"Haha! When I last spoke with the two of you, I started to believe that you might be able to defeat Wijida, but to think that you actually went and did it!" King Zardon roared with a large smile while slapping his hand against his knee, causing the entire castle to shake from the force of the impact. Astrid and Hiccup smiled up at him awkwardly while he continued to praise them, although Toothless and Stormfly were content with sniffing the massive dragon king.
"Well, she certainly wasn't a walk in the park, that's for sure," Hiccup said with a shake of his head as he took a drink of liquid that the princess had called "Punch." "But I'm glad that no other dragons or ponies are going to be hurt by her anymore."
"Well, we dragons will always be in your debt. I am also glad that I can call the first humans I met friends!" Zardon laughed as he smiled down at the two, Hiccup smiled back up while Astrid looked out a window into the night sky with a strange expression on her face. "I cannot wait for you to meet my children! They are fascinated with myths and legends, so for both of them to meet a pair of humans may be too much for them!"
"Thank you, King Zardon, but we will be returning to our home in a matter of days," Hiccup responded with a slight bow. "In fact, after tonight we will probably be preparing to return the day after tomorrow."
"Hmm, I'm sad to hear that but I can see that you wish to return home," Zardon agreed with a nod of his head before his toothy smile returned. "Both of you deserve the rest anyhow. I just hope that the people of your land believe your story so they can sing praises of your heroism."
"Heh, I highly doubt that any of them...Astrid?" Hiccup asked when he turned to find that the Viking was no longer at his side but had instead wandered out onto a balcony. "Excuse me, King Zardon but I-" Zardon held out a hand to stop Hiccup before waving him away with a smile. Hiccup bowed in return before walking out to where Astrid was rubbing her head, wincing in pain every few seconds.
"Astrid, are you doing okay?" Hiccup asked as the dragons flanked either side of her, Stormfly sniffing her with concern.
"No...my head is killing me," she snarled through the pain before opening her eyes with a sigh of relief a moment later. "Ugh, that was weird. Suddenly my head just started hurting and...ugh." She shook her head before leaning against the railing, staring at the sky with an expression that only Hiccup could read.
"Astrid, there's something else bothering you, isn't there?" Hiccup asked, though from his tone it was clear that he knew that something was plaguing her. "Is it about Wijida? Astrid, you don't need to worry. We beat her. She's going to be locked up for a long time. We won."
"Did we, though?" Astrid asked with a scowl, rubbing her fingers against her temples. "I mean, yeah we've got her locked up in a cell, but did it occur to any of us that maybe she saw that coming? That maybe she would get captured by us and we would bring her to Canterlot?" Hiccup placed a hand under his chin while he considered her words, but a moment later he shook his head with a frown.
"Astrid, what are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is that this feels too easy, that she went down to easy," Astrid added. "I mean, she can see the future and move things with her mind. How are you supposed to stop a pony like that? We've sprung a number of traps where we pretended to be captured Hiccup, and we've had a few sprung on us...and I feel like this is the latter. That she allowed herself to be caught."
Hiccup opened his mouth to argue before he, Astrid, and both the dragons were immediately dragged away from the conversation when they heard the sound of screaming coming from the room behind them. Without wasting a moment the group sprinted into the ballroom, Hiccup leaping onto the back of Toothless while Astrid swung her hammer onto her shoulder. Yet, when they entered the main room and discovered which pony was hurling other ponies across the room, while using her powers to fend off the princesses' magic, they were nearly struck dumb.
"Wijida?" Hiccup whispered with confusion when the pony turned to look at him, a wicked smile spreading across her face as she dropped a pony that had been caught within her mental grasp. "But that's impossible! You were trapped! In a cell that you couldn't-!"
"Hiccup, you are from a land of fire-breathing monsters and were recently sucked into a pony-filled land of magic and mystery. Surely you have learned by now that nothing is impossible," Wijida taunted before she started to saunter forward towards the pair, but a combined blast of fire from Toothless and Stormfly stopped her in her tracks. "And your girlfriend was right Hiccup, all this...well, my plan may have been derailed a bit, but I am glad to admit that being brought here was a possibility that I prepared for."
"Then you have sealed your doom!" Just as soon as the voice had finished rocking the castle, a massive dragon of a crimson hue smashed through the ceiling and came to a stop in front of the pony, who lifted her white eyes up into the flame--filled fury that was Zardon's eyes. "I did not have the pleasure of meeting you in pony before Wijida, but know that I am glad that you escaped..." Zardon began as he brought one of his claws back. "So that I could have the privilege of ending you myself!"
Yet, right before Zardon struck down Wijida, a tremendous roar rocked the entire castle. A roar that made the king stop mid-swipe as he looked towards the night sky with a look of both horror and dread upon his face. "No," he whispered. "It cannot be."
"Did you really think that I would simply walk into a room filled with the strongest beings in the land without calling a little backup first?" Wijida chuckled to herself with a shake of her head and a sigh. "It seems that none of you can possibly think ahead. Yes, Zardon, I made sure to call in a friend of mine that you should know well. For the rest of you, meet Zardon's brother Ferno...and the dragon who wants the throne at any cost."
The king let out a roar that shook the whole nation before, with a mighty flap of his wings, he ascended into the sky and began to clash with the other dragon, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, the mane six and the princesses to turn to face Wijida, who smiled at all of them with a toothy grin.
"So, you managed to get rid of the giant dragon; don't look so pleased," Astrid snarled before she swung the hammer into the floor in front of her, smashing through the marble with one powerful strike. "That just means that there's more of you for the rest of us."
"You would be wise to listen to Astrid, Wijida," Celestia added as she stepped forward, the little action turning the blank eyes of the dark pony to her. "Because as powerful as you are, you cannot hope to defeat all of us. One princess may be manageable for you, but how will you deal with three?"
Yet once again, Wijida chuckled to herself at Celestia's words before she shook her head with a smile. "Oh you fools, I said it before but it seems that I will have to say it again. Did you really believe that I would come here, against the strongest beings in the land, without some backup?"
Before any of the others could ponder what she meant, they all heard Hiccup cry out in pain and Toothless roar with fury. Both pony and Viking spun around to see what had happened, but all logic was struck from their minds when they saw Hiccup being pinned to the ground by-
"Spike?" Twilight whispered in horror as the purple dragon held his clawed hands to Hiccup's throat, his red eyes scanning around the room almost as if he were daring any of the ponies to move. "Spike, what are you doing?!...No..." Twilight whispered as she turned towards the beaming Wijida. "You didn't..."
"A few days ago, as a matter of fact. Just in case I needed an inside pony to...help me out of a tight situation," Wijida smirked before whipping her mane back and turning her eyes toward Astrid. "Now then, my dear Viking, I believe that you have something of value that I require. If you would be-"
"Go to Hel!" Astrid roared with defiance as she lifted her hammer, but before she could take a step she heard Hiccup cry out again and when she spun her head back to look at him she saw that Spike had drawn blood with his claws.
"Oh, none of that my dear. I don't need to see the future to know that you will do exactly as I say," Wijida whispered in a far more menacing tone than she had ever used before. "Because if you don't, then not only will your lover's head be sent rolling across the floor, but also Spike will have to live with the fact that he killed another in cold blood...and that goes double for the rest of you ponies. None of you try anything. So what will it be, Astrid?"
"No Astrid! I'm not worth-" Hiccup tried to say before Spike lifted his head back and slammed it into the floor.
Astrid glared at Wijida with a look that even the blind pony could see as she pondered every other possible action, aside from giving the gem to the madmare. But then she looked to the ponies and saw the fear not only for Hiccup in their eyes, but the desperation in Twilight's as she tried in vain to figure out a plan. So, as the realization of her situation sank in and she knew that she had no other options, she hurled her hammer into the floor before looking at Stormfly.
"Stormfly..." she began as she glared at Wijida with loathing and hatred in every word. "Spit." Stormfly barked before making a gagging sound while tipping her head back, gurgling once more before she spat out a green gem in the shape of a dragon onto the floor. "Here," Astrid whispered as she picked it up and hurled it at Wijida, who caught it with a look of disgust. "I hope you choke on it. Now let them go."
Wijida smiled coldly before glaring at the dragon, who blinked twice as the red faded from his eyes. He glanced around in confusion before being tackled in the side by Twilight, who held him close while glaring daggers at Wijida while the pony turned and began to walk away...before being stopped by a wall of magic.
"Now you have the gem, but it will do you little good," Celestia seethed as she and Luna pointed their glowing horns at the pony. "Because you will not be leaving here under your own power!"
"Ugh, do you ever listen? Backup Celestia, I brought backup." As soon as she said this, two massive dragons slammed into the side of the castle, with the crimson one taking a blow to the face that sent him hurtling into the streets below. The ponies watched through the windows at what was happening before turning back to Wijida with fury. "Something tells me that you will all be far more preoccupied with helping the dragon king than dealing with me. So what are you waiting for? Go help him!"
With a roar of fury Celestia turned and shot out through the busted ceiling, her sister and the others following behind as best they could. Wijida smirked before exiting through the front doors unopposed, though she came to a stop when an axe barely missed her head.
"Not today, Astrid. We will meet in the final chapter!" Wijida laughed before ripping out a chunk of the floor and hurling it at Astrid, who dodged out of the way and rolled to her feet only to find that the pony was gone. With a snarl she turned and raced over to Hiccup, who was getting onto Toothless' back with anger in his eyes.
"Are you alright?" she asked him as she leapt onto Stormfly's back.
"No, I'm not. How could I not see Wijida using Spike coming?! She can control dragons, of course she would control a dragon closest to us!" Hiccup raged before shaking his head and taking to the sky with Astrid close behind him. The two riders shot out of the castle like bullets and immediately found themselves caught in the battle between the king and his brother. The azure dragon that was slightly larger than his brother bellowed with a sky rending fury before lunging towards the king, who braced himself as best he could before the two slammed into the other, tackling each other out of the sky.
"Celestia, what do we do?!" Rainbow called over to the princesses, who were firing on the azure dragon with no effect.
"I do not know, Rainbow. His scales are strong enough to stop our weaker spells and his rage is great enough to ignore our stronger ones!" Luna called over in place of her sister, who was too busy lassoing the azure monster and pulling him back. The dragon screamed with rage before yanking his head forward, and in turn yanking Celestia as he bit down on his brother's throat. Zardon roared in pain as blood began to seep from his wound before Ferno drove his claw through his brother's stomach, silencing the cry as well as drawing out even more blood.
"Get me in there, Toothless and I can free him from Wijida's control!" Hiccup called out before the dragon and rider launched themselves forward and into the battle.
"Wait Hiccup, we need to plan!" Astrid called after him, but he shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
"No time! Toothless, plasma blast!" Toothless roared in agreement as a bolt of blue fire erupted from his maw, striking the dragon in the back of the head and gaining his attention. "Now higher, Bud, we need to take him away from the city!"
Toothless ascended with all of his might as the pair heard the azure monster bellow in response, flapping his own mighty wings while he leapt into the air after them. As fast as the mighty monster was, the Night Fury still had the edge in speed, so within a few moments Ferno had lost sight of the dragon in the dark of the night. A sound like screaming reached his ears and when he turned towards the sound he got a face full of fire.
"Keep it up, Bud, we need to tire him out!" Hiccup ordered as the pair vanished back into the blackness of the night, leaving the dragon to bellow while he looked around for the pair to no avail. Another scream followed by more fire struck him in the back of the skull, causing him to roar with fury as he began to unleash a torrent of fire into the sky around him.
"Now's our chance!" Hiccup called out when he saw the dragon take in a few deep breaths after having unleashed so much fire. The pair rocketed towards the dragon's face before Toothless brought himself to a stop right in front of the dragon's eyes...eyes that were perfectly clear and glared at the two of them with rage. "You're...not being controlled by Wijida?" Hiccup whispered with fear.
"No, child. I am not." With speeds that neither Toothless nor Hiccup thought possible Ferno reached forward with both hands and grabbed hold of the pair, tearing Hiccup off of Toothless' back and grasping both dragon and rider in separate hands. "And I will not hesitate to crush anyone who stands in my way. Now then, prepare to-"
A roar of fury reached the three pairs of ears a moment before a crimson dragon slammed into the stomach of Ferno, driving the dragon into the air while the force of the blow forced him to release Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless was close enough to Hiccup so that the two could quickly link up again, but when they looked up towards their savior they found that Zardon was glowing with a dangerous light.
"What are you doing?!" Toothless called up to Zardon, who smiled with pain in response.
"You saved many of my people, Hiccup, including one of my own children. You risked your life for them," Zardon explained before the smile grew wider. "Now, I am repaying that debt. I...may not live to reclaim my throne...but neither shall he!" Before either dragon or rider could react or even call out, a massive inferno erupted from the king, engulfing both of the dragons in its all-consuming fire. Ferno roared in fury as the fire burned him away into nothingness, while the king let out one last chuckle before he too was consumed by the fire. And all Hiccup could do was watch in horror, watch as a dragon he respected was burned away into ash.
Watch as another of his friends was lost to Wijida.