//------------------------------// // Rescuing Rarity // Story: The Legend of Spike: Dragon Quest // by DiabloGuapo //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat across a desk from Professor Field in the Cloudsdale Museum of Pegasi History, the blue Pegasus holding the Silver Harp of Garin Silverharp. Professor Field could only stare in amazement that the two mares had actually managed to retrieve the legendary instrument from the bowels of the Canterlot catacombs. Turning around and lifting the Staff of Rain from its place on its shelf, the professor held the artifact in his hooves, a look of reluctance upon his face. He had promised to let them borrow it if they could bring him the harp, which they did. After some hesitation, he placed the staff into the anticipating hooves of Rainbow Dash. “A deal is a deal,” he said reluctantly, as though the act of handing the staff over was physically painful. “Aw, yeah!” Once she had the staff in her possession, Rainbow Dash cheered in victory and spun in the air excitedly. Tossing the staff between her hooves, she did a victory dance while singing, “We got the staff! We got the staff!” Professor Field watched nervously as the mare tossed his precious family heirloom about like a new toy, regretting his decision. At least he now had the harp as compensation if anything happened to the staff. “Thanks, Professor. We’ll take good care of it,” Rainbow Dash told him, though her cocky attitude did little to put his mind at ease. Not waiting for him to respond, she dashed out of the office in a prismatic blur. “Don’t worry. We’ll bring back once we’re done with it,” Fluttershy promised him. “You coming or not, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked from down the museum's hall. “Coming, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy called after her friend, heading towards the door. “Thank you so much, Professor Field.” ***** Once again, Applejack and Pinkie Pie entered Erdrick’s hidden tomb high up in the Unicorn Range, but this time they were prepared. As soon as they crossed the round shrine’s threshold, the rocks and bricks rolled in through the opening in the ceiling and assembled into the guardian golem. As the giant made from earth marched forward to confront the intruders, the two Earth Ponies stood their ground. “Now, Pinkie,” Applejack told her companion. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie confidently said as she pulled out the Fairy Flute. Even as the golem towered over them and raised its fists in a fighting stance, Applejack and Pinkie remained unfazed by its threatening pose. Placing her lips on the flute, Pinkie blew but produced a sour note. She then spat and licked her lips. “Sorry, my lips are a little dry.” “Anytime, Pinkie,” Applejack urged her as the golem raised its fists above its head, ready to smash them. “Give me a second,” Pinkie Pie told her as stuck out her tongue and swirled it around, making funny sounds as she licked her lips. After smacking her lips to make sure they were sufficiently moist, she placed them on the flute once more. As she did this, the golem brought its fists down, aiming for the two ponies. Applejack closed her eyes and braced for the crushing blow, but it never came as Pinkie Pie produced a simple yet whimsical tune from the magic flute. Applejack opened her eyes tentatively to see the clay fists of the golem frozen mere inches from her face. The Fairy Flute had done the trick and stopped the golem in its tracks. A clump of mud fell from the golem’s head, then a brick from its chest, and then the rest of its body fell apart, leaving it a heap on the shrine’s floor. Stepping around the deactivated golem, Applejack and Pinkie approached Erdrick’s tomb on the far side of the shrine. Hanging on the wall over the sarcophagus was Erdrick’s Amulet. Reaching up, Applejack took the gold covered wreath from its place and examined it in her hoof. The sunlight coming from the ceiling shone on the multifaceted diamond in the center of the amulet, creating a dazzling array of colors. According to legend, this was the same amulet that was used to defeat the demon Zoma. “Ooh, pretty,” Pinkie exclaimed as she stood beside Applejack, both looking at the amulet. Just by holding it and seeing the sunlight reflecting off of it, Applejack knew it was special. It gave her hope that when the time came, she and her friends would be able to use it to stop the Dragon King and save Equestria. “Let’s get this back to Ponyville,” Applejack told Pinkie. Agreeing, Pinkie followed Applejack through the shrine’s entrance and back down the mountain path. ***** “We’ve got the staff!” Rainbow Dash announced as she placed it on the table in the throne room of the Palace of Friendship, the rest of the Element Bearers and Spike sitting around it. “And we have the flute,” Pinkie added, placing the Fairy Flute next to the Staff of Rain. “And with the Sunstone Princess Celestia gave us, we now have everything we need to stop the Dragon King,” Twilight told her friends. “Except for Rarity,” Spike ruefully reminded her. “Yes, her and the sword,” Twilight corrected herself. “But at least we know where they are.” “Now all we have to do is to figure out how to sneak into Charlock Castle without being spotted,” Applejack said as Midnight and Sworn Duty brought out the map of the dragon lands and rolled it out over the table. “Princess Luna suggest we sneak around and approach the castle from the east,” Twilight said as she pointed to the map. “But we have no idea what’s waitin’ for us when we get there,” Applejack voiced her concern. “The Dragon King’s army and who knows what else could be lyin’ in wait to eat us as soon as we set hoof on their land.” “She’s right. Our scouts have reported activity over the skies of the dragon lands,” Sworn Duty confirmed Applejack’s concerns. “How are we supposed to get to the castle if there are dragons patrolling the skies?” Fluttershy asked. “We could use the staff, right? Use it to make clouds to cover our movements,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “That actually isn’t a bad idea,” Twilight stated, surprised by Rainbow Dash’s brilliance. “Since the weather isn’t regulated like it is here, they’ll just assume it’s a random storm. And then we can fly along in the eye of the storm until we reach the far side of the island.” “That sounds good, but if they can’t see us in the clouds, then how can we see where we’re goin’?” Applejack asked. “Good point. Hhmmm…” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin as she hummed in thought. Before she could think of another idea, the door to the throne room opened and Soarin ran in. “Your Highness!” he urgently said as he ran to the princess’s throne to deliver his report. “A dragon has been spotted flying towards Equestria. It was carrying Rarity.” “Where was it headed?” Spike asked, quickly rising from his spot on the floor. “The Forbidden Jungle of the Tenochtitlan Basin,” Soarin reported. “Take us there,” Twilight told the Wonderbolt. ***** It was late into the afternoon by the time they arrived at the Tenochtitlan Basin, the setting of the famous Daring Do’s adventures. Celestia’s sun floated above the western horizon, painting the sky orange. The air was heavy with humidity and the buzzing of insects was everywhere. The Element Bearers, Spike, and Soarin stood on a hilltop overlooking the Forbidden Jungle. The ruins of ancient temples rose above the treetops while the shadows of the late afternoon lengthened across the valley. Soarin pointed to a secluded corner of the basin where they spotted the mouth of a cave. As they made their way to the cave, the number of irritating insects increased and they could hear the croaking of frogs. The ground became muddy and before long, they were wading through the murky water of a swamp. The Pegasi and Twilight flew over the water while the earthbound Applejack and Pinkie Pie had to trudge through it. Since the swamp’s trees were too dense for Spike to fly, he marched through the water along with the Earth Ponies. “Hold on,” Twilight stopped the group, pointing to something moving in the water. It was the scaley back of a crocodile. “Applejack, Pinkie Pie, get on Spike.” Seeing the danger of walking through a crocodile infested swamp, they quickly scrambled onto Spike’s back, he being too big for a crocodile to threaten. As they continued through the swamp, Applejack and Pinkie looked down from the safety of Spike’s back at the eyes and snouts sticking out from the murky surface of the water. The crocodiles kept their distance, but they were slowly swimming along Spike, waiting for the chance to gobble up a pony if one of them fell off their ride. Out of harm’s reach, Pinkie taunted the crocodiles by sticking out her tongue and making goofy faces at them. “Cut it out, Pinkie,” Applejack told her. “Why, can they get us up here?” Pinkie asked, suddenly concerned for her safety. “No, it’s just annoyin’.” After making through the swamp and evading the crocodiles, they came to the entrance of the cave. Applejack and Pinkie Pie hopped off of Spike and onto a rocky ledge above the water. Thwarted, the crocodiles swam away disappointedly. The ponies and the dragon lined up front of the cave, observing it cautiously. “Are you sure the dragon is in there with Rarity?” Twilight asked Soarin, making sure to keep her voice down. “I’m sure. We saw it enter this cave, and the pony it had in its clutches was most certainly Rarity,” Soarin told her. “The question is: how do we get her out?” Seeing the ominous cave that most certainly contained a dragon, Fluttershy trembled with fear. Seeing the yellow Pegasus’s reaction, Applejack suggested to her, “Maybe you should wait here.” Before anyone could say anything else, Spike walked towards the cave. “Spike, what are you doing?! We need a plan first!” Twilight called after him. “I’m saving my wife,” Spike told Twilight without slowing down or turning around. “And they say I’m reckless,” Rainbow Dash said under her breath and then turned to Soarin before she and the others ran in after Spike. “Stay with Fluttershy.” Upon entering the large cavern, Spike could see the sparkle of treasure coming from the back, confirming that this was indeed a dragon’s lair. Sniffing the air, Spike could detect the unmistakable aroma of magnolia, one of Rarity’s favorite perfumes. There was another familiar smell coming from the back of the cave, but knowing that his wife was somewhere within the cave, Spike forgot all about it and started to run. “Rarity!” he called out for her, his voice reverberating loudly off of the cave’s walls. “Spike?” the angelic voice of the mare he love answered from depths of the caves. Spurred on by her voice, Spike ran around the corner and saw Rarity sitting the midst of the treasure hoard. However, curled around her was the massive bulk of the green dragon, Mire. “Prince Spike,” the larger dragon said with surprise, but then a triumphant sneer formed on his maw. “This is an unexpected pleasure. The master will be pleased when I bring you to him.” Hearing the sound of galloping hooves coming from the opening of the cave, Mire looked behind Spike to see four ponies round the corner to stand behind the purple dragon. Seeing the intruders, Mire snarled and rose from his hoard. The ponies backed away when the green dragon stepped forward to place himself between them and his prisoner. “The master has no need for more ponies. You’ll make an excellent meal,” Mire sneered, licking his lips hungrily. Applejack and Rainbow Dash crouched down, ready to spring into action. However, the green dragon wasn’t intimidated by two little ponies and continued to approach like a tiger stalking its prey. A bolt of magenta magic struck the left side of Mire’s face, causing the dragon to roar in surprise. Her horn glowing, Twilight circled around in the air to the dragon’s right. Mire shook his head and rubbed the eye Twilight had zapped. Dragons may have a natural resistance to magic along with their nigh impenetrable scales, but the eye of any creature was still a weak spot. The flash of light had temporarily blinded the left eye, and Mire was forced to shut it as it recovered. A deep rumbling filled the cave has Mire built his flame within his chest, a blue light glowing in the back of his mouth. Before he could unleash his fiery breath upon the Alicorn, a ball of green dragonfire stuck the bad side of his face. Though he was fireproof, the impact caused his bad eye to throb in pain and he clutched his face with a claw as he howled in rage and pain. As Spike was already charging another blast, Rainbow Dash quickly circled around to the dragon’s left, hiding in its blind spot, towards Rarity. Still holding onto his face, Mire spun to swing his tail at Spike. As the smaller dragon leapt back to evade the blow, Twilight flew forward to zap at the green dragon’s wings. Along with the eyes, the less armored membrane of a dragon’s wings was another vulnerable spot. The attack left a smoking singe on the yellow webbing of the left wing. With Twilight and Spike distracting Mire, Rainbow Dash was able to lift Rarity off of the treasure pile and carry her over to the others. Having been delivered from the clutches of the dragon, Rarity wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s neck in gratitude while Applejack and Pinkie Pie circled around her, taking a brief moment to rejoice. “Come on, let’s get out of here!” Rainbow Dash shouted urgently. Hearing this, Mire looked from his assailants to the source of the voice to see the intruders escaping with his prisoner. “No!” he roared, but a barrage of magic and dragonfire bombarded him. Taking the opportunity while Mire recovered from the irritating distraction, Spike and Twilight followed their friends out of the cave to the swamp. Still cringing from the stinging sensation, Mire looked up to see that he was now alone in the cave. Giving chase, Mire started to run out of the cave until he heard an explosion. Outside of the cave, Twilight used her magic to collapse the entrance, boulders blocking the way. Seeing that he was barricaded inside his own lair, Mire roared and went to dig himself out, but stopped when saw a box sitting in the middle of his lair wrapped in green paper and topped with a yellow bow. Curious, Mire leaned over to see a tag that read, “To Mr. Dragon. From Pinkie Pie.” Before he could question its meaning, the present burst open, covering Mire in frosting, cake batter, and confetti. Unamused, he snorted and sent streamers flying out from his nostrils. Standing outside of the cave, Spike and Rarity turned to each other and embraced. Rarity wrapped her hooves around his long neck while he carefully caressed the side of her face with a paw. She then took the sides of his face with her hooves and planted a kiss on his lips. “My hero,” she whispered tenderly to him. “Hey, what about us?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We helped, too.” “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. Thank you all!” Rarity told her rescuers. “We’re just happy that yer safe, sugar cube,” Applejack said, smiling at the white Unicorn. “I’m so happy!” Pinkie Pie declared, nearly knocking Rarity over with a tackling hug. “We thought we would have to break into the Dragon King’s castle to save you! But here you are, safe and sound!” Pinkie Pie mentioning the Dragon King reminded Rarity of the awful secret she had discovered. She looked over to her husband and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. How could she tell him? How would he react? “Are you alright?” Spike asked when he noticed the troubled look on her face. Taking in a breath, she decided to just come out with it. However, a scraping sound coming from the other side of the pile of rocks stopped her from tell him. “That won’t hold him for long,” Twilight assessed. “Then let’s hightail it outta here before he gets loose,” Applejack wisely suggested. “If we fly away, he’ll see us for sure and catch us!” Fluttershy pointed out “Then we’ll have to lose him in the jungle. Hurry!” At Twilight’s word, they made for the cover of the trees. After they crossed the swamp, they reached the safety of the cover of the trees. Just when they thought they had got away, the skull ornament on the collar Rarity was wearing came to life and started to shriek and cackle like a lunatic. The loud and unexpected noise caught everyone by surprise, everyone covering their ears to block out the awful racket. “What the heck is that?!” Rainbow Dash tried to shout over the noise. “The necklace! It’s cursed! It allows him to track it!” Rarity frantically explained. “Oh, my! How do we stop it?” Fluttershy asked, but then they heard a bursting noise coming from the direction of the cave. Gasping in dread, everyone looked back towards the swamp cave and knew that the green dragon had escaped. “Quick, take it off!” Applejack told Rarity. “I can’t! It’s cursed!” a frustrated Rarity explained. “Twilight, hurry! Use yer magic and…” Applejack was cut off when they heard the sound of flapping wings. It didn’t take them long to realize that the dragon had caught up to them. A large shadow passed overhead, causing them to look up to the jungle’s canopy. With the crackling roar of fire, the jungle in front of them was set ablaze with a blue flame, cutting off their escape route. Hearing the tree branches cracking behind them, they turned around in time to see the green dragon land behind them. Mire growled angrily, blue flames already seething from his mouth. Fluttershy whimpered, backing away along with everypony else from the menacing dragon. Rarity placed a hoof to the skull ornament, it still cackling madly as though it was mocking her. “Did you think that escape would be that easy?” Mire asked as he walked towards his quarry. He opened his mouth to take in a large breath, but before he could unleash another blast of dragonfire, a vine wrapped around one of his ankles. Mire let out a surprised shout as he tripped and fell to the ground. He tried to raise himself up, but more vines enchanted by Twilight’s magic started to wrap around his limbs, wings, and tail. Being entangled by the vines, Mire fought back and started to thrash about, his claws and sharp gray spines slicing through the vines. “I’m not going to be able to hold him for long!” Twilight shouted as she did her best to replace the cut vines with new ones. Applejack looked to one of the trees that wasn’t burning and came up with an idea. “Spike, come with me!” she told him as she ran towards the tree. “Use yer tail to chop down the tree!” Following along with her plan, Spike whacked at the trunk with his spaded tail like an ax. After a few strikes, the tree began to creak as it became more unsteady. Using her Earth Pony strength, Applejack buck the tree with all of her might. The weakened trunk snapped from the impact, causing the tree to come crashing down onto the green dragon’s head. The green dragon was motionless, its head covered by the leaves of the fallen tree. Everyone was silent, waiting to see if the dragon would get back up. Wanting to be sure, Twilight took a step closer to inspect the fallen dragon. But then the leaves were consumed blue flames, revealing the outraged face of Mire. The raging dragon opened its mouth and prepared to incinerate the Alicorn right in front of it. With only a moment before the dragon attacked, Twilight had no time to get out of harm’s way. She only had time to look wide-eyed and opened mouth at her sure to be imminent demise. Seeing that his mother was about to met a fiery end, Spike’s pupils contracted into narrow slits and shouted, “Stop!” Twilight closed her eyes and waited for the searing pain, but it never came. Hesitantly, she opened an eye to take a peek. She then opened both eyes in surprise and looked on in amazement along with everyone else as the green dragon seemed to be frozen. The blue flames in its throat had vanished, and its pupils had become narrow slits like Spike’s. Even Spike was confused by the larger dragon’s lack of movement, and he was one that told it to stop. He hadn’t used his dragon magic on it, or at least he didn’t think so. After a moment, Mire blinked and came back to his senses. He looked around, confused at first but then remember what was going on. He looked back down at Twilight and began to charge his flame breath once again. This time, she had time to react and levitated the fallen tree into the air. Wielding the tree telekinetically like a club, she smack the dragon on top of the head, causing its eyes to spin around it their sockets dizzily. Mire’s head dropped back down to the ground unconscious, his tongue lolling out from his mouth. With the dragon out cold, Twilight took the opportunity to completely cover the downed dragon with vines, restraining him. “Is everypony okay?” Applejack asked as she and Spike made their way back to the others. “We are,” Twilight answered. She then turned to Rarity to study the screaming necklace. “Where did this thing come from? It’s crawling with dark magic.” “The Dragon King put it on me. Not only does it allow them to track the wearer, but it blocks the wearer’s magic,” Rarity explained. “Do you mind? I can’t remove it myself, and it’s terribly uncomfortable. Not to mention very tacky.” “And it’s making my ears ring,” Pinkie added, rubbing an ear. Concentrating, Twilight focused on the lock. With a spark of magenta magic, the latch came undone and the necklace fell to the ground. “There, all done. You’re free,” Twilight Sparkle proudly declared. “What should we do with this?” Rainbow Dash asked, picking up the cursed necklace with disdain. “I have an idea,” Twilight declared. “If they can track it, then we can use it as a distraction! Rainbow Dash, fly over and drop it in the heart of the jungle.” “On it!” In a flash, the Pegasus sped away over the jungle, gladly discarded the noisy necklace, and returned in only a few moments. “There, that should by us some time!” “And good riddance,” Rarity said, relieved to finally be rid of the gaudy choker. “Now let us go home. We need to fill Rarity in on what’s happened, and we need to prepare to face the Dragon King.” Hearing Twilight mention facing the Dragon King caused Rarity to gasp and look to the setting sun. “Twilight! We need to get to Fillydelphia immediately! The Dragon King is going to attack the city tonight!” Rarity announced in a panic. “Tonight?! But… But he said we had seven days! That lying snake!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Amethyst…” Spike whispered in horror, realizing that his daughter was in danger. “Everypony, hurry!” Twilight Sparkle turned to Rainbow Dash's husband. “Soarin, I need you to fly to Canterlot. Tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna what’s happening and bring to reinforcements. Now go!” “Yes, ma’am,” Obeying, the light blue Pegasus flew towards Canterlot to deliver the message. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie climbed onto Spike’s back, and he took off along with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy towards Fillydelphia. As they flew, Rarity was filled with many concerns. Would they make it to Fillydelphia in time to prevent a catastrophe? Was Amethyst safe? Would they be able to stop the Dragon King? How would she tell Spike that his father was the one threatening Equestria?