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// Chapter 8: Day of Flames 
// Story: My red eyed Friend 
// by Freelancer 
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After seeking a number of opinions (rightly or wrongly) I’ve decided to let you Thane/Dash likers have your happy ending (metaphorically speaking), but not just yet.



Chapter 8: Day of Flames


The early morning air in Ponyville, as Titan noted, was substantially warmer than that of the cold southern mountains, which in turn helped him relax a little as he stood in the middle of Ponyville’s Mane Street, watching quietly as the sun rose and showered his scales with light. The town around him was completely silent, other than the soft rustling of the few trees in the wind, the only other noise evident in Titan’s ears being the sound of his own breathing. Slowly he once again scanned the brightening blue horizon, his keen red eyes trying to pick up any sign of movement or of his brother, his search however once again ended without success. 

“Where are you Storm?” He murmured to himself, dragging his ivory talons across the road gravel and leaving a set of claw marks in the surface. “You have never been one to show up late.”

Titan’s thoughts were disturbed as the sound of plodding feet filled his ears; he had however heard the sound enough through the years, and knew it was Thane walking up behind him without even looking. In silence the green dragon came and stood beside Titan in the light of the rising sun, the same as he had done those few days ago when everything been put into motion by their conversation.

“Do you think Storm will actually show his face?” Thane asked, not bothering to turn his green eyes to Titan as he spoke. “You know as well as I do that if he dare attacks, he risks angering Princess Celestia.”

“Storm thinks nothing of the pony rulers,” Titan sighed, closing his eyes and letting the warm breeze run over his dark red scales. “He will come Thane… the only question is when.”

A soft chuckle escaped Thane’s lips as he stood beside his old friend, knowing that now the only thing either of them could do was wait for Storm to show up. They were ready for him of course; the residents of Ponyville were all armed and ready, for whatever the white dragon threw at them when he arrived, the only question was when he exactly he would. While they waited an amusing thought popped into Titan’s head, one that he decided to annoy Thane with.

“You know Thane” He grinned, at last turning to his green comrade. “I swear you enjoyed kissing Dash last night… there isn’t anything bet…”

“Shut up!” Thane growled, although Titan already knew Thane was embarrassed, which meant his predications were true. “look, Dash and I are friends alright but that’s where it ends… you know that it wouldn’t work out even if we liked each other.”

“You never know Thane,” Titan chuckled, shaking his head as he laughed, while Thane let out an annoyed growl. “I hear Spike likes Applejack’s little sister.”

“Do me a favour and be quiet,” Thane snapped angrily, snorting and sending a puff of black smoke into the air “Keep this up, and I swear by the end of today if Storm hasn’t smacked you around already, then I will.”

Titan just grinned and shook his head; Thane had always been good at getting under his friends scales, but every so often there were sweet moments when the tides turned. Ignoring Thane’s muttered curses Titan returned his eyes to the blue horizon; his attention however was once again torn away a moment later as Fluttershy appeared beside his head, a timid and frightened expression on her face.

“Are you alright?” Titan asked gently, presenting one of his massive out-stretched wings as a landing spot. “You look uneasy.”

“I just… I don’t like the idea of Storm being here,” She said quietly as she landed on Titan’s wing, her eyes half concealed behind her pink mane. “I don’t want him to hurt my friends.”

“Do not be afraid, I will not let him hurt anypony Fluttershy,” Titan said reassuringly as he gently nuzzled her cheek, a small smile spreading across her face as he did. “I promise.”

That was when Thane let out a menacing hiss, and Titan’s head snapped around; sure enough four coloured dots were now evident on the skyline of the otherwise clear horizon. Titan took a single look over his shoulder at Fluttershy, and she nodded in understanding, flying back toward the cover of town a moment later in ready for what was to come. Taking a deep breath Titan returned his eyes to the forms of his advancing opponents, the largest being the unmistakable white shape of his older brother Storm. He knew he should be scared now, perhaps even terrified; but as Ash, Saran and his other friends silently emerged from Ponyville and took their places beside Titan, only one emotion burned inside his mind; that was hate.

“You want a piece of me brother?” Titan snarled as he glared at Storm, ripping at the ground with his ivory talons and allowing his mighty red wings to flare open in ready for a fight. “I dare you to try and take one.” 

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Within a few minutes Storm and his three friends landed with loud thuds, coming down directly opposite Titan and his own comrades as the standoff began. It had been a while since Titan and seen his older brother, and by the looks of things he had grown as much as Titan had; Storm stood roughly three heads taller than Titan and measured roughly a fourth of a body length longer. Although despite being quite strong Storm was nowhere near as bulky as his little brother, an advantage Titan knew that could be useful.

For a few moments the two sides just stood and stared at each other in complete silence, during which Titan figured out exactly who they were up against. Storm had brought with him two twin oak brown brothers named Ilandor and Thrases; both Titan knew from prior youth experience were exceptionally good fighters for their ages. The other dragon was, as Titan had half expected, Scorch, although just like his brother Storm the crimson red dragon had grown in the years since they had met last. Eventually Storm stepped forward and ran his glistening eyes over Titan, a fire of anger in them despite his calm tone as he spoke and broke the silence.

“Little brother… I believe we decided years ago that you were to have nothing to do with these ponies. Why then do I currently find you standing in the middle of one of their pathetic settlements, and your breath smelling of their disgusting food?”

“YOU decided I should have nothing to do with them Storm,” Titan snapped, the anger in his voice seeming to surprise his older brother. “I am old enough now to make my own decisions… hence if I wish to be among them then I will, whether you like it or not.”   

Snarls escaped the three dragons behind Storm, but they each fell silent when the white dragon growled; he then turned back to Titan with his own fangs bared in a silent threat and took a step forward.

“You seem to forget your place in the world Titan,” Storm hissed, his tail thrashing around the air like a whip. “You are a dragon… not one of these pathetic fur coated cake eating ponies. You may be an adult now Titan, but you still seem content to behave like a hatchling… so I am giving you one chance little brother, come with me, or I will show you and these ponies what a true dragon is capable of.”

That was when everything inside of Titan’s mind caved in with rage, all the anger and hatred he had carried for thirteen years suddenly came rushing up, and flew from his tongue in an uncontrollable torrent. 

“YOU DARE TOUCH ANY OF THEM AND I WILL TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT!” Titan roared as his former calm broke and every single piece of him went into a state of burning rage. “HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND THREATEN THEM YOU WORTHLESS, ARROGANT, SELF OBSESSED, STUCK UP WASTE OF SCALE!”

“WATCH YOUR TONGUE TITAN!” Storm snapped, although despite his words he still took a step back towards his friends in clear unease at Titan’s rage. “LISTEN TO YOURSELF!”

“I AM LISTENING FOR ONCE!” Titan snarled, his ivory fangs emerging like rows of drawn swords. “ALL OF YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE YOU HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH HURTING EVERYONE AROUND YOU, INCLUDING ME, WELL I AM SORRY BROTHER BUT TODAY THAT ENDS!”

“listen to me very closely Titan,” Storm hissed, his own ivory fangs coming up to meet Titan’s as the two sides came in closer, both ready to try and rip the other apart. “If you keep acting like this then I will gladly burn this place to the ground, and then teach you a lesson about respecting your elders.”

That was when a grin spread across Titan’s face that unnerved even Storm; the red dragon giving off a laugh as he stared up at his older sibling’s confused expression.

“You see Storm, there is one minor problem in your plan… you assume the ponies here will just sit back and let you burn their town,” Titan grinned, the sudden look on Storm’s facing telling the smiling red dragon that his older brother had just been hit by the lance of fear. “Everypony... come and introduce yourselves.”

A moment later, the former quiet town of Ponyville sprung to life; from every doorway, ally way and possible hiding place imaginable the battle ready ponies emerged wielding anything they could use to fight. Titan smirked as Storm growled and looked around at the crowd uneasily; knowing that he and his three friends were now surrounded from every possible angle. In the skies above their heads Dash and the other Pegasi had created a menacing battery of dark thunder clouds, on either side of Twilight and Rarity had mustered the magic ready unicorns, and directly in front and behind them were solid walls of earth ponies led my Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Titan could tell Storm was thinking about what to do; the white dragon knew he was outnumbered and outgunned, but Titan doubted his older brother’s pride would let him just give up and surrender. 

“I am warning you all once,” Storm snapped as he looked around, flaring his wings open and baring his fangs at the angry crowd. “Be away with you or you will all taste dragon fire.”

“You try anything like that your face will taste the strength of my back legs,” Applejack said angrily, snorting and pawing at the ground as Storm and his friends turned around and snarled at her.

“Why you annoying little…”

If Storm had any more to say he didn’t get the chance; as he and his friends had turned around to face Applejack, Titan and his own comrades had taken their chance. A moment later the combined masses of Titan and Ash charged forward and slammed into Storm’s exposed shoulders, throwing the white scaled dragon head over tail before bringing him down on the gravel road with an earth shaking thud. Thrases, Ilandor and Scorch for a moment could do nothing but stand there in shock, then however they too met a similar fate as Storm as the remaining six young males bolted forward and charged into them. Within a second the former calm was transformed into scene of thrashing tails, slashing talons and snapping jaws as the dragons fought; it was then the fight for Ponyville really began.

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Storm hadn’t expected Titan and Ash to charge forward, and hence had been caught totally unaware; his friends however, after seeing Storm’s fall, were a little more prepared for their own collisions when they happened. After a short struggle both Thrases and Ilandor managed to break free of their opponents and head for the sky, right on their tails the snapping forms of Thane, Saran, Lunis and Raldin; Scorch managed to get loose, but before he could get anywhere Applejack roped his wings together, the crimson dragon however kept fighting both Blizzard and Sunset even his new bonds. Ilandor didn’t get very far into the air before being met with an unfriendly wave of lightning bolts from the awaiting pegasi, and then dragged quickly downwards once again by Lunis, Saran and Raldin, his twin however managed to escape the barrage and burst through the dark wall of clouds. The pegasus ponies screamed and scattered while Thrases chased them, his jaws snapping out at any that were in range of his maw. 

“You scrapes of meat will pay for this!” Thrases snarled as his snapped out at a blue pegasus stallion, his ivory white fangs missing the stallion’s hooves by a scale width as he gave chase. “Now come here!”

It was then something from outside his field of view slammed into the side of his face, sending a sudden and immense wave of pain through his skull like a stone had just been dropped on him. Snarling and turning he saw a cyan blue pegasus pony hovering in the air a short distance away, her hooves up like she wanted to fight him, and an angry expression etched on her face. Thrases simply grinned at the pegasus mare; it seemed in his mind these ponies had no idea when to give up.

“You, my little fur ball I will enjoy, ripping to pieces” He laughed wickedly, turning his massive dark brown form to her and spreading his razor sharp talons as they faced off.           

“I’m not scared of you scale brain!” she snapped in reply, shooting forward and aiming her front hooves at the middle of his chest.



Dash’s mind was overcome with anger to the point of blinding rage, she had only one thought going through her head, and that was a want to hurt this brown dragon as much as possible. She didn’t care how much it hurt him; all she wanted to do was wipe that stupid smirk off his face and get him out of the sky as fast as possible. 

Before she even got close to him however, she saw in horror his tail flick out with lightning speed, the giant brown scaled whip filling her vision a moment before it hit her full on like a train. Dash had received her fair share of heavy blows in her life, most being from crash landings or gifts from a very annoyed Applejack; but the pain she felt when the dragon’s tail hit her made every inch of her cyan body scream in absolute agony. Everything blurred as she felt herself fall rapidly towards the earth below, the last image burning in her mind that of the smirking dragon who had just knocked her from the sky.

All of a sudden her fall came to a sudden stop, but she knew she hadn’t hit the ground because that she guessed that would have hurt a lot more. With all her strength she tore her magenta eyes open and saw perhaps the most wonderful thing that she could have ever dreamed of, Thane’s soft face set against the crystal blue sky.

“You ok?” He said hurriedly as he hovered still, his green eyes angrily flicking up at Thrases as Dash realized he had her held gently in his claws.       	  

“I feel like a tree AJ just bucked” Dash giggled in reply, the pain in her body slowly dying away as her mind returned. “But otherwise I’m fine.”

Thane nodded and looked over as three scared looking pegasus mare ponies flew up to him, apparently trying to take cover from Thrases and his now continued chase of anypony who got too close.

“You three take care of her,” He said firmly, opening his claws wide and allowing the mares to take Dash over their backs as he snarled up at Thrases. “I’ll deal with him.”

Once Dash was safe on the ground, Thane turned his attention to the looming form of Thrases, trying to figure out a way to deal with the brown dragon without putting anypony on the ground in danger. He had an idea but it was dangerous, and above all crazy to say the least, but having no other real choice he decided to go with it. 

Like an arrow he shot upwards, and climbed into the cover of the highest clouds possible, high above not only Ponyville but even Thrases, who was chasing a cluster of pegasus ponies far below. At the high altitude he could feel the cold on his scales and the thinness of the air in his lungs, but he wasn’t going to let Thrases get away with hurting Dash. 

Taking a deep breath, Thane took his aim, recalling everything Dash had told him about her legendary sonic rainboom during the party the night before; he knew that even though he was a thin dragon, he was too big to manage such a thing, but he understood the principle and that was all that really mattered. Just before he launched himself he pictured Dash in his mind, her cyan body being knocked from the sky by a smirking Thrases like she was a bug; it was enough to ignite every piece of Thane’s heart into a wild fire of burning rage, Thrases had hurt her, and now it was the brown dragon’s turn to feel immense pain.

“Now you will pay!” Thane snarled, launching himself strait down toward the earth, hissing through the air like a spear thrown by the sun itself and aiming himself directly at Thrases.   



With every moment that passed, Thane could feel he was picking up speed as he headed for the ground, the air tightening in a cone around him just as Dash had described so vividly the night before. His eyes were locked on the centre of a wide point directly between his brown scaled target’s tough shoulders, the widest and easiest target area available for the green dragon to hit accuratly. In his mind there were only a few moments between the collision, and that was when Thane unleashed his anger, closing his eyes and sending a continues jet of flame out directly in front of himself; the fire danced and shimmered but couldn't escape the cone of air. The red hot flames were instead forced by the ever increasing pressure into a tighter and tighter space, building up into a compact ball of fire that Thane swore would rival even a star in how hot it was. Knowing that there was no turning back now Thane could feel his own heart beating wildly and fear welling up inside him, but he knew exactly what he had to do, and he swore he wouldn’t let Rainbow Dash down.

At the last possible moment he tore his green eyes open and locked them on brown scaled target, throwing the palms of his green scaled claws forward just as Dash did with her hooves, before he slammed into the back of Thrases like a living meteor.


Everything seemed to freeze as the countless pegasi watched the two male dragons collide in awe; what happened next however would not just be remembered by them, but would be spoken of for generations across the whole of Equestria. The fire that had been contained in the pressure of Thane’s cone of air broke its chains and shot outwards in a massive burning ring, but instead of dying out like any other flame, the pressurized inferno ignited the air around it as it spread outwards. Every pegasus shot for the ground as the wave of dragon fire swept over them and singed their tails, to everypony already on the ground, for a single moment it seemed Thane had literally set the sky on fire.  

Thane however was too busy to take any notice of his feet; the impact had so far done everything he had planned for it too, the immense heat had not only hurt Thrases, but had been so hot Thane could hear the brown dragon’s scales cracking from the flames. The force of the impact had also sent the two dragon’s shooting through the clouds and hurtling rapidly towards the ground, the unlikeable situation Thane now found himself in. 

Content to hurt Thrases as much as possible for what he had done, Thane aimed them directly over a large building, and just as they got close enough the green dragon flipped himself in mid-air, and like a pony slammed his rear legs into his opponent’s shoulders. A moment later there was an all mighty crash as Thrases formed a crater with his landing, Thane however wasn’t done yet.

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“You are a stupid Hatchling Titan!” Storm snapped as he was pinned the ground, struggling to get free under the immense combined weight of Titan and Ash as the two dragons attempted to subdue him. “You think you can win this?”

“Do me a favour and shut up!” Titan snapped angrily, driving a clenched red claw into Storm’s ribcage. “Or how about you make this easier and give up for once.”

“I WILL NEVER LET YOU WIN YOU LITTLE BRAT!”

Somehow Storm managed to get his rear legs free and drove them into Ash’s black scaled side; Titan knew it hurt by the look of agony that crossed his old friends face, but undeterred he continued to fight with his older brother with even more effort.

Around him the entire town was a battle ground of dragons and ponies, all locked in in combat as each side tried to subdue the other. Ilandor had found himself the target of a combined effort by the earth ponies, Saran, Raldin, Lunis and Pinkie’s party cannon; Scorch was likewise locked in an endless brawl with Sunset and Blizzard while constantly trying to avoid the unicorn’s endless barrage of magic spells. The town itself to say the least had so far survived reasonably well, as the fighting was generally contained within the confines of the park and Mane Street, although a number of carts, stalls and alike had been damaged by thrashing tails, or stray flame strikes. Titan had told everypony the night before that only he and Ash were the confront Storm, the reason being that not only was he the largest, but also because he was the most aggressive. Above the clouds Titan could hear snarls and growls; he silently hoped that Thane could handle Thrases on his own.

“I should have just burned that annoying little ball of fur all those years ago,” Storm snapped as he continued to struggle, turning his attention solely to removing himself from Titan’s grasp as Ash tried to regain himself. “But no… I believed your lies, and I actually thought you had some pride in being a drag…OW!”

Storm tore his eyes away from Titan as he yelped painfully; it was then Titan realized the source of his brothers pain was the purple scaled form of Spike, who had grabbed, and then sunk his short but sharp white fangs into Storm’s tail. Storm simply flicked his tail upwards and sent Spike flying skywards, luckily for the small dragon Ash had regained himself enough to grab the yelling purple hatchling with his tail as he fell. Storm snarled in anger and swung his own tail out at Ash’s now exposed side, before it got there however a rope loop caught the white blur and stopped it in mid-air.

“WHAT!” Storm snapped, glaring over to see a grinning amber pony tie the rope off around a thick trunked tree. “YOU AGAIN!”

“Name’s Applejack” She chuckled, galloping over before spinning mid-stride and delivering a double back leg buck strait into the side of Storm’s white scaled face. “And like I said, ya'll try and hurt anypony you’ll taste my back hooves… and just so you know I’m the element of honesty, SO WHEN I SAY I’LL KICK YA I MEAN IT!”

The last words came out beside another double kick; for once, Titan was glad it had been Fluttershy who had kicked him, seeing Storm’s painful reaction to Applejack’s kick told him there was a lot more strength in her legs then anypony else he had encountered. 

Storm hissed and by the looks of things went to try and flame Applejack, before he got the chance however an explosive bang shook the entire town and the earth around it. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up for a moment, seeing to their utter amazement the entire sky fill with red hot dragon fire; a moment later two dragons burst from the clouds wrapped in a swirling ball of flames, one suddenly rolling and slamming his back legs into the shoulders of his opponent. The unlucky dragon not only caught the full force of the kicks but a moment later painfully crashed into a nearby building, flattening it and converting the area into a smouldering crater. 

No one could do anything but watch in complete stillness, as the unlucky dragon shakily and uneasily picked himself up, shaking off pieces of wooden building material and a variety of tools, which told Titan that the building had, probably, been the town hardware store. A moment later Thane landed on the road right in front of the dragon, who Titan guessed was Thrases, the now black-brown dragon uneasily backing away from his smaller green counterpart with absolute terror as Thane snarled and stalked forward. What made everypony look on in silence however was not only the scene of destruction, but the fact Thane’s scales were, to Titan’s utter amazement, no longer dull green like moss but sparkled like brilliant emeralds. It seemed the immense heat had burned off any dead scale, and left behind only the shining new green colour that reflected the sunlight as good as any mirror.  

“Look… ok… you win,” Thrases started as he stepped back nervously from a still snarling Thane, everyponys’ eyes on the two of them. “I’m done.”

“You hurt Dash you waist of scale,” Thane snapped, his green tail moving to the ground, and wrapping around something amongst the rubble Titan couldn’t make out. “I say when you’re done.”

“But…”

If Thrases had anything else to say he didn’t get the chance; with a speed that Titan swore would have normally been impossible, Thane’s green tail lashed around and collided with the side of the brown dragon’s head with a loud metal sounding bang. The brown dragon fell unconscious to the ground like a stone a second later, as Thane’s tail stopped in mid-air above him, revealing what looked like an steel anvil clasped in its green wraps.

“Now you’re done,” Thane hissed, turning around to the silent crowds and more specifically Ilandor, the anvil still grasped in his tail, as his green eyes burned into the other brown dragon like a pair of hot swords. “Now then… I think I’ll deal with you next.”          

Upon seeing his twin knocked out cold, Ilandor gave up fighting on his own accord and threw himself at Thane’s feet in surrender, an act which Thane grudgingly accepted and put the anvil down uneasily, before heading off to find Dash. A few moments later Ilandor silently left after swearing to never come back, picking his brother up in his claws and flying off back towards the southern mountains, while everypony glared and watched him fly off in a victory silence. Titan couldn't help but smile as he flicked his eyes between the outline of Ilandor and Thane, it seemed the combination of love and dragon fire was a powerful weapon by any regards.

Knowing that there were now only two of them remaining Scorch in turn soon gave up, and allowed his claws and wings to be tied up by Applejack, the crimson dragon was then tied up to a tree while everyone's attention shifted to Storm, who had quickly been subdued by the combined effort of the eight young dragons. 

The white dragon unlike his friends however refused to stop fighting no matter what, continuing to struggle under the now combined holds of six dragons while Titan and Ash glared down at him as he was tied up. A crowd of ponies soon formed behind the two as Storm continued to fight despite being both held and tied down, all eyes locked on the one they considered the reason that an otherwise perfect day had been ruined, and their town half trashed and burned. 

“Now then brother,” Titan growled as Storm lay sprawled on his stomach in front of him, each leg and wing held down by a separate young dragon and his tail subdued by Applejack’s rope. “What to do with you?”

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Notes:

Tried to get this done in a day so is a little rushed I'll admit...hope you all enjoyed it none the less