• Published 9th Nov 2013
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The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang - RoyalRainbow



Over a year has passed since his arrival, and Ford Mustang is prepared to ask Rainbow Dash for her hoof in marriage. But when an unknown force of darkness emerges, it's up to Ford to save not only his loved ones, but the world as well.

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Chapter 16 – Trial by Fire

Chapter 16 – Trial by Fire

500 years ago, the former home of Hindel the All-Seeing Dragon used to house at least a hundred dragons. Now, the dozens of cavern openings are left uninhabited ever since the remaining dragons moved out to their new home centuries ago. One example is a very large hollow cavern that Hindel and Ford Mustang are walking towards. This ominous cave is much bigger than all of the other caves encircling the ghostly valley, and its presence gradually sends chills to both of their spines. For Ford, he starts to creep out on hearing the very low, hollowing winds echoing from the deep darkness of the cave. As for Hindel, he begins to cringe over the nostalgic memories he used to have, before Arrogon tarnished them all on that horrific day.

“This is it.” Hindel announces as they stand in front of the cave. “The place where your final lesson will commence.”

“It’s massive!” Ford wows at the monstrous entrance. “Whose home was this?"

“This… was mine, of course.” Hindel answers hesitantly.

The young stallion nearly gasps before he shamefully flattens his ears and apologizes to his master, “Sorry… I didn’t mean to bring that--!”

“It’s fine, Ford.” he smiles assuredly to his Equestrian student. “Let’s just go inside, shall we?”

Once inside, the blue Pegasus examines the deep, dark cave. It is quite enormous with a multitude of stalactites hanging on the cavern ceiling and a very wide and empty space. Carefully, Ford treads lightly across the hard, smooth floor while following his dragon master.

“So… what’s this final technique you will be teaching me?” Ford asks the golden dragon.

“This time will be different, Ford. This time, you will learn the final technique all on your own.”

“What?” Ford responds shockingly. “But how am I supposed to learn it if I don’t have basic grasp on what it is yet?”

As always, Hindel just smiles all-knowingly before he answers, “You’ll see. Stand in the middle of that floor right there, wouldn’t you?”

Following the dragon’s instructions, Ford slowly walks over to the center of the dwelling’s circle. Once he stands there in place, the puzzled pony looks around at his hooves and then at the ground before looking back at Hindel.

“Okay. So… now what?” he asks in a baffeling manner.

With a simple smirk, Hindel answers, “Now… I do this!”

FHROOSH!!

Abruptly, the elder dragon blows out a powerful breath of golden fire right at Ford Mustang! Alarmingly, he jumps back from the fire blast’s impact before the golden explosion transforms into an immensely fiery wall and encircles the startled Pegasus!

Entrapped within the ring of fire, Ford sharply calls out to his instructor. “Hindel, what are you doing?!”

“This will be your final test, Ford Mustang.” Hindel replies calmly. “You must use all that you have learned in the last two weeks and conquer this ring of fire. Only by discovering the final technique yourself will you be able to survive this and complete your training. This living fire is different than anything you’ve ever faced before. If you don’t vanquish this fire quickly enough, it will continue to grow, and it will become too great for you to handle.” Slowly, Hindel turns around and prepares his leave reluctantly.

“Hindel!” Ford cries out to him in a state of panic. “Don’t leave me! What if... what if I can’t do this on my own?!”

“There’s no turning back now, Mustang.” Hindel responds with unintentional coldness. “This will be your ultimatum. You will either succeed or fail at this. Live or die. It’s as simple as that. Either you consume the fire yourself, or the fire will consume you.” Then he turns around to face Ford with a confident, gentle smile on his face. “And besides, I have faith in you. I know that you can do this!”

“Hindel…” Ford murmurs in a stunned expression.

Once he is outside of his former home, Hindel grabs a colossal boulder with his strong claws and drags it over to block the cave’s only exit.

“Goodbye, Ford Mustang.” the dragon says while he takes one last look at his pony student. “And good luck.” With a disheartened farewell, Hindel reassumes to drag the large boulder so that he can enclose the entrance.

In a shocking manner, Ford continues to plead out to the departing dragon, “Hindel, wait! Come back! HINDEL!”

Like a parent who struggles with ignoring the pleas of his child, the heavy-hearted dragon finally slams the cave shut with the massive boulder. After finishing that heartbreaking task he forced himself into, Hindel breathes out a very heavy sigh and departs to another location. Far, far away from the valley, Hindel finds another clearance in Everfree Forest; a place where he can keep Arrogon as far away from Ford as possible. After making a soft landing, he lies down on the soft earth, closes his eyes, and calmly waits for the fated battle to occur.

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Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, Arrogon the Destroyer is in hot pursuit for his upcoming confrontation with his old master, Hindel, as he flies over the Everfree Forest. Along the way, something catches his eye as he looks down at a clearing. From his point of view, the sinister pony sees a small crater and a strange impression in the center of it. With curiosity getting the best of him, Arrogon decides to swoop down and examine the crater himself.

Upon landing at the crash site, Arrogon conducts a further inspection of the mysterious crater. The burnt markings at the source of the impact formed a strange silhouette that vaguely looks like a Pegasus Pony. What is also unusual about this shape is that the supposed body must have been severely damaged due to the impressions of the distorted limbs and broked wings. Somehow, looking at that familiar shadow causes Arrogon to think back to a time when he took care of that defiant, blank-flanked pony weeks ago. He is certain that there’s more to this than just a mere coincidence.

Suddenly, a new piece of evidence catches his blazing, sapphire eyes: a scorched, light blue feather. Using his levitating magic, the damaged feather floats closer to Arrogon before he can closely examines it. Despite how dark the burnt feather is, he can see the remaining colors of the owner’s light bluish coat. Upon confirming the identity of the missing item, Arrogon glares furiously at the floating feather before his aura of dark blue magic causes the atrocious thing to burst into flames. Turning his head around from one side to another, Arrogon looks for any other traces of the despicable pony he supposedly dispatched long ago. He knows that this is the spot where that worthless creature has landed. So the real question is where's the body.

As he walks around the area to look for any more evidence of the missing Pegasus, Arrogon nearly trips himself after he steps into a very large footprint. Backing away from it, the shadowy Earth Pony studies the claw mark before he detects a small trace of magical residue. It is the same kind of energy that he has been following since he left the castle an hour ago. Arrogon nearly gasps to himself once he realizes that Hindel has been here before! He frowns in puzzlement as he baffles on what Hindel was doing out here and what does this have to do with the wretched pony he took care of before.

While Arrogon is wrapping his twisted brain on this mindboggling mystery, the silent, reptilian predator known as the Basilisk eyes on his latest target with the dark stallion’s back turned. Emerging from the safety of its forest, the sneaky serpent slithers stealthily and approaches Arrogon from behind. Without making a sound, the Basilisk raises his long, arching neck as it prepares itself to strike down on its supposedly unexpected prey.

Unfortunately for the almighty anaconda, Arrogon is well aware of the giant snake’s presence. Annoyed by the serpent’s attempt at being threatening before it lunges for the kill, the irritated pony flares his fiery, soulless eyes, snaps his head around, and glares intensively at the snake. This surprisingly ceases ithe snake's attack to a grinding halt.

“BURN.”

Upon command, Arrogon spews out a beam of intense, blue fire and sets the hissing snake’s head on fire! Like a match after being struck, the horrifying flames gradually travel down the Basilisk's elongated body as the lifeless snake collapses heavily onto the ground.

While observing the burning corpse of the once-mighty Basilisk, Arrogon sighs with disinterest, “Well, that was rather uneventful. I barely had the chance to test the my true powers. Oh well, perhaps Hindel will provide a better challenge than this.”

Redirecting his search for his former master, Arrogon reestablishes his demonic wings of fire and takes flight once more. As the dark, winged stallion leaves the scene, the poor Basilisk is left to its ill-fated end as its burning corpse is being reduced to smoldering ashes.

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Inside the enclosed cavern, Ford frantically looks around at his current predicament. All he can see is nothing but a roaring fire as it threateningly looms over the stressed-out Pegasus.

“Okay! I can do this!” he says himself with deep breathes in-between. “If Hindel has faith in me, I should have faith in myself as well!”

With his impressive wings, he tries to fan out the wall of fire with mighty gusts of wind, but it only causes the flames to grow even bigger than before! Suddenly, the fire comes to life and nearly topples the surprised Mustang with a tidal wave of blistering flames. While he was able to dodge that unexpected reaction, it did little for him to calm down his nerves.

“Relax, Mustang!” he reassures with little to no success. “You can figure this out! You’ve handled fire like this before! This shouldn’t be a problem at all!”

Next, he tries to the cliché tactic of “fighting fire with fire” by breathing out a powerful stream of fire at the blazing barrier. However, all that did is make the ferocious fire even stronger! And just like how the first attempt was backfired, the animated inferno counterattacks by flicking a long, fiery whip at the frustrated Pegasus!

After dodging that vicious counterstrike, the Pegasus scolds himself, “Come, Ford! Everyone is counting on you! You’ve faced nearly every dangerous creature that can be found in the Everfree Forest! You… can… do… this!”

With his hooves planted firmly on to the hard, smooth surface, Ford draws in a very deep breath before he cries out an enormous dragon’s roar. The intense waves from that tremendous attack begin to push the surrounding flames back a little. Unfortunately, the fire’s flickering tips respond from the pony’s offense by raising from their source and locking onto Ford like a rain of arrows! Quickly, the Pegasus flies up in the air before the piercing, scorching tips collide where he used to stand!

Now in the air, the hovering Pegasus contemplates on what he should do next. His main attacks have no effect against the expanding inferno. And for every attack he throws at it, the fire will just attack right back. And with every passing second, he can feel himself growing weaker and more exhaustive as the animated flames are getting stronger. It’s quite possible that the Hindel’s enchanted fire is gradually feeding off the remaining oxygen within the enclosed cavern. Following with his physical instincts, the sweating pony rapidly gasps as much air as possible, but it did little for him to gather as much energy as possible.

Giving in to the frustration of his grave situation, he screams in outrage, “Dammit! Why isn’t anything working?!”

Recklessly, the war-crying Mustang charges forward at the blazing inferno with empowered hooves ready to strike. With his enraging hooves amplified by his golden Draconian Magic, the aggravated stallion hastily hits the mocking, oppressive fire. Of course, with every strike he unleashes, the lively, irritating flames retaliate with their scorching tendrils. Back and forth, the hotheaded Pegasus tries to fight back against the unnatural fire while constantly evading its flaring whiplash.

Eventually, his strength and stamina start to diminish before the fire’s backlash smacks Ford right onto the ground! Though thankfully, his training has made him more resilient against fire, the repercussion from that flickering tendril struck him down real hard. Struggling with his breathing, he could barely get himself up before he falls back down.

“I’m sorry, Hindel.” he wheezes in self-pity. “I can’t... do it. I’m just… not… strong enough. I’ve failed you. I’ve failed… everyone.”

Giving in to his defeat, Ford gradually closes his eyes as his mind starts to shut down by ignoring the roaring flames that are surrounding him. Eventually, everything around him starts to become dim and the crackling background noises begin to die down. Soon, it will all be over for severely overwhelmed stallion…

Come on, Mustang! This is no time to take a nap now!

“Rain… Rainbow Dash?”

Through his mind’s eye, bright colors flash before him as they paint a familiar scene from his past.

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Months ago in Ponyville…

High above the clouds during a gorgeous sunset, Ford Mustang tiresomely laid across one of the plushy clouds after his latest attempt from pulling off the legendary Sonic Rainboom. He wasn’t that exhaustive, but he wasn’t as enthusiastic as the previous times. Meanwhile, his self-appointed coach and supportive marefriend, Rainbow Dash, kept grinning to herself as she eagerly nudges the stallion’s back.

“You’re doing great so far!” Rainbow beamed cheerfully. “You just need to find that drive to push you even further, that’s all!”

“Sigh…” he responded lazily.

“Something bothering you, Mustang?” she asked with concern.

“I don’t know, Rainbow…” he answered dejectedly. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I’m not making any progress with this! Sonic Rainbooms are your specialty, not mine! I was so hyped about it during my first attempt, that I didn’t realize that I was just fooling myself!”

Rainbow just stared at the suddenly disheartened stallion for a minute. But then, she broke into a cheeky grin with a raised eyebrow as she reassured him, “Oh Really? ‘Cause I remember a time when you thought it was nearly impossible for somepony who never flew before when you’re now an accomplished flyer. Or how about the time when you were too scared to perform simple stunts, and just recently, you’re now attempting to create your own Sonic Rainboom. That’s one thing I’ve always admired about you: no matter whatever holds you back, you’ll always push yourself forward to face that challenge head-on!”

Ford looked up at Rainbow as he gazed at her comforting smile and her beautiful, magenta eyes. Gradually, he smiled a little before he asked her, “You really think that I can still pull it off?”

With her chest held up high, Rainbow answered with a confident smile, “I don’t think it. I know it!”

Gaining his self-esteem thanks to Rainbow’s encouragement, he got up and wrapped his wings around the sky blue mare while saying to her lovingly, “What did I ever do to deserve such a cool marefriend like you?”

“Nothing much really.” she shrugged casually while she still maintained that radiant smile. “Just being your awesome self was enough for me.”

“Well, you wanna know what else I admire about you?” he grinned broadly.

“What’s that, Ford?” she inquired with grin matching that with the embracing stallion.

“You always know how to raise my spirits up.”

Touched by Ford’s sentiment, Rainbow blushed lightly before she leaned forward and gave him a welcoming kiss. In the midst of their simple affection, she placed her fore hooves around Ford’s neck while he himself wrapped his hooves around Rainbow’s torso.

After that modest kiss, Ford grinned widely as he continued, “That, and you make the most adorable, girlish screams whenever something excites you!”

Caught off-guard by the surprising comment, Rainbow’s eyes went wide and she exclaimed with a very heavy blush on her face, “I-I do not!”

“Oh no? Not even if I tickle you to no end?”

Noticing that sinister smirk on his face, Rainbow tried to step back, but she forgot that she was still in Ford’s firm clutches thanks to his surprisingly strong fore hooves and his wrapped wings. Thinking that Ford would never be this bold, she called him out in a stammering chuckle, “You’re… you’re bluffing! You’ve never been able to tickle me before!”

“Maybe not, but like I usually say to myself, I’m always up to a good challenge when it presents itself.” he stated that in a devious manner as he leaned closer to his nervous marefriend.

Suddenly realizing that he wasn’t bluffing, Rainbow makes a subtle gulp before she tried to escape her coltfriend’s grasp. But it was too late for her as he already anticipated that. Using his own weight, he brought both of them back onto the clouds before pinning her down. She once again attempted to make her escape by frantically crawling away from him, but Ford wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

“Come here you!” Ford insisted mischievously as he pulled her closer to him.

“NO!” she squealed out in an uncontrollable smile.

Back in her pinned position, the smirking Mustang fanned out his feathery wings as he mercilessly tickles the helpless mare. Suffering at the hooves of her ticklish tormentor, Rainbow Dash breaks into irrepressible giggles as she began to laugh out loud in the vacant, orange sky they were in.

“Come on!” he teased her. “Let me hear you sing for me!”

“N-N-NEVER!” was all she could respond in the midst of her insuppressable laughter.

“Alright! Looks like I’m left with no other choice!”

Suddenly, he stopped her playful assault as he folded his wings to his sides. Getting a chance to catch her breath, Rainbow was about to question Ford on what he meant by that. But before she could do that, she heard a disturbing sound being blown on her soft, well-toned belly.

PFBBBBBTT!!

She couldn’t believe it! Ford Mustang was employing a very childish tactic by blowing a huge raspberry right on her stomach! That ridiculous noise along with his hard blowing vibrating against her skin was enough to cause her to burst into squealing screams of surprised delight while squirming in place.

EEE-HE-HE-HEE! STOP IT!”

But her pleading went unheard as Ford blew another raspberry right on her tummy.

PFBBBBBTT!!

TE-HEE-HEE! STOOOP!”

PFBBBBBTT!!

“THIS IS--EEK-HEE-HE! SO EMBARRASSING! JUST STOP, PLEEEASE!”

Finally, the torture was over for her as Ford collapsed right next to the exhaustive mare. Lay right next to each other, they were both suffering a case of the giggles, though for different reasons. Ford couldn’t help himself but laugh at what just happened, while the flustered Rainbow Dash was still suffering to control her breathing as she tried to suppress her own enforced laughter.

“There we go!” Ford smirks in triumphant with a chuckling smile. “That’s the sound I wanted to hear from you!”

“You are SO going to pay for that!” Rainbow glared at him while displaying a playful smirk of her own.

“Oh really?” he teased her. “And how are you going to do that?”

Slowly, she climbed right on top of an immediately flustered Mustang as she looks at him with an alluring grin before saying, “You’ll just have to wait until we get home and find out tonight!”

Shaking slightly with eagerness, Ford leaned forward as he wanted to seal it with a kiss, but to his surprised disappointment, his lips were only met with a firm fore hoof pressed against him as Rainbow decreed in a teasing manner, “But first, you going keep trying that Sonic Rainboom for me, or else you can kiss tonight’s rematch goodbye!”

“…I think I got a few more tries left in me before we call it a day.” he acknowledged with a grin matching with hers.

Satisfied, she moved her fore hoof away from his muzzle and awarded him with a deep, tender kiss. Gradually, they break away from that before she said to him with a winning grin, “That’s what I like to hear! Now get up there and show Equestria what you got, Ford Mustang!”

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After reflecting from that heartwarming memory of his marefriend, Ford Mustang is uplifted by Rainbow Dash’s encouragement, and he immediately opens his eyes after nearly submitting to defeat. From his reawakening, he can feel his strength and energy slowly returning as his limbs begin to instinctively move on their own.

She’s… she’s right! This is no time for me to give up now! It’s too soon to call it quits yet! I can’t give up! I won’t give up no matter what!

From that resolve, he steadily gets himself off the ground, and eventually, he stands tall on all four hooves and he poses himself ready to confront the deadly ring of fire once more! Despite how big the raging, golden fire has gotten since he momentarily passed out, Ford keeps a calm, cool, and collected head under the steamy pressure he is still in.

Okay, Ford! Let’s try to think this out thoroughly! You can’t physically fight the fire yourself, so there’s got to be another trick to this! Just do what you normally do: breathe in and out like Hindel has taught you and just think about it.

Closing his eyes to ignore the crackling fire, he conducts his normal breathing. Through this routine, he decides to just think on all the positive things that have happened to his life recently. Like all the wonderful friends he has made in Ponyville. Or all the times he has spent with Hindel through their weekly visits and his training. But more importantly, he recalls the coolest, most awesome Pegasus he could have as a marefriend, Rainbow Dash. Just thinking about her adds an even greater warm feeling in his heart.

From finding his inner peace, Ford Mustang smiles in content as he continues his steady breathing. Along with the growing warmth that’s radiating inside him, he suddenly feels a different kind of soothing warmth wrapping around his body. With one eye, he takes a peek and gasps shockingly at what he is seeing: the wispy flames from the fearsome fire are touching him! Losing his concentration due to this shocking discovery, Ford startles briefly before the fiery tendrils quickly draw back to circle of fire.

What was that? he perplexes greatly to himself. I could have sworn that I just saw that fire touching me! But… it didn’t hurt me at all! Maybe… if I try it again…

Focusing on his breathing once more, he finds his inner peace and once again feels the unusual warmth touching his skin. Without breaking his concentration this time, Ford slowly opens his eyes and confirms his discovery. The gentle wisps of unnatural fire are indeed touching him without scorching him at all!

So I was right! The flames are drawing towards me, and they’re not harming me at all! In fact, they are slowly entering inside me! But why is this happening?

As the stallion puzzles to himself while the enormous fire gradually dies down around him, he looks deep inside his body through his energy field perception. Through this unique field of perspective, he sees his pulsating aura and notices on how much his golden Draconian Magic has increased significantly. Somehow, he’s gaining an extraordinary power increase from absorbing the flames around him!

Wait a minute! I feel… different somehow. My own aura is growing exceptionally! Far more so than anything I have ever experienced before! Could it be… that Hindel’s fire is giving me its incredible power? But how is this happening! All I’m doing is my breathing! Hang on… breathing. Basically, it’s a matter taking that energy as well as releasing that energy… and fire is basically a form of pure energy… so that would mean...! I’ve got! This is final technique: the absorption of pure energy! So that’s what Hindel meant before he left the cave!

Either you consume the fire yourself, or the fire will consume you.

After recalling Hindel’s riddle, Ford smiles to himself as he is thankful for all that his master has done for him to get this far.

Hindel… you deliberately hinted that for me, didn’t you? Well… thank you for that. As of now, I can’t absorb all of this fire right away, so I’m just going to have to doing this as steady as possible. But just you wait, Hindel! I’ll be done as soon as I can, and once I’m finished with this, we can finally face Arrogon together!

Determined to finish his final lesson thoroughly, Ford Mustang reinvigorates himself, both mentally and physically, as he continues to progressively absorb the once-fearsome fire that’s surrounding him.

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Back in the chosen, wide clearing of the Everfree Forest, Hindel is still patiently waiting for his fated encounter with his former apprentice. During that casual period, the golden dragon has been carefully planning for anything to occur in their final battle, whether it’s deciding on what kind of attacks he can use against his opponent, or accepting on whatever the outcome may be for him. Either way, there is only one thing that matters to him: the well-being of his promising student, Ford Mustang.

Suddenly, Hindel begins to feel that sickening presence of dark magic closing in thanks to his special radar. Calmly, he opens his blind eyes as he recognizes that one pony who can display such a sinister aura of immense energy: Arrogon the Destroyer!

Upon arrival, the demonic overload spots the composed, elder dragon, and he glees in menacing delight over the likely conclusion to their final match. Through a mix of grace and intimidation, Arrogon spreads his large wings of blue fire as he glides down gradually before making a surprisingly refined landing and dismissing his magical wings. Despite his blindness, Hindel sternly faces Arrogon as the ominous pony stares right back.

“Hello, Hindel.” the dark Earth Pony greets in casual disgust. “It’s been so long since we’ve last met, hasn’t it, my old friend?”

Calmly, Hindel responds with a simple smirk, “I was wondering when you were going pay me a visit, Arrogon… or do you prefer Morning Star instead?”

Author's Note:

Okay, so I want to apologize for not completing this chapter within a week like most chapters beforehand. Hopefully this doesn't have happen as often in future chapters, unless they meant to be really long chapters that serve as the utmost importance to the story. Anyway, "Ford Mustang's Training Arc" is coming to a close as there is only one more chapter left: "The Master and Apprentice."

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