Dragon Quest VIII; The Adventure of Eight

by Roarin Thunder

Finale and the Beginning of the Dark Era

“Who are you?!” Shining demanded as he picked up the Dragovian sword in his magic and pointed it at the figure that just killed Typhon.

Cadence sat on her haunches next to Eight while trying to make sure that he was comfortable. The figure walked toward them and away from Typhon's body.

“I am Lance and you are in my way.” Lance walked forward and drew both of his swords.

“And I'll stay right in your way until you leave!” Shining yelled as he galloped at Lance.

Lance clashed with the Dragovian Sword and the blades sparked against each other. Lance pushed Shining back easily due to his earlier wounds and then Lance knocked Shining backward.

“Die.” Lance slashed down at Shining's exposed body only for his sword to be stopped by sky blue magic.

Lance then felt a hard smash to his right side and he stumbled a bit from the blow. He looked over and saw an Alicorn standing before him.

“You won't hurt my husband!” Cadence yelled as she powered up her horn.

Lance smirked, “Really?! Can you back that claim up?!”

Cadence summoned her magic and formed a sword out of pure energy alongside a shield, “I have no other choice but to do just that!”

Cadence disappeared with a loud crackle and then reappeared beside Lance with a slash to his side that he dodged and returned only to find the princess gone yet again.

'She's a fast one with her magic, I'll have to tap into some magic myself.' Lance put up his swords and opened his palms.

Each palm bore a transmutation circle that seemed to be completely implanted into his hands. Lance smiled as he moved out of the way of a sword that had almost pierced his back.

His left hand touched the ground and lightning blasted out around the area. Cadence prepared to teleport, but found herself stuck in the ground.

“Gotcha!” Lance moved his right hand to her as she struggled to free herself from the ground itself.

Cadence noticed Lance's movement and prepared for the worst when Lance's palm made contact with with a shield. From his palm, ice spread across the shield and then destroyed the whole shield within seconds.

Lance growled in anger as he turned to see Shining standing up with the Dragovian Sword still held in his magic.

Shining glared at the powerful beast before himself with defiance as he galloped forward and prepared to strike with the sword he was currently using.

Lance prepared to move, but found himself covered in a magical grip. He turned to see Cadance's horn aglow with energy as he was forced to stay in position for the incoming attack.

'That little whorse!' Lance thought as he turned back to see the sword swinging down towards his body.

Lance concentrated his entire body on trying to move and then his arm freed itself. He caught the blade and then froze it solid.

Shining pulled out a smaller blade and tried to go for the dragon's neck only to be smacked away by Lance. Lance turned around and knocked away Cadence and then he turned to his prize.

Eight watched as the mighty beast stepped toward his body, 'This can't get any worse...' Eight couldn't move after his last powerful attack.

Eight felt his body being picked up by one of his legs and then heard a laugh, “You were the enemy that I had feared? How foolish I had been...”

Eight then felt the wind pick up around himself as he was tossed over the back of Lance. Eight closed his eyes as he hit the side of a wall. He smashed into it and then hit the ground.

He looked only to find Lance charging toward him again, 'This is it... I'm going to miss my friends...' Eight closed his eyes and prepared for the final attack.

Then the smashing sound of the dragon seemed to slow down and stopped all together. Eight was confused, 'I'm still alive? What's happening?'

Eight opened his eyes and saw Lance staring at something that stood before himself, 'Is that? Munchie?!'

Indeed, Munchie stood before the fallen hero. Lance saw the little creature had an angered look upon it's face.

“Munchie! Get away from him!” Eight yelled to the rodent, but it didn't move a muscle.

Lance moved forward and smirked, “Do you think that you stand a better chance against me, Rodent?!”

Munchie seemed to nod and then he held up a piece of blue cheese in his little paws.

'What's Munchie doing?' Eight asked himself as Lance continued with another step forward while drawing his sword.

“I suppose and appetizer will do just fine before the main course. Not like you're a real target anyway...” Lance trailed off as he watched Munchie take a small bite from the blue cheese it held in it's paws.

It chewed up the cheese and then put the rest of it behind himself. Munchie then looked at Lance who was getting into his stance.

“Prepare to die!” Lance then blasted forward at an amazing speed.

“MUNCHIE!” Eight yelled as Munchie began to glow a bright blue.

Munchie saw Lance coming and time slowed down as Lance rushed his blade forward. Munchie opened his mouth and a huge blast frozen breath frosted Lance at close range.

The attack was so powerful that it picked up Lance and blasted him away towards the opposite wall away from the castle.

Lance hit the wall, but the attack still persisted as it froze Lance and the entire wall with him. Ice spread out from the point where Munchie continuously assaulted the ground and Lance with strength that Eight never knew the mouse had.

Eight watched with wide eyes as the attack finally began to die down and then it was done, 'I've never seen Munchie do that...'

Munchie looked upon his handiwork and saw icy slides and other such things traveling through the air. Any soldier nearby that happened to have saw the event were awestruck by the amount of force given off by such a small creature.

“It's amazing!” One guard said as the others began chatting amongst themselves.

With most of the dragons defeated the guard began to regroup. They saw there was one more conflict happening on the eastern wall, but knew that Rising could handle it.

Eight laid upon the dirt as Munchie scurried over to him. Eight felt the rodent try and get Eight to pet his head, but he still couldn't move.

Eight smiled despite that, “I had no idea that you had it in you, Munchie! Nice job...”

Munchie squeaked in acknowledgment and then returned to the confines of Eight's coat pocket.

Eight laid his head back down and smiled once more, 'Maybe the situation isn't as bad as I originally thought...'

~Rising Star and his magical mishaps~

Rising Star blasted the dragon with powerful magic as the dragon itself fumbled around, trying to get a foothold in the fight.

'Damn this unicorn for being so tricky!' Hermos roared as it flapped it's wings to remove the smoke that clouded the air.

Rising Star was finally revealed as he set down his final circle, “About time you thought of a way out, but it's already too late. I've set up everything and you're standing in the perfect spot.”

Hermos moved forward and shot fire breath at his target only to find it going in slow motion. As he was also being slowed down at the moment.

'What is going on?!' The dragon thought to itself as his body began to seemingly freeze, but continue to move just slightly.

“I bet you're wondering what just happened! Well, I don't like to brag, but I've caught you in my spell and it just so happens to slow down your body within a fixed area.” Rising said to Hermos who's eye began to slowly widen in surprise.

Rising blasted the flame into non existence and began to walk away, “Oh, and the circles I set down are pretty much about to end this fight. No need for me to keep being here any more.”

Rising smiled as he set his hoof down on the circle outside the other circles he had made that would act like a trigger. It glowed a bright blue and Hermos was bombarded to a painful death by all of the elemental power in the arcane circles.

The explosion shook the entire wall, but didn't destroy any part other part of the tower except for contained area. The wind from the attack spread out while Rising walked away without turning back.

~The Day of Battle Is Over~

The guards had regrouped to the area where Lance was had been frozen except for his head. He was struggling to escape the binding of ice, but he had made little headway.

“Damn, Rat!” He yelled as he struggled more.

Rising walked over to Lance, “You're lucky to not be dead at this moment, Munchie is the least of your worries.”

The guards had quickly learned of Munchie and had taken quite a liking to the little guy. The pig mouse took to being shy instead of facing the guards and they had a little laugh about that.

Shining was making his way over to the group with a bright smile on his face and Cadence at his side, “Really outstanding job out there! I suppose that we'll have to celebrate later!”

The guards cheered with the thoughts of alcohol and merriment on their minds. Eight was still laying on the ground, but he been moved to join the guards in celebrating the defeat of their adversaries as was requested by him.

Eight was laughing and cheering despite a few coughs getting in the way. Also, a bit of blood, but he still insisted that he would be able to bare it till the Princesses were done getting everyone together.

Celestia could be herd as her hooves hit the stone below with each mighty step she took. Every guard stopped talking and Eight managed to move his head to be staring at her as she stopped at sat before them all.

She cleared her throat and began to speak, “I'm proud of your efforts today during the battle, but the celebration must be put off as we have many who are wounded and a prisoner must be taken to his cell for interrogation. Also, has anyone seen Luna?”

The crowd shook their heads collectively and Celestia sighed, “If any of you manage to find out where she disappeared to, then please let me know.”

Rising nodded though he had just spoken to her a few seconds ago.

~Rising's Flashback~

Rising was walking away from the explosion when he saw a much darker wind current surround the area. Luna appeared before him.

Rising immediately bowed out of respect, “Your Majesty, if I may ask, why are you here?”

Luna began to start walking around him, “We came to help thou, but it seems that thou dost not need our help.”

“Uhhh... Okay...” Rising said as she began to get closer to him.

Luna looked at him and turned her head to see that the fight with Lance had been won. She then turned back to Rising.

“We shall speak later. Do not tell Our sister of this meeting.” Luna said as she teleported away.

~Back to Present~

Rising shook his head, 'That meeting may have been the most random one yet.'

Celestia looked at Eight disapprovingly, “Why were you still out here, Eight?”

Eight looked at her with what little defiance he could show, despite not being able to move, “I just wanted to be around everyone!”

Celestia shook her head and activated her horn. Magic surround Eight as he tried squirm and wriggle out of the magical power, but he was far too weak to do anything at the moment.

“Time to get you to bed. Come along now, as if you have much of a choice.” Celestia said cheerfully while carrying a dismayed Eight.

“But everyone's back there!” Eight yelled and coughed at the same time.

“Well, it looks like they've got work to do themselves, so you don't have to worry about them!” Celestia said with a laugh as Shining and Cadance quickly followed behind.

Cadance giggled, “Auntie is so mean sometimes!”

Shining was glad that he knew a little bit of healing spells, or he'd really be feeling the pain right about now.

“Yeah, I know what you mean, Cadie.” Shining finished as they sped up to a trot.

~A few days later~

Eight was healed along with most of the guard in a few days and Lance had been taken prisoner by the Guards. He's been in interrogation for a while, but he hasn't said anything about why thee dragons had come or why he killed one of his own.

All Lance says is, “They'll be coming to get me soon, so don't get to comfy.”

The guards stationed near the cell were many. At least twenty guards just in the room around the cell, one-hundred of them being other hallways.

Celestia had said to take heed of Lance's words by saying, “No matter how much he has betrayed his own, they will surely come for him as he is one of the strongest of their kind.”

Lance could smell the guard's fear as they waited for the unknown. Celestia had even sent in Rising Star to be of use, but was unsure if he could do anything to keep the peace.

Rising stood just beside the main cell door as a bat pony trotted up while balancing a tray on her back, “I've got the prisoners food right here.” She finished as Rising took it with his magic.

“Thanks, Sheila.” He turned to the cell door and unlocked to reveal Lance chained up and riddled with fire stopping enchantments.

The room seemed far colder than any other area as it was refrigerated to be more of torture chamber for dragons who dared attack the Equestrian nation. Lance was angered at Rising's arrival and tried to attack, but was unable to do so.

“What the hell do you want?” Lance asked Rising.

“Just to hoof over your food, we wouldn't want you to die until we can figure out what to do with you.” Rising said as Lance snarled at that.

“You might think that just because you fended off a bunch of tactless dragons that you're on top of the world, but you have no idea what I'll when I get out.” Lance said to Rising with a smirk on his face.

Rising put the tray down and smiled, “Say what you want, but you're still stuck here.”

With that, Rising walked out and the door was shut once again.

~Outside the Hospital Section of the Castle~

Eight's body had been healed, but he was still covered in bandages until he could gather the magical energy necessary to heal up the remaining damage done to his skin.

He slowly gathered the reserves while he walked down the hall. He greeted guards as he walked past them and continued to make his way across the castle floors.

Eight didn't know exactly where to go considering that he had been inside the castle a few times and even the he had only been escorted to three different areas. His room, the main hall, and the dining room. He never counted the hospital wing as he knew that he would be getting to know that area quite a lot.

'Or at least until learn to avoid most of the hits thrown my way...' Eight thought as he bumped into another pony he had not met before.

He fell to the ground as it felt like he had hit a brick wall, 'Ouch! What the...'

The pony herself seemed to be a bit worried, “OH! Didn't see you there! You must be that new species they called, Eight! Nice to meet you!” She stretched out her hoof.

Eight arched an eyebrow before outstretching his own hand and putting around the hoof, “It's nice to meet you too... Errrrr...”

He just realized that she hadn't said her name yet. Luckily, she realized the same thing!

“I just remembered that I haven't told you my name! I'm, True Heart!” True said as she helped him up.

“Well, it's nice to meet you, True Heart!” Eight said with a smile.

“Same here! But I can't talk at the moment, I've got to meet up with the other guards called into main room, I'll talk with you later!” She was gone in seconds and left Eight feeling confused.

'These ponies are strange...' Eight's thought trailed off as he remembered what he had to do.

'I have to find Cadance and Shining Armor! I gotta go!' Eight thought as he began to run in a random direction.

~Somewhere in the Draconic Lands~

A bag dropped onto a table in an unnamed bar and was quickly cut open by a talon from the other side of the table. A pile of golden bits cascaded out of the bag and onto the table. The talon belonged to a gryphon who examined the bits with little interest.

“It seems like you may have a job for me, but how interesting is this job?” The gryphon asked the now revealed dragon.

“I was sent by the dragon council to ask for your services, they need a prisoner to be released from Celestia's castle. This dragon is someone you should kno-” The gryphon pulled him into the light by his neck and revealed a much smaller dragon who was now choking from being crushed by the gryphon in question.

“Let me get this straight, the Dragon Council is sending for me to do their dirty work?! Who is so important that they would bother me with such a trivial task!?” The gryphon dropped the frightened dragon to the ground as he started wheezing in effort to gain his breath back.

“WELL?! ANSWER ME!” The gryphon exclaimed as the entire bar began to notice the disturbance.

The dragon began to breathe easier, but his heart still pounded. He pushed himself back up and turned to the enraged gryphon.

“Please control yourself, Kicor!” Kicor turned to the barkeep who seemed to be carrying mug filled with beer.

Kicor looked at the beer and then back at the barkeep, “Yes, I'm not sure what got into me. Now pass that over.”

The barkeep nodded and passed him the mug before going back to his work.

Kicor looked down at the dragon with a little less anger than before, “Who am I supposed to save from possible death?”

“Lance.” The dragon said as Kicor's eyes widened.

“Perfect.” With that, he drank down the beer in one gulp.

He set the mug down hard and grabbed his weapons from behind his back. He opened the door to the pub and immediately ran out of the place before taking off into the sky.

The creatures inside the pub shook their heads and went back to drinking.

The dragon inside smiled, 'Kicor, one of the eight warlords of Equestria has taken the job.'

Another voice entered his head through a magical link, 'Very good, come back so that we may continue our plans.'

~In Ponyville~

A white unicorn galloped through the streets in panic as she tried to get to a certain library in the middle of town. She saw it on the rise and charged a bit faster as she reached the front door.

She stopped took in a deep breath and then knocked on the door. After a few seconds the door opened and she was greeted by a familiar purple unicorn.

“Hey Rarity, How's your da-” She was tumbled over as Rarity jumped on her.

“Twilight! Fluttershy is missing!”

~The Abrupt End~

Author's Note:

Yes, here it is. As promised.

Comments

[AtTheCrimsonFckr]

there's one true heart