Chapter 25: All the Creatures are Stirring
"The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants."
Johnny Depp
Princess Luna had come to enjoy her night court, or rather the lack thereof. At first, it had offended her, but eventually Tia’s endless complaints about petitions and the discovery that she could do whatever she pleased with the room, since no one came to petition her, had changed that. Now, spread before her on a large table, were maps and reports from different guard commanders and agents she used to keep an eye on potential threats. As she was skimming the most recent report on Everfree wildlife, the commander of the team she sent to follow Drake to the changeling hive returned.
“Commander Whispering Breeze reports as ordered your Majesty!” she said, coming to attention across the table from the princess and snapping a salute. Princess Luna returned the salute, eager to hear how the mission had gone.
“Report Commander, did you secure the broken spear?” Princess Luna asked, referring to the codename given for either Chrysalis or her inheritor.
“Yes and no your majesty. We secured what is left of Queen Chrysalis, but aside from corpses there was nothing there left of the hive,” Commander Whispering Breeze said as she lowered the salute.
“Nothing but corpses? Commander, I think it best if you elaborate on what you found.” Princess Luna said, her initial expression giving way to a hard stare made harsher in the dim candlelight of the audience chamber. The darkness seemingly drawing in around Luna unbidden as her mood changed.
“We followed Drake as you commanded, staying far enough behind he wouldn’t notice us. He entered a cave around about here,” Commander Breeze said, pointing to a spot on the map. Luna stiffened for a moment remembering what had once been hidden under those mountains, back when she and her sister were young and waging a war against the mad tyrant. “We lost sight of him after he entered the cave. The entrance was shut by somepony on the inside, most likely changelings. A few hours later, we managed to remove the seal and Drake flew out badly injured, we don’t know where he was heading. As Drake was flew out, we continued deeper into the tunnels. I figured the changelings held a higher priority than an injured dragon.”
“We traveled deep into the bowels of the earth. There we found a ruin covered in the same green goop the changeling used on Canterlot. The ground was littered with dead changelings. I want to stress this your Majesty, they were dead, not dying. Every last one. Eventually we found Chrysalis, her body in two parts near what we think was a nursery, but at no time did we find any eggs or living changelings. We weren’t able to find any other ways out of the cave either so how survivors could have escaped is beyond my knowledge,” Commander Breeze said, standing at ease and waiting for Princess Luna’s response.
“There are many ways out of that chamber commander, though few live that know them,” Princess Luna said with a sigh. “It seems our foe has escaped for now. Still, send some guards here, here, and here,” Luna said, marking three points on the map. “There is a chance you will find the survivors’ trail at one of those sites.”
Commander Breeze nodded, marking those points on her own map to brief the guards chosen later. “Princess, do you know something about that ruin?”
“Oh well she does,” A crackling voice called out from the rafters. “Or she did before she was forced from it long ago.” With a rush of air, a large harpy dropped from her hiding place on the ceiling, her talons clicking against the floor as she approached Princess Luna and Commander Whispering Breeze.
“Who are you, and how do you know of Mole Hill?!” Princess Luna demanded, anger building in her voice as Commander Breeze leveled her spear and stretched her wings.
“I am Cynthia, handmaiden of Angelica; may her reign last till the sky falls and chocolate rains. I know of Mole Hill because Rage remembers Princess. How else could we hold a grudge? If we were as forgetfully as the other races the fires of anger would leave us and we would nevermore rise to battle,” The harpy said, her beak clacking as she clipped her words, spittle flying forward.
“How did you get in here monster, and why shouldn’t I annihilate you where you stand?” Luna asked, using her magic to form an arcane scythe.
“I just followed your guard, not very good at watching their back are they, but you noticed that during the long night over Bastion didn’t you. Shame I couldn’t be there, but a handmaiden’s work is never done. Now stay your weapons I come with a message, not one but two! Two messages I have for you,” Cynthia said, hopping from claw to claw.
“One: I was sent with for Chrysalis to give her guest before he killed her, poor foolish girl. The other is for you, yes, you who fell to envy, or was it pride. I can never remember which Shimmer was supposed to be. Tell me, did Celestia cry when she blasted you with those precious Elements of Harmony?” Cynthia crackled, her focus constantly shifting and her talons tapping against the floor as she flirted about around the princess and her guard. Princess Luna fought to keep her anger in check as Cynthia taunted her.
“Speak your piece monster, or I’ll skewer you and use you feather for pens,” Commander Breeze said failing where Luna had succeeded.
“Oh fine then. Too bad you’re a mare, the last guard I met was such a virile stallion, for a while anyway,” Cynthia said drawing her wings in a hug around herself. “Anyway my message: tell the dragon that meddles we’ve found one of his teams, one dead, one fled, one we hold, and the hen is with the diggers. Oh to see his expression when he learns. Let him know that if he continues down his path we shall strike again, and again, and again until all he has is as dead as his city and its stuffy old librarian,” Cynthia said laughing, her harsh crackling laugh, mirthful in the way only the mad and deranged can be.
Luna and Whispering Breeze glanced at each other uneasily. Breeze remembering the devastation the ruins had suffered, the fallen stalactites and the recently wrecked building, Luna recalling how Drake responded to her news about the unicorns Flim and Flam. Cynthia cawed, drawing their attention back to her.
“Oh it will be funny for sure, that is the cost, the cost for what he did saving those griffins, poking about the ruins, and, I guess, for killing Chrysalis like that too.”
“Now my message for you two be simple: if you want the changelings just find the dragon. See, aren’t I helpful? You get to deliver the message and learn what happened to the changelings and where they went all in one go. Oh but if only you could have seen the battle. Chrysalis killing her own people to make herself stronger and the dragon pushing through it to strike her.
“I wonder how he got so strong. Not a year ago my sisters struck him as he passed their mountain. They had caught the most spectacular bison, why was he there we wondered. No mattered, his fate was the same as the rest, oh yes. But that is beside the point. When they struck the foolish dragon he was powerless to stop them, unable to breathe fire and to slow to strike them. What changed? What changed? Do you know? Will you tell me?” Cynthia asked her gaze switching to and fro between the Luna and Commander Breeze.
Luna, having grown sick of the harpy and the conversation, spared a single glance at her commander. Commander Breeze nodded her understanding. An instant later the chamber was silent.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Novelty felt alive, more than she had never felt before; gone was the boredom of her routine. Traveling on this adventure made her feel truly alive. She still didn’t know why the brothers were after her boss but at this point it didn’t matter. For now, simply traveling and talking with them was enough for her.
Novelty had found Flim’s and Flam’s method of travel to be unique and bewildering. Why travel in a heavily armored vehicle? Once she managed to get some stories out of the pair, not all that hard really, though she could have done without the song, the bewildering aspect had dropped away. The dragon scale sitting in the back of the cabin though, when she learned whose it was and what it did, astounded and intrigued her. She had asked to see how it worked, but they had refused saying it was for emergencies only.
Today was their fifth day on the road since Manehatten. As the sun set, they pulled up next to a grove of trees near a quaint little tavern, stopping for a meal and some rest before they continued on. The tavern was filled with ponies and a smattering of other races. Novelty saw a few donkeys, a griffin, and even a Saddle Arabian who was one of the dark corners. Amid the patrons there was a pale blue unicorn performing stage tricks, though no one seemed to care. Novelty thought she saw Flim and Flam grimace and sigh sympathetically after one of the trick but wasn’t sure.
The tavern keeper took their order getting the two brothers the daily special which was advertised as a hearty broccoli and cheese soup. Novelty opted for the fruit salad and watched the stage performer. While her tricks were fairly impressive, the scowl on her face detracted from any enjoyment the audience might have gained. They ate quickly before turning in for the night to a shared room with two beds. As had been their habit, the brothers took turns in the bed they shared, one watching over the SST 9000 while one slept. Novelty had offered to stand a watch when she first joined them but the brothers had politely refused. She had first thought they were just being kind, but Novelty later realized that they didn’t trust her enough to leave her alone with their machine.
At some point during the night, the screaming started. When Novelty woke, Flam was already at the door. As she got out of bed, a clawed paw reached through the door. Without a moment’s pause, Flam jumped back, grabbed the paw in his magic, and twisted it until a sickening meaty pop sounded followed by a pained howl. When Flam released the arm it flopped to the ground limply, its owner clutching at his shoulder.
“What’s going on?” Novelty asked fighting down the terror she felt as screams sounds from elsewhere in the building. Flam kicked the dog where it lay in agony then telekinetically tossed it down the hallway.
“Diamond Dogs are attacking! Safest place will be in the tank, do not let them catch you, their bite is indeed worse than their bark,” Flam said taking the lead and directing Novelty to follow him. As they moved through the corridor, Novelty saw dogs grabbing the various guests and dragging them away towards holes in the floor. She was going to say something but Flam shook his head knowing what she was going to ask and shooting it down.
“Once we are safe, maybe, but until then we don’t put ourselves at risk.” Novelty realized in that moment that adventure and travel was never as glorious as the stories made it out to be. Novelty gasped when they made it outside and turned to see the building burning with pyrotechnics blasting out of it from time to time. Moving on quickly from the burning tavern, they reached the SST 9000 without additional incident to find Flim atop the vehicle fending off three separate attackers. Flam joined the fray, knocking one over into a second, buying Flim the time he needed to drive a spear, taken from Bastion, into the arm of the third attacker.
“Nice of you to join the festivities brother, what are we looking at?”
“From what it looked like inside a Diamond Dog slave raid, similar to what we saw that first night with the Griffins.”
“Odd, I haven’t ever heard of the mutts raiding in Equestria before.”
“Well it could be connected to the other attacks. Harpies at Bastion, changelings in Canterlot and now Diamond Dogs in the countryside,” Flam said as Novelty climbed into the vehicle. She didn’t fully understand what they were talking about, those were all different races, how did they all connect? She was brought out of her thoughts by somepony calling to her.
“Novelty, could you please pass up that dragon’s scale in there towards the back?” One of the brothers had asked. Novelty grabbed the scale and, being careful not to cut herself, passed it through the door.
“Thank you,” they said in stereo taking the scale. “Now seal the door and keep yourself safe.”
The last thing Novelty heard as she sealed the door was Flam saying, “Hey Flim do you remember them whatcahtamacallums, call-signs Drake said we were to use if we had to contact him?”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Drake slept soundly when a presence intruded upon his mind ripping him from his dreams into the astral Plain. At first Drake reacted defensively, trying to protect his mind, but stopped when he recognized the source.
“Puff this is Sherman, come in? Puff this is Sherman come in,” A familiar voice called across the ether of time and space to speak with Drake on the astral plane.
“This is the Magic Dragon,” Drake replied enjoying the bit of humor he had placed in the call signs. Not that they really needed them but any good paramilitary organization should have them, or so Drake thought. “What’s wrong Sherman?”
“We are under attack from Diamond Dogs and would appreciate some draconic intervention,” Flim said his form waving in and out of the astral plane.
All humor disappeared from Drake in that moment, his eyes hardening and his smile becoming malicious. “Where?”
“At a tavern, sending the location now,” Flim said doing his best to show both the physical location as he had seen it and its location on the map they were navigating by in the astral plane.
“Location received. I am on my way, shouldn’t be more than an hour as the dragon flies, can you hold out that long?” Drake asked waking up, enduring the odd feel of being both in the real world and the astral plane at once.
There was a long moment without reply. Drake feared it was already too late as he carefully took to the sky, it wouldn’t do to hurt himself taking off. Then Flim spoke again. “Drake there is another unicorn here that is fighting back, with her we should be able to hold, but be quick, you need to get here before they wisen up enough to try and sinkhole us.”
As the connection broke Drake set himself on the vector towards the brothers, the directions having been clear enough he knew where to go. With a roar, he headed out. His rage building as he raced through the air, greed clawing at his thoughts, tempting him with speed and power. Drake roared again, louder and deeper as he gave in. He wasn’t losing anyone this night, not this early in his endeavor.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Drakes first roar woke Ponyville, driving some to the streets in curiosity. His second roar sent them into a panic as more poured from their homes to catch the dragons growing silhouette as it went off into the distance.
Pinkie Pie watched and worried, hearing the anger but also the fear all others missed.
Rainbow gave chase, if something had set that overgrown lizard off she wanted to see what it was; then give him a piece of her mind for waking her up.
Fluttershy hid under her covers and was joined by many of her animals. The primal power of a dragon’s roar making them fear for their lives. Nonetheless Fluttershy hoped Drake wouldn’t hurt himself or anypony else.
Rarity comforted her frightened sister making plans to explain, in detail, just how rude it was to go about waking an entire town in the middle of the night.
Applejack and her family watched as Drake passed over their farm, bits of torn bandages falling from him as he grew. Wondering what could make him act like a crazed animal, he may have been sleazy, working an angle, and rude, but at the end of the day he had helped them and proven a reasonable sort.
Twilight and Spike were among the first outside. Spike, not fully understand what was happening, knew it must be something serious and had moved to take off after him but was stopped by Twilight. Before he could explain himself, Drake roared the second time. The next thing he knew ponies were gathering around him almost as if they were expecting him to defend them.
Twilight was concerned, dragons were trouble, even Spike, for all the good he did and as much as she loved him, was trouble. Whatever Drake was up to it couldn’t be good, nopony up to good goes about waking a town in the middle of the night. After stopping Spike from chasing after him, she prepared a letter for Celestia, then stopped and addressed it to Luna instead. After having Spike send the letter, despite his protests, she noticed the ponies cowering around Spike, looking to him for protection as he stood over them proud, and at the same time confused.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Alright miss... Trizie was it? Help is on the way, now we just have to fight off a Diamond Dog pack for an hour. Think you are up to it?” Flam asked the unicorn in a tattered cape and hat before them, as Flim broke the connection. They had bought themselves a moment of peace by turning the broken glass and wood from the tavern into a whirlwind around themselves. Unfortunately, Diamond Dogs tended to dig tunnels and could work around it easily enough.
“The name is Trixie, the Great and Powerful, and yes Trixie is more than up to it, the question is if you two can keep up with her,” Trixie said a cruel gleam in her eye as she jumped onto the SST 9000 and turned to face the dogs, fireworks in her saddlebags and fire in her eyes. These mutt would pay for waking her and ruining her one steady job, shitty though it was, it sure beats working somewhere like a rock farm. As the first dogs surfaced from the ground around the tank Trixie launched one of the fireworks down it, revenge would be hers.