Of Flame and Shadow

by Garuda IV

Chapter 8- Ambushed

Today was a busy, cloudy day for Dark at Sweet Apple Acres. After what happened yesterday with the guards, Dark upped his work speed to try and make up for the time he missed, and to cover for Applejack having to leave for that meeting. But he made sure that he didn't go overboard with it, considering that his training this afternoon was suppose to push his wings' limits. Dark even noticed last night at dinner that Twilight was unusually interested in his training today, but refused to tell him why for some reason.

With their morning work done, Applejack, Big Mac, and Dark went inside the house where Granny had lunch ready for them. Applejack had told her about what Rainbow Dash had in store for him and decided to make a little something extra. She also brought out a large bottle of their family's cider.

"This isn't alcoholic, is it?" Dark nervously asked.

"Eenope," Applejack answered. "We keep the hard cider down in the cellar under lock and key. This here is the non-alcoholic stuff. Besides, Ah'm not gonna have that stuff served on a work day."

"Thank goodness," he said relieved. "I've never drank anything alcoholic, so I don't know what it would do to me if I did. I don't even know how much alcohol I can handle."

"Really?" Big Mac questioned.

"Yep," Dark answered. "Besides, I didn't exactly have the luxury of drinking. Couldn't risk being drunk incase of a dragon raid."

"Ah suppose not," Applejack agreed.

"Regardless of that, sonny," Granny began. "Though this may not have as big of a kick as the hard stuff, one mug of this here cider will leave ya feelin' fully charged and rearin' ta go."

Grabbing the mug that Granny placed in front of him, Dark brought it to his lips for an experimental taste. Smacking his lips after taking a few sips, Dark began pondering the flavor it left behind. It tasted of sweet apples and something bitter that he couldn't identify, but neither were too overwhelming. Liking what he tasted, he took a large swig of it, the little tastes now exploding in his mouth. Dark immediately thought of this as the best drink ever created as he closed his eyes and began chugging. Finishing off the last drop of his cider, Dark slammed the mug on the table with a hearty belch. Looking back, he could see everypony in the room staring at him.

Dark gave a nervous chuckle. "Umm... excuse me?"

Applejack and Big Mac each gave a chuckle of their own while Granny began cackling.

"Ah take it that ya liked it?" Applejack jokingly guessed.

"Best thing I've ever drank," Dark happily answered.

"Thank ya kindly for the compliment, sonny," Granny thanked. "Up for another round?"

"Only if it's okay with you guys."

Granny nodded as she came over and poured him a second mugful before taking her own seat at the table. The four ate while occasionally breaking into conversation. Dark was rather interested in Granny's stories about her younger years, mainly of how her family had founded Ponyville. Even Applejack shared a few of her adventures with him. But story time came to an end as they finished their food, and had more work to do. After taking care of their dishes and thanking Granny for the food, the three made their way back outside.

The rest of the afternoon went much like how things did earlier, except now Dark was feeling far more energized after the two mugs of cider that Granny gave him. He was even working faster than what he'd been earlier, now running from tree to tree instead of walking like everypony else did. It wasn't long after that until Applejack found her way over to him.

"Whoo-wee!" she exclaimed. "That's quite a nice number of apple trees you've bucked. Are ya sure that you're not gonna be too tired when ya leave ta meet up with Rainbow?"

"Are you kidding?" Dark asked energetically. "I'm so wired right now, I'm starting to doubt that she'll even come close to how tired she told you girls I'd be."

Applejack shook her head. "That's probably the cider doin' the talkin' there," she explained. "Ah've seen this happen a few times with some ponies. They would have a few mugs of cider, then later that day they'd crash... hard."

"So, when do you think that'll happen?" he asked. "Because if it's before or during Rainbow's training, then I might be in trouble."

"Don't ya worry about that, sugarcube. Y'all should be done with whatever she has planed for ya before it hits."

"Alright. Thanks, Applejack."

"No problem. Speakin' of Rainbow, shouldn't ya be on your way over there right now?"

Dark looked up to see the position of the sun. "Yeah, I suppose I should. Unless there's something you want me to take care of before I leave."

"Nah, where good," she answered.

"Alrighty then. In that case, I'll see you tomorrow," Dark said before running off to the pond.

"Eeyup. See ya soon," Applejack answered, waving to him before turning back.

Taking a moment to look over his work, Applejack gave an approving nod at how he did for today. By her count, Dark had gone from applebucking sixty trees in a day, to eighty. Granted, she and Big Mac could clear over two hundred of them in a single day apiece, but she was still pleased at the progression he was showing. Thinking about how full their apple cellar would be by the time the season ended, Applejack resumed her work while humming a joyous tune.

---

Exiting out of the apple orchard, Dark stopped and noticed that this afternoon was a bit breezy. He didn't notice it earlier because of all of the trees blocking the wind from the area they worked.

This might make my training today a little bit tougher, he though while continuing his walk. Probably a good thing, though. It'll help burn away that extra energy I have.

Making his way down the road back to Ponyville, Dark noticed three familiar guards approaching him. It wasn't until they were within a few yards that he could confirm that they were the same three from yesterday.

"Hey guys," Dark greeted them. "How's it going today?"

"Just fine, loverboy," the female guard teasingly answered.

"Not this again," he groaned, eliciting a few snickers from her and the younger guard. Then a thought came to mind. "By the way, I never did ask what your names were."

The three looked to each other before looking back to Dark.

"I'm Kite Shield," the younger guard answered.

"I'm Aura Lance," the female guard answered.

"My name is Steel Hoof," the older guard answered. "And I'm the leader of this squad.

"Nice to meet officially make your acquaintances," Dark replied. "By the way, how did you get the name 'Steel Hoof'?"

Steel Hoof held up his right foreleg, revealing a hoof made of metal. "That's why," he answered.

"Huh, didn't notice it before." Dark looked back to Steel Hoof. "Thanks for telling me. Hope it was alright that I asked."

He gave Dark a polite nod. "It's fine," he answered. "Got it a long time ago during my younger years as a guard. After I got it, I decided to change my name to better fit myself. Although it draws unwanted attention at times, it does blend in well with the armor, so most ponies don't even notice it."

Dark looked to the others. "And what about you two, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well," Aura Lance began answering. "My name pertains to my cutie mark, which is a pair of crossed magical spears."

"Like Aura's name, mine too pertains to my cutie mark. It's a magical kite shield, kinda similar to Aura's," Kite Shield answered.

"That's cool," Dark commented.

"Those two work really well together," Steel Hoof added. "While Kite uses his shields for defense, Aura would take the offense by creating spears and launching them. During a few sparring matches, those two managed to best two or three other squads at once with this tactic."

"It's mostly because of Aura that we managed to win," Kite bashfully said.

"Are you kidding?" Aura questioned. "It was your shields protecting us that led us to victory during those sparring matches."

"You give me too much credit," he dismissed.

"Nonsense," Steel said. "Your shields are one of the strongest ones we have in the guard. By my account, the only one in the guard to have a stronger magical shield than you was your old mentor, Shining Armor."

"I remember Twilight telling me that he specializes in defensive magic, like shield spells and barriers," Dark chimed.

"Indeed he does. Even now he's considered to be the most powerful unicorn when it comes to those spells. And like I already said, it just so happens that before he moved to the Crystal Empire, Prince Shining Armor personally trained Kite Shield."

"That must have been really exciting for you."

"It was," Kite replied. "Even though he was strict with me, I know that it just meant that he truly cared about my training."

"By the way, Dark," Aura began. "What kind of magic do you specialize in? Your cutie mark looks like it's fire-based."

"More or less," He answered. "Although I've just about mastered fire magic, I still don't use it much outside of my forge."

"So your an offensive spell caster?" Kite asked, receiving a nod in reply. "So who do you think would win in a duel between you and Prince Shining Armor?"

Dark thought about it for a few moments. "I would have to say that he would win."

"Seems like the proper outcome," Steel commented. "Considering he's got more experience then you do."

"I'm not so sure about that," Dark countered. "I spent the last eight years of my life fighting dragons on a regular basis of four to seven days. The real reason why I believe that he would beat me is because the use of my fire magic is conditional. Where he can use his preferred magic without restraint, I run the risk of burning, melting, and/or setting everything around me on fire. So in the end, I try not to use it too much unless I'm alone, or there isn't anything flammable around me. Like I said, it depends on the condition I'm in."

"So you're cautious when using your magic," Steel concluded. "I know a few guards that could learn a thing or two about that."

"Thanks," Dark gratefully replied, just before his eyes widened. "Oh crud! I'm gonna be late for my flight training!"

"Who's training you to fly?" Aura asked.

"Rainbow," he answered. "I was heading over to the pond to meet up with her before running into you three. I just hope she isn't too upset with me."

"In that case, good luck to you lad," Steel said with a salute. "Until we meet again."

"Thanks, Steel. But why are you guys saluting me? I'm just a normal guy after all."

"It's because Princess Twilight has ordered us to treat you like we would to her and her friends."

"As nice as that is, I don't really believe that I'm worth that kind of respect," Dark admitted. "So if it's alright with you three, could you treat me like a normal pony and not salute me? You know, more like how two ponies would casually greet each other."

"A rather surprising request for Princess Twilight's coltfriend," Aura commented with a snicker.

"I'm not her coltfriend," Dark argued with a groan. "I'm just a guy that she found passed out in a field."

"Whatever you say."

"If that's what you want, then we can do that for you," Steel agreed.

"Thank you. Well, you three take care, and I'll see ya around!" Dark called as he ran off, trying to get to the pond as fast as he could.

---

Rainbow was impatiently tapping her hoof by the pond as she waited for Dark to show up. She had expected him to show up a while ago, but now was thinking about flying over to Sweet Apple Acres to go fetch Dark and drag him over herself. That was until she heard heavy breathing behind her. Turning around, she saw Dark slowing from a full gallop, to a trot, and eventually a crawl before stopping a few yards away from her, panting for breath.

"Look who's finally made it," Rainbow commented. "What took you so long anyway?"

Dark didn't answer her as he was too busy trying to catch his breath and raised a claw, asking for a moment.

"Well, whatever. Now that you're here, we can finally get started."

Dark looked up. "Can I have a few more seconds to catch my breath?"

"You're late enough as it is," she answered. "Besides, you can think of this as apart of your training for today. Now off the ground."

Reluctantly nodding, Dark began beating his wings, hovering a foot off the ground.

"Good. Now I want you to hold that as long as you can," she told him while looking at a stopwatch she brought with her.

"Is this another endurance test?" Dark asked.

"Yeah, it is. Your wings are strong enough for flight, but you won't get very far with your current air time." She paused. "Now, did you do those exercises I told you about?"

"Fifty wing-ups in the morning, and another fifty at night, correct?"

"Yep. So, why were you so late anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Bumped into some guards that I met yesterday."

Rainbow glared at him. "Were they the same ones that chained you up and dragged you across Ponyville?"

"Yes, they were."

"Okay, what happened this time?"

"Nothing," he answered. "We managed to get on good terms yesterday when they walked with me back to help explain to Applejack about what happened. I actually forgot to ask for their names yesterday, so I stopped to ask them, considering that they seemed to be good enough ponies."

"So you were late because you made some friends then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dark scratched his chin. "Well, when you put it like that... yeah, I suppose I did."

"Tell you what," she began. "If you can continue to hover for forty minutes, then I'll forgive you. If you can't, however, then you'll have to do seventy-five wing-ups instead of fifty until next Tuesday, Deal?"

"But that's over twice as long as my highest time," Dark complained.

"Well if you don't think you can, then I guess I'll just add to your workouts even more."

"Alright," he groaned. "Deal."

And so, Dark began his endurance test with an added side bet going on. The breeze from earlier had picked up, blowing in his face, across the pond, and into forest behind him. As he continued to hover, though, Dark began to notice that the wind was blowing him backwards over the pond. Soon he found himself hovering just above the center of it. He was at thirty-five minutes now, and Rainbow was starting to grow both anxious about possibly losing, and surprised at how well he was doing today. Eventually, Dark hit the forty minute mark, making Rainbow click the timer on her stopwatch.

"Way to go, Dark!" she called. "You've managed to stay hovering for forty minutes."

"Already?" he asked surprised. "It doesn't feel like it."

"Well you can stop hovering now and come back here."

Dark looked down below him. "Uhh, what about the water? Are you wanting me to just plop down into it?"

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin in thought for a moment, a new idea coming to mind.

"Alright, new plan," she announced. "I'm going to teach you how to move while hovering."

"Sweet."

"This time, however, I want you to try and not falling into the water. If you do, then you'll start over by starting from the center of the pond, and trying to make your way over here."

"Alright, I can do that."

"Good," Rainbow said before giving her instructions. "Now to move while hovering, or flying for that matter, you'll need to angle your wings slightly while also tilting your body in the direction that you want to go."

Dark nodded before trying. "You make it sound a lot simpler than I thought it would be."

"That's because I know what I'm doing, and I'm also the best flyer in Equestria," she bragged. "But it's a lot easier said than done."

Dark noticed this as he tilted forward too far and plummeted into the water. After getting himself out by flapping his wings, Dark tried it again. Rainbow was rather patient as she sat on the shoreline, watching Dark as he tried to move while hovering. After a few hours of watching, Rainbow took a look at her watch, seeing that it was almost time to call it a day. But before she did, she noticed that Dark wasn't nearly as tired as what he should have been.

"How is it that you're still going like that?" she asked.

"Granny gave me some cider," Dark answered as he started inching towards Rainbow.

Rainbow's eyes widened. "You had cider?! And they didn't send any with you for me?!" she upsettingly asked.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you liked it," he apologized.

"Alright, after we're done here, I'm heading straight over to Sweet Apple Acres to get some!" Rainbow declared. "But at least now I know how you're able to keep up."

"Actually, it's because of what you told them that Applejack had Granny serve it."

Rainbow facehoofed. "Of course," she said before looking at her watch again, then back to the setting sun. "Looks like our time for today is almost up, so you better get a move on before-" She stopped as she saw Dark inching his way across the shoreline. "Okay, never mind then."

"So... how did... I do?" Dark asked in-between breaths.

"Even though that cider did give you an edge, overall you did well," she announced. "At this rate, I might start teaching you how to actually fly by Thursday." Dark cheered before Rainbow looked to his seemingly limp wings. "By the way, how are your wings feeling?"

"Like jelly," he answered sitting down. "Feels like I can barely move them."

"Well as long as you can make it back to Twilight's Castle, then you're okay. In the mean time, I'm heading off to talk to Applejack about that cider," she proclaimed as she began taking off. "Also, you seem to have a good handle on hovering, so feel free to practice on your own whenever you want."

"Alright, see ya later!" Dark shouted as Rainbow flew away.

After she was out of sight, Dark laid down for a moment to rest himself. Only a few times has he felt this physically tired before, and one of them were due to pulling two all-nighters in a row at his forge. Feeling his muscles starting to get stiff on him, Dark made his way to get a drink of water from the stream leading into the pond. As he made his way over to the stream, Dark turned his back to the forest, letting the cool, late afternoon wind cool his face off. After taking a moment to feel the wind in his face, he lowered his head and started drinking from the stream, feeling the cool water refreshing him with each gulp. What he didn't know, however, were the eight pairs of eyes glowing from the edge of the forest.

With his back turned to the forest, and with the direction that the wind was blowing, Dark didn't notice as the eight timberwolves swiftly, yet silently, crawled closer to him. Though the stench the timberwolves carried with them would have normally given them away, they were downwind of Dark, making their scent undetectable. They were ninety feet behind Dark now as he brought his head up for a breath of air. Slowly it became sixty feet, then forty-five feet. Still unaware of their presence, once they hit thirty feet, the first timberwolf broke into a sprint.

Picking up the sudden sound, Dark turned his head around to see a timberwolf in mid-pounce. Moving by instinct at this point, Dark dodged the initial attack, but still got a good sized scratch on his right thigh. Squaring against his attacker, Dark noticed the other seven timberwolves behind the first one.

Where they hay did they all come from?! Dark wondered in a slight panic. Why couldn't I smell them before they got so close?

While taking a defensive stance, Dark took a moment to take in his surroundings. He noticed first off that the wind was blowing in the direction of the forest which hid their scent. Second, he saw that because of the direction he dodged the timberwolf, he was now standing with his back towards the pond.

Well they certainly caught me at a bad time, he thought. My wings are still too tired to lift me up over the pond to escape, and if I try swimming across, then they'll just surround me and either wait for me to drown, or come in after me.

Any more thinking was interrupted as two more timberwolves joined the first one, attacking his front and sides. Still physically exhausted, and from being scratch on his leg, Dark couldn't dodge them too much, so he had to take another approach instead. He lit up his horn, encasing the three in his golden aura, and lifted them off the ground. But once he lifted them, the rest of the timberwolves began charging.

Seeing them coming, Dark took the three timberwolves he held in his magic, and slammed them into three of the timberwolves charging him. While the six of them broke apart, that still left two more who were very close to Dark by this point. Standing on his legs, Dark pivoted on his left leg, swinging himself around and hitting one of them with his tail while the other leaped for Dark's neck. With him standing on his legs, Dark ducked, avoiding the timberwolf's mouth and claws before taking a swing with his own claws, breaking it apart and watching its remains fall to the ground.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Dark looked at the wooden remains scattered around him. As he let out a sigh of relief, the wooden pieces began glowing with a eerie green color before reconstructing themselves. Within seconds, the eight shattered timberwolves became whole again.

"Oh, come on!" Dark shouted, throwing his arms in the air out of frustration.

Upon reassembling, the timberwolves immediately charged Dark from every angle, save for his back which was still against the pond. Firing blasts of magic out of his horn, Dark began picking them off one by one. He managed to shoot down half of them before the other half converged on him. Unable to dodge, Dark began striking back at them when they got close enough. His right claw made contact with one of them while his left forearm became clamped down in another's jaws. Roaring in pain, Dark lunged his head at his attacker, opening his maw before biting down hard on the timberwolf's head, crushing it to splinters with his sharp, draconic fangs. Spitting out the chunks of wood, he noticed that the last two were clawing away at his wings, which he could barely feel. Using what strength he had in them, Dark shot his wings open, throwing the two timberwolves a good thirty feet away.

Lifting his left arm off the ground to relieve it of any pressure, Dark lit his horn to prepare casting a spell. By the time the timberwolves reassembled themselves and got back up on their paws, Dark unleashed a ten foot high wall of flame that began to circle around in front of him, leaving an opening behind him into the pond.

"That's it," Dark growled, his horn glowing bright. "Now you'll burn!"

Activating his Soul Eyes, Dark was able to pick out the location of the seven timberwolves prowling the other side of the fire wall. Looking down to the one he bit earlier, he saw that it had no life left in it as its head was completely shattered.

Alright then, he thought. If I can destroy their head, then they'll die. Dark looked back towards the others. In the meantime, I'll just have to see if incineration will work.

Now knowing how to permanently put them down, Dark began shooting fireballs out from his horn towards the timberwolves. They must have backed up from the flames, though, because each of his shots missed their mark. Not letting it bother him, Dark started firing more, one after another, until he finally made contact with one of them. The timberwolf didn't fall apart like it did before, however, but instead took Dark by surprise by jumping through the wall of fire and running into the pond behind him. Seconds later, the timberwolf emerged out of the water, burnt, and pissed.

Giving a low howl, it called to the others, who soon followed its lead by jumping through the fires and ran directly into the pond, dousing the flames. Though slightly burnt from their brief run-in with the fire wall, the seven timberwolves didn't seem too bothered otherwise. What they didn't notice, though, was that after the first timberwolf emerged through the fire, Dark began channeling his magic into a powerful fire spell. After five seconds of loud growling and panting from Dark, the ground below them began glowing red. Looking down at their paws, the timberwolves saw a circular fire glyph on the ground that had expanded until they were all standing inside it. Turning and jumping through the wall of fire to get some distance, Dark turned back around, his horn now glowing even brighter.

After muttering a short incantation, his spell detonated, creating a fire pillar that shot up thirty feet into the air. Though the sight of his most favorite trap spell always made him shiver in giddiness, it was quite taxing on his magic. What's worse is that he didn't hear the howls of pain that he was expecting. Feeling his magic depleting from both his physical exhaustion and casting so many spells, Dark had to dispel his Soul Eyes, causing him to lose sight of his targets. He didn't lose them for long, though, as he caught movement from the corner of his right eye.

Turning, Dark could see four of the timberwolves with a slight limp to their walk, and severe burn marks.

Guess I just barely nicked them before they doused the flames in the pond... again, he concluded.

He was snapped from his thoughts as he heard panting behind him. Spinning around with a claw flexed, Dark was met with the other three timberwolves. With a swing, he took out the first one, scratching its face before it fell apart, but that still left the other two to continue forward. After they were in mid-pounce, Dark reached his claws forward, grabbing each of them by the neck before holding their heads side-by-side and unleashing his fire breath upon the two. This was a mistake as he soon found out, however. Although he held them off the ground while standing bipedal and holding them up above his head, he forgot about their claws. As he continued to breath fire from his burning maw, the two helpless timberwolves kept scratching at his face with their front claws while trying to dig into his chest with their rear ones.

After a few seconds, Dark let them drop with their heads burnt clean off. Even though he took out another two, he had little time to rest as the first four cautiously walked towards him with the fifth now starting to reassemble itself. Doing a quick check over himself, Dark saw that the two did in fact cut his chest open pretty well. Though it didn't appear life-threatening at the moment, it still hurt a lot, making him hold his left claw to his chest wound. He also felt blood running from left cheek and down his neck.

This isn't going well, he thought to himself. I'm physically and magically tired, my wings are still too tired and sore to hover out of reach, I'm bleeding, and I've only got three of them so far. That, and I can't use Healing Flame unless I wanna heal them too.

Still standing on his legs, Dark turned to face his attackers. Slowly, they made their way closer to Dark before one of them broke into a sprint. Leaping up at his neck, Dark quickly ducked down, brought his right claw in, and with a quick thrust, embedded his claw into the timberwolf's chest. With it still holding together, Dark gave another shove with his claw, sending it through the back of the timberwolf. After seeing the glow from its eyes fade, Dark threw it off his arm and towards the remaining timberwolves, who were standing a good forty feet away. Dark then began feeling slightly queasy and fell to his right claw, trying to keep himself upright using both legs, and his one good arm.

Angered by the loss of their fellow timberwolves, and with how much of a fight Dark has put up, the last four timberwolves each let out a loud howl. Their combined howls were long and loud, echoing throughout the late evening sky. After finishing their group howl, they each let out a loud growl, eager to end this fight.

Dark now knew that this fight wouldn't end well if they prolonged it, so he decided to do what he should've done from the start. Removing his left claw from his bleeding chest to stand on all-fours, Dark took a few seconds to take in a very deep breath. This needed to be just as loud and long as what the timberwolves had done. Even though each second he inhaled was painful on his wounded chest, he continued on. Few seconds later, he let it all out.

Throwing his head back and fully extending his wings, Dark let out a mighty draconic roar, along with breathing out a large plume of fire from his maw. It was far louder than what the four timberwolves had managed, and it held up just as long. While his fire breath towered high above the treetops, his roar could be heard clear across Ponyville. After a good ten seconds of roaring and fire-breathing, Dark stopped, panting for breath while facing the four timberwolves. They were now snarling at him for his show of defiance, but that wasn't the reason for Dark's bellowing.

And now I wait, he thought to himself, trying to catch his breath. Then an idea came to him from the pair that recently attacked him. In the mean time, though, let's see if this new strategy will work.

---

One minute earlier at Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow was sitting down with Applejack at her house, each with several empty mugs of cider sitting beside them. After her lessons with Dark, Rainbow immediately flew to the farm, complaining about why she didn't get any. Applejack facehoofed, briefly forgetting how much she loved her cider. Soon enough, Applejack led Rainbow into her kitchen where some of the cider from before sat. It started off as just a simple drink between friends, but quickly turned to a drinking game to see who can drink the most within a certain time limit. Of course, neither won as they ended up in a tie... again.

"Ugh, who's idea was this again?" Rainbow groaned.

"Ah have no idea, Rainbow," Applejack answered. "Still, though, Ah shoulda known that you'd want some after finding out about Dark havin' a few mugs of it."

"How many did he have exactly?"

"Just two." Applejack rubbed her chin. "By the way, did he crash before ya left?"

"You mean from the cider, right?" Rainbow asked.

"Eeyup."

"Nope. He was sore and tired, but he didn't crash. Kinda sucks too. Without your cider, I'm sure he'd be too tired to even walk back."

Applejack took another swig from her mug. "Well at least it wasn't the hard stuff."

"Oh boy, that would've been funny to see," Rainbow remarked, before both she and Applejack burst into laughter at the thought of Dark flying drunk.

Their merrymaking was interrupted by the sound of a group of loud howls echoing through the house. Freezing in place, the two looked to each other before quickly running out the front door. Using what little light the setting sun was providing, Rainbow took to the air, trying to make out where the source of where that noise came from.

"You see anythin' up there, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"Not yet," Rainbow answered.

As soon as she said that, another loud sound ripped through the evening sky, causing her to wince in surprise at the volume it emanated. Rainbow knew that sound well from her trip during the Great Dragon Migration. It was a loud draconic roar, and it left a column of fire right where the pond was.

"What they hay was that?!" Applejack yelled to Rainbow. She then turned to see an orange glow in the distance. "And what's with that glowin' over there?"

Rainbow didn't answer her, she just hovered where she was, watching the fire burning above the trees.

I shouldn't have left him so quickly, Rainbow mentally berated herself. I should've stayed and helped him back to Twilight's Castle before flying off like that.

"Rainbow!" Applejack shouted, snapping her out her thoughts.

Rainbow immediately flew down in front of Applejack and lowered herself to the ground.

"You need to get on, now!" Rainbow ordered with a bit of panic in her voice.

"Why? What's happenin'?"

"It's Dark!" Rainbow exclaimed. "That was his roar we heard, and we need to get over there to him right now!"

Not wasting any more time, Applejack climbed on top of Rainbow and held onto her neck. Soon as she was secured, Rainbow launched herself and her passenger up into the air.

"So where are we headin' anyway?" Applejack asked.

"I saw fire erupting from the direction of the pond where we've been having our flying lessons," Rainbow explained. "So that's probably where he's at."

---

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Ponyville, Steel Hoof, Aura Spear, and Kite Shield were just finishing up their shift before retiring for the night. Besides Dark stopping to visit with them, their day had been relatively boring. Granted they did talk to each other during their patrols, but other than that, nothing.

"That's it, I'm bored," Aura declared.

"Yeah, me too," Kite agreed.

"I know it seems boring," Steel began. "But if it helps keep the village safe, then isn't it worth being a little bored?"

They were about to agree with him before loud howls were heard. Quickly lighting their horns, Kite conjured sever magic shields around them while Aura summoned an equal number of magical spears. Taking a few seconds to survey the area around them, they then heard a massive roar that made them shudder in fear.

"What where those noises?" Kite shakenly asked.

"The first one was a pack of timberwolves, no doubt what we were sent here to guard the town from," Steel paused for a moment. "The second one was defiantly a dragon, but it sounded a little off, though."

"Whoa! Look at that!" Aura called, pointing a hoof at a large column of fire shooting up into the air behind them.

Taking a moment to think, Steel looked to Kite. "What does the map say is over there?"

Pulling the map out of his saddlebag, Kite began to look over it. Few seconds later, he looked back up to Steel.

"The only thing the map shows in that direction is a pond," Kite answered.

Aura froze. "Didn't Dark say that he had flight training over by a pond?"

The two stallions looked to each other, then back to Aura before they all broke into a gallop, heading towards the pond.

---

Meanwhile, inside her castle, Twilight was in the lounge, laying on one of the couches with a small stack of books beside her. With Dark not home yet, she was finishing up the book that he interrupted her from reading yesterday, Dating for Beginners. She also had, The Symptoms of Love, and a few other books and romance novels that she borrowed from Rarity. Finishing up her second book on the subject, Twilight gave a content sigh as she levitated the book down on the coffee table and began reading the next one. Just as she finished reading the first paragraph of the book, Twilight heard a howl. It wasn't very loud due to the castle filtering out the noise, but it was still audible.

"Twilight! Twilight!" She heard Spike calling before the library doors flew open, revealing the little dragon. "Did you hear that?!"

"Yeah, I did," she answered. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much, Spike. Besides, that's why Princess Celestia sent the guards-"

She was cutoff by a draconic roar that loudly echoed through the castle halls. Twilight suddenly felt a pang in her chest as worry and fear began to take hold.

"Oh no," she whispered.

"Twilight?" Spike called.

"Spike, is Dark back yet?" she worryingly asked.

"Not yet," he answered. "Kinda weird, though. He's usually back by now."

Twilight slammed the book shut and quickly got to her hooves.

"Spike, I want you to stay here in the castle," she told him. "If I'm not back in a half hour, then expect a message of some kind, either a letter, or a pony."

"Twilight, what's going on?" Spike asked, he himself starting to panic now.

"Dark's in trouble," she answered. "And I'm going to go help him."

Lighting her horn, Twilight teleported herself out of her castle and onto the road. Spreading her wings, she took flight, making a beeline for the only place where she could think that Dark would be.

I just hope I'm not too late, Twilight thought as she pushed herself to go faster, heading towards the pond.

---

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Dark mentally questioned himself. It might have made things a little bit easier.

After roaring into the sky for help, Dark put his new plan into motion, which was to magically hold the timberwolves in place while using his fire breath to burn them away. He managed to get one timberwolf who got too far ahead and tried pouncing him alone, just for Dark to catch it in his magic before torching it, leaving three timberwolves left. However, he had only enough magic to do it one at a time, so he had to be careful with which one, and his timing.

Until then, he kept breathing out fireballs and long streams of fire, hoping to catch one of them before finding his opening. He wasn't having any luck, though, as the timberwolves kept running and dodging his fire. This had left the surrounding area covered in patches of fire, lighting up the area like as though it were a festival. Though the fires would be a pain to be put out, it did leave the timberwolves less room to run around.

It had been five minutes now since his call for help, but there was still no response. He could feel his fatigue catching up to him now, his movements becoming sluggish, his horn now letting out sparks instead of a constant glow, and to top it all off, the wounds on his chest, forearm, thigh, and cheek, all had some black mist flowing out of them.

Where the hay are they?! Dark panicked in thought. Somepony must have seen, or at least have heard me. So what's taking them so long?!

Dark's body was starting to shutdown on him as his arms gave out from under him. Soon after his legs buckled, leaving him to lay on his side. This is what the timberwolves had been waiting for. With Dark now laying on the ground weakened, the last three timberwolves wasted no time as they all hastily ran in to finish him off. Unable to move his legs and arms, Dark instead curled into a ball before using the strength he gathered over time in his wings to encase himself.

The two timberwolves from earlier didn't so much as leave a scratch on my wings, Dark thought. Perhaps I can use them to shield myself until help arrives.

Soon after, he felt them pounce on top of him and began clawing away at his wings. As he thought, his wings were indeed far more durable than the rest of him. After what felt like an hour of non-stop clawing, though, he started to feel a slight pain in his wings where they've been targeting. Getting worried, Dark quickly inhaled before breathing fire under his wings, catching the timberwolves by surprise and setting one of their paws on fire. Howling in pain, the timberwolf ran and jumped into the pond to put it out. The damage had been done, though, as its front-left paw was burnt off. The rest of them backed away, not wanting to risk further fighting, but it was too late for them.

Hearing what sounded like the high-pitched whistle from a speeding pegasus, Dark parted his wings and poked his head out. Looking around, he saw Rainbow land right beside him with Applejack on her back.

"Are you alright, Dark?" Rainbow asked while looking over Dark's bleeding cheek.

"I could be worse," Dark answered.

Hearing hooves galloping behind him, Dark turned his head to see Steel Hoof, Aura Lance, and Kite Shield closing in on him. Once they reached him, they took up defensive positions in front of him and on each of his sides.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Aura asked. "It looks like a dragon went on a rampage."

"Well, you're half right about that," Dark quipped. "That was actually me."

"What in the name of Celestia were ya thinkin'?!" Applejack snapped. "You said that ya wouldn't use fire against them!"

"It's not like I had much choice," Dark argued. "There were eight of them, they had me surrounded, and they're much bigger than the three that I ran into before."

Applejack's eyes widened before looking to the three timberwolves, then back to Dark.

"They're alpha timberwolves," she explained. "Their claws and teeth are covered in a special sap produced from their bodies that's poisonous and can cause uncontrollable bleadin'. And in a worse case scenario, it can cause necrosis."

Dark gulped. "And the side effects of catching necrosis?"

"Ah've never seen it before," Applejack answered before raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

Dark didn't answer her. Instead, he sat up and opened his wings, showing everypony the wounds that he got from his fight. They all gasped at seeing his chest, right thigh, and left forearm. They also saw the blood that covered his entire front half, along with most of the left half of his body, and his entire right leg.

"We've need to get him to the-" Rainbow began, but was interrupted by a flash of light.

Looking behind Dark, they saw that Twilight had just teleported in. Dark immediately covered himself with his wings before Twilight could see.

"Dark, what happened to you?!" she worryingly asked, moving in front to look him over.

"That's what happened," Rainbow answered, pointing her hoof at the three timberwolves who were now limping back away from them.

The timberwolves then turned around and limped away as fast as they could. Rainbow and the three guards were about to chase after them until Twilight lifted a hoof to stop them.

"Let them go," she told them. "They won't be coming back anytime soon." She looked back to Dark. "Now, how badly are you hurt?"

"A lot," Applejack answered. "Looks like a nasty bite on his left forearm, a deep scratch on his right flank, and it looks like they tried shreddin' his chest."

"WHAT?!" Twilight shouted. "Dark, show me now!"

Reluctantly, Dark moved his wings aside for Twilight to see. With the light provided by the nearby fires, she could clearly see the gashes and bite marks on him.

"We need to get him to the hospital, now!" Twilight declared.

"I'll be alright, Twilight," Dark spoke, trying to stand on all fours. "It doesn't even hurt as much anymore."

"All the more reason to get you taken care of before something happens!"

"Twilight, really, I'm-"

Dark cut himself off as his strength failed him, causing him to fall back down on his side again. Seeing him suddenly collapse caused everypony to call out to him in worry. Running to his side and lifting his head onto her lap, Twilight began checking his pulse.

"Then again, I've been wrong before," Dark softly admitted before yawning.

"Don't you dare fall asleep now!" Twilight told him.

"Heh, kinda hard to do at the moment," he replied, his eyelids feeling heavy. "I'm totally beat."

Twilight looked up to her friends. "I'm taking him to the hospital. Applejack, you and Rainbow go tell Spike that I'll be late getting home tonight." She then turned to the three guards. "And you three, send out a signal flare to the other guards, tell them about what happened here, then see what you can do about putting out those fires."

"Yes, Your Highness," they said in unison.

With everything taken care of, Twilight teleported herself and Dark to the Ponyville Hospital.

---

The Ponyville Hospital was rather quiet lately as Nurse Redheart was sitting behind the front desk, reading a fashion magazine that she picked up from a nearby table. It wasn't until a bright flash bathed the lobby in light that she was pulled out of her reading. After the light faded, she looked up to see Twilight sitting on the floor with something in her forelegs. As the blinding effect on her eyes cleared, she could see that it was the kirin from Pinkie's party, Dark Flame if she remembered correctly. Now that she could properly see again, Nurse Redheart could see the wound on his chest, thigh, and forearm, and all the blood that covered him.

"I need help!" Twilight desperately called out. "He's badly wounded and his breathing is weakening!"

Hearing her cry, Nurse Redheart grabbed a nearby stretcher and helped Twilight lift Dark onto it. Quickly after, a group of nurses and a doctor came rushing in.

"What happened?" the doctor asked Twilight while rolling Dark to the emergency room.

"He was attacked by a pack of alpha timberwolves," Twilight answered.

"And what about this black mist emanating from his wounds?"

"I don't know. He was like this when we found him."

The doctor pulled out his stethoscope and held it to Dark's chest, listening to his heartbeat. After a few seconds of listening in, he pulled his head back.

"His heart rate is low! We need to move faster!" he ordered as the medical ponies pushed Dark forward before stopping in front of Twilight. "I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside, Princess."

"But I can help him!" Twilight argued.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot permit non-medical personal beyond this point," he stated. "In the meantime, I recommend that you head home and get yourself cleaned up."

Twilight looked down at herself, seeing how much of Dark's blood that she was covered in. Although she didn't like the site of it, she also didn't want to leave Dark behind.

"If I can't go in, then I'll wait here," she solemnly answered.

The doctor nodded. "Very well then. If you could head on over to the waiting room, then I'll come by after we're done to inform you of his condition."

Reluctantly, Twilight gave a small nod before turning around and headed for the waiting room while the doctor made his way through the double-doors to begin the surgery.

Comments

[BrotallySwagical]

Now we wait....

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

That was an intense fight!

6624850 I agree...

[Kingmoonwar19]

6861397 I shale send impirile gaurds from my game ok opening portal and ... Way is there dumes whith armor on and necked men runing to the beach???

[kingmoonwar85]

7050767
??? way down vote me ... is it becos I am a little insaen

[Alot Master]

Fus Roar Dah

[RC-0117]

gutes Kapitel mein Freund (German) (^_^)

[RC-0117]

8734581
In der tat, mein freund I did. lol

[Bluebottle27]

The side effects of necrosis? Bits of you start going green and runny, then they drop off.