Here be too much Dragon.

by Golden Paw

Consequences of Courage.

Consequences of Courage.

The impact drove the air from Twilight’s lungs and her world spun, rolling over and over as she tumbled downwards. One moment she had been channelling her anger fuelled spear of magic to slice apart the battle cart below; next Twilight was sent spinning as something hit her from the side.

Dragging in a lungful of soot-stained air, Twilight halted her descending spiral and came about to face this new threat. She was rewarded with a bright green flash, quickly followed by a buffeting pressure wave that threatened to knock her out of the sky.

Muscles straining, Twilight held her ground through the onset even as she shielded her eyes from the bright light. An expanding cloud of emerald fire dominated the skyline and Twilight watched as debris fell all around, trailing tails of smoke.

It was then that she saw a far larger castoff drop out of the inferno and Twilight’s hoof shot to her mouth. A roughly dragon shaped outline; wreathed in flames spun down towards the awaiting ground. Twilight’s heart turned to ice as she realised what must have struck her from the side and she screamed out in horror, “Spike nooooo!”

The drawn out cry followed Twilight all the way as she snapped her wings close and dived down in a frantic effort to catch the falling dragon. Pulling on her magic Twilight desperately tried to cast a spell, any spell that would slow the drake’s decent.

The spell came to late however and the reptile still covered in green fire crashed into a nearby tree; throwing branches and leaves out in a flurry of burning shrapnel. he then collided with the ground with a bone shaking impact.

Tears streaming out behind her Twilight completed her dive, skidding along the uneven ground of the forest floor and leaving a smouldering trail in her wake. The glowing radiance of her anger winked out as Twilight galloped towards the downed dragon.

Curling wisps of smoke drifted skywards from the crater, only to be snatched away buy the now roaring blaze that the local trees had become. The forest was burning, and with far more fierce flames than the previous conflicts had caused. The trees were consumed by emerald and golden fire in equal measure.

Twilight reached the lip of the crater and felt the heat emanating from it. She was forced to take a step back and felt the hairs of her coat begin to curl in the powerful thermal haze. Coughing, Twilight ignited her horn once again and surrounded herself in a protective barrier. The blistering heat faded as the spell did its work and Twilight bounded forward, nothing was going to stop her from reaching Spike.

The sprawled form of a dragon lay smouldering at the base of the crater, chunks of burning wood and mangled roots decorating the ‘v’ shaped furrow carved into the ground and Twilight called out in fear, “Spike! Spike! Please be okay!”

The seemingly impossible happened as Twilight heard Spike’s deep voice call out from behind her, “I’m okay Twilight!” The panting princess paused for a moment as confusion overcame her need to save Spike, before a croaky voice called out weakly from the mound at the centre of the crater.

“The hatchling if fine Miss Sparkle, and I’m glad to see you are too.” The pained rasp of Warden filtered through Twilight’s confusion and she finally understood what had truly happened.

With her voice a quite whisper, Twilight edged closer to the fallen dragon and tears ran down her cheeks in rivulets, “Warden? You...you saved me?”

The dark dragon raised his head slowly, one clawed hand covering an eye. There were gashes in his tough hide and though they were hard to make out through the soot which covered his black and purple scales from snout to tail. Warden forced a smile before replying, “I couldn’t let you have all the fun your highness.”

There was another distant explosion and Twilight snapped her head around as she spread her wings aggressively, fearing some new trick from Flim and Flam. Her stance relaxed as Twilight understood that the remains of the armed airship completed its journey to the ground and smashed into the forest with another resounding impact.

“Twilight! Twi.....” Spike’s head crested the crater’s lip and his voice trailed off as he beheld the scene below him.

The look of anguish on her brother’s face mirrored her own as Spike saw the sorry state Warden was in. Spike lumbered over the rim and Twilight saw that he gingerly carried Night Dew in the crook of his powerful arm.

The bat pony’s face was a battle ground of its own, as 'smile' and 'pained' grimace fought for control of her muzzle. Twilight was no expert, but the tender way her friend held her leg and wing told the alicorn that Night Dew was hurt pretty badly.

The fire in her soul began to kindle once again as Twilight glared towards the now ablaze forest. So much destruction and all for what? Her rising fury was deflected as the sounds of shifting earth called her attention back to Warden.

He was slowly trying to push himself to his feet, but with one hand pressed over his right eye that left his other forearm to take the weight. As Warden tried to arise the arm buckled and a pained hiss escaped the normally stoic dragon before he fell down again.

“I tell you what, heroics aren’t all they are cracked up to be,” Warden snarled out before trying again with a similar result. Twilight moved over to him to offer her help but Warden glared at her with his one visible eye, his amethyst pupil filled with pain. “I am quite capable of picking myself up your highness,” Warden grunted before stumbling once again.

Twilight’s ears pressed down and she looked to Spike who shrugged before speaking in a reassuring tone, “Warden, you’re hurt.” Her eyes welled up again even as her voice grew stern, “You were hurt protecting me, at least let me help you up.”

Warden snarled as once again as he failed to push himself up. His wings were a tattered mess and Twilight didn’t like the way he clutched his face like that. Warden lay on the ground and panted, wincing with each breath. After a long moment he nodded his head slowly and Twilight carefully braced her shoulder under his, finally enabling the dragon to get to his feet.

Twilight’s gaze worked its way along Warden’s underside, which now revealed to be just as battered and scored as his back and her heart trembled, “Warden, thank you...”

Warden waved her thanks away only to wince and clench at his injured wrist. In the brief moment he uncovered his face Twilight saw a deep slash across Warden’s right eye and gasped, “Your eye!”

Warden hurriedly replaced his good hand over his face before forcing another smile, “Nothing to worry about Miss Sparkle.” The Dragon’s tone was dismissive, but Twilight knew she heard the undercurrent of unease there.

The forest all around was well ablaze and Night Dew coughed as the smoke began to drift over them in thick clouds. Twilight quickly used her magic and the injured mare was soon encased in her own protective bubble. That was when the weariness struck Twilight as the toll of the last few days began to make itself felt.

Her limbs ached, he head was full of mist and her horn throbbed from the exertions she had placed upon it. Twilight was powerful yes, but not beyond the touch of mortality even as an alicorn. It had been some time since Twilight needed to push herself to such an extent and even her impressive reserves were failing.

“Well I guess we hunker down here until this all blows over right?” Night Dew said glumly as the forest blazed all around them.

Twilight nodded slowly as the small cuts and bruises of the fight began to announce themselves one by one: The adrenaline of the battle slowly seeping out of her system before handing her its bill. She swayed visibly and just before Twilight’s eyes rolled up into her head Spike darted forward to catch her.

She drifted into blessed sleep. The four huddled together in the depression made by Warden’s fall to earth and waited for the flames to exhaust themselves. Twilight therefore missed the light smattering of rain that began to fall.

---

“I don’t care if yer have to search the whole rotten forest, yer keep lookin until we find them,” Applebloom berated Blerio, her muzzle pressed firmly against the wilting Griffon’s beak.

The very moment Applebloom felt the Bloomberg was airworthy she had ordered the airship to take off and head for Hayseed Forest with all speed. The ship was soon met by a number of returning airborne scouts, from Twilight’s rescue party.

Applebloom had waited with fidgeting hooves as reports filtered in about the ongoing personal war Twilight was waging against the bandits found there. Her heart a soared as she heard the tales of Twilight rescuing the prisoners (many of which were now holed up on the Bloomberg) and how she’d shown those bandits what for. Now there was only silence.

It seemed that Twilight had taken it into her head to go after the arms dealers, without letting anypony know where she was going and Applebloom was worried for her. Twilight had been furious when she found out that ponies were making weapons and Applebloom was worried she would do something foolish.

“Come on Twi, where you at?” Applebloom whispered quietly to herself as the bridge crew went about their duties. She stared at the forest canopy below, willing it to give her some clue as to where the princess was. The woods didn’t cooperate however and left Applebloom grinding her teeth.

“I am sure they will be fine Dame Bloom, the Princesse had both dragons with her and Dame Dew,” Belrio’s attempts to assure Applebloom being only half heard as she studied the surrounding forest intently.

Applebloom’s temper finally snapped, “Does anypony bother ter report back these days! It ain’t like Big.D ter dive off without thinkin like that!” She stomped her hoof and left a slight dent on the bridge floor, causing a number of crew to crouch down in their seats.

Their nervous eyes watched the chief engineer wander from one view port to another, grumbling to herself the whole time. The crew had been tense since Twilight had left taking every flight capable citizen with her and Applebloom’s mood reflected this in no uncertain terms.

Applebloom was oblivious to the anxious glances the bridge crew shared with each other as she returned to stare out of the main view screen. Dusk was fast approaching and as the light dimmed Applebloom feared that a difficult task was about to get even harder. Deep in her gut she knew something was wrong.

“Dame Bloom, I think you should see this,” Blerio’s urgent call snapped Applebloom out of her pondering and the engineer’s ears pricked up.

She trotted her way to the griffon’s side and followed a pointed claw, “What yer got Blerio?” Applebloom felt the vague fear crystallise as she saw the bright flash off in the distance; its brief green glow, half concealed by the surrounding trees.

“I don’t know madam, but you wanted me to inform you if there was anything of note,” Blerio’s responded as yet another flash lit up the forest.

Applebloom paused for only a moment before bellowing her orders, “Take us closer Blerio!” She felt the deck tilt slightly as the Bloomberg changed its course. The crew all felt the tug of acceleration and the airship picked up speed. Further flashes, glowing pale lavender began to mingle with their emerald counterparts.

“That’s Twi or I’m a turkey cloggin an air intake,” Appleboom muttered as a collective gasp sounded around the bridge.

The scene before them was lit by the brightest flash yet before a large clump of trees burst into green flame that burned ferociously. A muffled ‘crumph’ rang out, quickly followed by a trembling in the deck as the shock wave hit the Bloomberg.

“What in the hay?” Applebloom grumbled before Blerio let out a string of curse words. A large number of trees had simply exploded upwards, fragments of charred bark thrown into the air as another tremor shook the deck.

“Dame Bloom, I see dragons,” Blerio shouted and she saw he was correct; two dragons had broken the cover of the trees, soaring with powerful beats of their wings before they circled about and dived down once again. The gathering dark made it hard to make them out, but Applebloom was sure she recognised the heavy set form of Twilight’s adoptive brother.

“By Celestia’s shiny slippers, I think that’s Spike flyin out there!” Applebloom’s voice was tinged with wonder, despite her anxiety. She took in the green flames quickly devouring the forest below and jumped to a hasty conclusion, “Quick get the pegasi up n out there, I don’t know why but they need our help!”

The crew froze and Applebloom snorted in irritation, “What ya’ll waitin for!”

As one they turned to Blerio who nodded, keenly aware who Twilight had left in charge, “You heard the Dame Bloom, get to it!” The shocked stillness broke and the crew rushed to their tasks, familiar hours of training falling (if a little sloppily) into place.

Another shout came from Applebloom’s left, “We have another flier Captain!”

She watched as Blerio’s sharp eyes peered outwards before he commented in disapproval, “My, that is an ugly thing.”

Applebloom was inclined to agree; the smaller craft was leaking smoke and sparking terribly. Whatever had happened to it wasn’t kind in its attentions. It was speeding away from the ongoing fight below and Applebloom found her attention drawn back to the flashes of light once again.

There was another crash, but this time it sounded like falling masonry. The engineer spotted a rising plume of dust off to one side of the conflict before more trees burst into flames, “Sounds like a right ruckus down there; where are those pegasi!” Applebloom bellowed.

“Preparing to launch now Dame Bloom, but there seems to be a problem with the flight bay doors,” Blerio informed Applebloom in a despondent tone.

She let loose an exasperated groan, “Fine, if yer want summit done right....” Applebloom bolted from the bridge and pounded her way along the corridors to the flight decks.

---

Pushing past frantic maintenance crews Pipsqueak forced his way onto the heaving launch decks. The rescued prisoners had been stowed here and now it became apparent how a stupid idea that had been.

Pegasi and griffons fussed about, doing their best to get suited up and ready for the mission, but everything was a mess. Crates, along with bed rolls covered the area and now confound it all the hanger bay doors had jammed. “Oh boss is gonna kill me,” Pip mumbled as he frantically worked the mechanism with a heavy wrench.

Not all the systems on the Bloomberg had recovered from their little 'pest problem' and now they were paying the price of rushing in. The feed cables had been chewed through so when the deck officers had called for the door to open nothing had happened.

Pip hauled with all his strength and he felt the stubborn mechanics begin to yield, “That’s a boy, keep it going!”

The hatch to outside squealed as it slowly began to rise and the sweat poured off Pip’s muzzle as he continued to pull on the tool with all his might, “Almost got it.....” The smell of fire and ash flooded into the bay, causing a number of the refugees to chatter in nervous panic.

Just as Pip thought he’d forced the door into submission it locked up once more, his wrench came free and with the sound of shearing metal Pip tumbled to the decking with a grunt. Blinking the stars away from his vision, Pip saw the wrench had sheared off the locomotive pin and to his sinking despair he saw the door was barely a quarter open.

Muttered grumbling escaped from the now waiting air-force and Pip felt the scowls of their disapproval upon him. The uneasy refugees had finally been cleared from the deck and only the door blocked the team's progress progress. Pip forced an apologetic grin onto his muzzle, “Sorry team I.....”

Something metallic flew past Pip’s head and the viewing window off to his right exploded outwards; causing the stallion to jump before the angry shout from Applebloom sounded around the flight bay, “Right, yer got a door now so get yer feathered behinds out there!”

Without awaiting further encouragement the flight teams raced to the new opening and soared out into the dusk air, lit by continued flashes from below. Pip just simply stared at Applebloom in utter astonishment, his eyes wide and mouth hanging slack.

Applebloom cocked an eyebrow at the stunned stallion, “We can fix window Pip, but Twi needs our help: Remember that ponies are always more important than machines.” She spun around before marching her way off the flight deck with a few parting orders, “Get that door workin fer when they get back Pip!”

He found his eyes lingering on her shapely flank before quickly coughing and busied himself with sorting the jammed hatch; trying his best to ignore the poorly hidden chuckles from the rest of the work crews.

He tackled the problem with renewed vigour. Pip laid down flat on the decking and thrust his trusty wrench into the door mechanism once more. Out of the corner of his eye Pipsqueak saw that the forest below them was fully ablaze, ash and cinders were dancing in the hot current being thrown up by the flames.

His view was limited but he managed to catch a glimpse of the battle raging outside: Lances of green and purple magic were flashing back and forth, misses causing trees to ignite and further fires to spread.

The sweating stallion locked the wrench onto the protesting piston and pushed with all his strength. The sounds of explosions and crackling spears of magic were soon joined by the drawn out screech as the hatch once again began to shift.

Pipsqueak was just congratulating himself on a job well done when another burst of movement from outside grabbed his attention. A particularly bright flash turned out to be a glowing pony that could only be an alicorn.

The door momentarily forgotten Pip watched as a new star floated in the air, glowing with fierce brightness. The pony was surrounded by a shimmering barrier of power and to stallion’s dismay he saw that glowing projectiles were hammering it with unrelenting fury. Each impact caused jagged flares of purple lightning to dance across the shield’s surface.

It was a sight of wonder and horror and Pipsqueak felt his jaw fall open again as the glowing pony rained further beams of arcane might upon an ugly looking vehicle that, in return, continued to hammer the Princess from the inferno below.

Pipsqueak’s heart swelled with pride as the pony (which had to be Twilight) channelled another magical blast downwards. He cheered as the green energy enveloping the attacker below burst like a huge bubble and arcane spears of light sliced through it armour.

“You show them Princess!” Pip yelled out, causing a number of fellow deck-hooves to jump in surprise.

The cheer was just fading when Pip felt his bones turn to ice as another aircraft, leaking black smoke and sparks, careened directly for the distracted Twilight. Pipsqueak yelled again; but this time in futile warning as the metal contraption closed the distance.

If Twilight heard his cry she didn’t respond and Pipsqueak watched helplessly as the craft connected with the Princess’ shield. He was just about to cover his eyes, not wishing to see what came next when the dark shape of a dragon dived downwards and thrust the glowing alicorn to safety.

Pip’s relief was short lived as the brave drake was surrounded by a green inferno. He groaned and finally allowed his eyes to close in defeat. What felt like hours passed before he could look again and Pip was greeted by the forlorn image of Twilight racing down to try and catch the tumbling dragon who had saved her.

He could see that Twilight wasn’t going to make in time and Pipsqueak felt his ears flatten as the pair disappeared below the still burning trees and they were lost to his sight. Tears of grief running down his cheeks Pip gave one final heave on his wrench (silently daring it to resist this time) while crying out in anger. The door held for a moment before screeching open and Pipsqueak threw his tool away in frustration.

With his task completed Pipsqueak lay there on the deck, feeling the creeping claws of guilt begin to ensnare his heart. Why hadn’t he checked the door systems? Maybe if he had..... Pip shook his head, how could he have known this would happen?

Shaking himself down Pip got to his hooves and leaned out of the now open hatch. He searched the scene below for any sign of Twilight or the brave dragon he’d seen, but all he saw was burning forest.

His heart feeling like a lead weight in his chest Pip watched as the pegasi and griffons filled the air around the Bloomberg. A refreshing breeze sprung up and the stallion peered upwards to see that the pegasi were massing cloud cover over the blaze below. The first splashes of water began to fall and heard them ‘panging’ off the metal hull of the ship.

The weight of rain steadily increased and soon a deluge was pouring down, causing the flames below to hiss. Even as the fire began to die back both pegasi and griffons dived as close as they dared before spreading out across the forest below.

---

Applebloom stared about the utter devastation, holding a magical lantern in her teeth as she scoured the land for any clues. A huge swathe of the Hayseed Forest had become a blasted and charred wasteland. The infor that had torn through the land hadn’t been natural and had taken far more than just water to extinguish.

The pegasi had done their best, dumping as much water they could on the forest but it had taken the addition unicorns on the Bloomberg accompanied by the other magically inclined passengers to finally stop the flames.

What was left was a charred ruin and Applebloom felt her soul aching at the sight of it. Dead hissing wood surrounded her and the ground was marred by large craters that pooled the rain in ash choked sumps.

She had thought the first battle ground had been harrowing, but this was another order of magnitude all together. Volunteers from the Bloomberg were carefully searching the aftermath for any signs of Twilight or those with her with a forced hopefulness, but Applebloom secretly feared the worst.

Rumours had spread almost as fast as the now extinguished flames; some ponies said Twilight had been killed in a collision and others that she had been attacked by Warden. The conflicting reports passed back and forth and Applebloom suspected that the truth wouldn’t be known until they found the Princess.

As Applebloom searched about she found a miraculously preserved flower, the delicate blossom was nestled under a scorched overhang of soil where a once beautiful tree had met its end. The sight allowed a small amount of hope to filter back into her heart, “Come on Twi where.....”

Someone cried out and Applebloom snapped her head up, the flower forgotten. She saw a frantically waving griffon signaling with a lantern and without pause Applebloom galloped towards it. She was forced to leap over still smouldering branches and duck under toppled boughs before she skidded to a stop.

Applebloom followed the frantically pointing claw of the brown griffoness and saw instantly what had caught her attention. A scaled tale sticking out from under a particularly large fallen tree that covered a deep impression in the ground. It was soot stained and scuffed, but she instantly recognised the purple hues of Spike’s scales under all that.

“Spike, Spike!” Applebloom shouted in a mixture of relief and fear.

Not pausing Applebloom slid down the steep incline and shone her lantern in the hollow made by the fallen tree. The gloom receded and she caught sight of Spike’s green eyes watching her in the reflected light.

Applebloom almost cried as the darkness in her heart began to lift, “Spike are you okay?”

Spike only grunted and tilted his head upwards and Applebloom saw why; his huge shoulders were braced against the scorched wood of the tree, his wings spread out protectively to make a small shelter under them. As Applebloom peered closer she saw the grinning face of Night Dew watching her.

“Hi A.B, think you could get some help to shift that trunk, Spike’s must have been holding it for hours now,” Night Dew’s croaky voice broke into a fit of furious coughing and Applebloom indeed saw that Spike was trembling with effort.

The sounds of help arriving behind her filled the mare with joy and soon a whole crowd of ponies were heaving on the fallen tree. Applebloom mucking in with the rest of them, straining her shoulders even as Pipsqueak ensured support beams were brought in.

Eventually Spike let out an exhausted groan and let his shoulders relax before Applebloom smiled up at his sweating face, “Well done big guy.” Her face fell as she looked back to Night Dew, the bat pony was in a bad way; it looked like her back leg was broken at least, never mind the various scrapes and singed patches of coat.

Spike visibly trembled as he backed slowly out from under the massive trunk that covered their safe haven from the flames. The Spike took great care to carry Night Dew out, holding the mare delicately in the crook of his arm though she winced with every jolt of the dragon’s motion.

As Spike cleared the hole Applebloom caught sight of Twilight out cold further in. She was scuffed and grazed just like Night Dew and for one terrible moment Applebloom thought she was dead. But she saw the slow rise and fall of Twilight’s side and once again the engineering pony felt her heart start again.

Applebloom edged closer, Twilight was lying between the blackened roots of another tree...no not a tree, they were scales not bark. Applebloom’s hoof pressed to her muzzle as she realised that the black limbs of Warden were splayed out around the princess as if having fallen away from a protective embrace.

Night Dew had bad, but Warden...... Applebloom whispered in shock, “Oh sweet Celestia,” Her trembling voice became a shout, “Get a healer over here now!