppelganger.  "There... any b-better...?"

The little Roarke gulped and nodded.  "Much..."  She wheezed, "We sh-should have known it was you.  When we first saw you at the foot of the mountain."  She gulped.  "Your wings.  Your mane."

"Can you tell me now why you were impersonating Nevlamas?"

"You g-gave us so much clarity... so much flame."  The changeling gulped.  "We could see everything in the light.  Everything we were... everything we did."  A tear squeezed out from behind the lenses.  "Everything for Mother... and it was awful..."

"Rainbow..."  Roarke trotted up, glancing nervously at the stirring changelings surrounding them.  "Something's wrong.  They all look incredibly antsy."

"I'd say so..."  Rainbow squinted at the changeling.  "What have you been doing all this time?"

Instead of answering, the changeling sputtered, "You've done s-so much for us.  You shouldn't be here.  You should leave."  She stood up and out of Rainbow's grip.  "Everypony in this valley should pack up and leave!"

"Pack up and leave?!"  Booster stomped his hooves.  "Why?!  This is our home!  Why are you trying to drive us all away!"

"That was the whole point of this Nevlamas schtick, wasn't it?!"  Rainbow Dash frowned.  "You don't wanna be like Mother, huh?!  Then why are you terrorizing a small village!"

"They're all in danger.  We only wished to scare them off!"  The changeling shivered.  "We wanted to protect them!  But their love and their loyalty is too great!  We c-couldn't calculate for that!  We couldn't... couldn't..."

"Protect us?!"  Booster stammered.

Rainbow Dash squinted.  "Protect them from what?" Right as she said that, her eyes flickered red-on-yellow.  She yelped and stumbled forward, instantly dizzy.

"Rainbow!"  Roarke reached out to support her.

"Gnnngh!"  Rainbow panted, eyes wide.  "Luna poop!  I haven't felt a jolt like that since... since..."

"Oh no..."  The changeling spun and faced the mountaintop, as did its fellow broodlings.  "It's too late!  They smell harmonic flesh!  Any moment now, and they'll strike!"

"Who?!"  Rainbow sputtered, reeling in Roarke's grip.  "Nnnngh—who or what are you talking about?!"

"Rainbow..." Roarke murmured.

Rainbow struggled to tilt her head up.  She gasped upon seeing a thick curtain of mist pouring out of the mountaintop like volcanic ash.

The changelings whimpered in fright.  The speaker turned towards Rainbow Dash, its eyes tearing.  "Mother abandoned more than us here..."

As that was uttered, the air above filled with deathly shrieks.  It was a trickle at first, then a veritable monsoon of leather, as countless serpentine bodies began pouring out of the hole in the north side of the mountain, sailing down towards the forest on the wings of chaos, their banshee shrieks rattling every equine soul to the core.  An entire swarm of ethereal abominations glided over the treetops, spitting death and malice in every direction their glowing eyes took them.

Rainbow rattled in Roarke's grip.  "Hoboy..."

"Yeah..."  Booster Spice whimpered. "...that's m-more like it."