Chapter 26- Meeting With Dragons
Dark was pacing around the room as his anxiety for his confrontation with King Inferno drew closer. While his morning had gone by smoothly thanks to Twilight and their friends, now that the meeting was less than an hour away, little could calm him back down now. However, it wasn't out of nervousness that made him feel like this, but how he would react when he finally met him. Not only that, but they got confirmation that morning that General Razor Claw would indeed be accompanying him, along with the Dragon Counsel Elder, and some strange pony for some reason.
Shaking his head from his thoughts, he went over to the window of their guest room and looked at the view. They'd got a room that gave them a great view over Canterlot, and far in the background, Ponyville. As he continued gazing at the sights, the sound of something falling onto the floor in the bathroom drew his attention over to it. Walking over, he brought up a claw and knocked on the door.
"Everything alright in there, Twilight?" Dark asked through the door.
"Yeah," she called back, "I just forgot how hard and annoying it was to put on this darn dress."
"You want me to go get one of the girls to help you?"
"No, it's alright. I can get it on my own just as soon as... there."
"All good now?"
"Yep. Now I just need to put on some makeup and I'll be ready."
"Not to sound rude, but is all of this really necessary? I mean, I know that it's a big deal and all, but is it really worth going through so much just for a quick meeting with a group of bloodthirsty dragons?"
"That's a bit harsh isn't it?"
"In terms of General Razor Claw, I'm being quite literal. I actually saw him drinking blood from a dead pony as though he was drinking from juice box."
"Regardless of that, since I'm meeting them as a Princess of Equestria, I should try to look my best for them."
"That sounds more like something that Rarity would say."
"Well, considering that we're friends, it's only natural that some of their habits would rub-off on me."
"I guess."
"By the way, are you ready for this?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be I guess."
"Meeting King Inferno for the first time still bothering you?"
"Yeah. The guy's been a plague on Stonewall for two hundred plus years. It's only natural that I'd feel like this, right?"
"I suppose so."
"Speaking of him, do you know who this pony that he's bringing with him is? Because last I heard, ponies to them were only good for acting as their food, or as slaves."
"All I know is that he's suppose to be like nopony we've ever seen before. Something about him being covered in metal plating."
"Neat."
"Aaaaand... done!"
Hearing that she was finished getting herself ready, Dark took a few steps away from the door to give her room. Soon enough, the bathroom door opened up as steam started pouring out of it, along with a sight that made Dark's heart skip a beat. He'd always thought that Twilight was beautiful enough and that nothing could make her even more so, but that dress she was wearing was doing a heck of a job at proving him wrong. His eyes began taking in her new look, seeing how the dress hugged her form, but also had room for her to not feel confined. He also noticed the matching golden horseshoes she was wearing, and the tiara sitting on top of her head. For the first time since meeting her, Dark saw Twilight as a princess. Seeing his expression, Twilight gave him a smile and blushed slightly before walking up to him.
"You alright there?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he answered, stumbling over his words. "And you look... I-I don't even know how to say it."
"Well then, perhaps you can show me?"
Getting her hint, Dark shook himself out of it and wasted no more time as he affectionately kissed her, to which she promptly returned. A few minutes of making out had passed before Twilight decided to break their kiss, though was a little reluctant to do so.
"That's enough for now," she told him. "If this goes on, then I'll need to redo my hair and makeup."
"Now we wouldn't want that, would we?" he half-teasingly said with a smirk.
"Don't worry, we'll find time later on to continue this. For now, though, just try to cool yourself off."
"Sorry, Twilight, but I can only do hot. And besides, you're the one who's stoking this bonfire with her love."
"... was that suppose to be some kind of innuendo for something?"
He blinked a few times before his words clicked. "Sorry, poor choice of words. That's not what I meant by what I said."
"I know," Twilight giggled. "I'm just playing with you."
Sighing, Dark shook his head before giving Twilight a peck and moving towards the door. Opening it up for them, Dark came face-to-face with Cadence, who too was dressed in her royal regalia.
"I just came to get you two for the meeting when I just happened to hear Dark saying something about you 'stoking his bonfire', Twily," she smirked.
"If you heard all of that, then I'm sure that you heard the rest of it," Twilight shot back.
"I suppose so," she sighed. "Honestly, it was so much easier to playfully tease you when you were still a filly. But enough of that, we've got some dragons to meet."
Following after her, Dark and Twilight left their room to meet up with the others at the throne room. After passing through a few corridors, Dark looked curiously to Cadence.
"So, this pony that Inferno's bringing with him," he began, "do you know anything about him?"
"Not really, why?" she questioned.
"It just doesn't make any sense to me that he'd bring a pony to accompany him like this."
"Since nopony knows, we'll just have to wait until they arrive and see for ourselves," Twilight told him.
Nodding, Dark let it drop and quietly followed the two as they came to the throne room doors. As they approached, a guard on each side of the door opened them up for them to pass through. Upon heading inside, they noticed that everyone was already gathered, and that the dais had been modified to hold four thrones instead of its normally single one. And while the room was big with stained glass windows, what made Dark hesitate was the sight of Shining Armor wearing his Draconium armor again. Seeing Dark freeze up, Twilight gently nudged him to continue forward. Obeying, he continued with them, but not without shrouding himself in a cloak of shadows incase Shining decided to attack him... again.
"Shining," Cadence called out, "what are you doing wearing that armor? I though that you were going to wear your ceremonial one?"
"I was going to, but then I decided that I'd feel more comfortable wearing this instead," he explained to her.
"Hey, where's Spike?" Dark asked when he noticed the little dragon wasn't around.
"He's over at my parents' house," Twilight answered.
"Ah, alright."
"And why are you shrouded?"
"Just feeling a bit uneasy seeing that armor again."
"Your concern is understandable, but I assure you that Shining Armor will not attack you during this meeting," Celestia firmly spoke.
"We've already given him a good tongue lashing for last night's dinner," Luna added. "That being said, we also expect you to do the same by not attacking him."
"Yes, Your Highnesses," Dark bowed.
"Good. Now, if everypony will take their seats, King Inferno will be here shortly."
"Aren't we missing somepony?" Shining questioned.
As those words left his mouth, the doors to the throne room opened as a lone unicorn stallion in purple and gold armor, and saddlebag walked in. Although curious as to who this new pony could be, Dark waited until he was standing amongst them, bowing to the four princesses.
"I'm glad that you could make it," Celestia said to him.
"After what I saw in that village, I've been looking forward to this meeting," he returned.
"Wait," Dark spoke as he eyed the stallion. "I know that voice. Captain Iron Guard, is that you?"
He turned to face Dark, an amused smirk on his face. "Been a while, kid."
Laughing in joy to seeing his battle buddy again, Dark gave him a hoof/claw shake. Seeing them acting like that, Shining looked to them confused.
"You two have meet before?" he questioned.
"We fought side-by-side during the invasion in Ponyville," Iron Guard answered before turning to Dark. "By the way, what happened to you? Didn't you used to have a goatee and have a black coat?"
"Ditched the beard and dyed the black coat," Dark quickly summarized.
"Looks good. So, you ready to meet the Dragon King?"
"More or less." Dark paused as he looked at the doors to the throne room. "Speaking of meeting them, how are they suppose to fit through those doors? Last I saw, General Razor Claw was twice the size of them, so I doubt that he could just squeeze inside."
"We gave the guards a special amulet to give them that'll shrink them down to fit inside," Luna explained before giving an eye roll. "Of course, I imagine that they'll take them off once they get in here to show-off their size and strength."
"Those idiots will just make themselves a bigger target for us should they choose to do something stupid," Dark commented.
Iron Guard was about to comment on him, but stopped himself when he started to feel the floor quake.
"They're coming," Celestia announced. "Everypony, if you would please take your seats."
Everyone quickly took their seat as Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence sat on their respective thrones on the dais as the others sat on the floor where sitting pillows were provided for them. Picking his spot, Dark sat down in front of Twilight on the end with Applejack sitting next to him, followed by Rainbow, and then Pinkie. On the other side from the center to the outside sat Rarity, Fluttershy, Iron Guard, and Shining on the end. The shaking started to gradually become more violent, causing Dark's claws to start balling up into a fist in anticipation. As time seemed to slow down for him, he suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder. Turning to his left, he saw Applejack warmly smiling at him.
"Easy there, sugarcube," she soothed. "Take a deep breath and try ta relax."
Closing his eyes, he tried following her instructions, but it just made things seem to move even slower for him. This suffering of time didn't continue for much longer, though, as the doors to the throne room were thrown open by a bulky brown dragon with black spines, and single emerald eye, the other of which was covered in a metal plate, who was carrying a large brown sack on his back. Followed behind him was an elderly-looking bronze dragon with a long white beard and moustache. Like the rest of his body, his eyes were faded with age, giving him a look of aged wisdom. And finally, following in behind him was the king himself. Inferno, who stood taller than the other two, had deep-red scales while his spines, claws, and eyes were a bright-orange.
Seeing them caused Dark's tail to twitch, but remained calm. And while the others were holding out alright, Fluttershy wasn't doing as well as she had lowered herself down to the pillow she was sitting on. Which, of course, was only made worse when they removed their amulets and grew back to their full size. While Inferno stood almost as tall as the ceiling, the other two only came up half-way up his neck.
"Welcome to Canterlot, King Inferno," Celestia welcomed.
Inferno remained silent as he looked over the group of ponies in front of him before finally speaking up.
"Quite a collection of ponies you have here, Princess," he spoke. "Is this really necessary?"
"It is, though I suppose I should introduce you to everypony. To my right is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic."
"Hello, Your Highness," she politely greeted with a small bow.
"To my right is my sister, Luna, Princess of the Night."
"Hello," Luna less than welcomingly said.
"And next to her is Cadence, Princess of Love and Ruler of the Crystal Empire."
"Hello, King Inferno," Cadence smiled, though was rather nervous on the inside.
"Hello, Princesses," Inferno returned. "But I still fail to see why these lesser ponies are with you."
"If you'll allow me, I can explain. Sitting on the far end in front of Princess Cadence is her husband, Prince Shining Armor."
"Hello," he said with a small bow, if only to hide his glare.
"Why is he wearing that damned thing?" Razor Claw snarled.
"Calm yourself," Inferno ordered. "Though I must say that I too am curious."
"Just a precaution after what we heard is all," Shining answered.
With a silent nod, Inferno turned back to Celestia. Taking that as her cue, she continued her introductions.
"Next to him is Iron Guard, Captain of the Royal Guard."
Iron Guard remained silent as he gave them a salute.
"These five young mares from your right to left are Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Along with Princess Twilight, these six ponies make up the Counsel of Friendship."
They were each about to give the King and his companions their own welcome, but were silenced as he gave them an unamused snort.
"And finally, on this end sitting in front of Princess Twilight is-"
"YOU!" Razor Claw shouted. "I knew I recognized you!"
"General?" Inferno questioned. "What is it?"
"It's him! The one I told you about!"
Inferno's eyes then moved over to the kirin sitting on the end, eyeing him curiously... and cautiously. He didn't know why, but he could feel a sense of danger from him.
"Explain."
"I am Dark Flame," he introduced himself as the shadows were now flowing off of him like fog from a fog machine. "Dragon Slayer, and former Guardian of Stonewall Village. Oh, and it's nice to see you again too, General."
"I still owe you for this!" Razor Claw shouted as he pointed to the metal covering his eye.
"I don't see why you would. Besides, it looks good on you, and I don't mean that as an insult either."
"I must agree with the young one," the elderly dragon chimed with a voice to match his age.
"May I introduce, Rin," Inferno spoke as he raised a claw over to the elderly bronze dragon. "He is our Counsel Elder, my most trusted Advisor, and a master wizard of draconian magic."
"A dragon wizard?" Twilight beamed with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Hello, everypony," Rin politely greeted with a deep bow before smiling to Twilight. "And yes, young princess, I am."
"Yeah, yeah. Now that that's all out of the way, can I now get back to this little eye-stealer?" Razor Claw angrily asked.
"Quit your complaining already," Dark groaned. "Besides, you had two other dragons with you, not to mention that I was already wounded by that traitorous snake."
"You mean this traitorous snake?" an unknown voice asked.
Stepping out from behind Inferno was what appeared to be a pony in a tattered gray cloak. Immediately upon seeing him, Dark, Shining, and Luna all shot up in their seats and took an aggressive stance while Twilight shrunk down into her seat.
"What's the meaning of this?" Inferno questioned.
"A few weeks ago," Celestia began explaining, "the town of Ponyville was attacked, and the one leading them was a pony wearing a cloak, much like the one that this one is wearing."
Inferno raised an eyebrow. "This must be some kind of misunderstanding, because he has never left my side these past few months."
"A likely story," Dark commented.
"Sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," the cloaked pony said. "Besides, shouldn't you happy to see your old friend again, Dark?"
"Old friend?" he questioned. "I don't have any old friends. The only friends that I do have are the ones that I've made during my time in Ponyville."
"Really? I'm hurt," he mocked. "After all." He pulled the cloak off, revealing a blue-eyed, white pegasus, who's body was half-covered in metallic plating. "I'm the one who gave you that shiner."
Dark's eyes widened to their fullest as he saw somepony he'd never thought that he'd see again. Though it started out as shock, his face soon became contorted with rage.
"Oh, don't give me that look now," he told Dark. "Aren't friends suppose to-"
"Don't you DARE call me your friend!" Dark shouted. "You lost that right a long time ago! And how are you still alive for that matter?!"
"Dark," Twilight called. "who is that?"
"That," he spat, "is Gunter, my first friend... at least, that's what I thought he was at the time."
"But you told us that you didn't have any friends before coming to Ponyville."
"I said that I didn't have any true friends. And to be honest, I was never really a friend to that traitor now was I?"
"Oh, boo-hoo," Gunter mocked. "Honestly, quit being so sore about that."
"'Sore about that'?! You betrayed me, stabbed me from behind with a dagger that I made specially for you, and then you tried to turn me over to Razor Claw himself!"
"Cry me a river why don't you. Besides, you're still wear that present I gave you so proudly."
"What present?"
"Why, that scar on your shoulder of course."
"Bite me!" Dark snapped before hissing and baring his fangs. "Or better yet, how about I bite you?"
Seeing his shimmering fangs, Gunter slowly crept back behind one of Inferno's legs.
"But how is this possible, Dark?" Twilight questioned. "Didn't you say that everypony from your village was dead?"
"That's what I though too, but apparently, I didn't finish him off enough," Dark answered.
"What?"
"After Gunter tried to turn me over to Razor Claw, I snapped. Not only did I attack the General and the two dragons accompanying him, but I also went after Gunter as punishment for his betrayal."
"Isn't that a bit much?" Luna questioned.
"Not when you consider that him turning me over to the dragons meant that he was practically guaranteeing the village's destruction."
"So what?" Gunter nonchalantly questioned. "That village doomed anyway. I was just trying to fulfill my end of the bargain."
"And what was that?" Dark growled.
"That in exchange for you, I would get a seat of honor in King Inferno's court."
"So you betrayed the village for your own personal gain?"
Gunter pretended to think about before shrugging.
"Yep, pretty much," he grinned. "By the way, have you bagged anypony yet?"
"I'm considering bagging your head. Does that count?"
"... don't tell me that you're still a virgin," Gunter said, causing Dark and everypony there to blush. After receiving no answer, he began laughing hysterically out loud. "Oh my Celestia you are!"
Slowly, Dark turned to face the princesses, who was now looking down to him shockingly.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," he dangerously addressed, "may I please have permission to kill this guy? I promise you that it'll be quick and clean."
"I'm fine with it," Luna said before turning to Celestia. "What do you think, sister?"
Celestia's eyes furrowed as she frowned. "While I cannot condone such an act of mannerism or betrayal, there is nothing that we can do."
"What?!" Dark incredulously shouted.
"If he is indeed here with King Inferno, then he'll have diplomatic immunity just like he does. That is, unless King Inferno would revoke his immunity."
"Not happening," Inferno replied.
"I would reconsider those words very carefully," Dark hissed, his shadows now flooding off of him. "You don't want to make an enemy of me any further than you already have."
While everyone looked to Dark worryingly, Rin saw something else. Despite his aged eyes, he was able to see something different. Subtly casting a spell on himself, he was calm when he saw Dark, but his face turned to horror when he saw a familiar massive black figure behind him.
"King Inferno," Rin nervously whispered, "I advise that we not provoke the lad anymore than we already have."
"And why would that be?" he questioned. "If you're afraid that he'll kill us, then you needn't worry."
"It's not that, Your Highness. It's something else."
Seeing the look on his face, Inferno now became aware of what he meant.
"You used that one spell of yours, didn't you?" he asked, receiving a confirming nod. "What did you see?"
"Death."
Feeling slight concern, Inferno decided to get straight to why they were here. If what Rin had told him was true, then prolonging this meeting would do them no good. Especially with how angered Dark was already.
"Perhaps we should get to why we're here," Inferno suggested to the ponies.
"I agree," Celestia replied. "Now, we're here to discuss the actions that you've taken against the village of Stonewall, which rests within our borders. As you know, this is a violation of the treaty we signed hundreds of years ago."
"I remember."
"If so, then why did you do it?" Luna questioned.
"Because, I've already invested so much into it before we signed that treaty that I didn't want to give it up, especially after I heard of the Draconium and untouched gems that those mines held." He paused as he chuckled to himself. "If I had those gems, they could keep my hunger sated for hundreds of years."
"So you did it for food?" Celestia asked.
"Partially. And incase you haven't noticed, my kingdom isn't as peaceful as yours is. There are some dragon clans that didn't approve of my reign as their king and wished to dethrone me. The Draconium in those mines would've help my armies... but that was a waste of time."
"What do you mean?"
"Those clans soon fell to my dragons, and after that, I sent them to that village to try and starve it out."
Is he actually admitting this? Dark thought to himself. Wow. Maybe this meeting might be easier than I'd thought it be.
"I could only send a few dozen at a time to surround and blockade the village, though. If I were to send any more than that, my actions would've been noticed. However, I didn't expect those ponies to be so resilient." He paused as he glared at Dark. "Then, a few hundred years later, I received word that the dragons that I've sent to that village weren't reporting back. It wasn't unti a few months later that I was told that a single pony was killing-off my dragons in an attempt to free his village." His gaze turned back to the princesses. "It was then that I decided to take full notice of him and try to assault his home while staying under your radar. Every few days to a week, I would send a dragon to two to try and kill this little beast of burden... only to receive news that they've failed to do so."
"Just to be clear, you're talking about Dark, right?" Cadence asked Inferno, who nodded in reply. "So then, how many dragons did you lose?"
"I believe that I can answer that," Iron Guard said as he pulled out a piece of parchment from his saddlebag. "Going by what my troops and I saw, and that we've gathered from in the mines, there were roughly six hundred and thirty-four degraded or degrading dragon carcasses."
Hearing this number caused the mares to gasp loudly and for Shining's jaw to drop while Dark just shrugged as Iron Guard continued.
"As for the ones on the surface, there were two hundred and twenty-five. This does not include the massive black one that we found dead in the center of the village."
"Wait," Dark interrupted, "how are there so many dead dragons there? There should only be one."
"A black dragon you say?" Inferno inquired.
"That is correct. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was the largest dragon that I've ever seen. Even more so than what you are, Your Highness."
"So it's true then," he said as he looked over to Dark, "you killed Nocturne, Lord of Death."
"More or less," Dark said rubbing the side of his head from feeling a slight pain in it. "It was a very close call, though."
"Wait a moment," Twilight interrupted, "I thought that Nocturne was the Incarnation of Shadow and Death?"
"That shadow part is merely extra. What Nocturne is known for is being the Lord of Death," Inferno corrected.
Twilight sighed. "The books are going to have to be rewritten after this."
"Another time, Twilight," Celestia spoke. "Captain Iron Guard, you may continue."
"Yes, Princess," he said before continuing. "Now, this was the number of dead on the dragon's side. As for the number of ponies who've died, we could only go by the number of graves that were placed at the pillar."
"What pillar?" Dark asked.
"Outside of the wall was a monumental stone pillar of sorts with graves surrounding it."
Hearing this caused Dark's slight headache to suddenly intensify into a monstrous migraine. Grabbing the sides of his head with his claws, he squinted his eyes shut to try and dull the pain. However, instead of getting it to reduce, he got something else instead. A vision, or rather, a lost memory.
It was a few days after his fight with Nocturne. Daybreak came as he stood in the center of his village with his black wings, arms, and tail. Hearing the echo of several thunderous roars, Dark looked up to see the largest swarm of dragons that he'd ever seen in his life. He would've tried counting, but just figured that there were over a hundred of them. As they got closer to him, Dark could feel the fires in their fire sacs burning. Not wanting to waste any time for them, Dark lit his horn and reached out to them with his magic. Feeling the fires they were all getting ready to breathe over him, Dark took control of their fire breath and turned it against them. Like so many others before now, Dark manipulated the fires in their throats to create a blockage. Within seconds, with nowhere for the fires to escape from, the pressure in their throats became too much and caused said fires to combust, decapitation most of the dragons while the others' necks were barely being held together.
Feeling hooves shaking him, Dark opened his eyes and looked up to see him surrounded by his five friends and fillyfriend, all of whom were looking worryingly at him. Not even have noticed that he'd fallen onto his stomach, he shakily began to sit back up.
"What happened, Dark?" Twilight asked concerned.
"I remember," he muttered.
"Come again?" Applejack questioned.
"I remember they day that dragon swarm attacked my village. It happened just a few days after my fight with Nocturne."
"Would someone mind explaining to me what's going on here?" Inferno impatiently asked.
"Dark lost his memories of what happened after his fight with Nocturne," Twilight explained to him.
"Well now," Razor Claw smirked as he held up the brown sack, "then I suppose he doesn't remember these."
"Remember what?" Dark groaned.
The General's smirk grew wider as he tossed the sack onto the ground and spilled out its contents of hundreds of weapons. Immediately, Dark recognized them for what they were.
"Those are my weapons," he said looking up to the dragons.
"How do you know that?" Rainbow asked.
"I think I'd remember the look of my own weapons that came from my forge."
"So you remember that much, but do you know where I found these two hundred and fifty-four weapons at?" Razor Claw sadistically asked.
Hearing that familiar number, Iron Guard looked down to his notes, noticing that the number of weapons matched the number of graves that they found.
"That can't be a coincidence," he mumbled to himself.
"What is it?" Shining asked.
"The number of those weapons," Iron Guard spoke up to the General, "they match the number of graves that we found at the grave pillar. Tell me, is this just a coincidence, or is there more to this?"
"So, you've figured it out already," Razor Claw chuckled.
Hearing this gave Dark another migraine as more lost memories flooded his mind. This time it took place the day after his fight with Nocturne as a heavy rain started to pour over his village. Looking around, Dark could see the damage that had been done. Everywhere around him were ruined buildings, some more so than others. As he continued to look around, he started noticing more skeletal remains of his fellow villagers. Heading over to a specific group by his family's house, Dark looked down at the bones of his parents and sister. Then, what started out as a sniffle soon turned to him bawling out loud. For over an hour he cried loudly, the only other sound being the puddles of rainwater around him. Another hour later, Dark had managed to get his crying under control for the time being. Not wanting to see his dead family anymore, he walked out of the village and towards a clear area where he decided would be a good place to put his family to rest. Wanting this to be special, he walked around until he found a large stone to act as a monumental pillar, rolled it over to the desired location, tilted it up on end, and began digging their graves. Thanks to the rain wetting the soil, it didn't take him long to make the three graves for his parents and sister.
As he went back for them, he began looking around to the other skeletons that were laying around. It was then that Dark decided that they too should have a place to rest. After getting his family settled down and burying them, he then began working on the graves for the others. He didn't know how many there were, so he just keep making more and more until they were all put to rest. It took him a few days, but in the end, he'd managed to create a whole new graveyard. With no way to tell who was who, and not wanting to spend time creating a few hundred nameless tombstones, Dark instead decided to take the weapons in his forge and the armory, and plant them into the ground to use as their tombstones instead. Taking a few steps back, he took a moment to look at the graves surrounding the massive rock. After apologizing to them for failing them and giving them all a silent farewell, Dark quietly walked back into the village to pack what he could for the journey away from his ruined home. That was, however, until he heard the sound of draconic roars echoing through the skies.
Feeling covered in warmth, Dark opened his eyes to see his friends embracing him. What's more was that he was surprised to see that he'd started crying at some point. Reaching forward, Dark wrapped his arms around Twilight and buried his face in her chest.
"Sshhhh," Twilight soothed as she stroked his mane. "Now, what did you see?"
"I-I buried them," Dark shakily answered. "The villagers... I'm the one who buried them all. A-And I used those weapons as their tombstones... wait. Those weapons."
Noticing the sudden and dangerous shift in his tone, Twilight and the others backed away from Dark as he slowly raised his head. Gone was the sadness in his eyes, now replaced by pure fury.
"You," Dark growled as one of his golden eyes started to turn red. "You defiled them."
"Heheheh, took you long enough to figure out," Razor Claw mocked.
"Those don't belong to you!" Dark shouted before slamming his claw onto the stone floor.
Upon contact, pure darkness spread from his claw and reached out towards the discarded weapons. Taking a cautious step back, the three dragons and pony watched as the spears, axes, and swords began to stand themselves upright before slowly descending into the blackness. Once they were completely submerged, the darkness retreated back towards Dark's claw.
"What did you just do?!" Razor Claw shouted. "Those were my trophies! Give them back!"
"They. Are not. Yours!" Dark roared.
Hearing his voice change again, Twilight took a few more steps back.
Oh no, not again, she worryingly thought.
Twilight wasn't the only one to have noticed the sudden change either as the other ponies took a few steps back as well. And while they were wondering what was going on to him, Rin could see what was happening clearly before turning to Razor Claw.
"You fool!" he barked. "Now look at what you've done!"
"What is it?" Inferno questioned.
"That lad is also Lord Nocturne!"
"What?!"
"It's true," a voice agreed.
Turning to it's source, they saw that it came from Dark... at least, that's who it appeared to be. Some of the shadows that were emanating off of Dark's draconic limbs had wrapped themselves around parts of Dark. Most noticeably was the right-half of his face, which was covered in complete darkness. Along with the black color, the shadows have also changed his look from a pony shape, to a draconic one that they were familiar with.
"Lord Nocturne?" Rin carefully asked. "Is that really you?"
The half-Dark, half-Nocturne nodded before turning to Razor Claw, growling. "You were a fool to provoke us, General."
"Oh, shi-" he tried saying before he found his throat being squeezed.
Looking down, he could see that a monstrous, black draconic claw that was bigger than his head, had suddenly found his neck in its grasp. Looking over to where it was coming from, Razor Claw became confused and slightly frightened when he saw that the arm it was attached to was coming out of a dark ripple.
"Ho-How-" he tried speaking, only to find himself losing his footing as he was being held up off the ground.
"You have said quite enough, hatchling. Now be silent!" Nocturne shouted before slamming him hard onto the stone floor and retracting his arm and claw into the darkness from whence it came.
"Lord Nocturne," Inferno spoke, gaining his attention.
"Ah, if it isn't the young king. Tell me, is this what you were hoping for when you told me about him?"
"What... what happened to you, My Lord?"
"What does it look like? I was bested and was forced to share this kirin's body!"
"Then why do you stay like this?"
"Because he's in control, that's why. And while I'm just along for the ride, I must admit that it's been rather interesting."
"Nocturne," Twilight called, now gaining his attention instead.
"Ah, Princess Twilight. I didn't expect that we'd meet again so soon," he said with a small smile. "My congratulations on you and Dark, by the way."
"Thank you, but that's not what I want to talk to you about."
"You want to know what's going on with Dark and I, right?" he guessed, getting a nod from Twilight. "Like I told you, we are one now, though he's still unaware of-"
"That's what you think," Dark interrupted, his half of his face now glared angrily at Nocturne. "You have some explaining to do, Nocturne, now get to it! How is it that you're using my body like this?!"
"Might as well now that everyone is assembled and I won't have to say this again," Nocturne said before forcing him and Dark to sit down. "Like I just said, you did defeat me back in Stonewall, but I used my magic to transfer my soul into your body. I had planned to take over your body, but I somehow failed and am now a prisoner inside it instead. In turn, you have gained all of my powers and have complete control, while all I can do is sit back and watch."
"Then why are you out now?"
"I can only surface when you start to get mad like this at something, and like that stallion from yesterday."
"So I was right, that was your voice I heard mixing in with Dark's," Twilight spoke.
"Correct, though that was about it. Now, if you remember back to when you fought that ursa major, Dark, you'll also notice that when you roared right before you finished it off, that it was my roar that was heard, not yours."
"That was battle rage and I was a bit too focused to have been paying attention to something like that," Dark commented before turning to Twilight, his expression firm yet soft. "And Twilight, why didn't you tell me about him before? How long have you known about him?"
"After I was put to sleep when I had the Feather Flu," she shamefully answered. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I was asked not too."
"By who?"
"By me," Nocturne told him. "I asked her to not tell you about me, same when Discord looked into your memories."
"So you're the reason why they said that I shouldn't know about my lost memories?"
"That is correct. And besides, with how you reacted to the memories you've recovered recently, would you really want to learn everything that you've lost all at once?"
Dark grumbled. "I guess not."
"As I thought. Besides, you still have some memories missing. And while the ones you've recovered today were important, there are still more important ones left. One in particular."
"What can be more important than remembering that you were inside me, having to bury my village, and killing hundreds of dragons in a matter of minutes?"
"That, you'll-"
"Have to figure out on my own, right?" Dark interrupted, now starting to grow slightly annoyed with this speech.
"Yes," Nocturne answered before redirecting his attention to the gathered dragons and pony. "As for you four, if you don't want Dark or I to show you why he's the new Lord of Death, you will cease your provoking and get this over with." Once he got a hasty nod from the four, he turned back to Twilight. "I'm sorry for suddenly barging in like this, but I had to have some words with them."
"Just please give us a bit of warning next time," Twilight recommended.
"You'll know it when Dark's eyes start to turn from gold to red. It was the same when we fought if you remember, Dark."
"Yeah, I remember," he said. "It happened right after you bit off my foreleg."
"Correct. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest. Being out like this is rather taxing on me. Also, Dark," he spoke, gaining his full attention. "Don't blame Twilight for this. Even though she didn't tell you by my request, she wasn't happy in the least to do it."
"You almost make it sound like you're concerned for her," Dark observed.
"Spending time in here with you has made you're feelings and personality rub-off on me. So yes, I suppose I am because of you. Speaking of which, before I leave, I have one last thing I want to tell you."
"Yes?"
"Screw you for giving me these feelings!" Nocturne told Dark before he went back to rest.
Feeling Nocturne's presence gone, and the shadows that formed his half of his face receding, Dark had gained complete control over his body again. Rotating his arm and wing around, he felt complete again.
"D-Dark?" a small voice called out to him.
Turning around, he saw his friends looking nervously at him as Fluttershy trembled where she laid.
"I'm sorry, everypony," Dark solemnly apologized. "I didn't mean to go off like that."
"It's alright, darling," Rarity spoke. "We're just a bit surprised is all."
"Yeah, me too."
"Dark?" Twilight called, her head hung down. "I'm sorry for not telling you about this beforehoof."
Sighing, Dark shook his head before gently raising her head back up with a claw.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he softly said before pulling her into a warm hug.
Happy that Dark wasn't upset with her, Twilight wrapped her forelegs around him and tightly hugged him back. It didn't last long, though, as a throat clearing reminded them that there were others present, and that there was a meeting to finish. Taking a step back away from each other, Twilight returned back up to her seat while Dark and the others walked back to theirs. Keeping his head down to not see the looks that the others were giving him, Dark kept quite while Inferno spoke up.
"Perhaps it would be for the best if we were to finish this meeting now?" he suggested.
"I believe that it would," Celestia agreed.
"Now, while I'm still not approving of how many of my dragons that I've lost to him, especially when considering that it's about a quarter of my army that was wasted on him, I am willing to look past it."
"Your Highness!" Razor Claw quickly spoke. "Surely you can't-"
"It is my decision to make, General, and you will respect it!" Inferno boomed before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Or would you prefer that he'd kill you here? If so, then I wouldn't mind letting it happen, considering how badly you've failed me."
With a reluctant growl, Razor Claw fell silent and let the two continue.
"Also," Inferno added, now speaking to Celestia, "we will pay the fines and submit to any other punishments that are within the treaty."
"You also know that the other nations will need to be made aware of this, right?" Celestia clarified.
"Of course, Princess."
Celestia looked to the other princesses.
"Is there anything else that we wish to discuss?" she asked, getting silent head shakes in response. "Then I believe that our business is done here."
With that, the three dragons bowed before using their amulets to shrink themselves back down. Once at the proper size, Inferno and Razor Claw turned around to leave while Rin made his way over to the ponies before stopping in front of one of them.
"Excuse me," he politely called down to her, "but you're the one called Fluttershy, right?"
"Umm... yes?" she quietly replied.
Seeing that he got the right pony, Rin softly smiled down to her. "I just wanted to meet the pony that Discord told me so much about."
"Discord talked to you about me?"
"Hehe, that he did, little one. And quite a bit too," he told her, causing her to smile back at him. "However, as much as I would like to stay and talk with you some more, I must be heading on back." Rin looked up to the princesses. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Your Highnesses."
With that, Rin politely bowed to them before making his way out. But while he was leaving, Gunter remained in place, appalled by the actions of Rin and his king.
"King Inferno," he called over to him standing by the door, "you're not going to just leave like this, are you?"
"Yes, we are," Inferno replied before looking back at him with a glare. "And if you want to stay in my good graces, then you'll cease questioning me and follow us."
Giving an annoyed grunt, Gunter gave Dark one last look before leaving with his king. With them gone and the meeting over, Dark let out a relaxed breath as he laid down on his stomach. For the next few moments, nopony spoke as they let the mood of the meeting fade.
"Well," Iron Guard spoke, breaking the silence, "that was... interesting."
"It's.. definitely one of the more exciting ones that I can remember," Luna nodded.
"Hey, Dark?" Applejack carefully called to. "Are ya alright? Ah mean, you aren't gonna start actin' differently again, are ya?"
"No, I'm not," he answered. "Technically speaking, Nocturne's been apart of me since we've first met, so nothing's really changed with me."
"Then what about how mad you got at those two guys?" Rainbow asked.
"As I'm sure you've heard, I have a bad history with them, and what I said to them before was from me, not Nocturne."
"So... you really did try to..." Fluttershy tried saying, but couldn't bring herself to finish.
Sighing sadly at her, Dark nodded. "That was a different place I lived in, and he's the only pony who I would wish that upon." Dark paused as he turned to the princesses and bowed. "I'm sorry for my outburst."
"Like I said before," Celestia spoke, "I don't condone acts like that. However, at least now I have a better understanding of what's transpired."
"I on the other hoof wouldn't have minded if you would've done away with that stallion right then and there," Luna shrugged.
"Sister!"
"What?" she blinked. "Don't tell me that you weren't expecting him to do the same, because I saw the look on your face, though subtle as it was."
"Aunty Celestia?" Cadence questioningly glanced over to.
"Well... maybe a little bit," she admitted before turning to Iron Guard. "Captain, would you be so kind as to have the guards bring that thing you brought over here up from the vault?"
"You mean the-" he was going to ask before getting a confirming nod to his unanswered question. "Right away."
With a quick salute, Iron Guard made his way out of the throne room and to the vault. It didn't take him too long to for him to get there and back a familiar red and gold chest in tow. Setting it down, Iron Guard went back to his cushion while Dark continued eyeing the chest.
"Is that what I think it is?" he asked looking over to Celestia, who in turn smiled down to him.
"Why don't you look for yourself?" she told him.
Happily wagging his tail, Dark leaped over to his old chest and began to open it. Looking inside, he was happy to see that everything still there, including the raw Draconium ore that was stored. Confused about it, Dark looked back up to Celestia.
"Is something the matter?" Celestia asked.
"No, nothings wrong," Dark said, "it's just that I didn't expect you to keep the Draconium inside is all."
"Luna and I talked about it and decided to leave it," she explained.
"Besides, it was in your chest when we found it after all," Iron Guard chimed.
"True, but without my forge, this ore is useless to me," Dark told them.
"If it's a forge that you require," Luna spoke up, "then you could use ours. I'm sure that the royal smiths would be more than happy to craft something from a metal such as that."
"Thank you for the offer, but if I could, I'd rather forge it myself."
"Very well then. When do you want to start?"
Dark cocked an eyebrow. "... you're serious?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"... no?"
"Good, because I'm not. Now then, when would you like to start?"
Unsure, Dark looked over to Twilight. "It's up to Twilight since she's the one who's planned our schedule here."
"We're going to be busy today," Twilight began explaining, "but you should have time for tomorrow. How long do you think it'll take you to forge this thing you'll be making?"
"Using the technique used by my old mentor, and using some magic that I've developed, it should take me about twelve hours to complete."
"I guess you'll have to wake up early then."
"Not necessarily," he said before putting the chest in his Shadow Storage. "So long as I'm awake, it doesn't matter what time I start it."
"Great!" Twilight happily said, clapping her hooves together before getting up and walking down the dais. "In that case, we're going over to visit mom and dad."
Getting up out of their seats, Cadence and Shining began to follow after her. Twilight didn't go very far, though, as she paused half-way towards the door before turning around.
"You too, Dark."
Dark blinked. "... what?"
"You're coming with us."
"Oookaayyy... why?" he slowly asked.
"Well you are my coltfriend, so why shouldn't I bring you over to meet my parents?"
It was then that Dark audibly gulped, not quite sure if he was ready to meet them just yet. With the feeling that he wouldn't be able to talk himself out of this, he followed behind his fillyfriend to meet her parents.
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
777 users online
567,560 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
...this might get pretty ackward...
AWWWWWW
You couldn't have had him at least 'hurt' the bad pony by accident?
Wow, that middle part was intense! Great job as always!
6867991 I would hope so.
6868199 I thought about it, but he still has a role to play. Besides, Dark's already chokeslammed a dragon.
6868800 Thanks.
>Can face down a large dragon who is the Incarnation of Death with no fear
>Scared of In-Laws
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/logic-we-can-believe-in-spock-2012-meme.jpg
So they're not mad he's killed over 600 dragons that were trying to kill his entire village, but they're visibly shocked and upset that he tried to kill one pony that was doing the same thing?
I thought Dark changed his coat color to Black to match his claws, tail, and wing, but you've referred to his coat as being Orange twice now after he dyed it.
7148575 Not quite. Towards the end of Chapter 24, he dyed his black wings, arms, and tail orange to match the rest of him.
That figure in the arena is SHINING! I'M CALLING IT!
And here again we see that the villains just fucking get away scott-free! They terrorize a village for over 200 years? Celestia shrugs. They murder, enslave, and eat Ponies who are citizens of Equestria? Nobody fucking cares. Shining armor goes on a murder spree and tries to kill a guy who dedicated his life to defending his family? He has to change a few diapers and sleep on a couch after gouging out the poor bastard's eyes.
There is no justice here. Not one bit. Nobody cares to punish criminals no matter their crimes. They just ignore every single problem and hope it will go away. I am done with this story. This is nothing more than one long session of character torture for no reason and the villians ALWAYS WIN!
7477228 this should be called: Nobody Gives A Shit: the fanfic with how much people are getting away with stuff
7573453 I know right? Makes no sense, and kinda takes away from the comic as a whole. Next we'll find that Blueblood stabbed Dark in the back, and got punished by marrying Twilight.
Dark is like a cooler, less op, version of the hulk
Ah... the greatest fear of any girls boyfriend
7746304 i thought that was shopping with the girlfriend and her friends
>> Jonny Bench I know right, except that his powers aren't limitless unless their is a fire source around and his natural kryptonite is a draconium sword
8116209 true, but technically he can't die cause if the lord of death dies, all the dead come back to life, allowing him to come back to life, causing the dead to die again, and he dies again, creating an unending cycle of death
You know, I just realized something. While he may have had a freakout over Spike's bombshell at breakfast, Shining Armor hadn't actually learned that Twilight was in a relationship with Dark before this point.
And Shining was standing right behind her when she said this...
cf.chucklesnetwork.com/items/1/1/9/0/4/5/original/oh-dear-xxx.jpg
Well, that was fun.