To The End of Drudges

by GWFan


Attack

Chapter 7: Attack

“Well, I have to admit that was strangely relaxing,” Rarity said, releasing her hair from the shower cap she had put on before getting in the lake.
“I’m surprised the Drudge didn’t drown,” Davenport commented, referring to a moment when Rarity had gotten angry at Salamander and sat in the lake for almost thirty minutes.
“I agree with you. If only it was that easy to get rid of them.” Rarity was disappointed. Salamander had taken his dunking surprisingly well. After a while, she realized he was actually breathing through his connection with her. At the moment, Salamander was snickering at her failed attempt of revenge. Still, sitting in the water had been enough to refresh Rarity and she was at least content with the fact that she was clean. She had even put on the bathrobe she had stolen from the inn.
“There’s no food left, is there?” Twilight asked, though she already knew the answer.
“I’m afraid not. Not unless Burgle can find anything,” one of the guards said.
“Who me? No way. I don’t care how hungry we get, I’m not going out there. It was creepy enough just walking to the freaking lake.”
“He’s right,” Fluttershy put in, looking out into the moonlit gloom, wearily. “It’s really quiet. I don’t even hear crickets chirping.” She shivered at the sound of her own voice. Even she sounded loud in the silence.
“It’s understandable. The closer we get to the temple, the less wildlife we’re going to see. We’ve probably already past the point where animals dare to go,” George said casually.
“Why? Is there… is there something dangerous out here?”
“Not really. Animals are much more in tune to Discord’s energy than ponies are. They tend to stay far away from that temple.”
“Is that why it’s so dead out here?” Twilight asked. “If even insects stay away, then that means there is little pollination going on, which would explain the lack of vegetation. Either that or this is just a natural desert.”
“I don’t really understand any of that but I do know that the journey is going to get rougher from here on out. If the thief is able to find food, then now might be our last chance.”
“You guys are just ignoring what I said, aren’t ya,” Burgle said knowingly.
“I hate to say it, but we’re kind of depending on your survival skills right now,” Twilight told him.
“What survival skills? I don’t normally wander around in places like this. I prefer to stick close to cities where I can still get a good meal.”
“What about the meal you cooked up this morning? That was pretty amazing and… survivaly,” Fluttershy said.
“Just because there happened to be flowers and an apple tree nearby, and I happen to know how to cook, you call that survival skills? That was just common sense. What kind of pony do you think I am? I’m a thief, not a forest ranger. I can steal, open locks, put ponies to sleep, walk on clouds, and every now and then, I might even dance the hula, but I’m no survivalist. You’re the braniac, Twilight. Don’t you know that kind of stuff?”
“Um… the survival thing or the hula?”
“I know the hula,” Fluttershy said timidly.
“As absolutely adorable as that sounds, we don’t have time for dancing right now,” Rarity said. “It’s late and I’m tired, hungry, and a little cranky. Regardless if you’re a survivalist or not Burgle, you’re still a unicorn. That means you can light up the darkness with your horn so I’d appreciate it if you’d help us look for something edible.”
“Come on, do I really have to…?” Burgle grimaced. “Yeah, I guess I do have to. This sucks. I don’t want to get banished to the moon, but… come on…” He gestured out into the gloom, noting the relative deadness of the night.
“Don’t you think we should tell him?” Fluttershy suddenly asked Twilight.
“Fluttershy,” Rarity tried to quiet her.
“What? Tell me what?”
“I think we should tell him. It’s not fair that he was forced to come with us.”
“The truth about what? Did I step in something?”
Fluttershy looked at the group, silently pleading her case. Her face alone was enough to make Twilight give in. “I suppose you’re right. He has helped us a bit so far.”
“Tell him whatever. It’s not going to make any difference to me,” George said grumpily.
“You’re all hiding something from me? Does my breath stink or something?”
“Yes, but that’s not it,” Rarity gave in as well.
“Luna is not going to banish you to the moon. She just said that because she wanted you to come with us for some reason,” Twilight told him.
Burgle went wide-eyed. “Say what?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t figure that out already,” Rarity scoffed.
“Soooo…. she’s not going to do anything to me?”
“I doubt it,” Twilight confirmed.
“Well, it’s been fun. See ya,” Burgle stood up and started walking away.
“Are you seriously going to run away?” Rarity yelled at him.
“I’m not running, I’m walking. You got nothing on me, so just try to stop me. I dare you.”
Before any of them could make a retort, a terrifying roar boomed in the distance.
“I wasn’t being serious,” Burgle said in surprise, stopping in his tracks. “What was that?”
“It sounded like a dragon,” Fluttershy said nervously.
“Dragon? Around here?” George started, but abruptly his eyes widened. “Oh no. How could I have forgotten?” George stood up fast. “Put the fire out!”
“George, what’s the matter?” Twilight asked him.
“Put the fire out! We can’t let the dragon-” Another roar erupted and an enormous dark shadow dropped out of the sky, right behind them. “Too late…” George said slowly.
A green dragon looked them all over before charging, opening its massive jaws as if intending to eat them. The ponies all scattered. As Twilight ran away, the dragon turned away from her, as if looking for something. Then it lifted into the air and soared in the direction that Fluttershy and Davenport had bolted in.
“Dang it all! How could I be so stupid!?” George yelled at himself.
“Come on! We have to help!” Twilight shouted, giving him a slight push with her magic. They both chased after the dragon, though the creature was far faster than them. “What’s going on? What did you forget? Why is that dragon attacking us?”
“It’s Isis,” George responded. “It’s going after Isis!”
“What? What makes you so sure?”
“Dragons were created specifically to fight Isis. Dragons eat gems, Isis makes diamonds, so dragons are attracted to Isis because they want to eat her.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! How could you forget something like that?”
“Even great minds forget things every now and then.”
Twilight groaned in exasperation. She wanted to berate him, but she realized he was starting to fall behind her. “George, come on! We have to help Davenport!”
“Go on ahead! I’ll catch up!” George said tiredly. He looked pretty winded.
“So much for being great and powerful. Pick it up, old man!” Twilight picked him up with her magic and pulled him along despite his incredible tirade of protests. Twilight ignored him though and galloped on as fast as she could. She wasn’t gong to let anything happen to her friends. Even if she had to fight a dragon, she wasn’t going to let anything stop her.


Davenport and Fluttershy raced on along the side of the canyon. They could hear the dragon right behind them and feel the beating of its wings overhead. They weren’t galloping fast enough. Davenport looked back and saw the dragon right on top of them. It reached for them with its jaws.
“Hiya!” From out of the sky, a pegasus in golden armor dropped down and bucked the dragon’s nose. The dragon actually slowed, shocked that it had just been kicked.
“Ms. Fluttershy! Davenport! Keep going!” the guard shouted. It must have been Grey. He was the only one who called Fluttershy, Ms.
However, the dragon had other ideas. It took a mighty swipe with its claws. It missed Grey, but just barely tagged Fluttershy. She flailed sideways and actually started falling down the side of the canyon.
“Fluttershy!” Grey called and flew down after her.
Now Davenport was alone. The dragon didn’t seem to care that Grey had just gotten away, keeping its sights set on Davenport. It caught up to him almost instantly. Davenport looked back again, terrified.
“I don’t suppose you would be interested in purchasing a nice sofa!?” he shouted.
The dragon roared and reached for him with its jaws again.
Davenport wanted to dodge to the side, but for some reason his legs didn’t agree with him. He found himself stopping and turning around all in the same motion. Then a low howl emitted from the Drudge on his chest. One of Isis’s arms abruptly let go and grew into something that looked like a sword at least six feet long. It slashed right across the dragon’s nose, making the dragon flail back in pain. Seemingly infuriated, the dragon lashed out with its claws. Isis caught the claw in her sword-like arm, forcing both her and Davenport skidding backwards across the ground. Surprisingly, they didn’t move any further than ten feet or so. Davenport wasn’t sure why his legs were holding, especially with such incredible weight and power behind the dragon. He also didn’t know why he wasn’t running.
A second sword-like appendage extended from Isis and cut the dragon’s claws at the tips. Davenport’s legs jumped forward. The dragon had tried to bite him again and Isis had forced him to jump right into its gaping mouth. Her sword arms caught the teeth and held them open, as a third arm extended and ripped through the dragon’s upper jaw. The dragon wailed in pain, stepping backwards at the astonishing blow.
Davenport shivered when he heard another dragon roar above. There was another dragon out there? Just as he had suspected, a second dragon, this one blue, dropped from the sky, its claws outstretched. Once again, Davenport’s legs moved on their own, evading the claws and jumping straight for the new dragon’s head. Isis slashed it across the top of its mouth and leapt away. The dragon shook its head wildly and then suddenly slumped down. Davenport gaped when he saw it start to diamondized. A small portion of its upper mouth changed.
“Isis, please stop! We don’t need to fight them! Let’s run!” Davenport shouted. But he couldn’t stop her.
He heard her voice in his head, You have no sense of fun you weakling. Dragons can’t stop me. I’m Isis!
“Davenport!” Twilight appeared just beyond the dragons. “Get back!” she commanded.
A light ignited on her horn and the dragons were wrapped in clear energy. Then Davenport saw George raise his staff. Rarity and Rhubarb ran up behind them and Rarity joined her magic to their’s as well. Combining their power together, the dragons suddenly went poof. Davenport stared in awe when he saw two bunnies scurry away.
“That probably won’t last more than an hour or two,” Twilight said, sounding a little tired. “Come on, we need to-” Twilight stopped when one of the bunnies suddenly turned to diamond. Then she saw the Drudge on Davenport. Isis’s arms were still extended like swords.
Davenport’s voice suddenly started working on its own. “You stopped my fun.” Isis was in full control again.
“What’s going on?” Twilight said rather quietly. “George, what happened to Isis?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never heard of this before.”
Isis laughed through Davenport. “Guess my little secret’s out. I’m tired of traveling with you anyway. Ta ta.” Isis retracted her arms and Davenport felt his legs turn and start galloping. What was Isis doing? Running away? Running away where?
Davenport didn’t want to go wherever the heck it was she was running to, but he couldn’t control himself at all. Help! Help! He tried to call but his lips wouldn’t move.
“Isis, stop!” Twilight suddenly appeared in front of him in a flash of magic. Davenport felt something building inside the Drudge and somehow, he knew what it was.
“Twilight, look out!” he called with his real voice. He forced himself to turn slightly as a sphere of blue light shot from Isis and collided with the ground, leaving a circle of diamond behind that spread out several feet. Davenport’s legs kept running in the direction he had turned, right over the diamondized ground and onward to who knew where.
“Twilight, help me!” he yelled.
“Shut up!” his own voice suddenly answered himself.
Davenport felt his legs start to move faster. And faster. Davenport was pretty sure he couldn’t move at this speed. Wherever he was going, he couldn’t hear anyone following behind. Isis was literally running away with him.


Burgle was stupefied. He watched Isis suddenly come to life and start fighting the dragon. The crazy thing was that she was actually winning. The Drudges were really so powerful that even a full-grown dragon couldn’t match them?
“Forget this. I’m outta here.” Burgle turned away just as he heard another dragon roar. He turned back when a second dragon dropped down on Davenport and Isis. “Come on Pops, what are you doing? Get out of there.”
Honestly, he didn’t know why he cared. He already knew that Luna hadn’t been serious about banishing him to the moon, so he should have been long gone already. This wasn’t his adventure. If only had had the guts to call the Princess’s bluff and risk the moon, then he wouldn’t be on this suicide mission. Being a thief was a heck of a lot easier than this.
Isis was winning against the second dragon too. And the Drudges were weakened? If this was weakened, then what were they like at full power?
“Aren’t you worried?”
Burgle turned. Nopony had ever snuck up on him before. What he saw though shocked him.


“Davenport!” Twilight called. She tried to chase, but he was moving so fast, only Rainbow Dash could have caught him.
“Twilight!” she heard Rarity call. Twilight slowed, realizing she didn’t have the energy to chase Davenport after galloping after the dragon. She stared after Davenport, breathing hard. She couldn’t let him go and yet, there was little she could do to stop him at the moment. Twilight sadly turned away and walked back to the others who dashed over to her.
“Are you all right? Did she hit you?” Rarity worried.
“No. I think Davenport made her miss at the last minute. We have to go after him.”
“Wait a minute,” the guard suddenly said. “Where’s Grey? And Fluttershy? Wasn’t Fluttershy with Davenport when the dragon attacked?”
“Fluttershy?” Twilight hadn’t seen her when she caught up to the dragon, but she distinctly remembered seeing her running with Davenport. “We have to find them.”
“They’re in the canyon.” Twilight and the others looked and saw a pony approaching them.
“Burgle? Where have you been?” Rarity scolded him. “I thought you’d have left us by now.”
“I’ve been around. I saw Fluttershy fall in the canyon and that guard jumped down after her,” Burgle replied as if nothing had happened.
“But Fluttershy can’t fly!” Twilight said in alarm. “Where did she fall? Show me!”


Fluttershy flapped her one free wing hopelessly as she fell. The dragon had been terrifying but Fluttershy’s fear of hitting the ground from such a height terrified her even more. Even though it was nighttime and the canyon was so deep, there was enough moonlight to just make out the bottom. Fluttershy covered her eyes as the ground rushed up to her.
Then she jerked to a slower descent. Fluttershy looked up through strands of her hair and saw Grey, holding her up by her tail. Slowly, the two descended until they reached the canyon floor where Grey sat her down gently.
“Thank you so much, Grey. You saved my life.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s my duty as a knight after all.” The two looked at each other silently for a moment. “Um… sorry I had to grab your tail.”
“It’s okay. You couldn’t have saved me otherwise, right?”
“Right.”
Another awkward silence.
However, the silence was interrupted by a sudden growling. Grey stepped defensively in front of Fluttershy as he heard the distinct sound of something walking closer. Then, in the moonlight, the two pegasi saw monsters emerge from the gloom.
“What are those?” Grey asked alarmed.
“I… I don’t…” Fluttershy stared. There were several creatures stalking towards them. They all had three heads, each one representative of a different animal, a lion, a goat, and a snake. They also had three tails and giant wings on their massive buffalo-like bodies. Fluttershy had never seen anything like them before. What were they?
Chimeras…
“Chimeras?” Fluttershy repeated.
“What are chimeras? And what are they doing here? I though George said nothing lived out here?”
The troop of chimeras advanced, growling and bearing teeth. There were at least ten of them and there was no way the two ponies could defend themselves against them.
“I could try to fly you out, but I don’t know if I could out fly those massive wings of theirs,” Grey said nervously.
Kill… kill the chimeras.
“Oh my gosh,” Fluttershy stammered. “Rip Van Winkle’s awake.”
“What?”
Abruptly, Rip Van Winkle came to life. A giant scythe erupted from his body and slashed forward. Fluttershy screamed when the scythe dug straight into Grey.
Grey stared at her, eyes going vacant and blood dripping from his mouth.
“Why… why did…?”
Rip pulled the scythe from Grey’s body, spraying blood on the ground and on Fluttershy as the valiant pegasus fell over.
“Grey! Nooo!” Fluttershy screamed. “Why Rip!? Why!?”
The scythe on Rip Van Winkle retracted into a normal leg and the Drudge itself started to glow a sickly purple color. Then Grey was enveloped in purple light.
Kill the chimeras.
A darker light emanated from Grey as he stood up, red illuminating from his eyes.


“Fluttershy! Grey!” Twilight called down the side of the canyon. “I can’t see anything,” she said to the others.
“Hang on, I’m going down there,” Rhubarb said, stretching his wings.
“Wait! I see something,” Rarity pointed, trying to use her horn to illuminate some of the darkness, which was quite potent with Salamander backing her up.
The ponies all stepped back when a pegasus in armor flew out of the canyon carrying a more feminine looking pegasus by the scruff.
“They’re all right!” Twilight announced, galloping to where they landed. “I’m so glad you two are safe.”
“Yeah… we’re fine,” Fluttershy said rather cautiously. Then she noticed Rarity looking at her.
“Fluttershy… what is that on you?” Rarity approached her friend almost cautiously. She nearly stumbled and stifled a scream. “Oh my stars! Darling, is that blood? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“No, no. I’m fine, really. It’s not my… I mean it’s just… um…,”
“Grey?” Rhubarb asked, raising an eyebrow at his fellow guard. “Are you, okay?”
Something about Grey looked different. He looked… actually, he looked very grey.
George suddenly waved his staff, emitting a radiant glow, swinging it at Grey. “Back! Get back!” he shouted angrily.
“George, what are you doing?” Fluttershy asked in alarm. “It’s Grey.” Fluttershy winced when Grey suddenly jumped in front of her. His entire demeanor had changed.
Grey growled like a rabid dog and his eyes glowed in a deep red. He lowered his body like a lion about to pounce, his wings standing straight out to either side, rattling like a rattlesnake. He bared his teeth and hissed like a cat. Saliva dripped from his mouth as he eyed George’s staff.
“Get back or I’ll destroy you!” George commanded.
“No! Don’t hurt him!” Fluttershy yelled, jumping in front of Grey and holding her forelegs out as if to shield him.
“Step away,” George said angrily. “He’s not even alive anymore. He’s Rip Van Winkles puppet. Now step away I say, he’s no longer one of us.”
Fluttershy looked terrified, but not because of Grey’s behavior. She was much more concerned with George’s reaction to him.
“Please, just give him a chance. He won’t hurt anypony. I promise.”
“You can’t promise anything. Didn’t you hear me? Don’t you know what he’s become? I can sense it. This is Rip Van Winkle’s power. Grey’s already dead, child. There is no cure for death. Now get away from him.”
“Please, George, don’t hurt him.”
“I said step away before he hurts us!”
Fluttershy turned around and looked at Grey. He still looked ready to pounce even though she was standing in between him and George. Timidly she walked up to Grey and looked into his angry red eyes. Then she embraced him.
“It’s okay. We’re safe.”
Grey’s furious expression looked pained and his eyes slowly changed to a deep black. His wings stopped rattling and his whole body visibly relaxed. He didn’t speak, but instead made a series of small noises as if he were trying to.
“Fluttershy, I swear in the name of Celestia that there is nothing you can do for him. Do you really want him to be a brainless slave to the Drudges? He’s worse off than the occultists now.”
“Please, just give him a chance. I’m sure we can change him back.”
“And I’m telling you there isn’t. Step away and let me deal with him.”
“George, stop!” Twilight stood by Grey and Fluttershy. “Leave him alone. If Fluttershy thinks he won’t hurt anypony then I believe her.”
“Not you too,” George said annoyed. “You youngsters don’t understand anything. Step away or so help me-”
Then Rarity stood in front of Grey too. “Don’t you dare, George. If Fluttershy believes it then I’ll stand behind her too.”
“You ponies are crazy! You can’t be serious about this. Just look at him.”
“I have a flaming behind and I’m not afraid to use it!” Rarity shouted, turning her rear-end to George. “Burgle, stop snickering over there. You’re not helping.”
Burgle covered his mouth, unable to suppress a snort of laughter. “… flaming…” He stood there and silently cracked up.
Though George looked plainly annoyed, he lowered his staff. “Fine. Let him come along. You’re all going to regret this though.”
“Do your worst George. I don’t care what you do to me, as long as you don’t hurt him,” Twilight said.
As George turned away, he scoffed. “It won’t be because of anything I’m going to do.” He glared at Grey one last time and walked away.
As soon as he left, Rhubarb approached them. “Grey? Are you all right?” Grey looked at him, but didn’t say anything. “Come on, don’t you remember me?” He walked closer, but Grey’s eyes burned red again and he started growling.
“No, Grey. Don’t,” Fluttershy whispered, practically pleading as she hugged him tighter. Grey stopped growling but his eyes still glowed red.
“Grey…,” Rhubarb said slowly. “Don’t forget your duty as a guard.” Grey still looked at him, not saying a word. His eyes didn’t change. “Maybe you haven’t. You’re just guarding something else,” Rhubarb said sadly. He glanced briefly at the Drudge on Fluttershy’s back.
“Rhubarb?” Fluttershy said timidly.
“Please… don’t say anything.” Rhubarb turned away. “When you’re all done here, we need to relocate our camp to someplace safer. I saw a cave a ways back. I think we should try taking refuge there.” With that, Rhubarb waited for them.
Fluttershy whimpered and hugged Grey tighter. “Please Grey, no one is going to hurt us. Change back. Change back, please.” His eyes didn’t change, but Grey seemed to relax.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight spoke up. “What happened down there? What happened to Grey?”
Fluttershy held on to Grey, petting his mane in a comforting manner as if he were her colt. His eyes flickered between red and black. He was still struggling with Rip Van Winkle it seemed.
“Grey saved me from falling. He set me down at the bottom of the canyon and all of a sudden, a bunch of chimeras showed up.”
“Chimeras!” Twilight was astonished. She had heard of the creatures before. They were monsters created from science gone wrong, a fusion of several different animals. The chimeras’ original purpose was no longer known.
“I don’t know why they were down there, but they almost attacked us. Then…,” Fluttershy hugged Grey closer. He looked like he wanted to cry. “Rip turned one of his arms into a weapon and pierced Grey. I thought he was dead, but then Rip did something else and Grey woke up again. The chimeras pounced on him but he held them back and fought them. It was… it was awful. It was like watching a bunch of wild animals fight in Everfree, only Grey was so strong and the chimeras couldn’t overpower him even though they had him outnumbered. He fought them off and he was actually going to chase after them but I screamed and told him to stop.” Fluttershy finally smiled. “He listened.”
Twilight and Rarity looked at each other. George had said Grey wasn’t alive. Rip had killed him and resurrected him as a zombie pony. Could this be a creation similar to what Night Mare Moon had been or something different all together? Unlike Night Mare, Grey seemed to have limited self-control and reacted like an animal rather than a pony.
Fluttershy let him go and Grey stood up, looking around wearily. He glanced briefly at Twilight and Rarity, and then turned away as if he were ashamed.
“It’s okay Grey. Nopony is mad at you… well, George is cause that’s just the way he is, but no one else is mad at you,” Fluttershy comforted.
He didn’t say anything and slowly walked away. He glanced at Rhubarb who refused to look at him, though the other guard looked pained to do so.
“I’m so sorry Grey!” Fluttershy shouted after him.
Grey turned his head back, gave something that looked sort of like a smile and shook his head silently. Then he walked away again.
Fluttershy looked at her friends. “What are we going to do?”
“Fluttershy,” Rhubarb spoke up without looking at her. “I’m glad for what you did for my comrade, but… I’m not so sure it was the best idea.”
“Rhubarb, how can you say that? Aren’t you two friends?”
Rhubarb didn’t answer right away. “Yes. In fact we are. We’ve been friends for a long time. We entered the guard and trained together. But because he’s my friend, I don’t want to see him like this. I want to see him as the same pony he’s always been, but it’s so hard to see it now.” He slowly shook his head. “Shall we go? I don’t want to leave Grey and George alone together.”
Fluttershy looked at Twilight and Rarity. They both smiled weakly and nodded. Sighing a little, Fluttershy got up and they all followed Rhubarb to the cave he had mentioned earlier. Only Burgle lingered a moment, seemingly taking in the events that had just transpired.