//------------------------------// // Tragedy // Story: Family of a Lifetime // by TyrannosaurusVenom //------------------------------// The fight had become an explosive brawl. With Black Death's soldiers knocked out, the dragon was finding himself facing off against overwhelming forces. But this time it wasn't just ponies he had to fight, the dinosaurs had added to the intensity of the battle. T-Rex, Indominus and the Raptor Squad had pushed him like never before. For once, Black Death was using more power than he ever had before. The Princesses and the Canterlot army were blasting away at his body while the dinosaurs continued to slash and bite. The Mane six were also attacking the dragon with any weapons and abilities that could harm him. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash did speeding head on attacks to the beast's face to keep him confused. The constant barrage was making it difficult for his body to effectively recover from all the attacks. Tyrannosaurus bit down on the neck and pierced right through the bone. Black Death had already experienced the attack and his body was already trying to heal the damage. The bite however, was merely a diversion. Rainbow saw that Tyrannosaurus was trying to give the Princesses another shot at the dragon. "Twilight! He's holding the dragon for you guys. Try blasting him again!" "You got it Rainbow!" Twilight, Luna, Celestia and Cadence began charging up their horns for another combined blast. Black Death saw what was going to happen and started flapping his massive wings to fly and release T-Rex's grip. Indominus and the raptors also saw what Rexy had planned and offered their help. The raptors started slashing away at Black Death's wings while Indominus dug his claws into the dragon's hide and held him in place. With the dragon pinned, the Princesses unleashed their combined blast at Black Death. "HA! You fools tried this once before and it had no effect on me. What makes you think it'll have any effect this time?" With the healing magic surrounding him, Black Death was sure that the blast wouldn't do a thing to him. Tyrannosaurus applied the full force of his bite at Black Death's cockiness, and crunched the bones in his neck. Now the dragon's neck was severed and it stopped his magic, Indominus and the raptors got away as Tyrannosaurus threw the helpless monster into the blast. Black Death shrieked in terror as the blast engulfed him. Everypony watched in awe as the combined energy blast exploded, surrounding the dragon in a thick layer of dust. Nopony could see with so much dust obscuring the scene. When the dust cleared, they found Black Death on his back and his eyes were closed. The blast had torn away a good deal of scales around his face and a lot of his spikes and horns were missing. All the damage he had taken during his brawl with the dinosaurs had weakened his tolerance. Tyrannosaurus's bite had also cut off the healing magic so there had been no protection from the attack this time. Black Death had been hit hard by the blast and this time there was no cocky comeback coming out of his mouth. "How do you like our magic now?" Celestia called out to the dragon's smoking body. The dinosaurs and ponies backed up as Black Death started to stir. The great dragon was having difficulty getting back on his feet. "How...how could I be reduced to this? Pony magic isn't supposed to harm me, I've always been able to stand up to it." Then his red eyes fell upon the dinosaurs. They became an angry shade of red and his mouth curled, revealing his teeth. "You, you animals are to blame for this! You're the reason why these ponies are able to harm me. Masters, turn the switch all the way! Release the animal within me!" Across the battlefield Spoiled Rotten and Sheer Cold could hardly move. They did hear Black Death and knew what he was talking about. Spoiled Rotten struggled to pull out the remote, aware of what would happen once the dragon's request was fulfilled. He wanted them to turn the dial on the remote until the shocks from the implant drove him into a state of mindless rage. He would be able to use his power without restraint, but it would mean he would destroy everything around him. But neither pegasi cared about the consequences, they wanted to see Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Equestria and especially the dinosaurs suffer just as much as Black Death. As Spoiled Rotten turned the dial on the remote to maximum, she whispered one last sentence under her breath. "All of you are going to burn. Once Black Death's anger takes over, no force in Equestria will stop him. Prepare yourself for oblivion, you traitorous chicken." Spoiled Rotten dropped the remote as she passed out. Black Death felt a flurry of painful shocks going right to his brain. He put his claws to his head in agony, but it was what he wanted. Everypony stepped back in worry as they could see the electrical shocks flowing around the dragon's head. Then everypony heard him speak in his deadly demonic tone. "Now all of you are going to burn with this world." Black Death bellowed a murderous roar into the sky as his power erupted from his body, surrounding it in a jagged black aura. All the injuries he had sustained vanished at a rate far faster than before leaving his body brand new again. Then the dragon unleashed a wave of fire across the battlefield, causing the ponies and dinosaurs to scatter. Black Death then took flight and went screaming towards the carnivores. The monster blew his fire out again towards the dinosaurs. They scattered to dodge the blast, but Tyrannosaurus found himself being grabbed by the neck and taken into the sky. Black Death tossed the carnivore skyward and began slashing and pounding away at his body. T-Rex was helpless to defend himself against such a relentless assault. None of the ponies could fly fast enough to help him either. Black Death dealt one final punch to T-Rex's ribs and it caused the dinosaur to go limp. The dragon threw Tyrannosaurus's body from his altitude across the battlefield towards the ponies. They all scattered as Tyrannosaurus came crashing to the ground and skidded to a stop near the edge of a deep cliff. That cliff gave way to a wide canyon deep below. The dinosaur was covered in bloody marks and breathing heavily from the brutal attacks that had been dealt to him. Scootaloo was on the verge of tears as she ran over to her fallen savior. She slowly ran her hoof across his face as she tried to help him handle the pain. Meanwhile Black Death went back to the remaining dinosaurs, he zoomed in so fast that the raptors were barely able to dodge him. He continued to unleash his fire in all directions, sending the dinosaurs scattering for their lives. The raptor squad dodged another blast, only to be caught off guard by Black Death's tail swiping through the flames and sending them sailing. All four dinosaurs were sent rolling across the land and came to a stop near T-Rex. That left Indominus by himself, and Black Death was not about to let up on his rampage. "I'm gonna enjoy beating you to death. You have slashed up my face too many times and disgraced the dragons by beating my troops like they were toys. Your going to be in a world of hurt, worthless freak." Black Death zoomed towards Indominus, but the hybrid turned sideways and swatted the dragon back with his tail. Black Death was sent backwards, but he just got back up and went back towards Indominus. The hybrid met Black Death head on and they locked claws again. However Black Death had more strength this time and overpowered Indominus. The dragon dealt a powerful punch to Indominus's face and the hybrid was sent slamming into the dirt. Black Death loomed over Indominus and was ready to deal a slash to his neck when a dozen blasts hit him from the side. The Canterlot soldiers and the Princesses were firing on him, trying to keep him from killing Indominus. "Keep your dirty claws away from him you monster!" Twilight called out as she fired another energy beam. Black Death sent a torrent of fire at the blasts and disintegrated them. He sped towards the ponies and knocked them all away with his tail before they could fly away. Then he seized all four princesses in his claws and pinned them to the ground. The dragon loomed over them like a demon from Tartarus with the deadly black aura covering his body. "Why would you risk your lives for these animals? You don't even know them they're nothing but beasts, why are they so important to you ponies?" Celestia looked at the dragon and spoke in defiance. "Because they protected us, they looked after a filly for months and took care of her like she was their own. They haven't harmed anypony that didn't deserve it, these "animals" are our saviors. That's why they are worth it." Black Death opened his maw and the Princesses could see a ball of fire building inside. He was about to unleash the flame when he felt a horrible pain in his neck and sides that stopped his fire and released his hold on the ponies. Indominus had sneak attacked him and used tremendous strength to throw the monster away from the Princesses. Black Death quickly recovered and the fight was back on. Both dragon and dinosaur dealt a flurry of slashes and bites to the other. Neither one was showing any signs of giving up, there was so much resting on the fight. Black Death was bent on destroying everything, while Indominus was determined to defend Equestria now that his partners were down. He was the only one left with all the ponies also out of commission thanks to the dragon's attack. On the other side of the battlefield, the other dragons finally woke up after the ponies had knocked them out. They were no longer under Black Death's control, but they remembered what he had done to them. As they regained their bearings, each dragon saw Indominus bravely fighting Black Death by himself. "That creature, he has the heart of a true dragon. Unfortunately, he won't last against Black Death without his partners." "That's right, the green dragon added, "We've all seen what that dragon is capable of, that animal is putting up a tremendous effort on his own. It's gonna break those ponies hearts when their saviors get killed." Each dragon found it hard to move, their fights with the dinosaurs and the Canterlot army had weakened their bodies. All they could do was watch Indominus fight against Black Death to the bitter end. Indominus dealt one good punch to Black Death's face, but the dragon countered with an even harder punch. Indominus was stunned from the force of the attack and it allowed Black Death to sink his claws into the hybrid's back. The dragon then threw the dinosaur across the battlefield like a disk. When Indominus landed he was in excruciating pain from the force of the dragon's throw, but he refused to give up. Rainbow Dash watched in shock and awe as Indominus struggled back to his feet despite all the injuries he was dealing with. Because everypony's life depended on him, Indominus refused to give up even if it seemed like he was fighting a losing battle. He turned to face Black Death and bellowed a loud roar to send a clear message to his opponent that their fight would be to the death. Black Death answered with his roar and charged towards the wounded hybrid. The dragon lunged at Indominus, but the hybrid managed to dodge the attack and dug his claws into Black Death's face. The claws went right across the dragon's face and went down the entire length of his body. Black Death was blinded by the attack and crashed to the ground. He had four massive bleeding gashes along the right side of his body. His body was already healing up the wounds as Indominus lunged at the dragon, clamped down on his neck and began slashing away at the dragon's body with all the strength he had left. Indominus had only one hope: to attack Black Death faster than his body could heal and make the dragon bleed to death. It was Indominus's only chance at bringing down the monstrous dragon. It was now a desperate struggle for control of the fight. Black Death was trying to get at Indominus, but the hybrid had positioned himself to where the dragon couldn't reach out and attack him. Indominus was clawing away at Black Death for all he was worth, but the magic in the dragon's body healed each attack just as quickly as Indominus could cause it. It was the equivalent of hacking away at a healing tree. The hybrid didn't have the strength or speed to win the battle. Black Death managed to swing his neck and it moved Indominus within reach of his tail. With one swing the dragon sent Indominus away. The hurt hybrid tried to get up again, but shrieked in pain when Black Death landed on him and sunk his claws into his scales. It hurt Rainbow Dash deeply to see Indominus in such agonizing pain. She had to do something to save him so she yelled out in desperation. "EVERYPONY ATTACK!!" The Canterlot army and Princesses had just gotten back when they heard Rainbow yell out. They saw how badly the dinosaurs were losing the fight and charged in with everypony right behind them. "Oh no you don't." Black Death spewed a blast of fire at the ponies. Only Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash saw the attack coming in time. Everypony else found themselves trapped in another fire cage that caused them to plummet to the ground. "I'm not about to have any interruptions this time. I'm going to torture this abomination and nopony is going to stop me." Black Death grabbed Indominus by the neck in his mouth and took flight. The hybrid found himself in the same predicament that Tyrannosaurus had been in. He was tossed up and found himself being pummeled by the dragon's claws. All he could do was endure every single blow while being unable to defend himself. It was so hard for everypony having to watch Indominus being smacked throughout the air like a ping pong ball. Then Black Death delivered the coup de grace with a punch to the face that echoed across the lands. Indominus plummeted towards the ground until Black Death grabbed him by the neck right before he hit the ground. The dragon then pulled a somersault and pushed Indominus's body into the ground, kicking up tons of rocks. The hybrid could barely keep his eyes open against all the pain and reached out for one final attack. He dug his claws into Black Death's underbelly and ripped down. The startling pain caused Black Death to release Indominus and he was sent tumbling over and over. He came to a stop with his back against Tyrannosaurus and right in front of the raptors. The dinosaurs were now mere shadows of the great warriors that had fought so valiantly during the battle. The last things their eyes saw were Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, who were teary eyed and heartbroken at the sight of the dinosaurs. Indominus and T-Rex tried to inch their bodies closer to the ponies they had bonded with, but the moment was interrupted by Black Death landing on them both. "I don't think so, you boys aren't going to get to say your goodbyes. Everypony will get the chance to see you die, so that should be good enough. Before I kill you animals, I must say that the challenge has been fun. Nothing has ever pushed me to this degree, and you boys have provided me with a worthwhile challenge. But before your lives end, I'm going to find out why all of this was so important." Black Death set up a mind link with all six dinosaurs and learned why they had fought so hard. He saw everything from Luna promising them all freedom, to their moments with Scootaloo. As he learned everything, he heard T-Rex and Indominus's final thoughts. "We're...sorry...Scootaloo. We...aren't...going to be...your family...after all." "Now I understand why. Two dinosaur kings from another world, promised the ultimate freedom, in exchange for looking after a chicken. Yet during your time with her, one of you actually fell in love with a pegasus!" Black Death laughed at the idea of a dinosaur and a pony ever being together. "It's a real shame that I'm going to break more than just bodies, I'll be breaking hearts." The dragon seized Indominus and Tyrannosaurus by the neck, they yelped in pain but were too weak to defend themselves. The dragon began carrying them toward the cliff while pushing the raptors along with his tail. Rainbow and Scootaloo's eyes shrunk in horror as they realized what Black Death was going to do. "It's too bad, but the comfort you boys have felt at being called the greatest hunters and kings of your world will come to an end today. No more will the word 'dinosaur' mean anything but failure." He held them with their heads hanging over the edge of the cliff. They could only look up at Black Death as he pulled them in close. He spoke his last words to them in a low evil voice. "Long live the kings." Black Death threw Tyrannosaurus and Indominus over the cliff and swatted the raptors into it with his tail. All six dinosaurs were sent falling to their death. Tyrannosaurus and Indominus shrieked out one last roar before they disappeared beneath a column of dust. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo dove off the cliff after the dinosaurs. Both were terribly worried at what they might find at the bottom. Black Death simply turned back towards the trapped ponies. "Well, so much for your "Guardians of Equestria" Princess Luna. Those dinosaurs are now nothing but dead bodies that will rot in that canyon forever. Nopony will even know that they were ever here in the first place," Luna buried her face in her sister's shoulder, trying to hide her tears. "I'm sorry Scootaloo. I couldn't help you after all. Those horrid pegasi have won again, it's over." Meanwhile at the bottom of the canyon Rainbow and Scootaloo were searching for the dinosaurs. With the dust obscuring everything, it was nearly impossible to see anything. Then Scootaloo saw the outline of six bodies in the distance. Immediately she and Rainbow sprinted towards them, hoping by some miracle that her saviors had survived. What they found was without a doubt heartbreaking. All six dinosaurs were together, but the raptors had already been killed by the impact of the fall. Indominus and T-Rex were barely hanging on with a final strand of their lives. Their bodies were so injured they couldn't move. Scootaloo ran up to T-Rex while Rainbow went over to Indominus. Their eyes were barely open. "Please don't go Tyrannosaurus, I can't do this without you guys. You both mean the world to me. I won't be able to face that monster without you both." "Yeah Indominus, you guys mean so much to me too. I never got to thank you boys properly for taking care of Scootaloo for so long. There aren't words that can describe the kind of loyalty you boys have shown. I really do want you guys to be part of our family." Both ponies were praying that a miracle could save the dinosaurs, pleading that something would help them get through the pain. T-Rex and Indominus heard their voices and softly nuzzled them. It was such a sad moment to see Scootaloo's saviors so beaten and hurt. Rainbow and Scootaloo looked into their eyes hoping that they would make it. Tears were beginning to form in their eyes as they looked upon the great creatures that had saved their lives. If there was ever a time for a miracle to take place this was that time. Then the awful tragedy finally struck and broke both ponies' hearts. Rainbow and Scootaloo watched with shrunken pupils as Tyrannosaurus and Indominus slowly closed their eyes while a single tear rolled down their faces. Both ponies buried their faces against the bodies as they wept over the death of the dinosaurs. After a while, the two sisters held each other in tight embraces while they poured their souls out. Scootaloo had never lost anypony that had cared about her so much. Rainbow had finally found somepony that had won her adoration and he had been taken from her and Scootaloo. "I really did love him Scootaloo. Indominus did the impossible: he won my heart." "Yeah, both of them had the same impact on me when they saved my life the first time." It was an awful tragedy for both pegasi, their saviors had been killed in front of them and they had been powerless to help. As they wept, both ponies started having flashbacks of the time they had spent with the dinosaurs. For Scootaloo, the flashbacks started from when she first met them in the Everfree Forest. How they had bravely fought to protect her against the Timberwolves and cared for her ever since. The other flashbacks were from all the times they had come to her aid against Diamond Tiara, the Hydra and her DNA doners. For Rainbow Dash, it was how Indominus had fought alongside her against Scootaloo's DNA doners and during the entire battle against Black Death. He had been so brave, strong and caring that it had captured her heart. Rainbow buried her face in Scootaloo's mane after looking at Indominus again. Now both siblings were by themselves with the bodies of their saviors around them. The ones they loved had been taken from them and their hearts had been devastated. They had both found happiness thanks to the dinosaurs, and now it had been stolen from them. They looked at their fallen saviors as they separated. This was not going to go unpunished, both ponies decided it was time for vengeance. "Scootaloo, now is the time for us to take matters into our own hooves." "Yes, that monster will pay for what he has done." They both looked at the bodies of their saviors. Then Rainbow Dash spoke in a clear confident voice. "Boys, I don't know if me and Scootaloo will ever be able to make it to you for all that you guys have done. But I promise you this, we will do our best to avenge you." She turned towards her surrogate sibling. "Now Scootaloo. this is our chance to bring peace to this world and stop that dragon." "Got it Rainbow Dash, we'll make our saviors proud." Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo erupted from the ground and went skyward, bent on making Black Death pay for killing their saviors.