Queen of Storms

by Via

[8] Flare

Flare

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The throne shattered under her hooves.

---

"Why don't you have wings?" Luna asked.
"Drakons don't have wings. Dragons do." I responded in a soft voice. She squinted and leaned against my neck somewhat, contemplating my response for a second.
"Why don't they have wings? How do they fly, then?"
"We don't fly." I shrugged. "We don't need wings."
"But flying is so useful. If we could fly, we'd get there faster." Luna sat down on her stomach.

The there that she was talking about was the next town over. After Starswirl had left, and the two of them had eaten in meals that Starswirl had prepared just before he left, I immediately decided we should gain as much distance from us and the chaos-beast land as possible. Towns were high priority targets for chaos beasts, so I quickly explained to them how we'd be constantly moving, at maximum taking a brief rest at a town.

Celestia had been wary of me, and was eyeing me cautiously the entire time we walked. She insisted on walking by my side and was silent most of the time. Luna was far more talkative and comfortable with me, quickly taking to a spot on my back and pelting me with a barrage of questions, much to my hidden annoyance.

"Where are we going, Ms. Drakon?"
"Away from where we were. And I've told you, it's Tempest"
"Why are we going away?"
"It was dangerous."
"Why?"
"Because there were things that wanted to hurt you that were nearby."
Luna rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know that there were monsters near..um..."
"Nearby." Celestia interjected for her.
Luna nodded. "That. But couldn't you deal with them? Starswirl could."
"I...I guess I could. But..." Pause. "We'll talk when we rest." Celestia narrowed her eyes at me.
"What? I want to talk about it now." Luna childishly whined.
"It'll be easier to explain when we've rested."
Luna whined and then laid flat on my back. "Okay Ms. Tempest."
"We'll rest soon, okay?"
Luna didn't respond.
I blinked and turned back to look at her. Her eyes were shut and her ears were flat on her head.

---

Sunstorm

---

"So how much do you know?" I turned to look at Celestia and laid down flat by the firepit. Luna was pressing right up into my stomach to stay warm while she slept, and Celestia had provided a dirty blanket for her to lay down on. Celestia herself had been more or less silent the entire time we had set up, and was now staring into the fire blankly.
She didn't respond to me. I poked my head through the fire, letting the flames dance over my scales. "So how much do you know." I repeated. Celestia blinked and then leaned back away from me a little bit. She registered my question for a second, before she turned and my eyes met with hers.
"What do you mean?"
"How much do you know." I repeated for the third time. "About the situation you're in right now. How much does Luna know. She's...how old?"
"She's six."
"How old are you?"
"I'm eleven." I nodded. She was only a year younger than me, actually - I was twelve, when Discord had killed the Drakons. That had been...how long ago? A few weeks? A few months?

"So how much do you know." I repeated for hopefully the last time and sat up a little straighter. Luna let out a sleepy whine and snuggled up closer to me. I turned to make sure she was still asleep, before turning back to Celestia.
"...I know that I'm important. And so is my sister. That we're both Spirits. Like the King and Queen. And I know that...Discord...wants us dead." She hesitated before she said the word Discord, and said it in a quieter tone.
"How much does she know?"
"More or less the same." Celestia shrugged. "And how much do you know about us?" She tilted her head to the side.
"...You're the Spirit of the Sun. And your sister is the Spirit of the Moon. Your mother...? I think? Brought you to Starswirl, because she didn't know what was happening as you two ascended. Starswirl has been protecting you since."
"Our aunt." Celestia corrected. "You've fought him?"
"Who? Starswirl? It wasn't so much as a fight as him testing my magic-"
"No." She shook her head. "Not Starswirl. Discord."
"...No. I haven't fought him. He's toyed with me - but he hasn't fought me. I have managed to escape him though. Three times. He's looking for me, now. Just like he's looking for you."
Celestia's eyes narrowed. She stood up. "Starswirl said he can't find us because we're Spirits, and because we're not using magic. How come he can't find you? Are you just leading him straight to us?" She glared.
I turned to stare directly at Celestia, irritation growing within me at her constant distrust. "No, Celestia. He can't track me. Why don't you trust me? What is it about me?"
Celestia turned her gaze from me. She didn't respond as she sat down.
I sighed and traced a circle in the dust with my claw.

Silence.

"Tell me everything about Discord." Celestia turned to look at me. I blinked and looked up at her. "Everything you know."
I stared at her silently and examined her face for a time. Her face was cold and flat, not showing a hint of emotion. Her voice was quiet and just as icy. But her eyes were familiar. And her eyes were telling. They were the eyes of a filly who was scared. Who was confused. Who didn't know what to do.
"Are you sure?" I said softly.
"I'm sure." She nodded. Faint determination filled her eyes.

He's a Spirit. A powerful one at that. There was a time where he wasn't the most powerful, but then something changed and he became way stronger than natural. And then he killed one of his enemies, and his other enemy is rooted - I'll explain more later - and then he began to wait. I think he's angry because someone who was important to him died. And he waited until he was in a position to get revenge - and he started killing other Spirits. And that's when I met him."

"I met him for the first time this year." I shut my eyes and tensed slightly. "He came to my home, looking for my King. King Bellum, the Spirit of War. Discord and Bellum fought, and Bellum vaporized Discord. But then there was this horrible blackness, and his bones were so white..." I paused and let out a soft sigh. I rolled my neck and then opened my eyes. "And then he was fine. He and Bellum continued their fight, but Bellum was..." I stumbled for the words.
"Killed." She finished for me.
"...Yeah. That." I nodded. I was trying to find a way to sugarcoat it, but I suppose - she wasn't that much younger than me. I didn't have to.
"And then he exploded. All the magic rushed out of him. It almost killed Discord. I think it would've really killed him, if he was a bit weaker - maybe if someone else had tried to help Bellum. But..." I dug my claws into the dirt.
"My people were dead. My mother threw herself in-front of me so I could live. Some of us managed to escape - but it was only me and Discord still there. And I saw him, and I saw that my mother had sacrificed herself for me and I felt this rage, this anger." My claws began to glow slightly as I channeled a bit of magic into them subconsciously as I could feel that anger echoing into me right now. The dirt charred slightly. Celestia stumbled backwards and looked at me with wide, fearful eyes, her icy mask cracking for a second - and she reminded me of that little colt who I had come so close to eating. I took a deep breath and collected myself. I shook my head. "I'm fine. I'm...I"m fine."

Silence, once more. Then I relaxed, and then so did she.

"I attacked him. I threw all of my magic at him - and I caught him off-guard. For a second I swear I could've killed him - maybe if I just pushed a little harder. But I didn't. He grabbed me, and he hissed and snarled at me in that disgusting weasely voice of his, then teleported away from me and me away from my home after I vowed to kill him." The words were starting to flow out of me now - and there was this heat, this heat raging underneath my skin like a storm.

"And then I didn't know what to do. I was so confused. I was so lost, and so sad. I was in this forest, right by a pony town - and for a time, I thought I should...I should kill myself. But I decided no. I might as well do something. I have to do something - I have to set myself to something, to a goal, because if I don't then...I don't know what I'd do. So I decided to set myself to work on that vow. I didn't have anything else to do."

"I studied Discord. I learned about Spirits. I practiced magic. My first stop was to Mt. Olympus - to see the Alicorn Pantheon and ask for their help. The Spirit of Sun, Moon, and Peace."
Celestia blinked. "I wasn't there though. Neither was Luna."
I shook my head. "Not you. There was a Spirit of Sun before you. And a Spirit of Sun before that. And a Spirit of Sun before that. Once one Spirit dies, in time - someone will take its place."
Celestia squinted. "So you went to see my predecessor?"
I nodded.
"What did you find?"

"I found ruin. The mountain-top was...there was no life there." That momentary pause was when I almost spoke about how it was littered with corpses. "I found the bodies of the Spirits. I...I buried them. And burnt them. A drakon's funeral." I nodded.
"Then what? Where is this going. What does this have to do with Discord?"
"I was looking through Olympus' vault. I found a handful of useful things - a bag of holding, which I don't have anymore, a magical sword, a stone that was immune to magic, and a ring that acted as an extension of your magical capacity."
"What was in the bag?"
I blinked. "...What?"
"The bag of holding. I know what those are. What was in it?"
"I...um." Pause. "I don't know if I ever checked it."
"Do you still have it?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"No. I left it in Gryphum after I got a new one."
"Gryphum?" Celestia said with a surprised tone. "You've been?"
"I was getting to that." I rolled my eyes.

"I put the bag around my throat and just before I grabbed the sword - everything turned into butterflies. I've noticed that despite how Discord is supposedly chaotic and unpredictable, he does seem to love his butterflies." Celestia nodded in response. "And I saw that red again, and I lashed out at him with his magic. But his hold on his body was too strong-"
"His hold?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"Everything has a magical hold on their body. It's what holds them together. Draconic creatures, and chimeras, and Spirits have particularly strong holds because otherwise they couldn't be that size and that power. They'd just melt. Discord has such a strong hold that spells that are weak enough don't just not hurt him - he literally can't even feel them."
"He's that much stronger than you?"
I nodded. "He still made an effort to dodge some of my attacks. And then I struck at him with the sword - and he got really angry. He wanted to play with me still, so he said he'd leave me alone for a week if I could survive. He broke the ring, then teleported the sword away and then he teleported me off the mountain and dropped the mountain on me."

Celestia blinked. "Sorry, what?"
"He dropped the mountain on me. Not all of it. Just the top, actually."
"And you survived? How?"
"I teleported away." I shrugged. "I lost two of my claws, and some of the rock landed on my leg. Which is why it's a dragon's leg instead of a drakon's leg - it was crushed, and Discord replaced it with the dragon's leg."
"What dragon?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"Oh, yes. He tore a dragon out of Mount Olympus while I was climbing it."
"Climbing it?"
"Yes. I climbed up Mount Olympus to get to the top. Most people run at the sight of a drakon."
"You seem to be glossing over a lot of important details." She frowned at me.
I rolled my eyes and began to continue the story. "Since the Alicorns weren't able to help, I went to Gryphum. It took me a few days to reach there - and there was a chaos beast by the door. I helped the soldiers kill it, then talked to the Spirit of Air and Storms - King Gryphus. I told him everything I told you. Gryphus had his archmage - a mare named Astrabelle train me in magic, and gave me these." I held up my claws and flashed the metal bits at her, and brought up my tail.
"What are they?"
"Armor that can grow with me. They belonged to the dragon who's leg I have."
Celestia's face was flat as she slowly nodded.
"Gryphus taught me a bit of storm magic, due to my magical affinity and my interest in it, wait, magical affinity- do you know what that is?" She nodded. "My affinity is Air, Chaos, and Light. Perfect for storm magic. Then after a day or two there, Discord came and attacked Gryphum. Gryphus told me that I had to find the Spirit of Harmony and the Spirit of Order, and Starswirl the Bearded - that they were the only ones who could help me. Discord killed Astrabelle and Gryphus, and chaos beasts ransacked the city. But I was brought right to Starswirl's doorstep by Gryphus' last act. He teleported me away. And that's where we are now."

Celestia's gaze was far away and distant. I scooted forward a little bit, but made sure not to move Luna's sleeping form. "What's wrong?"

"He tore a dragon out of a mountain. He killed the Spirits that came before us. He killed your king. He dropped a mountain on you. And me and my kid sister, who can't even use magic without him finding us are supposed to be able to kill him?"
When you put it like that, I suppose it did sound quite bleak. "You aren't alone. The Spirit of Harmony. The Spirit of Order. Order can kill Discord, and Harmony can weaken Discord. Both of them are still around according to Gryphus. Maybe...maybe if we could get to them, they could help you-"
"And if they can't? Then what? What are we supposed to do?" She said, her icy "mask" cracking once more and a bit of panic slipping into her voice, before she breathed in deeply and collected herself.
"...Then..." I paused as I searched for what to say. "I don't know." I said honestly, my voice slightly cracking. "I don't know." I repeated softer.

I looked her in the eyes. And as my eyes met with hers, I realized why they were familiar. They were scared eyes, lost eyes, confused eyes, eyes of someone who didn't know what they were doing but felt as if they had to do something. They were my eyes.

And there was silence.

---

Moonstorm

---

"Where's Starswirl?" Luna asked me. For once, Celestia was the one to be asleep first - and Luna was laying down against my stomach for warmth.
"He's looking for an old friend. He told you that." I replied. I wonder if that was actually a truth - if Discord and Starswirl were "friends" at one point. Unlikely, but if I pretended that it was the truth I wouldn't feel as if I was lying.
"Who?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me."
"When will he be back though?" She flattened the top of her head against my stomach and looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. My heart fluttered a little bit. Adorable, I thought.
"I don't know. He didn't tell me." I repeated and grinned slightly at her. She didn't seem to appreciate that.
"I miss him though." She frowned.
I blinked. "...I know." I said. "But...Luna. He could...he could be a while."
She frowned even more deeply. "I want him back."
I felt mildly offended - but she was a sad, confused child. I couldn't be mad at her. "I know you do." I nodded. I scratched right behind her ear, something that she usually liked.
"I want my auntie back."
"Your auntie?" I tilted my head to the side, unfamiliar with the term.
"My auntie. She gave us to Starswirl and she didn't come back, and then Starswirl gave us to you and he hasn't come back...and you make it sound like he's not going to come back. I want...I don't want to keep going from pony to pony like this! Or pony to dragon!" She frowned.
"Drakon." I corrected instinctively. "Luna, keep your voice down. You're going to wake up Celestia-"
"No!" She stood up. She stomped her hooves.
"Luna-" I stood up.
"I'm not your child!" She yelled and stepped backward. Celestia's eyes opened and she looked around, her eyes still sleepy.
"I didn't say you were-" I started, but Luna shook her head.
"Stop treating me like I am then!"
"I didn't-"
"You did! And so did our Auntie and so did Starswirl and then they left!" She turned around and ran off. My eyes widened as she madly dashed towards the nearby forest. I tore up from my spot and began sprinting towards her on all fours. I didn't want to magically grasp her in the event that she'd lash out and accidentally use her magic, alerting Discord to where we were. I was gaining on her quite rapidly due to how large I was, but just as she neared the forest - I smacked into a tree while trying to get her, and she dove underneath some bushes.

I grunted at the inconvenience that my size was providing as I began to slowly push my way through the trees, weaseling in-between them and now underneath the canopy. I heard a faint rustle of bushes - but apart from that, I had no indication of where she was. I looked around. "Luna?!" I called loudly, squinting to adjust to the darkness from underneath the trees. I started to move slowly through them, head tilting from side to side as I tried to see her. After maybe a half minute of walking in silence, a growing dread and worry forming in my chest - an icy ball of fear, with its hooks and tendrils digging into my limbs.

Then I heard a noise that caused new, fiery adrenaline to course through my veins. A faint, animalistic noise followed by a cry of fear - to my right. I began sprinting through the trees, using my claws and tail to slice them apart in my path, I sprinted until I came across a clearing where Luna was - and a pack of wolves in front of her. Not Timberwolves, but real, honest wolves. Maybe sixteen of them.

One of the wolves pounced onto Luna, and for the faintest second I saw an aura glimmer around her horn - but then I smacked my tail out as hard as I could. I let out a yelp of pain as it impacted - and there was an awful, resonating cracking sound as it smacked the wolf in the skull and sent it flying into a tree. I could feel the warm blood on my tail. I quickly stepped in front of Luna and planted my claws. The wolves quickly backstepped - but weren't retreating. They were gaunt - they were starving. On top of that, faint yellow energy leaked from them. They had been tainted by chaos magic.

Celestia stepped in, right behind me and grabbed onto Luna tightly and securely. The wolves began to spread out around us and started to circle me - I'm sure I'd be fine, but I couldn't risk attacking the wolves without potentially endangering Luna and Celestia. There were too many of them for me to physically take on simultaneously while protecting them. I had to get them all to leave - with a show of force.

Mys, Fres, Fyrd, Ignum, Tern. Forced Fire that Ignores Earth. I dug my claws into the ground, stretched my tail out and my neck out. I roared as loud as I could. My throat began to glow as I created a beam of fire that tore out of my mouth. I quickly removed the effects of fres from it as it left my mouth, creating a blanket of flame that lit up the area. The wolves were daring, and they were starving, and they were emboldened by chaos magic - enough to take on a draconic. But there was still that primal fear that a roar and something breathing fire induces in you - which caused the wolves to quickly turn tail and run away. Wordlessly, I picked up both of the fillies to my chest - both of whom were wide-eyed and quivering. I ran out of the forest and back towards the camp, and after two minutes of silent running - I set both of them down.

"Are you okay?" I said first. I began inspecting them for any wounds, cuts, any scrapes - anything at all. Both of them were unscathed - if a little dirty.
"I-I-I..." Luna stammered. Celestia was just silent, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Luna." I got down as close as I could to her level. "When you get mad, and when you get emotional - you don't run away from your problems. You have to confront them. You have to talk them out. Okay?"
"O...o...oka- oka..."
"It's okay." I shushed her. I picked her up and pulled her closer to me. The two of them were probably terrified now - even if you were on their side, draconics that could eat you in one bite tended to be a little scary. I squeezed her tightly. I looked down at Celestia and reached my free paw out slowly to see if she wanted to join in. Celestia shook her head, shut her eyes, and when her eyes opened the mask was back on.
"Luna." I looked down at her. "I'm not your mother. I'm not your auntie. I'm not Starswirl the Bearded. Before all of this - I was no one. But let me promise you this." I looked around and saw a flower - a blue flower with a perfectly smooth white circle at its bud. I floated the flower over towards her and held it up in front of her.
"This goes to both of you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to give you away. I'm not going to endanger you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to lie to you." I dug the flower into her hair slowly. "I don't want to replace anyone. All I want-" is Discord dead.

Or that's what I thought I would've said. Maybe should've said. But...that felt wrong. Me, Luna, and Celestia - we'd been traveling together for over four days now. This was more than wanting to kill Discord. This was more than wanting to protect the future. It was wanting to protect them as well. Because as much as Celestia distrusted me, and as much as Luna could annoy me-

I wanted Discord dead. I wanted the future to exist. I wanted the Spirits - not of Chaos - to return. I wanted my people back. But I wanted to see them survive this. I wanted to survive this with them. I wanted to see them safe.

"...all I want is what's best for you," I said after a moment. Luna looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

And I held her for a while. And then we were silent, for the third time.

-