Past, Present, and Future

by DragonShadow


19 - Respect

Chapter 19: Respect

Spitfire's lithe form whipped through the growing light of dawn, the air currents high above sending her hurtling toward the ground at breakneck speeds. The empty field below her was full of unicorns, dragons, and buffalo, setting up their plans. The dragons breathed their fire in bursts and arcs, practicing the magic that Spike and Kindfire had taught them. The unicorns' horns glowed brightly, making incorporeal shapes appear in front of them occasionally in the shape of a solid being, as they practiced what Twilight Sparkle had taught them. The buffalo were in the rear, watching Zecora launch green powder into the air in a powerful cloud, and many of them were beginning to catch on as well.

Spike watched the pegasus spiral out of the thick cloud cover overhead. How fitting that it was going to rain, Spike thought. How often does it even rain in the middle of the desert like this? Not very often, the land didn't need much moisture. Maybe the pegasus ponies were neglecting their weather duties, with the coming crisis. Not that he could blame them.

"Spike!" Spitfire jolted to a stop right in front of him. "The dragons are ten minutes away now. They're... they're practically blocking the sun, and closing in fast."

"Thanks, Spitfire. You and the other Wonderbolts should get out of here."

"With all due respect, we'd like to stay and do our part."

"You've already done your part, I promise." Spike gave her a reassuring smile. "Thank you, Spitfire."

Spitfire grunted in irritation, but didn't argue anymore. "Send a letter to Canterlot if you need us, Spike."

"You know it." Spike watched the pegasus spin back into the sky, meeting her companions for a few moments before they all turned and flew in formation in the direction of Canterlot.

Spike turned away from the Wonderbolts and made his way toward the buffalo, tapping a claw on Zecora's shoulder. "How is their training going?"

Zecora smiled encouragingly. "They're catching on very quick, I think when the time comes they'll be masters of this trick."

"Mister Spike!" Little Strongheart bounced up to him excitedly with a handful of Zecora's powder in one hoof. "This stuff is so amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" She swirled it in her narrow hoof, then threw it into the air, where it exploded into a giant cloud with a pop so loud Spike thought it had actually exploded. Every pony, dragon and buffalo within fifty feet turned to stare in shock, and Little Strongheart's cheeks went red. "Um... right, save it for the battle..."

Spike dug a claw in his ear to put his eardrum back in place. "That's great Little Strongheart. Glad to see you're getting the hang of it." Spike sidled closer to Zecora, speaking in a softer tone. "How about ten minutes? Do you think they'll all be ready by then?"

"They will be ready if they must, in their capabilities I have much trust."

"I'm glad to hear it." Spike patted her flank, then made his way toward Kindfire and the other dragons.

It was still surreal to see so many little dragons just like him here. Some had wings, some didn't, some were bigger than cottages and some were smaller than he had been back in Ponyville. But there was one thing they all had in common. They were all smiling, and they were all a family. But he couldn't afford to distract himself with that right now.

Spike tugged on his mother's wing to get her attention, whispering so the other dragons wouldn't hear, though she didn't look at him. "How about it, Kindfire? We're the muscle in this, everyone else is just running distraction. If we're not ready, we're already doomed..."

"They've known nothing but peace their whole lives, Spike. Of course they're not ready for war." Kindfire glanced down at him out of the corner of her eye. "But make no mistake. Not being ready for war doesn't mean one can't bring it when the situation demands... when there's something in your heart worth fighting for."

"I sure hope you're right. I don't feel ready either..."

"You will." Kindfire patted his shoulder with one claw. "When it comes time to fight or watch your home and friends be destroyed... you will be ready."

"Thanks, Kindfire... mom." He smiled up at her, then turned away to approach Twilight, who was at the Eastern end of the crowd, watching the illusions appear and disappear in front of their unicorn army.

Spike moved up behind her, watching the practicing unicorns for a moment, his eyes lingering on the field of light sitting in front of Rarity. It was glittering like diamonds even in the dim light of dawn's first rays, in the vague shape of a sleek, crystalline dragoness. The sight make Spike's footsteps falter. Rartiy's dragoness was probably the most beautiful, and strangely delicious, thing he had ever seen. He couldn't take his eyes away from it.

"Ahem." Pyralsprite's tail whipped across the back of his head. "Are you looking at something?"

"N-no!" Spike whirled toward her, hoping she couldn't notice the blush on his cheeks. "I was just checking on everyone. They're almost here."

"Yeah, I bet. The blood rushing to your heads is a total coincidence." Pyralsprite shook her head. "Relax, I'm not the jealous type. You're mine, and that's not changing now."

"Heh, you got that right." Spike smiled. "Looks like the unicorns are really getting the hang of it too." His gaze lingered on the glittering crystal dragon that was taking shape in front of Rarity. "I think we might actually have a shot, here."

"I'm loving the confidence." Pyralsprite punched his shoulder lightly with one claw.

Spike laughed and turned toward her. "Sorry, I'm still kind of new at this." He took one of his claws in his own and pulled her closer to plant a soft kiss on her lips, which she returned gladly. "It's time... do you think you're healed enough to carry me?"

Pyralsprite cooed, "everywhere you want to go."

"Then let's do this." Spike released her claw and moved to mount her, sitting just between her wings and her foreclaws. At his gentle nudging Pyralsprite lifted into the air, up above the crowd to the east. Spike lifted his head and launched a ball of emerald green fire into the air, the explosive burst drawing all eyes toward him.

"Hello, everyone." Spike faltered at first at having so many eyes on him, then he cleared his throat and tried to toughen his voice. "In five minutes we'll be able to see the dragons coming from the east. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be really, really scary. There are hundreds of them, each bigger than a pony building. We couldn't hope to defeat them all... but we don't need to. As you know, they're being commanded by a single dragon called The Patriarch. All we need to do is distract and confuse the others enough to slip past them and get to him. Once he's down, the others will have no reason to keep fighting."

He was so focused that a burst of thunder from the clouds overhead didn't even make him wince, though he saw many in the crowd do so. "I guess I'm supposed to say something inspirational now to make you all want to fight harder... but honestly, I don't think this is really about me. We're all here for one reason, because we love Equestria and its way of life. We love the ponies who live here, and we believe in the way they see the world... that goes for dragon and pony alike."

Spike's eyes turned toward the crowd of dragons. "When this is over I would love to get to know you all better... but we need to end this first. Try to keep each other safe. It won't help to..." Spike trailed off when he realized most eyes were now looking past him. He lifted his head, nudging Pyralsprite to turn around.

Behind him the shadows were looming larger over the horizon, like a wall of darkness blocking out the golden sun, and growing bigger by the second. Even from this distance he could hear the sound of cackling, claws punching into the sandy desert, and large wings beating at the air. A concentration of violence and terror sweeping toward them with purpose. As Kindfire had warned during their strategy meeting, The Patriarch seemed to be hiding inside of the ball of dragons.

"I can't sense them from here..." Pyralsprite cocked her head. "Is it as bad as I assume it is?"

The sounds of thunder echoed from overhead as lightning split the clouds, casting a bright green flash of light over those gathered around him. Spike didn't turn, he couldn't speak. He could only see those dragons stepping right on over them like they weren't even there. They were so big, and there were so many. They could probably level all of Manehattan in less than an hour if they wanted to. They had a decent sized force here, but one of those massive dragons was probably worth twenty of Kindfire's children...

"Spike!" Pyralsprite's voice finally cut through his panic. He could feel one of her claws nudging his foot. "Get a grip, we need you. Something weird is going on here."

"Weird?" Spike looked up curiously. It had begun to rain fairly hard, despite Appleoosa being right in the middle of the desert. Flashes of lightning lit up the dark in a myriad of colors, from pink to orange to blue. Wait, that wasn't right... and now that he was looking, the rain didn't look right either. He peered at the liquid coating the scales on his arm, and gave it a cautious lick. That didn't taste like rainwater, it was far too sweet. In fact it tasted like...

"Chocolate milk."

The lightning flared one more time as, in the distance, long strands of spaghetti began plunging through the sky in chunks, slopping all over the approaching mound of dragons. They whirled in surprise and fury, glaring up at the sky as other various foods and objects began to rain down. Everything from lampposts to pies began pummeling the dragons. The damage was clearly minimal, but Spike saw the value in it once he heard the screams begin.

"The draconequus!" The dragons howled in a frenzy, their eyes searching as they began to flit back and forth in search of their chaotic attacker.

It was the ultimate distraction.

Spike raised his claw over his head. "Unicorns, buffalo, help with the distraction! Dragons, find the Patriarch!"

Like a shot Pyralsprite was in flight, with the rest of the forces trailing just behind them. The thunderous sound of buffalo hooves nearly drowned out the thunder overhead, and the hundred or so dragons was turned into hundreds as they were joined by the illusion dragons cast by the unicorns. An invincible army to take the heat off of those who were really in danger, and on the hunt.

They plunged into the throng of dragons, Pyralsprite's movements deft and precise as she wove through limbs the size of most houses in Ponyville. It was like moving through a living forest, but for the moment, the distractions were working. The thunder and foodstuffs from above and the explosions of illusion powder from below were keeping the dragons confused, and those who did notice the swarm of little dragons ended up chomping at bodies that didn't exist, but their luck couldn't hold out forever.

Spike took a deep breath and batted a dragon wing aside with a burst of fire as they weaved through the swarm of dragons. He kept his eyes open and searching, but he couldn't find the Patriarch anywhere. There were hundreds of these massive dragons out here, covering an area easily the size of Manehattan. it could take a long time to find the center, and that was time they almost certainly didn't have.

Spike nearly flew off of his girlfriend's back when a small point of light flashed in front of him, leaving a creature somewhere between a breezie and a gecko perched on top of Pyralsprite's head.

"Spike, go towards the center." Discord's voice whispered harshly, somehow remaining audible through the wind, rain, and over the explosions from above and below and the roars of all the increasingly pissed off dragons.

"Discord! We're trying, but we can't find it! It's too hard to find our way around in here! We need you to guide us there!"

"It's that way!" Discord's head jerked to one side, but with Pyralsprite spinning around a massive tail, it didn't accomplish much.

"Discord, that's not helping!" Spike growled through gritted teeth. "Please, we need you to guide us! Just take us there and we can do the rest!"

Discord looked up ahead for a moment, his tiny body seeming to shiver. Spike knew the moment he revealed himself he would have a bullseye on his back for every dragon who so much as smelled him. "We'll take care of you, Discord. I promise. Just stay close to us."

Discord glanced up at him again, then suddenly vanished into a ball of light, surging out of it in his normal body flying away from them through the crowd.

"Pyralsprite, follow him!"

The two small dragons whipped through the air hot on the draconequus' tail. As he'd expected several of the larger dragons let out deafening roars and went for the God of Chaos, but bursts of emerald and orange dragon fire held their attackers back just enough for them to get lost in the sea of bodies once again. It was still hard to see, and even Spike was having trouble focusing with all the commotion around, but he wouldn't let Discord leave his sight.

They weaved and ducked around the dragons for several minutes, until the sounds of illusion powder faded. They had long left their companions behind, heading deeper and deeper into the writhing mass of scaly bodies, until suddenly they emerged into a massive clearing. As if entering the eye of a hurricane, Spike suddenly found himself and his companions flying into a place where the wind from the storm was blocked from all sides, and the massive, still form of the Patriarch stood in front of them. His eyes locked on Discord instantly, and emerald flamed licked at the edge of his lips.

No words emerged from those lips. Instead a burst of bright emerald flame surged through the darkness, moving quick as a beam of light straight for the draconequus. Before it could reach him Pyralsprite fluttered in front of him and Spike's jaws opened, his own emerald flames meeting the Patriarch's mere feet in front of his face. Spike was panting by the time the flames died, but the Patriarch looked completely unphased.

"Discord... thank you, but get out of here." Spike bared his claws out to each side. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the flash of light as the draconequus left the battle with a mumbled "good luck". The Patriarch's face twisted into a hateful scowl as he refocused on Spike, flames bleeding from his jaws.

"You are a stain on our kind."

Spike didn't speak. He nudged his knees into Pyralsprite's sides, sending her hurtling forward like a lightning strike. Emerald flames burst once again from the Patriarch's lips, but the nimble dragon spiraled around them as she closed the distance in a hurry, twirling up into the sky toward his head. Claws and a tail the size of a castle tower whipped toward them, but struck only the open air until they had reached their destination.

Spike leapt from Pyralsprite's back, coming down on top of the Patriarch's head. He reared back and let loose a powerful draconic beacon into the sky with a strong, animal roar that cut through the stillness in the center of the storm.

A claw swept up to knock him off, but Spike lunged down the massive dragon's back, racing down and letting his claws rake across the thick scales on his way. The Patriarch seemed more annoyed than injured, bringing his tail up to slap across his back and try to smash Spike against his scales, but Spike weaved to one side and slashed back. his claws managed to grab hold of one scale and rip it clean off of the tail, spinning to jam it painfully underneath one of the scales on his back. The Patriarch's next roar was one of fury rather than pain, however.

He could see Pyralsprite still circling the Patriarch through the air, bursts of orange fire lighting up his scales and tiny claw-slashes denting them. As he watched more flashes of fire began to light up the air around the Patriarch, and some even flared from the ground around his feet, as more tiny dragons began to make their way into the battle, drawn by Spike's beacon. The massive dragon's gaze lowered to the growing swarm, and he stomped down with one massive foot, but the smaller dragons scrambled out of the way and leapt up to climb into him, their flames and claws beating at his body as they made their way up.

Spike raced around the Patriarch's shoulder toward his chest, ripping another scale off of his back as he went and jamming it into one of the scales on his neck. He avoided the retaliatory claw by jumping from the shoulder down his chest, his claws screeching loudly across the scales and ripping off several more. All around the Patriarch's body he could see scales being peeled away, and flames licking at the exposed tenderness beneath.

"Get off of me you pathetic creatures!" The Patriarch's flames licks across his own scales, washing a swath of smaller dragons from his body, but still more were joining the battle, many riding their winged siblings up through the air to leap to his body and begin their own assault. Another blast of fire breath however caught more dragons, including Spike, washing them clean off of his body and sending them sailing out into open air.

Growling, Spike let several bursts of green fire go from his jaws, which slammed into the Patriarch's head with enough force to jerk it backward. It didn't save him from falling, but he had little concern, and indeed his faith was rewarded when he felt Pyralsprite slip between his legs and turn them both skyward.

"I think we're pissing him off!" Pyralsprite shouted against the rushing wind, which Spike realized was growing more intense. Looking up, he saw that the flying dragons had moved to one side, exposing the open sky, letting the sun shine in through the cracks in the cloud cover. In fact all of the larger dragons had formed a circle around the commotion, watching the scene in stunned amazement. Not a single one of them was moving to help their leader.

"Why aren't they doing anything?" Spike mused a bit nervously.

"Dragons don't rescue each other, Spike." Pyralsprite responded smoothly. "That was the biggest difference between you and them that I noticed when we first met. For them you're strong enough to win... or you deserve to die."

The Patriarch howled in defiance even as he fell to his knees, blood beginning to drip down his scales from the dozens of wounds that the dozens of smaller dragons were beginning to open in his body. Finally the pain was beginning to take a visible toll, but still his lips were curled into a hateful snarl, and his flames lapped at his lips with every heaving breath.

Spike nudged Pyralsprite in front of him, hovering toward his head. "Stop this, Patriarch. We don't want to hurt you. Surrender now and we can talk this over! We can teach you a better way to live! One where we can all respect each other!"

"Respect?" The Patriarch growled darkly. "What do you know of respect? You've been corrupted and twisted by the ponies of this land. I will accept my death before I beg for my life." His gaze turned toward those gathered around, the massive dragons watching in absolute silence, as if transfixed to the scene. "These corrupted dragons would see you lose your way! Your identity! They would see you enslaved to the ways of the ponies! Even if I die, do not let that happen!"

"The only one who is killing you is you, brother." Kindfire hovered toward them from the open sky, her wings beating powerfully at the air. They were shimmering brightly in the sunlight that was now shining down upon them. Spike hadn't even noticed the storm dissipate entirely. He supposed now that they weren't being attacked by the others, they didn't need the cover. "I brought you a better way long ago."

The Patriarch growled even deeper, his eyes filling with rage. "Bladestorm! I had thought you killed yourself in that ocean... but you only disgraced yourself and your kind. You spawned these pathetic creatures, didn't you?"

"My name is Kindfire. And yes, the pathetic creatures who have brought you to your knees are my children, hatched of my eggs, given life by pony magic, and given virtue by pony ways." Spike's chest puffed out just slightly, and he could see the other little dragons looking similarly proud, some hovering in the air, others on the ground, and others clinging to the Patriarch's scales.

Kindfire turned to address the other dragons gathered around them as she landed on the sand in front of the Patriarch. "The only corruption among our people has been the corruption of arrogance. We lost our way ages ago, perverted by our own power and sense of self-righteousness. We came to believe that peace is attained through control, and control is brought about by fear... but there's a better way." Kindfire gestured to Spike whose head whipped around in shock. "My son, Spike, has united three races against you. He made them work together, and he did it without a single threat or demonstration of power. He did it with the respect he earned by caring about those who stood with him."

The Patriarch raised one claw swiftly, his voice roaring over the crowd. "This is what we are! We are dragons! We are power!" His claw came down towards Kindfire in a lightning fast swing, but Spike was already flying between them on Pyralsprite's back, his breath held in his stomach.

A sheet of emerald green flame arched through the air, slamming into the approaching claw with enough force to knock it clean back over the attacker's shoulder. Pyralsprite pressed forward, allowing Spike's flames to sweep across his chest, pushing him back. He couldn't hope to bring the giant down, but he did hold him back long enough for the rest of his flying siblings to tug on his giant head, dragging him back and slamming him to his back on the sand with a deafening crash. Dragons, big and small alike had to scramble to get out of the way of his massive frame.

Kindfire only watched the commotion, not even flinching at the assault. When it was quelled, she turned to look at the enemy army again. "That is what happens when we work together, when we learn true respect for one-another. As opposed to the vile, twisted thing that he forced into all of you... as I once forced into all of you." Kindfire rose to her hindclaws again, spreading her wings wide. They reflected the golden light now shining fully down upon her, casting radiant rays across all of the dragons assembled. "You choose, my people. What will you choose to believe in? Respect? Or fear?"

The massive dragons all exchanged slow glances. For a moment, Spike was afraid they were all going to attack again. There was no way they could hope to stop them if they went into a rampage now.

But instead, one by one, they began to kneel in front of Kindfire.

"Whew..." Spike heaved a shuddering sigh. He could scarcely believe it, but his eyes weren't lying to him. Soon they were all surrounding her, bowing in reverence.

"You did it, Spike." Pyralsprite grinned and turned her head upward. "You saved Equestria."

"You could say that." Spike patted his girlfriend's sinuous neck with one claw. "Personally I think this has been coming for a lot longer than a couple of days..."

"Huh... your voice has changed, Spike." Pyralsprite cocked her head slightly.

"My voice?" Spike looked down in surprise, then saw his claw resting against her neck. He lifted it slowly into the air.

It almost looked like it was glittering.