//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Dragon Rage // Story: The Secret of Harmony // by Brassboy212 //------------------------------// Footnotes are numbers inside parentheses. Example: (1) Nothing but a small span of grassland stood between Equestria's Heroes and the five duplicates under the command of Lord Tirek. When Celestia looked at Tirek's 'friends', her body shivered from the pure darkness emanating from them. Not even Nightmare Moon possessed such an aura. She could see the intent to kill in their eyes. Even with Tirek's orders to keep them alive to steal their magic, it was clear, they wanted blood. Celestia turned to Twilight, Luna, Cadance, and Discord and said: "They're going to come after us. We'll have to take them one-on-one. Anypony who manages to win their fight sooner should help out the others." "And if no pony wins?" Luna asked. "Why wouldn't we win?" "Hypothetically speaking." Celestia remembered this exchange of dialogue. It was the same one she had with her sister one-thousand years ago before they engaged King Sombra (1). She tried to think of a different answer this time around, but just as she was about to speak... "Then we'll keep fighting until one of us does!" exclaimed Twilight. "As Equestria's guardians, we must do whatever it takes to protect it...even if it means losing everything!" "YOU WON'T BE PROTECTING ANYTHING ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU!!" Tirek roared. "Now, my friends, CRUSH THEM!!!" "YES, LORD TIREK!!!" They called back before charging head on towards their opponents. "Quick, everypony spread out!" said Luna. The five bolted in different directions and the duplicates quickly followed. When they stopped, the matchups were several hundred yards away from each other. "Let's go girls!" said Rainbow Dash. "We have to get to Twilight and help her out! Shining Armor, you go help Princess Cadance!" "Right!" replied Shining Armor. Unfortunately for them, Tirek took notice of their plan. He turned to the dragon that looked like Spike. "Spine, go in there with your Draconic Guard and keep those seven busy! Make sure none of them interfere with any of the battles!" "Yes, master!" answered Spine. "Garble! Malik! Gronkle! Come with me!" He sprang forward and landed in front of the team, crouching low to the ground and using his body and tail to keep his prey from moving around or away from him. "I will not allow such insignificant equines like yourselves to stand in the way of Master Tirek's plans!" he growled. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, dragon!" said Shining Armor. Pinkie Pie looked at Spine. "Hey, Spike, that dragon almost looks like you...except bigger...and meaner...and he has wings." "I know." replied Spike. "I was thinking the same thing earlier, and if I heard Tirek right, his name is almost the same as mine too." Spine chuckled. "Oh, I can assure you, young Spike, our similarities go far beyond names and looks." "What do you mean by that?" "It's a long story and I'm short on time." Shining Armor turned and whispered to Spike and the others. "Girls, I'll distract the dragon while you six try to get around him and help Twilight." Spine clearly heard Shining's plan. "I don't mind taking on the Crystal Prince one-on-one, but just to make sure the rest of you don't slip past me..." Suddenly, three figures, smaller than Spine, but still larger than the ponies, landed behind them. "Well, well, well." said one of them. "Look who's still hangin' around with ponies!" "Man, he's still as shrimpy as ever!" said another. "Now with that purple one gone, they won't get away so easily!" said the third. Spike's jaw dropped when he saw who was behind him. "Aw no, not these jerks again!" The other ponies turned around. Rarity and Rainbow Dash got a similar feeling to Spike. What they saw were three young-adult dragons; a red one, a skinny purple one, and a fat brown one. They appeared to be wearing some kind of makeshift battle helmets and chest plates made out of stones and gems. They even had jagged pointed gems tied to their arms and wrists. The red dragon's armor appeared to be more decorated with gems than the other two. "You know these dragons, Spike?" Applejack asked. "Yeah. They were some teenage dragons I met when I joined the dragon migration." Spike noticed that the three had gotten bigger and had more mature body appearances . "At least...they were teenagers last time I saw them. Even so, they would have beat me to a pulp if Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash didn't come and help me." He pointed to each of the dragons and told them their names. "The brown one's Gronkle, the purple one's Malik, and the red one is Garble." "That's Talon Master Garble, ya little twerp!" answered Garble. "Talon Master?" "Yep. Talon Master Garble; leader of the Draconic Guard, the elite warriors to Emperor Spine!" "Emperor?" Asked Shining Armor shockingly. "You heard 'em," said Malik. "Emperor Spine isn't just any dragon; he's their RULER!" "Your prince is in for the fight of his life!" said Gronkle. "Alright, enough chatter," interrupted Spine. "You heard Master Tirek's orders, don't let them interfere with the other battles! Bring them to him when you have weakened them!" The three saluted with a fist to their chest. "Yes sir!" Spine turned to Shining Armor. "Now, to deal with you." Shining Armor charged his horn with his magenta colored magic. "Bring it on, sulfur breath!" Despite outnumbering them, the ponies were greatly overpowered by the dragons. While Spine only had to watch for Shining's magic, which had little effect on him to begin with, Shining had to avoid Spine's jaws, tail, and talons! He also had to withstand the gusts of wind Spine made with his wings, which were nearly strong enough to throw him off balance. Shining was growing tired from the constant dodging and failed spell casting which made him realize his window to victory was rapidly closing. As for Spike and the girls, they were doing just as bad, if not worse. Garble, Malik, and Gronkle surrounded the ponies in a triangular formation. They were easily fast enough to stop the ponies' attempts at getting past them. Garble used his brute force to keep them crowded in the middle to prevent them from spreading out. Whenever they would try to run away in another direction, Gronkle would use his massive fire breath to block their path with a wall of flames. Finally, Malik would use his speed to drive the six back into the middle and back to Garble. Spike caught a brief glimpse of Twilight going up against her duplicate in the distance. "I sure hope Twilight's doing better than we are right now."