6. The Rainbow of Darkness
“You are going to die, Solrathicharnon-Charir-Uskirlymzolthurkear,” Claxokarthelornarux said. “This is not a threat, it’s a statement of fact. You’re not merely the oldest dragon alive. I think you are the oldest dragon to have ever lived.” She hissed a little. “But you are not immortal. I can smell it. You will not live out this century, and you know it.”
Solrath snarled at that, though it was true. Dragons were not like other mortal races. They only got stronger and stronger as they aged – but, eventually, age did claim them. Barring injury or illness, eventually the fires that sustained them would suddenly and completely sputter and die. Senescence was rapid, claiming a dragon in a matter of just a few days. And a dragon could feel that coming. Not with pinpoint certainty – Solrath couldn’t name the hour and day that he would die – but the elder red did indeed know that this century, perhaps even this decade, would be his last.
“And after you are gone,” Claxokarthelornarux continued, “baring the Overlord, there will be only one dragon in the whole world stronger than me. Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha. No other dragon even comes close.”
Solrath scoffed. “Are you really that strong?” he asked. “I have never noticed. If you are the third strongest then it is a rather distant third.”
Claxokarthelornarux hissed at that, and Solrath heard her wings flaring. “I am,” she insisted. “I am the equal of any other dragon. I have twice tried to become Overlord…and twice I have been stopped, by Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha.”
Solrath’s ear-crests flared at that. “And yet he did not make himself Overlord,” the eldest dragon noted.
Claxokarthelornarux snorted, and Solrath heard her settling down into a sitting position. “I do not understand that one,” she complained. “He lairs within the black spire itself but I have never known him to flaunt his hoard. He has prevented me from becoming Overlord but did not claim the title for himself. Why?”
Solrath hadn’t known of Claxokarthelornarux’s ongoing disputes with the more powerful dragon, but he did know of Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha in general, and had long ago figured out the peculiar quirks of the mighty black dragon. In some ways they mirrored his own. “Because he does not want there to be a dragon Overlord, obviously.”
The answer didn’t seem to appease Claxokarthelornarux. “Why?” She demanded.
“It’s not something you would ever understand,” Solrath answered. Solrath himself only understood it because, like Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha, he had something other than Draconic greed driving him, which allowed him to look at dragons almost from the outside and see the deep flaws in their race’s ‘society’, such as it was. The difference was that the other dragon had grown to despair at them, while Solrath intended to use them to his advantage.
Solrath took a few more moments to think over what Claxokarthelornarux was saying, then chuckled to himself. “So,” he said, having put it together fairly easily. “You wish for me to kill your two main rivals, then go somewhere and die. You will make yourself Overlord.” He hissed. “Rather than becoming stronger yourself, you have elected to merely kill those stronger than you. Not a very Draconic thing to do.”
Claxokarthelornarux snarled. “We have been too long without an Overlord. When was the last great Draconic raid? When was the last time a dragon increased its hoard by taking from one of the lesser mortals, instead of each other?” She leaned in to Solrath. “Our numbers here dwindle, Solrathicharnon-Charir-Uskirlymzolthurkear, have you noticed that? There is not enough treasure for our whelps. The scraps they get are hardly enough to fuel their growths. The youngest generation, those that do manage to claw their way to adulthood, are soft and weak.” She growled again, leaning away from Solrath. “I will become Overlord and change that.”
The eldest dragon wondered if Claxokarthelornarux really believed what she was saying, if she had somehow twisted her own greed and lust for the power of the Overlord in her mind into some grand design to save the Dragon race. She wasn’t stupid and had to know that any treasure she gained from some grand attack on the lesser mortals would be paid for dearly, with thousands of dragon deaths in the process of gaining it. Perhaps she really did have some plan to become Overlord and use the violence and increase in hoard size to hopefully bring about a resurgence of Draconic power, gather enough treasure that dragons wouldn’t fear spawning a legion of new whelps.
More likely it was just a line that Claxokarthelornarux was feeding Solrath and intended to feed to any dragons who asked once she was Overlord. After all, thousands of dragons dying at once would mean a substantial decrease in competition – and an awful lot of treasure hoards would be up for grabs.
It didn’t really matter either way, since both would work towards Solrath’s plans quite nicely. “Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha I shall slay at my leisure,” he said. “But what makes you think that I have any ability to overcome the Alicorn Amulet?”
Claxokarthelornarux chuckled. “I don’t know for certain,” she said. “But I pay attention. You are hiding something under your heart scale. You almost used it against Spike, but reconsidered at the last moment. What is it?”
Solrath considered. “Tell me of the Alicorn Amulet first,” he said. “It is a pony weapon, obviously. Where does it come from? Who made it? And what are its limits?”
Claxokarthelornarux hissed a little in annoyance about not getting to learn about Solrath’s secret weapon, but answered the eldest dragon anyway. “Unlike most, you and I both know the value of letters and words,” she answered. “I have read the legends and tales of the lesser mortals. The Alicorn Amulet is obscure even there, but I have read of it. Perhaps it was created by Tirek to tempt mortals. Or perhaps it contains the trapped soul of an alicorn. One legend suggests that it was made by a pony named Sombra, by sacrificing and binding the life-force of a powerful pony from each tribe. None know for certain.
“What is known,” Claxokartheloranrux pressed on, before Solrath could grow too annoyed, “is that when a pony wears it, it enhances their natural abilities. A unicorn becomes a mighty mage. A pegasus becomes capable of flying faster than sound and creating hurricane-force squalls. An earth pony can lift ten times what it could before and is all but invulnerable, and the land around it will blossom and grow. But the Amulet is…seductive in its power. It drives the pony wearing it to madness, especially the more it is used. And it can only be removed by its wearer willingly – or if it is slain.”
Solrath growled low. “Spike is not a pony,” he noted glancing down out of habit, even if it did nothing. “But the effect seems…similar. He can grow as though he is gathering a hoard of any size, at will. He is stronger and tougher as well…but…”
“That is it,” Claxokarthelornarux said. “He becomes a mighty dragon, a powerful dragon, worthy in body, if not in mind, of being Overlord…but he is still just a dragon.” She hissed. “Now then. Your weapon, Solrathicharnon-Charir-Uskirlymzolthurkear? Can it be used to overcome a dragon?”
Solrath’s left hand reached up, tapping at his heart scale as he considered. The Rainbow of Darkness…a power equal to that of the Elements of Harmony, it was said. Greater than Luna or Celestia. The secret weapon of Tirek that had allowed him alone to stand up against two alicorns together. A force of corruption and evil and darkness as old as the world, a tool perhaps created by Discord himself…
It certainly sounded like it should have been more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet. But there was no way to know, was there? Not unless he actually tried it out. But not on himself – not until he knew the effect it might have on him.
Fortunately, he had a test subject right here.
Solrath’s removed the Rainbow of Darkness from beneath his heart scale and opened the bag that contained it. It poured out eagerly, and was already responding to Solrathicharnon’s will as he flicked a finger at Claxokarthelornarux, who had roared in surprise, wings beating. She tried to get away from the Darkness, tried to fly, but it washed over her hind legs quickly and pulled her back down at Solrath’s mental whim.
“Is it more powerful?” Solrath hissed, as the silver dragon screamed.. “Let’s find out.”
---
“You’re curious about my history,” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs-Vutha said as he took Cheerilee and Raindrops into his hands, spread his wings, and flew them down towards the basalt beach that bordered the lava pool. “But there is not much to it. I was born as any other dragon, hatched here in the Forge. I fought for my hoard, grew in power, set up a lair beyond the Dragon’s Forge, in between the nations of Cavallia and Zaldia.”
He landed, setting the ponies down on the beach, then leaned down, looking at them closely. “My lair was stumbled across by a pony one day, while I was in the middle of a long slumber. The pony stole from my hoard. When I woke and learned of the theft, I flew into a rage. I used my magic and learned that the thief now resided in Roam, the Cavallian capital.”
“Wait,” Cheerilee interrupted, “magic? I’m guessing you mean spells…dragons have spells?”
The black dragon snorted. “Yes, a dragon who cares to try can cast some spells, though few ever bothered to even before our numbers started dwindling. Our magic is not as profound as that of a unicorn, but mighty and powerful in its own right.” He cocked his head back at the black tower. “How do you suppose that is kept intact? Or the magic Spike uses to transport objects?”
Cheerilee and Raindrops glanced at one another, then shrugged. “Makes sense,” Raindrops said. She looked back to Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs. “Sooo…I’m going to guess what happened next: Princess Cadenza didn’t like a big, black dragon appearing at Roam threatening to burn the place down.”
“No, she did not.” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs confirmed, chuckling slightly. “I attacked her when she impaired my progress to the thief’s home. We fought. She won. And as I lay on the ground in one of Roam’s parks, battered and bruised and wondering how something so small could hit like a falling mountain, she demanded to know why I had come to Roam. I told her of the thief.
“That is when she left me, and then returned within the hour with Bagliore Felice, the thief that had stolen from me. She made him apologize, and return what he had stolen from me – what he had not spent, in any event. She punished him by indenturing him, making him work in her palace until he had earned enough to repay the remainder of what he had taken from me, which took him five years.”
Cheerilee blinked. “Indentured? Cavallia outlawed indenturing almost sixty years ago…” she trailed off when she noticed the black dragon staring at her. “Oh, right,” she chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. “Dragon. You live a long time.”
“Eight hundred and seventy years, so far,” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs informed her. “In any event, I did not escape without punishment. I, too, was indentured, forced to aid in the rebuilding of those parts of Roam that had been damaged or destroyed in the battle by digging a new quarry and aiding in the cutting of stone from it. I chafed at this punishment and tried to escape several times. My attempts to do early in my imprisonment so resulted in additional battles, which damaged further parts of Cavallia and increased the length of my indenture. In the end I spent twenty years under Cadenza’s yoke.”
“But I did not merely scrape away at stone. On discovering that I did not know letters and words, Cadenza taught them to me, supposedly so that I would be more useful at digging. And not merely any random rock that I dug up could be used. Ponies had to show me what earth to dig up, what they were looking for, what they needed. They had to talk to me. I had to talk back. Not all our talks were about stone – not after the first three years or so, once I learned that escape was impossible. I learned of the pony concepts of family and friends, I saw how working together ponies could accomplish things that no one of them could. I considered the Dragon’s Forge,” he waved a claw at the surrounding landscape, “and compared it to Roam, and I knew which was the more impressive.”
He shook his head. “In time, my indenture ended. I returned to my lair and found it undisturbed – because Princess Cadenza had posted a detachment of her Honor Guard to protect it while I labored, a guard that left once I returned. And as I sat in a dark, dank cavern, atop a bed of treasure that meant nothing to me save merely having it, as I compared it to all that I had seen in Roam and in Cavallia…as I sat there, alone for the first time in twenty years, with nothing to do, nopony to talk to…I realized how magnificently stupid my race is.”
Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs stood, looking out at the dragons again. “I returned to the Forge. I wanted to find a dragon to talk to, to connect to. A dragon that I could speak to as I had learned to speak to ponies. I wanted a friend.” He looked down at himself. “But…there was no hope of that. A smaller dragon would only ever suborn itself to me, and then only for as long as I was physically present. Those as big as me, or bigger, saw me as a threat. I thought to perhaps try and raise some whelps…” he shook his head. “But so far, the only effect of that has been to give the whelps the idea of roaming in gangs, of working with each other to increase the chances of their own survival – until they become strong enough to leave the gang and become adults, usually while also ensuring that the rest of their gang cannot gain the same opportunity.”
The black dragon grunted. “For a time I considered becoming Overlord, making dragons change. I think I am strong enough that I could…but I am not so strong that I could remain Overlord under those conditions, that I could force dragons to follow me without offering them the chance for plunder and raiding the lesser mortals – without allowing dragons to give into the very natures that are killing us as a race. I am strong enough, at least, to prevent any other dragon that would become Overlord.”
Cheerilee and Raindrops both considered, glancing Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs over and then looking back to the black tower. “And that’s where Spike comes in,” Raindrops guessed. “He is strong enough, as long as he has that Amulet. And he wasn’t raised by dragons, so he doesn’t really think like one. But…but it’s corrupting him, somehow. At least I hope it is, that he isn’t normally that…unstable.”
“He was not when he first arrived,” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs informed them. “But I have watched his trinket slowly drive him insane. It preys upon his mind, has made him fixate on his recent past – on the abandonment and loss that he has suffered. I think he came to the Forge hoping to learn of his parents, not knowing that no dragon truly has a parent. The betrayal of Zecora, his time with Corona, and his encounter with a pony named Twilight Sparkle…they have wounded him. I have tried to help him, but as the Alicorn Amulet’s influence over him grows…I can now act only as his adviser. Help steer him away from the worst of what he is now capable of.”
“Alicorn Amulet?” Raindrops asked. She looked down in thought, before her eyes widened. “Wait. Is that its name, or are you just calling it that ‘cause it looks like an alicorn?”
The black dragon considered. “It is its name,” he said. “Another dragon, Claxokarthelornarux, knows of it and has told me. Why? Are you familiar with it?”
“No, but a friend of ours is,” Raindrops said, looking to Cheerilee. “Remember? While we were away at Oaton, Carrot Top had that catering thing, or something, for Vicereine Puissance’s birthday. But it all went to Tartaros when there was a Discordian or something, there was a break-in to one of Puissance’s vaults and an artifact was stolen. The Alicorn Amulet.”
Cheerilee put a hoof to her head, trying to think. “Sort of…” she said. “I can’t really remember…Carrot Top isn’t that great at telling stories, and plus like you said Oaton had just happened. I was still thinking about Tarnished and Shiny, I think.”
Raindrops fluttered her wings as she turned to face Cheerilee fully. “I don’t remember too much,” she said, “but I do definitely remember that name, the Alicorn Amulet, that it can only be taken off if the wearer wants to take it off, and that it will drive whoever’s wearing it crazy.” She looked back up to the black dragon. “He needs to take that thing off. Like, right now.”
“It is the only reason he is Overlord,” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs said. “The only reason why he has dragons following him – which, remember, is the closest he can get to having them be his friends or family, something he desires more than anything. Getting him to take it off will be nearly impossible.”
“Maybe not,” Cheerilee said, tapping a hoof to her mouth as she thought.
---
“I mean, it is obviously affecting him…but he did seem resistant, too. Like he has good moments and bad moments. Maybe if we can just tell him what we know about it, convince him to just take it off even for a little bit, that will be enough.”
Spike’s claws dug into the obsidian orb that he held, within which was an image of the two ponies and Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs, his supposed friend, talking about taking away the Alicorn Amulet. Those…those jerks! It was his! Didn’t they get that? He just needed it to stay Overlord, then he could make things better for dragons, and they’d be his friends…
“Not take it away,” Cheerilee continued, and Spike’s ear-crests flared at the words. “We should really emphasize that point, that he can hold onto it. I don’t think he’d listen to us if he thought we were trying to steal it.”
“But we are going to, right?” Raindrops asked.
Spike hissed, his tongue flicking out, and he snorted green fire.
“No,” Cheerilee said. “We’d have to convince him to give it up himself. But that’s not what we need to focus on right now, we just need to focus on getting it off of him. We have to help him.”
Cheerilee was smarter than she looked, Spike decided as he leaned back in the throne he sat on. He realized after a moment that he was glowing red, and had grown a few feet in height at the thought of ponies trying to steal from him. Jerks – foolish, lesser mortal creatures, trying to take what was his, trying to take from his hoard, his dragons…trying to…
…help him.
Spike groaned a little, closing his eyes and letting the orb fall from his hands as he put his hands to his head, concentrated hard on returning to his normal size. Which, oddly considering that he was sitting in a room full of treasure that was all his, was still just that of a small dragon whelp. Maybe because even though it was all his it just…didn’t feel right. He hadn’t earned it, after all, it had just been sitting here, the plunder of thousands of years of raiding and pillaging, a hoard reserved for the Overlord – or at least whatever dragon could break into the obsidian tower and steal the hoard.
That wouldn’t have mattered to a real dragon, though, would it? Spike took his hands from his head, leaning back in his throne and considering, glancing down at the amulet he wore. It was why he was Overlord. It was the source of his power. It looked pretty awesome, too, truth be told.
But it was just a necklace. Spike reached up, grabbed it, and pulled it off of his neck easily. And he felt…no different at all. There was no feeling of dark magic leaving him, though a test showed that he indeed didn’t have the power of the Amulet anymore. As he scratched his neck he considered that the ponies were probably wrong. He was fine, obviously. The Amulet was doing him no harm, and he was using it for a good purpose, right? Though in hindsight that whole conquer Elkheim thing was probably pretty crazy. But that wasn’t the Amulet’s fault, he was just new at this whole Overlord thing! He’d get things right, and then –
“Overlord!”
---
The ponies jumped at the sound, while Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs himself turned in its direction, snarling and spreading his wings instinctively. The call had come from the sky above them…
There. Soaring from the lip of the caldera and towards the basalt beach, ignoring the dragons that got in their way, were two dragons. One was Solrath, and the other…the other was some kind of monster. Her scales were like tarnished silver. Her front claws were impossibly long, even for a dragon, and as she landed she had to curl her fingers and rest on her knuckles. Her horns were long and twisted and covered in spines, and so for that matter was her back, her elbows, everywhere. She rippled with muscle, her scales seeming to strained and oozing some kind of black pus in places.
She was as big as Solrath, but more massive – and she looked familiar. “Is…is that Clax?” Raindrops asked without thinking, forgetting the longer name that dragons demanded.
Claxokarthelornarux’ head whipped around at the sound, even though the two ponies and one dragon were hundreds of feet away from her. “I warned you, whelps!” she screamed, her voice furious as she spread her wings and launched herself forward.
Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs interposed himself between the ponies and Claxokarthelornarux, breathing black fire that washed over the monstrous dragon. The silver dragon stopped short as the fire washed over her, crying out in surprise – and pain. When the gout of fire receded, parts of her were still on fire, the black pus that leaked from her scales and mouth still alight – and hurting her. She clawed at the flames, putting them out, but doing so forced her to injure herself thanks to how big and sharp her claws had become, one attempt even cutting a gash near her right eye.
The black dragon stared at her in confusion; his fire had been meant only to challenge her, not burn her. Fire wasn’t supposed to burn a dragon at all, no matter how hot. “What has happened to you?” he demanded. He steeled himself. “And why would you go against the Overlord’s command to leave the ponies alone?” Other dragons in the Forge, meanwhile, had started to gather, looking on with interest.
Claxokarthelornarux roared aloud, head whipping around to Solrath now that the fires on her were finally out. “I’ll kill – ” she began.
Solrath held up a hand, revealing something there – a bag of some kind, from which something black like tar oozed and poured but evaporated before hitting the ground. He squeezed the bag, and Claxokarthelornarux doubled over and roared in pain.
“She is not quite what she used to be,” Solrath explained to Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs. “I honestly don’t know what the Rainbow of Darkness – ”
“The what?!” Cheerilee exclaimed.
“ – might have done to her mind,” the eldest dragon continued without pausing, “but no matter.” He turned to the obsidian tower. “Overlord Spike! You have a challenger!”
As more dragons gathered, Claxokarthelornarux writhed in pain and hate, and Solrath and Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs waited, Raindrops looked to Cheerilee, who’s eyes had grown large and fur was standing on end. “Rainbow of Darkness?” Raindrops asked.
“Short version, it’s Tirek’s, and it’s bad,” Cheerilee responded, cantering a little to look beyond Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs and get a better view of Claxokarthelornarux, who had picked herself up and was quivering in a mix of pain and anger, glaring at Solrath. The other dragons that had gathered near looked on in interest themselves; one caught Claxokarthelornarux’s eye and said or did something to set her off. She breathed out fire at him, but it was fire that was laced with some kind of black bile. The fire caused no harm to the dragon it landed on, but the bile burned and hissed on the dragon’s scales and eye that it landed on, and he fell away, clawing at the bile and roaring in pain. The other gathered dragons gave Claxokarthelornarux a very wide berth at that.
“How is every single evil artifact from history showing up here today?” Cheerilee demanded, stepping back to the relative safety of being beside Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs.
Raindrops tried to run through her ancient Equestrian history, but was drawing a blank, either from the situation or because she just had plain forgotten it since it had been awhile since she’d been in school. “Okay, what can the Rainbow of Darkness do?”
Cheerilee looked at Raindrops. “Anything, as long as it’s evil,” she said. “Supposedly it’s like some kind of…I guess a good way of putting it would be a counter to the Elements of Harmony. It’s just…evil. Pure evil.” She looked to Solrath. “It’s Tirek’s, and he used to use it to turn ponies into…things. He’s supposed to have it still with him in Tartaros. How did Solrath get it? And how is Corona okay with him having it? Even at her worst there is no way she’s that crazy!”
“Maybe she doesn’t know,” Raindrops said. “Back in Tambelon Corona basically said that Solrath isn’t really on her side, so much as against Princess Luna.” Raindrops looked down at her chest, the Element of Honesty that she wore there. “We…we need backup. This had officially become a blast-it-with-Harmony situation.”
“Yeah, only how are we supposed to do that?” Cheerilee asked. “Everypony else is hundreds of miles away!”
The dragons all around began roaring, and the two ponies turned to look. Spike had emerged from the top of the tower, still wearing the Alicorn Amulet, and looking down at Claxokarthelornarux and Solrath. “What did you do to her?” Spike demanded. He pointed at the Rainbow of Darkness. “What the hay is that?”
Solrath grinned, then spread his wings and arms wide. “Claxokarthelornarux challenges you, Overlord Spike,” he said, holding the Rainbow of Darkness over his head and squeezing it. The silver dragon roared in pain, bile dripping from her mouth and wings spreading wide. “Defeat her if you can.”
Spike growled, touching the Alicorn Amulet and growing in size as he climbed to the top of the tower – reaching a length somewhere between Solrath’s and the giant form he had taken earlier. He glared down at Solrath. “Okay, no,” he said, voice booming. “I am positive that you can’t use magic to make a dragon fight me if she doesn’t really want to.” He pointed at Solrath. “Especially not since you’re just doing this ‘cause you’re afraid to fight me personally! You wanna fight me? Do it yourself!”
The other dragons looked to Solrath at that, but the red dragon seemed unperturbed. “Oh no, you misunderstand,” he said. “Claxokarthelornarux wants nothing more than to be Overlord. She told me.” He turned to look to the silver dragon, and held the bag forward. “I am merely enabling her.” Solrath turned to Claxokarthelornarux fully, holding forward the Rainbow of Darkness and squeezing the bag again. Claxokarthelornarux roared in pain, clutching at her head, eyes wide. They were glazing over, like black oil was creeping across them and turning them jet black.
Then the silver dragon threw her head back and roared, letting loose silver flame, bile spilling forth from her mouth and searing the rock beneath her – as well as her own scales. She took to the air, the action scattering black pus everywhere that burned the dragons in touched, and paused a moment in the air.
“I’LL KILL YOU! I WILL BE OVERLORD!”
Claxokarthelornarux dived for the obsidian tower then, breathing a line of fire and bile at Spike. The larger-but-younger dragon leaped into the air to avoid it. The silver dragon collided claws first with the obsidian tower, ripping and tearing at the stone for a few moments before taking once more to the air and soaring after Spike. As she closed in, he turned to take the attack head-on. That was when spines suddenly and messily burst from his foe’s body, each a foot long and glistening with a liquid probably better left unidentified.
The Overlord roared in pain as the silver dragon collided with him and some of the spines found their way past his scales and to the flesh beneath. He breathed green fire on Claxokarthelornarux, igniting the pus and bile on her and sending her flying away in pain, but she quickly banked in the air and came at him again, not bothering to put out the flames this time in spite of the pain. One clawed arm, which had grown longer than the others, lashed out at Spike, even as her wings grew in size but the membranes of them didn’t quite keep up, tearing small holes in them that, unfortunately, didn’t seem to affect her ability to fly at all.
Raindrops stared in horror at the fight. The earlier battles she had seen had been brutal in their own way, yes, but they had simply involved two titans struggling physically, a larger version of what any pony could do. But this…what Claxokarthelornarux had become, was transforming into – she hardly looked draconic anymore under all those spines. Raindrops spared a glance at Cheerilee before beating her wings, taking to the sky and soaring up to reach eye level with Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs. “Do something!” she demanded.
The black dragon looked to her. “Like what?” He demanded.
“I don’t know! Anything!” She threw her hooves into the air. “This has to be against the rules – ”
“Dragons have no rules,” Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs growled, eyes narrowing. “That is what I was telling you, pony! There is nothing saying that Solrath can’t use another dragon to fight for him! All that matters is whether the Overlord can survive.”
“Then there’s nothing saying you can’t go and kick his flank!” Raindrops countered, pointing a hoof at Solrath. “You don’t want anything bad to happen to Spike but bad is all that’s going to happen if this keeps on going!”
Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs paused a moment at that, looking to Solrath. The red dragon’s eyes were closed, both hands closed over the Rainbow of Darkness. He was probably following the battle nevertheless, however – his ability to sense magic allowing him to track both Spike and Claxokarthelornarux without difficulty. The black dragon growled low. “I always knew I’d have to, sooner or later,” he hissed, spreading his wings wide, then launching himself forward. Raindrops watched closely. The black dragon was nearly as large as Solrath, faster, younger, healthier, not blind, not occupied with the fight going on, attacking from surprise. He had every advantage…
---
Just as Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs’ jaws were about to close on the nearest part of Solrath, however – just as his claws were about to start rending and tearing – Solrath moved, somehow anticipating the attack. The red dragon used his wings to propel himself backwards several dozen feet, while his thick tail came down on Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs’ back, sending the black dragon sprawling to the ground in surprise.
Normally the fight would have been nowhere near over, but the circumstances were not normal. Solrath held the Rainbow of Darkness forward, and black tendrils lashed out from the bag, wrapping around the black dragon and sending him tumbling to the ground, then roaring in pain as they grew thorns that dug under his scales.
The other dragons nearby roared in surprise at the sight, while Solrath only used his tail to knock Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs away, rolling him and causing the thorns to dig deeper. “I could hear you coming from miles away, whelp,” the red dragon said, tail thumping the ground in anger. He glanced to the two Elements of Harmony. “And do not think that I have forgotten either of you.”
Overhead, meanwhile, Spike roared in pain as Claxokarthelornarux’s claws found his chest and dug a deep furrow in his scales there before he could escape, diving down and low over the lava pool that surrounded the obsidian tower. The silver dragon followed, the black pus across her scales once more igniting due to the heat, but she no longer seemed to care as she came up and over Spike, lashing out and forcing him down. By then he was over the ‘beach’ of basalt and was barely able to get his feet under him, nearby dragons scattering as he skidded to a halt near the ponies, but paid them no mind. He reared up and roared in anger, amulet glowing and making him swell in size once more – to the form he had taken before, the dragon four times the size of Solrath.
Most of the other dragons on the beach, and both of the two ponies, scattered in fear at the sheer size of Spike. But Solrath held his ground, and Claxokarthelornarux didn’t even slow down as she collided with his chest spines-first. The Overlord grunted but took it, grabbing the silver dragon by the shoulders and ignoring the pain as he tore her off of him and roared in her face.
“You can’t be Overlord!” Spike exclaimed, his voice rocking the very earth and once more sibilant as his eyes glowed red. “I’m Overlord! I’m the ruler of all dragonss! They’re MINE!”
Spike slammed Claxokarthelornarux into the ground with a sickening crunch, lifted her up, and threw her towards the lava. She didn’t waste any time, however, in standing back up and roaring. The Overlord matched the roar. “I WON’T BE ALONE AGAIN!” He hissed. “I WON’T BE ABANDONED AGAIN! I’M OVERLORD! NOT YOU! NOT SSOLRATH! ME!”
Spike leaped forward at Claxokartheloranrux. She twisted to the side, however – and then seemed to grow, neck and tail and arms and legs elongating and coiling around the Overlord, who roared in surprise at the sudden mutation. Her own neck twisted around his a few times and began to squeeze even as her jaws closed around one of his wings and bit down. Spines grew across her body, and her bile burned him.
The Overlord struggled, twisted, turned, breathed fire, clawed at the creature wrapped around him that could no longer rightly be called a dragon, and his eyes and the Alicorn Amulet both glowed an angry crimson. But it was in vain. He fell to all four legs, then stumbled to the ground.
Spike sucked in breath, eyes wide, looking at the other dragons even as he tried to pull Claxokarthelornarux from his neck – he may not have needed to breathe, but he did need to take in air to speak, to cry out. He spotted a familiar face in the crowd of dragons that stood in the jungle that surrounded the basalt beach – Hesjingrasvim, still clutching the golden statue that Spike had given him earlier.
Spike managed to get enough of the creature – she could no longer rightly be called a dragon – off of his neck to cry out. “HELP ME!”
The dragons all looked puzzled at that – none more so than Hesjingrasvim. “Why?” The green dragon asked confusedly.
Spike managed to pull more of Claxokarthelornarux off of him, enough to get a good grip on her and just rip her off – a singularly painful experience as he threw the aberration off of him and towards the lava. She shrank down on herself again, somewhat, and needed to take time to untangle her own limbs. The Overlord didn’t press his advantage, though – he couldn’t. He was in a lot of pain, was breathing heavily – dragons still did that sometimes, it was a way to regulate…something, Spike didn’t know his own anatomy very well. If not for the Alicorn Amulet he probably would have been dead by now.
He pointed at Hesjingrasvim. “Becausse…” He hissed, “If…if I losse…you’ll all end up like her!” He pointed at the silver “dragon”. “Big Red over there will turn you all into that! Do you want that?”
“She’s winning,” a dragon pointed out. “Yeah, I want that!”
Spike’s eyes grew wide at that. He tried to step forward, but stumbled thanks to his wounds. “But…” he tried, “But…I’m the Overlord! You have to…to do what I say!”
“Not if you’re losing,” a small, beige dragon – Rachvaeri, the first dragon Spike had faced earlier – said, looking as confused as all the other dragons did.
Spike looked between her and the other dragons, who were nodding in agreement. “B-but…” He said, his voice dropping in volume, somehow now only barely above his normal speaking voice. His eyes lost their red glow, as well. “But…I – I need your help,” he said. “I – I’m a dragon, just like you! I don’t – I don’t even care about being Overlord – I just want…I just want…”
There was movement behind Spike. He turned to look, and saw Claxokarthelornarux standing tall, having freed herself from her own limbs. She was growing, too, swelling up to his size. She was covered in spines from snout to tail now, even across the digits of her wings. Her teeth were too large for her mouth, which no longer seemed to open right – it was more like that of a lamprey. And very little of her silver scales could be discerned beneath the black pus that oozed out from beneath them, or the black, caustic bile that leaked from her mouth.
She looked like a nightmare – like hate itself given form. And her black, blank eyes left no doubt as to her intention.
---
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Spike,” Solrath said. Spike looked to him – Solrath could all but see Spike thanks to the Alicorn Amulet he wore, lighting him up brilliantly in the red dragon’s magical sight just as much as the ponies’ Elements of Harmony lit up them, several hundred feet away still.
Solrath was standing about as far away from Spike, well outside of the range that the still very large and very powerful dragon could reach him quickly with a surprise rush. Not that one was likely to come, not now that this whelp’s spirit was being utterly broken and shattered.
The eldest dragon held the Rainbow of Darkness up, on the flat of his palm for all to see. “It doesn’t matter what you want,” the red dragon repeated. “Because Claxokarthelornarux is going to kill you. But she can only do it because of my power.” He smiled a smile that was completely without humor or cheer as his blind eyes swept over the gathered dragons. He heard a large number of them let out roars and gasps, one or two even almost saying something before being silenced by others. Solrath’s smile grew. “I control the Rainbow of Darkness. I can grant this power to any dragon – and take it away with a thought. Spike has…had…a trinket. I have power itself, and none can oppose me!
“I am Solrathicharnon-Charir-Uskirlymzolthurkear, and I am the Overlord of All Dragons, and – ”
And something small – about the weight of a light earth pony, or a heavy pegasus – landed on his palm, grabbed the Rainbow of Darkness, and then leaped back into the air.
“This is a bad idea!” Raindrops exclaimed.
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OOOhhhhh......perhaps someone will be joining them in Ponyville after all. I'd like to see what Cheerilee would do with a dragon assistant.
It's official.
Raindrops has the biggest bunch of chutzpah in the universe.
Raindrops better be careful, touching evil artifacts can't be good for you, even just in passing.
Are the other dragons too stupid to realize what the Rainbow of Darkness has done to Claxoc 's mind, to even ask for the same "gift "?
So... Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs is the dragon that wants dragons to change, and the only one that understands Spike wants family. He wants to help Spike but... given his history "helping" whelps, only convincing them to band together until a certain age, he doesn't quite do the thing with friendship and family right, since he couldn't inspire the whelps he raised to see him as either.
... I think that Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs could solve Spike's abandonment problem himself but doesn't... really understand he can, yet.
I wonder if ponies could help him figure that out.
Well, things certainly escalated quickly. I must say, I was a little surprised to see Solrath using the Rainbow of Darkness so openly, even identifying it by name no less. I wonder if maybe his own draconic greed is getting the better of him.
Although I must say, it was perhaps even more interesting to get insight into Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs's past and how he came to his belief that dragons are a doomed race. It really goes to show that Friendship is Magic not just in the literal sense but in how it changes people for the better. Likewise, poor Spike, all he ever wanted was companionship, but being the overlord isn't about having friends, quite the opposite really.
6258898
In some ways, yes, the other dragons really are that "stupid" More so however, it's a matter of GREED. Greed is the single most driving force in dragon psychology, not only for material wealth, but for power... after all for dragons the two are one and the same.
6259239
Agreed, and I certainly hope things work out that way. It'd be good for both of them... and who knows, maybe in time it could help all dragons.
6259592
I can't decide if I think I want to see Spike returned to pony civilization, go to live with Twilight (where she's forgiven and Spike would probably have the same treatment, probably going to do the errand-boy thing for Twilight as well) or I want to see him stay with dragons to be an example of one that knows emotional bonds.
6259942
Thing is there really isn't any connection waiting for Spike back in Ponyville. Unlike on the show Twilight isn't the one who raised him as her #1 assistant, and instead she's just a random pony he met once. Rather here in the Lunaverse it Zecora that Spike had the close bonded relationship with Spike. Ideally it might be nice if once this whole Corona thing passes he and Zecora could reconcile, but until then I think Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs might just be the best guardian/role-model available.
Besides, Spike leaving to go live with ponies would still leave Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs without any companionship. Much as dragon society (or rather lack there of) might be flawed, I think it's rather sad to think that neither of them can be happy with there own kind. Better I think if the can be both together and just maybe provide an example for other dragons to follow.
6260090
Well... Twilight and he parted on good terms. If he were to go back to Ponyville, he would find himself in a similar situation to Twilight, being someone who thinks that ponies as a whole would hate him for his previous connections and finding they don't. It's the kind of thing where he could go through the same sort of things she did, and find someone to relate to. While that doesn't automatically mean "he's definitely going to go to the same role as he has in canon" it could go in that direction.
I was going to say I didn't think Sjach was particularly lonely, based on how he didn't intervene on Spike's behalf until halfway through it, then attacked Solrath rather than saving Spike from Darkness'd Clax... but he did say he wanted companionship. Makes that angle seem more likely, to me.
Another amazing chapter. I love your interpretation of dragon society and thought processes. Great job.
6260090
So far, I haven't seen much evidence that the dragons are capable of learning from the example of those two. Right now, we have Solrath with the Rainbow of Darkness, having turned another dragon into...well, pure, unadulterated nightmare fuel. Leaking black puss to the point where it covers her whole body, a misshapen jaw that doesn't close right, toppling over the edge of madness.
And this group of Eisenstein's are like "Aw yeah, gotta get me some of that!"
So, no self preservation instinct at all. Or at the very least, it is so warped that they'll take a short term boost in power at the extent of long term survivability. Cause I don't see Clax being able to survive long term as the misshapen monster that she just got warped into.
It really does show off why dragon kind is screwing itself into extinction.
6261497
If you're curious, by the way, she's heavily inspired by the Jabberwocky. Except...worse. Probably because I associate "pure evil" with Armus thanks to being a Trek nerd.
6261518
Quick! Someone throw Spike a Vorpal Sword!
Oldest dragon to have ever lived, that is most impressive.
Ouch, low blow.
Yes, but why not?
Hm.
If you say so, but, you can't beat Solrath or the other guy, and Spike beat both.
WHo knows?
Clever girl.
None of the options particularly appeals to me.
Oh god, I shudder to think how powerful a unicorn of the likes of Twilight, or someone as fast as Rainbow Dash or someone as strong as Big Mac would be if they put on the Amulet.
But...
Nah, doesn't feel like something Discord would do, Sombra I'd believe, or G1 Tirek, but, Discord? It honestly doesn't feel like something he'd make.
WISE MOVE.
Oh shit...
Eep.
Oh that's just fan-f*cking-tastic. As if dragons weren't dangerous enough.
Fair enough.
That'd probably it.
She may be a lot smaller and not quite as powerful as Corona or Luna, but she is an alicorn in her own right.
Yikes.
Oh yeah.
870 years huh? Nearly as old as Yoda. But, good to know Cadence is a badass.
Heh. Ponies may be small, but they can be awesome.
And there you have it.
Of course.
I see.
So you're a sort of Morality Pet. Guess even dragons can't resist the full effects of the Alicorn Amulet.
More like a friend of hers does.
It's the only reason he's the Overlord and until Solrath is dead, he's gonna need it to keep him in line.
What are you scheming?
Probably not, no.
Yep.
Aye. Feels empty, don't it?
It kinda does.
I'd say it's a bit of both.
Oh god, what have you done, Solrath... Also, seeming to strain, not strained.
Yep.
Wait a minute, dragons are immune to dragonfire, guess the dark magic of the Rainbow is weakening her.
This reminds me of when Beast Wars Megatron halves Rampage's spark and kept half in a box lined with spikes of raw Energon, as a way to keep him under control.
OK, he's bold.
HAH! Bad doesn't even begin to describe it. Guess even her fire is contaminated by the darkness.
*gives author the stink-eye*
Turn ponies into these horrific dragon like things, turn a healthy and intelligent dragon into that thing, and who knows what else.
It's TartarUs. And I doubt she is, and he's not really on her side, more like against Princess Luna as well.
Agreed, but everyone else is too far away.
Bad news.
Fairly certain you're right, but is taunting the guy with the Evil one handed equivalent of the EOH such a good idea.
She's insane. And shouldn't it be OverLADY? She is a woman, ah forget it, she's nuts. Or is this a case of She's The King?
Of course not.
of course.
Except Solrath had the Rainbow of Darkness.
*sigh* See?
Let's hope it works, she may be on fire, but she doesn't seem to care anymore.
Spike, calm down, please!
That thing is a monster. It's no dragon anymore.
Probably.
She's also a Draconoid ABOMINATION! LITERALLY! She's not a dragon anymore, she's an abomination! A monster of darkness, driven mad!
DIstilled Nightmare Fuel. Again, not even a monster now, she's a thing.
Badass Boast check.
I, wow. Wow. Raindrops. I give you officially the title of The Ballsiest Of Them All. This pony has IMMENSE chutzpah.
6261518
You remember Armus?
6266728
I remember a lot of stuff that probably I should have forgotten in favor of doing my math or Spanish or something homework, back when I was in high school...
Crap.
That's some really interesting backstory for Sjach. Ponies just never stop meddling, do they? If we get a renewed shot at life for the draconic race out of this it will be entirely due to non-dragon causes.
Woah. It's interesting that even just eavesdropping on that other conversation was enough to prompt Spike to do a little bit of testing with the Amulet. It must really have a different effect on dragons as opposed to on ponies.
Wow, this is going really, really badly. Spike is getting his butt kicked, Sjach is getting his butt kicked, everyone else is mostly just watching and hoping to not be next.
Poor Spike, what a time to have your eyes opened about the true nature of your species.
Yes, yes it is, but it's also about the only possible idea that doesn't involve widespread death starting right here at the Forge and spreading out from there. Solrath as the Overlord and armed with the Rainbow of Darkness bodes pretty poorly for the entire planet.
Man, I am really glad I went with my own ideas for the Dragon Clans and ignored the show. Really, really glad. I think Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs would actually enjoy it.
Also, what the fuck happened to Clax?! I mean I know, but still, holy shit! Solrath's got some fire and brimstone coming for that.
And poor Spike, too.