Blazing Dragon

by Zanem-Ji

Gone Too Soon...

They stood facing one another, power radiating off both of them.

Fluttershy, the once gentle and kind Pegasus, now a titanic and prehistoric amalgamation of nightmares that stared at its enemy with such bloodlust and rage, that she could easily put all of her civilized successors to shame.

Twilight, the once powerful Princess of Friendship and Magic, whose soul had hardened from decades of regrets and self-destruction, struck terror into the those she fought against, and awe-riddled respect in those she fought alongside.

Twilight looked down at Rarity, “Are you alright? How badly are you hurt?”

“I’m fine…” Rarity softly replied, “But there was a griffin that upset her. She’s never been triggered so easily. I fear we’re losing our Fluttershy to that…thing she’s turned into…”

“No.” Twilight snapped. “There will be none of this our Fluttershy and monster Fluttershy shit.” She looked back at the snarling Vampony, “She’s our friend. All of her, and we will save her.”

“And how do you propose we do that? Its not like we have the other girls to help us.”

“After she had that last outburst with Dead Moon, I implemented a spell to stop her…” Twilight trailed off as she took notice of Fluttershy’s statuesque form, who stared at her with pure bloodlust in her eyes. Despite the stillness, Twilight saw miniscule twitches in Fluttershy, understanding that muscles beneath the surface were tightening. She didn’t look away as she continued to speak,

“She’s entering the more feral stages of her powers…she’s waiting for me to drop my guard. Rarity, Bright Spark…I need you two to listen carefully.”

The other two Unicorns swiveled their ears in her direction, keeping their eyes on Fluttershy. They too, felt the dangerous shift in the air.

“We’re all ears, Dearest.”

“If you can cause enough damage to her body simultaneously, her Element will be forced to channel its magic solely into healing her wounds, and stop amplifying her vampiric powers. She allowed me to place a shard of Eventide crystal in her body...do you remember when I showed you where to let crystals form in an equine body to cause death?”

Rarity’s brow furrowed, though she held her gaze on Fluttershy, “That was for this, Twilight? Really? How appalling!”

“You can tear into me later, Rarity. Right now, we have to stop her. Now…as soon as I look away form her, she’s going to attack me. I won’t be able to perform the spell, so it’ll be up to you to do it.”

Eventide crystals are different that regular crystals, Twilight. I’m still recovering from injuries from the griffin that attacked me. I can’t perform the spell on my own right now.”

“You have an Apprentice now, don’t you?”

Rarity shifted uncomfortably, “Well…yes? But she’s injured too.”

“You two will have to try. For Fluttershy, and for Rainbow, who will certainly kill us if we return home without her wife.”

“Sparks, how much do you know about crystal manipulation?” Rarity questioned.

“A little, but I’ve never dealt with the Eventide crystals before…”

Rarity tilted her head to the side, allowing the tip of her horn to touch Sparks’, “I’ll do a Knowledge Transfer spell, so we can be on the same page.”

There was a globule of blue aura that flowed from Rarity’s horn. It traveled down Sparks’ horn before burying itself into her forehead. She blinked a few times as she took in the information she had received.

“Thank you for trusting me with the knowledge, Master Rarity.”

Rarity nodded, “No trouble at all, darling.” Her expression grew serious, “We’re ready…”

Twilight smirked, “She’s probably going to beat my ass. So please…try to do it as quickly as possible.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sparks spoke up.

Twilight gave a slight nod, then took a few calming breaths of air as she readied herself. She quickly snapped her head towards Rarity and Sparks,

“NOW-”

Before the singular word could fully leave her lips, Fluttershy bodyslammed Twilight. Their bodies tumbled in the ash as she pounded away at Twilight’s body. As Sparks and Rarity galloped to get closer to hear them. Sparks observed that Twilight not only had the same healing power, it appeared to be stronger than what her teacher or the Vampony had.

Fluttershy snapped her horn off, it grew right back.

She broke her right foreleg, it crunched and snapped back into place.

She ripped her chest open, the muscle and fur immediately covered the wound.

“BRIGHT SPARK!” Rarity screamed. “THE SPELL!! NOW!!”

Sparks pooled all of her magic into her horn. Her side flared again with pain, reminding her that she still had a massive gash on the side of her body. It was making it hard for her to focus. She honed her gaze on Fluttershy, willing her magic to channel into her horn more efficiently. She couldn’t help but wince though, as she watched Fluttershy rain blow after body breaking blow down on Twilight. Blows that would’ve killed any normal living creature instantaneously. They quickly slowed down, then stopped, as the first two crystals exploded from the inner bends of her forelegs. Fluttershy froze, her face contorted in confusion and pain, as more and more crystals grew from her joints. Twilight’s wounds quickly healed up, and she sprang to her hooves. Fluttershy roared in frustration. Twilight, confident that she could no longer move, moved in closer and cupped Fluttershy’s cheeks,

“This is for your own good. Thank you for trusting me before, and I beg for your forgiveness…”

A crystal speared from the base of Fluttershy’s neck. The Vampony slumped forward, and Twilight embraced her in a gentle magical grasp and set her down. She breathed out a sigh of relief, before trotting over to Rarity and Sparks,

“Bright Spark, go and check on any remaining personnel. We need to get those in critical condition back to the base immediately. Those not as injured, will assist in the transportation.” She looked at Rarity, “Applejack will have to take Fluttershy’s place. I’ll have two squads accompany her for rotation of fighters that aren’t injured and can continue the mission.”

Rarity let out a weary sigh, “I fear that I may be getting a tad too old for this.”

Twilight smirked, “Old? You’re only 123. You’ve still got plenty of fight left in you.”

Rarity didn’t reply with her own jab, “The Element of Generosity makes my body have fight left. My soul however, is incredibly tired…”

Twilight frowned, and rested her forehead against Rarity’s, “Then allow me to be your spiritual strength until yours returns…”

Sparks smiled softly as Twilight began to gentle nuzzle Rarity’s cheek, who had a faint blush on her cheeks. She then returned the display of affection. Sparks, who was too distracted by what she was sure was a rarely seen moment, barely understood what was happening.

Rarity and Twilight had horror etched onto their faces.

She felt a sudden pressure on the sides of her neck.

Her eyes went wide as she felt the upper part of her spine crumble with an audible crunch.

Her vision was covered by swirling hues of the Eventide sky, and smattered with blood.

Rarity and Twilight’s screams rang in her ears as she hit the dirt with a heavy thud. Her vision spun as she heard something run up to her. Her eyes focused onto Fluttershy, who was lumbering over her. She stared up into her gleaming red eyes and smiled. Fluttershy smiled back, but not with the gentle smile Sparks had seen when they first met.

“I can no longer smell fear on you…”

If the gods and goddesses have chosen this to be my death,” Sparks started in a rasped whisper, “then I accept this fate with dignity…”

Fluttershy’s face scrunched up with a mixture of irritation and disappointment, “Very well then.”

The Vampony snapped her jaws around the front of Sparks' neck. A burning sensation bloomed from her throat and traveled across her body. Her ears reflexively flattened to her head in a failed attempt to drown out the sound of her throat being ripped apart. Her vision began to blur and blacken at the corners. She could barely make out Fluttershy’s sudden disappearance, being replaced by Twilight and Rarity coming into her fading field of view. She gave a weak smiled and tried to speak, only to hear the gurgle of her drowning in her own blood. The mares were saying…something, but she couldn’t make it out. She could feel her own breathing slow as her body spurred her on into the depths of a gentle slumber. Her vision jerked as the white one shook her. Wait…a third mare had appeared, between the two that were arguing at each other from above. Sparks couldn’t help but attempt to smile, as she realized it was her mother, reaching for her with her forelegs outstretched. She felt the hooves wrap around her, and let herself finally relax and slip into the darkness…

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know, it's a pretty short chapter, but I chose to stop at this point for a reason. And you'll find out why...
In the next chapter!!!