Atonement for a Wayward Dragoon

by Belligerent Bindlestiff

By Leaps and Bounds

By Leaps and Bounds

The great dragon spread his wings, unveiling a red hued underside that made the dragon appear even larger than before. He made his way over a hill of coins and looked down at Kain. “What’s this? Do my eyes deceive me or does this pony wear armor that looks like my kin? For your sake, you’d better hope it isn’t made of the scales of dragons; otherwise your death will not be quick.”

“I am Kain Highwind.” The dragoon said, remaining still. “I have come to make an oath bond with the lead dragon of this keep.”

“Now that is certainly interesting.” The dragon said. “But I don’t believe I’m in need of your services. I am already elder dragon of the Eastern Wyverns, and as such I ‘m not certain what one pony can offer me through his allegiance.”

“I am a dragoon, a dragon knight; my order serves and protects the greater good using the blessings of dragons.”

“Then why have I not heard of your kind before?” the elder dragon asked.

“I am not of this world. Since arriving here I have lost the connection to the dragon whom I first made the oath.” Kain said. “I ask of you to impart your abilities to me so that I can continue to serve as a dragoon, and use the terrifying power of dragons to aid me in battle.”

“This is most amusing.” The dragon said. “Very well, you’ve caught the attention of Deist. I will allow you to use my powers.”

The rest of the party, who were hiding behind some of the ruined structures in the corner of the room, gave each other silent signs of success.

“If you do not immediately die against me in battle, then I will partake in this oath you see and impart my skills upon whatever remains of you.” Deist said.

The rest of the party’s facial expressions turned to shock.

And then the great dragon took to the air and moved in position to dive bomb Kain.

The dragoon may have lost vertical jumping abilities, but his combat abilities allowed him to remain agile, and Kain was able to dart out of the way of Deist’s opening attack.

Deist looked back at his missed attack. He then turned sharply and made another go at the pony that mocked dragons with that armor of his.

Kain noticed that Deist wasn’t heading to the position he was, and was instead going to fly by and take a swipe at him. The dragoon dodged around the massive claw, spun out his spear, and struck the elder dragon.

Deist flinched and took a higher position. He took a deep breath and let loose a stream of his fiery breath.

Kain saw the approaching flames; he knew his shield wouldn’t be able to protect his whole body, so he opted to run. The dragoon used various pieces of debris from the ruins to avoid the flames. The cover was about three times taller than the dragoon, and he hoped that it would be enough to help him misdirect the elder dragon as to where he’d go next.

Before Kain could make his next move, Deist had already landed on the broken structure; he was easily twice the height of the pillar, and towered over the dragoon’s position.

“Very rarely does a pony come to a dragon with a death wish. Are you perhaps ill in the head?” Diest asked. He then chomped at the space below him, only to gnash at the stone floor.

Kain was on the move and tried to get the dragon to give up his position. Deist took the bait and gave chase. He picked up his speed just enough to land himself on top of the armored pony. Kain however, stopped himself short before he could be flattened and then ran up Deist’s backside.

The dragoon made a few jabs at the elder dragon whit his spear. Kain didn’t exactly want to kill Deist, but he still needed to make himself a notable threat to the dragon; chancing perhaps to earn the dragon’s respect in that manner.

Deist shook his back and spread his wings to try and remove the nuisance.

Kain kept attacking at Deist’s back until the tail of the great dragon forcibly removed him from his advantageous position. Kain was sent skidding along the floor of the arena near towards where the party had hidden themselves.

Rainbow Dash took slightly to the air until she was restrained by Applejack and Pinkie.

The dragoon was still conscious. He looked up at the party and shook his head at Rainbow Dash’s attempt to help. She understood Kain’s wish to fight alone and made no attempts to enter the fight.

Soon Kain was back on all four hooves and was planning out his next course of action, but he realized that his weapon had been knocked away from him. It was some distance between him and Deist. He decided to make a break for the spear and charged towards it.

“I don’t think you should be trying to strike me with that.” Deist said, grumbling at the tenacity of the dragoon. He took to the air and once again inhaled sharply as he positioned himself over the spear. He let out a blast of fire straight down, engulfing the dragoon who’d just reached the position.

But instead of black smoke, Deist observed white steam from the area and a dragoon that had survived his attack. Deist flew down to meet his opponent, maw agape and beginning to glow.

Kain saw that the elder dragon was preparing to try and roast him once more; he fished out a blue crystalline item and hurled it into Deist’s mouth.

Deist suffered a coughing fit and landed to regain his composure. Steam blasted from his nostrils as he attempted to clear his throat.

Kain capitalized on the opportunity and ran up the dragons body once again. The dragoon stage his attack more cautiously this time and kept an eye out for Deist’s tail

Kain stabbed at the hide of the great dragon, attempting once again to prove his mettle.

“I cannot fathom why you call yourself a dragoon when all you’ve shown me are clever tactics that any pony can learn. Let us see if you can fight as dragons do in the sky!” Deist said, and before Kain could react, Deist shot up to the air. Kain could only jab his spear into Deist so that he wouldn’t fall to the earth.

Deist performed various maneuvers to loosen the dragoon’s hold, but still the pony held on. Finally Deist decided to end the confrontation. He turned so that his back was facing the ground and launched himself downward.

At that moment Kain remembered the first time in he was tested by a dragon.

\\\\\\

Finally after all of that training, years of pushing his strength and agility would Kain be able to truly become a dragoon by more than just association. His father had seen to it that he would be more than ready, but how Kain wondered if he would have gone the route the king’s adopted son had and become a dark knight.

They commanded more respect out of the public than the dragoons. Dark knights were even amongst the first to pilot those experimental ships that crazy engineer worked on.

“Now don’t be too disappointed Kain.” The gruff, bearded man said. “Hopefully we’ll have enough airships to go around and both the dragoons and dark knights will be able to fly around the world and protect it!”

Those words echoed in the inductee’s mind.

It was just around that time when Baron’s dragoons lament the loss of the great Ricard Highwind. It had been the tipping point for Kain. Rosa had recently become an apprentice white mage to assist all the dark knights in training; Kain wanted to be among their ranks so that he could show that he was more worthy of her affection than Cecil.

With his father’s death however, a young Kain put aside those schemes to win Rosa’s love and went on to honor his father’s wish of him becoming a dragoon.

Until this point, where he finally laid eyes on the great dragon known as Baron, Kain had never known that there was an actual dragon in connection with the dragoons.

“Elder Dragon Baron.” Captain Liam said. “I present to you our newest initiate into the higher ranks of Baron’s dragoons, Kain Highwind.

“So, the son of Ricard Highwind I presume?” Baron asked as he unfurled his cobalt wings, revealing the purple undertone of the wingspan.

“Yes.” The young candidate replied.

“I suppose this comes as a surprise to you then?” Baron asked. “That speaking with an elder dragon was the key to becoming a full-fledged dragoon?”

“My father never mentioned that we met with an elder dragon.” Kain said.

“A good man he was for keeping this secret and for doing so much more.” Baron said. “Now I must ask of you to prove your worth to me before I impart my gift to you.”

Kain bowed his head and took a position on a stage in front of Baron and removed his weapon from its holster.

The dragoon candidate performed a series of attacks upon the open air. Kain displayed the amount of practice he put into learning spear combat; he thrust the weapon with steady form and twirled it with the greatest of ease. It was as if the spear was an extension of his body.

Baron looked at the display, slightly amused. “Hmm yes. That is all well and good, but how are your defenses?” The dragon breathed a gout of fire upon the stage to which Kain lunged sideways from the attack. “Good.” Baron said.

The dragon then unleashed a flurry of slashes with his claws. Kain ducked under one, deflected another with his shield, and another with his spear. Without warning, Baron’s tail was coming in quickly. Kain didn’t have many options, but he found that as the appendage mad its way closer to him, time slowed.

He weighed his options, but a certain phrase repeated itself. It was quiet at first, but it grew in intensity.

Jump Kain…Jump Kain…Jump Kain…

Kain suddenly felt a surge of power, as if it came from nowhere. Then the dragoon did as he was told. Kain easily cleared Baron’s tail sweep, then he was airborne for what felt like minutes. The dragon knight eventually landed in front of the keep’s elder dragon.

“Good.” Baron said. “You are indeed worthy. Now answer, do you, Kain Highwind, pledge to honor Baron, Elder Dragon? To use the powers that I bestow upon you display the greatness of dragons in battle into order to protect?”

“Yes, I shall.” Kain said.

“Very well, accept this gift and become what you set out to be, a dragoon.” Baron said as a surge of energy came forth from the dragon.

/////

A loud crash was heard as a cloud of dirt swept over the arena as the rest of the group looked on in horror. Their friend had been brought down by the dragon. A second impact was heard to everyone’s puzzlement.

Soon enough the dirt cloud cleared and the dragoon was visible on top of Deist’s belly. The dragoon was trying to catch his breath.

“You didn’t kill Mr. Deist did you Kain?” Fluttershy asked.

Kain’s spear wasn’t planted into the elder dragon, instead Kain had landed his jump using the butt of the spear.

However, Deist soon shot up and quickly grabbed Kain in his claws and brought him to his face, fuming fire from his nostrils. “Ha ha ha ha ha!” Deist laughed with sound waves that shook the area. “Now that was what I wanted to see!”

Almost all the other ponies held still from the battle stances they’d taken, ready to help Kain.

“I’ll admit that a pony coming here and asking for an oath was most perplexing, but when I saw what you did and didn’t do, I knew there was something different about you.” Deist said as he placed Kain on the ground with the others.

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.

“Well, for starters there was that strange feeling of my energy being tapped into by this knight, and then his subsequent display of draconic prowess. Then there was the fact that he was not attempting to kill me. At first I thought you just didn’t weren’t strong enough; but that last move, where you didn’t impale me, showed your restraint.” Deist said.

“So what happens now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Now.” Deist began. “Now we shall see if Kain Highwind will take the oath little pony.”

“I shall.” Kain repied.

“Very well.” Deist said. “Now, by taking this oath, you have requested, do you pledge to display the majestic power that I, Deist, Wyvern of the East have? Do you intend on defending my keep, aiding me should I call for your assistance, and preserve the honor of my name?”

“I shall, on all accounts.” Kain said.

“Very well, then I, Deist, Wyvern of the East shall lend my powers for the first time upon this dragoon, dragon knight, Kain Highwind of Equestria. May he show the same resilience and ferocity of dragons.” Deist said.

Kain walked up to the great dragon and stopped just a short distance in front of him. A light began to glow from beneath the dragoon’s armor and soon burst from his chest, likewise a grand light emitted from Deist’s own chest. The whole area was bathed in light for some time until the luminescence died down.

Neither of the two looked any different, nor did anyone in the great chamber stir, save for Twilight who was hurriedly writing notes.

“Did it work?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Kain walked away from the elder dragon and then immediately shot up into the air. A crack was heard as the dragoon returned to the earth and destroyed one of the toppled structures.

“I know how exciting it must be to get your powers back Kain, but could you try not to ruin Mr. Deist’s decor darling?” Rarity asked.

“Just as long as he didn’t harm my horde, it’s just as well.” Deist said.

“So what will you do now Kain?” Rarity asked.

The dragoon made his approach toward the group. “I shall endeavor to protect others using this gift as I said I would and do so under Luna’s night guard.” Kain said.

“Do you mean to tell me that you work for Princess Luna?” Deist asked in a complaining manner.

“What’s wrong with that Mr. Deist?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, that mare has just never gotten along well with dragons. Before that tyrannical fit she pulled, most envious of a dragon mind you, she never really consulted our say in Equestrian affairs. A real shame considering she’s known for communing with the misunderstood, like that one time with a manticore in her younger days.” Deist said.

“Well, I think she’s pretty ok.” Spike said.

“And you do not say this for the sake of convenience little one?” Deist asked.

“Well, if all these ponies trust her, then I trust her; and besides, Kain is a pretty good guy. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him disrespecting dragons. He even wears armor that looks like us!” Spike said.

“You certainly have a lot of heart little one. Very well, you have swayed me into not regretting my actions.” Deist said. “And you dragoon, do not give me reason to doubt my judgement. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to return to my slumber.”

“Yes Deist.” Kain said, and the group departed from the treasure chamber.

////

The party returned to Ponyville with surprisingly little incident. They made their way more carefully through the Unicorn Mountains, Pinkie Pie revered from her cold, and the all-around atmosphere was much more pleasant.

When the wagon pulled into town, the occupants were greeted by a small group of friends and family.

“Ah hope ya’ll didn’t get into too much trouble while we were gone.” Applejack said to the crusaders, who traded nervous smiles with one another.

“Nope! Nothing wrong here!” Apple Bloom said.

“Everything went smoothly!” Sweetie Belle said.

Rainbow dash and Rarity eyed the youngsters’ sunny disposition.

“Well, the town is in one piece.” Rarity said. “ I suppose we should believe you, but if I should find one accessory out of place Sweetie Belle, then we shall see.”

The unicorn’s younger sister gulped. “Uh, ok, see you at home Rarity!” and Sweetie Belle sped off.

“Say Rainbow Dash, what sort of action went down on your adventure?” Scootaloo asked.

“Come with me squirt and I’ll tell you about an avalanche I helped bust up.” Rainbow Dash said, taking the fan filly to help her unpack the wagon.

Twilight was moving towards the gathered group with a scroll levitated in front of her face when she bumped into Mayor Mare.

“Oh, sorry Mayor Mare!” Twilight said. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Is something wrong?”

“No, there isn’t Twilight Sparkle.” The mayor said. “I’m just here to greet you upon your return to Ponyville and pass word to you about an impending visit from a fellow princess.”

“Wait, do you mean Cadence is coming to Ponyville?” Twilight asked.

“Yes Twilight.” Mayor Mare said. “She said she’d be arriving by train within the next three days, unfortunately your brother, Shining Armor, is preoccupied with a military exercise at the Crystal Empire and will be delayed.”

“Oh. But at least I’ll still be able to catch up with Cadence.” Twilight said.

“Alrighty!” More reason to make cakes!” Pinkie Pie said. “One for advancing the story and another for visiting royalty!” The party planner quickly amassed her supplies and bolted to the Sugarcube Corner. “Bye!”

“Pardon my ignorance Princess Twilight, but this is the first I’ve heard of Cadence. Who is she?” Kain asked.

“When I was younger, she took care of me as a foal sitter. Today, she’s the Princess of Love and is part in charge of the Crystal Empire.” Twilight said.

“You’ll never meet a nicer pony, ‘cept Fluttershy.” Applejack said as she continued to unload supplies from the wagon.

“Oh, I think she’s just lovely.” Fluttershy said. “She’s so much nicer than I am.”

“See what ah mean?” Applejack said.

Eventually the group cleared the wagon of their respective belongings and made way to part.

“Thank you all for helping me.” Kain said. “Having all of you with me reminded me how important comradery is. I forgot that when I isolated myself from my original group.” Kain said.

All of the mares, save for Rainbow Dash, awed and gather around the dragoon and embraced him. A pink blur even came up to the group to show her appreciation for Kain’s thanks.

Things were looking up for the wayward dragoon.

~Belligerent Bindlestiff

Author's Note:

Musical Inspiration/Accompaniment: “Ancient Castle” FFII (NES) OST; “Battle Theme 2” FFII (NES) OST; “The Red Wings- Kingdom of Baron (Kingdom of Baron) from Final Fantasy IV” Piano Opera Final Fantasy IV/V/VI; “Main Theme” FFII (NES) OST; “Town” FFII (NES) OST;

Comments

[Belligerent Bindlestiff]

6656989

I'll consider working on that in the future if I can get the hang of putting those videos for said music into the text itself.

[Daxen123]

Heheehe, kain is about to meet discord.