S3 CH 17. Mystery Brew
Gilda flapped as hard as she could, trying desperately to ignore the turbulent winds caused by the dragon beneath her. Even if he couldn’t fly with a slashed wing, he was still more than capable of disrupting the air with every flap of his powerful wings. Once she was high enough she once again dove, slashing her talons against the back of the dragon, forcing him to whip around and slash a massive paw at her, which she only barely managed to avoid by pulling her wings in tight to dive.
She was caked in sweat and sand, though, and had already lost more than a few feathers from swipes that had gotten far, far too close. How long until she moved just a little too slow and got hit?
A quick glance told her that her comrades weren’t doing much better. The shards of freezing ice were coming much slower, the dragon able to tear them away before too many could form. Even Legendary was spending more time running around and avoiding getting crushed than actually swinging that oversized axe of his. The only one she couldn’t tell the state of was Bouncing and that was primarily because the pegasus kept going from leap to leap, narrowly avoiding claw and fang from the dragon like some kind of bladed pixie stick.
Where the buck was their backup? Hadn’t they evacuated the town yet? How long did it take to brew up a potion? When were--
She dove to the right as hard as she could, the dragon’s tail coming right at her. However, she was a little too slow this time and the blow hit her high into the air, spinning wildly. She let out a loud, angry shriek, flailing her wings wildly and trying desperately to right herself. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the dragon stop for a moment before lunging at her.
Oh buck that. She pulled in her wings and legs as tight as she could and fell out of the air. The dragon leaped past her, his wings just lightly clipping her when they passed. She was still alive, at least. Though a moment later she landed on a sand dune and rolled down it with a groan, closing her eyes. “I-I hate dragons,” she whispered.
“Private Gilda, are you okay?” Legendary asked, the stallion standing over her. Up close she could see just how exhausted he was, his body covered in sweat and chest moving rapidly with every ragged breath.
“Yeah. I’m fine, I could keep this up all day,” Gilda lied before shaking her head, trying to keep the fog out of it.
“Bouncing!” Coldstone yelled. Gilda looked up in time to see the dragon smack Bouncing out of the air and slam her into the ground below. The dragon then reared his head back, fire spurting from his lips, before whipping it down to envelop the pony in flames.
Or, would have, if Coldstone hadn’t leaped over his fallen lover, a dome of ice forming over the pair a moment later. The flames parted around the ice, turning the sand around it to glass, but for the moment the ice held.
Gilda didn’t suspect it would last for long. The dragon’s breath continued to ravage the ice, sending steam into the air while it slowly chewed through the protections. She gave her head another shake before taking to the sky. Unsurprising, Legendary was already galloping towards the dragon and driving his axe down on the beast’s armored claws. It didn’t seem to be having much effect, though.
Where in tartarus was their backup? THEY NEEDED HELP NOW! She tore off at the dragon full pelt. She didn’t know what she could do, though. Her talons could only chip at the scales of the dragon, how was she supposed to get its attention? Fly into its eyes? If it was that easy she’d have done it already. Tear feebly at the scales? Useless, wouldn’t be fast enough. Slamming the jaw shut in the middle of a fire blast wouldn’t be very effective. Coldstone wouldn’t be able to keep that barrier up for long.
She had covered half the distance when she realized what she had to do. As grim and stupid as it was, she knew it was her best choice. But oh, how she loathed it already. “Hey! Lizard breath! BREATH THIS!” she yelled.
Gilda flew forward, ramming both her talons straight into the nostril’s of the dragon. For a moment, time seemed to stop. She stared into the dragon’s eyes, which had gone wider than she’d ever seen. The flame coming from its mouth seemed to have stopped as well, judging by the heat below coming to a stop.
Then the loudest, most agonized howl she ever heard came from the dragon’s mouth and it began to shake its head wildly from side to side. Gilda let out a shriek she she was thrown off, this time hitting the sand and tumbling for a few seconds. She laid there for a moment, trying to do a mental inventory to check if anything was broken.
Nope, nothing felt broken. But oh that was a lot of blood on her talons. She wondered if it was hers or the dragons. It--
She had only a moment to think that before the dragon’s paw came down at her. She let out a scream and tried to move, but her body felt sluggish and off. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as her demise fell towards her.
Buck it. Buck. Of all the ways to go out, killed because she rammed her talons up a dragon’s nose. Her tombstone had better read something way, way more awesome than that. Like she flipped Nightmare Moon off or something. Maybe--
Then the claw was gone when something massive and shimmering slammed into the dragon, sending it toppling back. She stared up for a moment, her mouth opening wide. It was the sand crab. What the buck was the sand crab doing here? Why would it-- wait, no. It was as big as the sand crab, but longer. And it had a long tail that went up and over its body. On top of that, its body seemed to be glimmering like the night sky itself, with stars throughout it.
A scorpio major? Or was it a minor? The buck were one of THOSE doing here? Still, it was at least the dragon’s size, so that was nice. The dragon lunged forward, unleashing his fire breath on the massive scorpion, only for the shadowy pieces of its body to melt away and then reform a moment later.
She then realized it wasn’t a scorpio at all, it was some kind of shadowy construct. Which meant Captain Lavender! She looked around for a few moments before her eyes fell on an earth pony galloping towards her. Corporal Ash?
The earth pony came to a skidding halt, sending sand up into the air. “Gilda, drink this,” the mare said before tossing a red vial out of her bag and then galloping off before Gilda could get a word out.
“What? Huh?” Gilda asked before holding up the vial and staring at it. In the dim light of the moon it seemed to almost glow. Wait, no. She could see the light on her talon. It as definitely glowing red. What kind of potion WAS this?
The ground shook when the dragon slammed into the massive scorpion, drawing her eyes back towards it. While it was reforming, it didn’t seem quite as big as before. She could also make out a strange, cloaked pony riding on its back. The captain. Ash was already racing to Legendary, Bouncing and Coldstone, tossing potions to them.
Gilda sighed and popped the cork on the vial before shuddering. It smelled like brimstone. Was this REALLY safe to drink? Oh, who was she kidding. It was one of Ash’s brews. Of course it wasn’t. But neither was going to fight a dragon with four ponies and a griffon. What was the worst that could happen?
With an ominous chill going down her spine she tossed her head back and downed the potion in an instant. It tasted like farts, ugh. How could it possibly help in--
OH BUCK ON A HAMSTER WHEEL!
------
Something was wrong. Something was so, so, so wrong. Thorax paced back and forth across the wall, his form disguised as Smooth.
He could feel it in the air. Something felt off. He didn’t know why, but it buzzed in his mind. A third sense that told him there was danger to the hive. Something they didn’t know was there but was definitely coming. A powerful sense that lingered so heavily in the air he could taste it.
He glanced back towards the dunes. Was Gilda okay? What if she needed him?
“It’s fine,” Private Glimmer said, making the changeling jump before looking back. The small pegasus was lightly hopping up the stairs to climb up besides him. “You should be resting, not pacing.”
“Sorry, Private Glimmer, sir,” Thorax said nervously, standing at attention.
The pegasus froze and then flushed. “Hey, no need to do that. I’m just a private, remember?”
“Oh, right, of course,” Thorax said, slowly relaxing. Corporal, private, lieutenant, captain. He still didn’t understand how the ranks fully worked for the ponies. It didn’t help that half the time he swore that half of the unit didn’t even CARE about who outranked who. It didn’t really help that he wasn’t really a soldier here either. “Are you sure they’ll be okay?”
“They’re all together, they’ll be fine,” Gimmer said with a shake of his head. “Captain Lavender and Corporal Ash are on the way, too, and they won’t get pushed around by a dragon. Knowing Bouncing and Gilda, they’re probably trying to ride the poor thing.”
“We should have heard something by now,” Thorax said with a soft sigh. “Somepony should have sent a message or reinforcements. Something. Anything. Why haven’t we?”
Glimmer paused and then glanced away. “I’m sure help is on the way.”
“We already evacuated the town. If everything is going to be okay, why did everypony have to run away?” Thorax asked, his eyes locked in the distance. Something was wrong. He could feel it all the way to his core. “Why’d they send Private Red Heart away? If somepony comes back hurt, she’ll need to be here to help them.”
“I’m sure the captain was just being cautious. You know how she is. Besides, Corporal Ash could make a healing potion in a flash.”
“The captain’s magic wasn’t working right, either. Until she downed that potion of Ash’s. She should be here, I should be out there. What if they need us but can’t tell us? What if--”
“Captain always says the world’s full of what if’s. Focus on what is,” Corporal Nadra’s voice called out, cutting off his thoughts. He glanced back to see the zebra making her way up the steps of the wall now. “Why’s everypony gathered up here?”
Glimmer quickly stood at attention. “Err, Corporal Nadra, ma’am, I was just--”
“At ease,” she said with a roll of her eyes before looking out over the dunes. “Still no sign of them?”
“None,” Thorax muttered.
“It’s just a dragon,” Nadra said with a shake of her head. “You saw them go up against a hydra not too long ago, I figure you’d be the last one likely to worry about them.”
“That was different,” Thorax said sheepishly. “Hydras aren’t as… deadly. That and it didn’t feel like this.”
“Like what?” Nadra asked.
“Like… this! Can’t you feel it? It’s like… it...” Thorax ground his hoof into the ground. “It… it’s like… I can feel it. Or… taste… it? I can… I...”
“What?” Nadra asked again, her eyes narrowing on him.
“I… don’t know. I...” Thorax paced back and forth even more. He felt it. Tasted it. Ever since the dragon came close enough to taste he could feel it. An unease. It was oddly familiar, though. Something terrible and horrible and just on the tip of his mind. WHERE had he felt this before, though?
His eyes widened when he finally realized what it was. “O-oh by… no. No no no no,” he whispered. He darted to the edge of the wall, closing his eyes and leaning forward. Tasting the emotions on the air. Praying that he was wrong and feeling the dread even worse when he realized he wasn’t.
“Thorax? Thorax, what’s wrong?” Nadra asked.
Thorax whimpered and slowly pulled back before looking to them. It was just like the hive, back when they were running. Fleeing. Dying. That spiciness that dragons had made it a little different, but it was definitely the same. “I can feel it. What I tasted. Oh no. Oh no no no no.”
“THORAX! WHAT IS IT?!” Nadra yelled, gripping the changeling by his shoulders.
“The dragon. It’s not running AT us. It’s afraid. It’s running AWAY towards us!”
------
Moondancer looked over the reports as she walked, trying desperately to keep herself from panicking. She glanced back to Twilight. “You’ll be okay, won’t you? You won’t do anything reckless? Well. Too reckless?” she asked. Even if it WAS her idea, she was already beginning to regret her suggestion to have Twilight go and talk to these glimmering ponies. What if it turned out they were hostile? Well, she supposed they couldn’t be much more hostile than a pair of angry dragons.
“I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything too reckless, I promise. You need to be careful yourself. YOU’RE the one going after dragons,” Twilight said before shaking her head. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
“Can’t we all be careful?” Spike asked, the small dragon struggling to keep up.
Moondancer sighed and gave a nod. “We will. You’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything too reckless, right?” she asked, glancing back to the small dragon.
“Like what, throw Nightmare Moon into a wall? Or maybe try to become best friend of the queen of a bunch of shapeshifting bugs? Or maybe--”
“I get it,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll be careful. Spike will be with me, too. I’m sure between the two of us we can at least stall until Nightmare Moon returns. I’m a lot more worried about you. Dragons aren’t--”
“Dragons aren’t invincible,” Moondancer said, cutting her off moments before the two stepped into the main courtyard of the castle. Her escort was there, nearly three dozen fully armored pegasi, two of which were attached to a chariot. “The main force is already on their way, the Shadowbolts should be arriving there ahead of us within a few hours as well.” Her horn glimmered for a moment before dark purple armor appeared across her body. She stopped and turned to the pair. “You two have a train to catch as well. Listen. Twilight, you have as much authority as… well, anypony here can with Nightmare Moon missing. But please. The most important thing is you. If you get so much as a scratch, she’ll burn that… whatever that place is to the ground. So please. Be careful.”
Twilight gave a small nod, stopping to stare at her friend for a few moments.
Moondancer couldn’t blame her. She suspected Twilight had seen ponies in armor for most of her life, especially with her brother. But that didn’t compare to this. Guard ponies wore armor because they were guards.
The armor these soldiers were wearing now was made for a coming battle against an incredibly dangerous threat. Depending on how many dragons there were, there was a good chance that many of these ponies wouldn’t be coming back. If she wasn’t careful enough there was a decent chance that she wouldn’t be. The armor they wore was designed less to look impressive, more to face an almost impossibly deadly threat.
“Just please,” Twilight said. “Be careful. We need you. If you get hurt, then Nightmare Moon--”
“Will get a new student and probably laugh at my misfortune,” Moondancer said with a shake of her head, though she hoped she didn’t have to test that theory. “I’ll be fine, though. I promise. I’m not planning on taking any risks I don’t have to. Defense only.” The unicorn stared at the earth pony for a long moment before finally dashing forward and giving her one last tight hug. “I promise, okay? We really, really need you.”
Twilight stood still for a moment before slowly hugging the other mare back. “I know. I will. Besides, Spike will be there the whole time to keep an eye on me. Nothing bad will happen.”
Moondancer nodded before pulling away and walking towards the chariot. She paused besides it for a moment, giving one last look to her friends, before leaping up and into it. It took only a moment before the pegasi began to rise into the air and fly off towards the Badlands.
She tried to focus on the task at hoof, but found she couldn’t. Something was definitely wrong, the magic they depended on was acting strange. Messages were getting harder and harder to send. The Badlands were getting blocked by something entirely now, she couldn’t imagine what. She needed to focus on preparing for what they’d encounter when they got there, on helping the ponies there get out before things got too bad.
Yet instead she found her mind drifting back to Twilight and Nightmare Moon. Everything felt so wrong. They had the Elements of Harmony now. Then, almost as soon as they found them, Nightmare Moon just disappeared? What was the business that had drawn her away, why was she still gone? Was the alicorn ruler in danger? She couldn’t imagine any threat that could truly harm the ruler.
But if there was, was it also responsible for the castle to the north? The attack of the dragons? What if she was sending Twilight off to her death?
Moondancer felt a small surge of guilt at that thought. What if her decision ended up costing her her friend? Worse, what if she WANTED it to? At the time it had seemed like such a smart idea. Getting Twilight away from the dragons, dealing with both issues at once. But now? What if she had subconsciously seen the danger of this strange castle and sent Twilight off to get her out of the way? She knew she was upset about the elements reacting to Twilight, but would she really be trying to remove the competition like that? Was she really so callous and greedy? So desperate to be the hero that she’d doom all of them?
She tried to shove those feelings down, but they refused to be ignored.
Moondancer glanced back towards the city, now just a glow in the distance. Twilight was probably on the train by now as well. It wasn’t like she could just go back and catch up, she’d need to call the train back. Over a feeling? Right, because that would do anypony any good. She should be focusing on what they’d do when they arrived, not worrying about an earth pony who had, frankly, shown herself to be far more competent than she could ever hope to be. If Twilight was here, she was certain the earth pony would be talking about all kinds of plans and ideas, looking over maps to see what the best course of action to hold the dragons back would be. Heck, she’d likely even be considering using the heavy cloud cover to their advantage to trick the dragons.
That last thought gave Moondancer pause and she glanced around. There was a lot of cloud cover tonight. Had the weather been scheduled for a heavy rain? She couldn’t remember anything like that. So why were--
A scream tore through the air, making her jerk her head to the right. She narrowed her eyes and tried to find the source, but she didn’t see anything.
Then dark, shadowy ponies seemed to materialize out from the shadows of the clouds, lunging from below to strike the escort. What in Equestria? Why were the shades attacking her?
------
Twilight gave a small smile to the guards escorting her towards the train, occasionally glancing back at Spike. “She will be fine though, won’t she?” she asked.
“Of course she will, ma’am,” the guard said with a small smile. “She’s going to have half the Equestrian Forces keeping an eye on her to make sure nothing bad happens. If things get too dangerous, they’ll haul her out whether she likes it or not.”
Twilight nodded, though she couldn’t help shaking the feeling of unease. She shook her head. If anything, she should be worrying about these crystal ponies. If Moondancer was here, she was certain she’d be coming up with a dozen different ideas on how to stall, not worrying about if she was safe. Besides, she was one of the most talented unicorns she knew, if anypony would be safe, she would.
“Why’s it so big?” Spike asked. “How many of us are going up there?”
“Not too many,” Twilight said before looking up and down the many train cars. There were more than she would have expected, but she suspected it was more an issue of what was available and prepped to go. “Just us and our guards.”
“Geez, how many guards do we need?”
Twilight just snickered and shook her head. It wasn’t just for her, though she suspected a good chunk of them would be keeping an eye on her. They didn’t know anything about these crystal ponies, so it was only natural they’d be sending a few dozen extra guards up to help reinforce the area.
Her escort just gave her a small smile and led her into a car lined with seats. “I’m sorry that accommodations will be a bit lacking for the time being, but we did manage to scrounge up a proper meal for you two. Complete with gems and all,” he said.
Twilight suppressed the urge to snicker when she saw Spike perk up at the mention of their upcoming meal. “Thank you. Please, don’t put yourself out on my behalf.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. It’s going to be a long trip, there’s not much else for us to do until we get there,” he said with a light chuckle. “So please, just relax and enjoy yourself. If you need anything, feel free to let us know. Patrols will be going in and out from time to time, but for the most part you two will have as much privacy as you need.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said before walking towards one of the seats and glancing out the window. “I don’t suppose there’s any information about these crystal ponies I could have access to?”
The stallion sighed and shook his head. “Not that we’ve been able to locate. A team of royal librarians have already begun a search, but we’ve yet to have received any information. We--” He stopped suddenly when the train began to lightly rumble, before moving. “They’ll forward us anything if they discover it. If they can. In the meantime, is there anything you need?”
“No, we should be fine,” Twilight said before motioning him off with her hoof. “Thank you.” Of course, once he was gone the smile fell from her lips.
“You’re not fine, are you?” Spike asked.
“Just anxious is all,” Twilight said before glancing out the window again. She hoped Moondancer would be okay. It didn’t look like a good night for flying at all.
Oh, where was Nightmare Moon when they needed her most?
------
Nightmare Moon let out another giddy cry when she tore into the shadows that dared to assault her. Whatever this thing was, did it truly think it could defeat her in her own realm? She was the ruler of the night, of the dark, yet it dared to oppose her? Why it hadn’t given up yet she couldn’t imagine. Instead, it decided to suffer and endure, be torn into again and again, overwhelmed by her perfect strength. Pathetic.
Still, it had been so long since she had been given a worthy foe.
And it seemed it would be a while yet until she encountered one.
------
Gilda wondered if this was what it like to be a pony. So filled with energy she was beginning to doubt she’d ever be able to stop flying. Even the aches and pains seemed a distant memory now. She moved like a brown blur, zipping in and out of the dragon’s reach with such precision and speed that the dragon might as well have been trying to catch the rain in his claws as catch her. She almost felt bad for him.
Almost.
She slammed both her front talons into the top of his head, making him emit another roar which was quickly silenced by a blast of ice washing over his mouth, sealing it shut. The others seemed to be every bit as energized as she was, the potion awakening every ounce of energy they had and multiplying it. Gilda couldn’t wait to add ‘kicked a dragon’s butt’ to her resume, Rainbow was going to be so jealous. A shadow fell over her and she dashed to the right, narrowly avoiding one of the dragon’s claws. However, the momentary focus on her was enough to leave the dragon open and exposed.
Allowing the shadowy creation of the captain’s to slam into the dragon, coil its tail around his throat and then bodily throw him over it, slamming him into the sand with enough force make the ground shake and leave a crater in the sand.
For a few moments Gilda actually believed it was finally over, they’d defeated a dragon. But, grudgingly, the dragon began to sit up. “What does it take to keep one of these things down?” she yelled.
As if the universe suddenly decided her opinion mattered, the dragon finally collapsed, sprawling out over the sand and not moving aside from giving soft, pained groans. Gilda waited for him to start moving again, but the dragon just laid there. She dove down to land by the ponies, her heart still pounding, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the adrenaline or whatever it was that Ash had fed them. “Is it over?” Gilda asked.
“I hope so,” Legendary said.
Gilda froze and looked at Legendary. Of all the ponies she expected to hope the battle was over, he wasn’t one of them. Before she could think on it too long, the dragon began to laugh.
“You… foolish… ponies…” the dragon said, before letting out soft coughing. “You’ve doomed yourselves.”
Legendary stood up a little straighter and Gilda half expected him to start going on some battle cry or even break into warsong. Instead his head whipped up when… something went over them. The stars above seemed to flicker out and become consumed by a terrible darkness overhead. Then the sky was clear once more and some great darkness descended on the dragon, enveloping it.
The dragon tried to breath flames on it, but it seemed to have no effect. Gilda couldn’t move, all she could do was stare at what appeared to be another dragon, albeit one made entirely of shadows. The flames seemed to go right through it, as if where the light touched the creature disappeared.
But the flames weren’t strong or bright enough and the rest of the body remained. Claws dug into the other dragon, though he tried to fight. Rather than drawing blood, instead wounds of darkness appeared across his scales, like an infection spreading across his body. Tainting it inch by inch. The rage filled roars soon turned to frightened, even terrified whines as the dragon tried to fend off the darkness enveloping him, but it wasn’t enough.
Within what felt like moments, two shadowy dragons arose. Bodies enveloped in gray darkness and eyes a hollow white.
“Aren’t… aren’t those shades?” Bouncing asked. “Aren’t the shades supposed to be on our side?”
“Retreat!” Lavender yelled. “Those aren’t our shades, pull back!”
Gilda couldn’t help but stare, though. The shades moved to let out a roar, but there was no sound. A silent roar of rage, pain and who knew what else.
It was somehow worse than if there had been sound.
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Oh dear, Sombra's brought his A-game.
Welcome back for starters.
This is what happens when youre so arrogant you wont even communicate to the ponies attacking you that HEY maybe you need some HELP and youre FLEEING A SHADE DRAGON SET ON EATING YOU
S1e2, and the end of wedding was it?
Now, did we have a pokemon trainer (Ash) tossing a healing potion in? Where was the "Gilda, I choose you" line?
11013287
It was in the previous chapter, actually
So he said he feared something, and was moving as fast as a dragon on the ground could move.
You know, if a winged dragon isn't flying, and is in fear, something's really wrong.
11012625
Happy to be back. :)
11012064
A-game and the whole crew.
11013287
Bah, what could a pony do when compared to a dragon? :P
11013415
.... Oh. Oh my gosh. I never even noticed that could be taken that way. XD
11013423
Yeah, he probably should have mentioned that there WAS something he did in fact fear on the way.