Last of the Dragonlords

by Fluttershy20

Chapter 12 (part 2)

About half an hour later they’d arrived in a third chamber. This one was a small, rectangular shaped one, with a single black iron door down a flight of stairs leading out of it and into the unknown.

Fluttershy had been glancing behind her for the past half an hour, waiting anxiously for the howls of the remans coming up behind them to attempt to take her again. Luckily, though, Firewing was beside her, which made her feel a lot safer.

Firewing kept glancing behind them also, but when his eyes drifted upwards he stopped and stared with a fascinated gaze. “Fluttershy, look up.”

Fluttershy looked up and her jaw dropped at the sight on the ceiling. “A mural,” she stated. The mural was once a beautiful vibrant painting of colours, but now they have faded away, leaving only faint, white outlines of what it was made to represent. But it was still viewable.

Rows of mountains stood tall and proud, but one in particular stood out to Firewing, one that was shaped like a head of a ram. “That must be the Ramshead range, named after one of the Horscan gods,” he said. “But what has it got to do with this key, or any of the five keys for that matter?”

Fluttershy glanced back behind her once more before looking at the walls, scanning for any text or writing that could explain what it meant. After a moment she gave up and looked back up once more.

The gem that floated above her head floated upwards, revealing the entirety of the mural in its fresh, blue light. She could now make up the writing below as a verse, and potentially a clue.

“The mighty Ram, with its head reared up towards the sky, roars in defiance of the illuminator of the world, and has since stood between him and his destructive gaze.” She read aloud.

Firewings ears pricked up and looked back at the mural. His eyes suddenly widened in realisation. “Of course! The Ramshead range is the location of the fifth and final key. By the sounds of things it’s hidden under the mountain that shaped like the head of the ram.” He grinned with joy and began hopping on the spot. “We did it, Fluttershy, we did it!”

His cheer quickly died a painful death when a ferocious howl echoed across the catacomb. “The remans,” Fluttershy said shakily. “They’re coming!”

Firewing nudged his daughter towards the door. “Quick, through that door!” he shouted. Fluttershy broke out of her trance and ran to the door, pushing it aside and closing it behind them.

“That door won’t keep them between us for long,” Firewing said. He looked down in thought for a moment, and then looked at Fluttershy. “Feeling brave?”

“No,” Fluttershy replied with a shake of the head.

“Good. I want you to go through that door there.” He pointed to the door at the far end of the chamber. “Find the key and get out.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll stay here and hold them off.”

“No!” Fluttershy shrieked. “Please come with me. We can both get the key and get out together. I don’t want to split up with you again.”

“Fluttershy, listen to me,” Firewing said. “I need you to go inside, get the key, and get out of here and into safety. I don’t want you to get killed here, or worse. So go, now.” Fluttershy shook her head hesitantly. “Please, Fluttershy. I need you to do this, for me.”

Fluttershy looked at Firewing for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. “I’ll wait for you,” she said. She turned around and galloped off towards the door where the key was being held.

“Good luck, Fluttershy. And I’m sorry,” he whispered, loud enough for her to hear.

He watched his daughter disappear through the door, and then looked around. The chamber was made up of giant stone pillars that held the roof in place. The chamber disappeared down one end, and was big enough to be flanked by an army on all sides.

An army of remans still wouldn’t be big enough to defeat him.

His eyes narrowed as the door swung open, and emerged from behind it a huge party of remans. One was wearing heavy metal armour and had a huge sword in its paws, while one next to it had a hoof mark on its face. Firewing chuckled at the wolf, pleased that his daughter did that despite himself.

The remans dispersed from their tight formation and spread out around the chamber, surrounding him. Firewing merely chuckled; he remembered being in tighter spots than this. “Good day to you, pups,” he said as patronisingly as he could. He noticed the glancing looks the remans had as they looked around and chuckled once more. “What’s the matter? Lost your mothers’ teats?”

The reman with the big sword snarled in reply and strode forward, brandishing its sword. “Another pony? They must be invading this country,” the reman said. “Now tell me, gelding, where is that lovely bit of flesh under your protection?”

“You mean my daughter,” Firewing snarled. “She’s safe and away from your filthy paws. You can’t harm her now.”

The reman snorted and as one the other remans raised their swords towards him. “I’m gonna give ya one chance, little pony. Stand aside and let us through, or join your friends back there.” It indicated with a head movement towards the dead Dragonlords in the other chamber.

Firewing didn’t budge. “You’re allowed to pass, when I’m dead.”

The metal armoured reman sneered, and nodded. “So be it.” It raised its head towards the ceiling a let out a mighty howl – the howl of the hunt, as Firewing knew it to be.

Firewing reared up and let his sword Drage Bane, spring from its scabbard, while his axe formed into place on his other leg. Both weapons sang as they appeared; ready to be bathed in reman blood.

Firewing made a quick count of the numbers. Fourteen had swords and shields, and were armoured in various types of animal fur. One had a large steel claymore that was rusty and rotten in some places, and wore thick steel armour. Four more had leather armour strapped around them, while two had spears and daggers, and three more were armed with bows and arrows, and short swords.

Firewing counted twenty-two altogether, and grinned. ‘Too easy,’ he thought.

The first ten of them advanced closer to him, their weapons drawn and ready. They advanced confidently, as if they thought this would be an easy fight. They clearly hadn’t fought a Dragonlord before, and Firewing was sure he wouldn’t leave them wanting.

The nearest one to him was armed with a curved sword gripped in its two paws. With a war cry the reman spurred forward and threw its sword over its head. Once it got close to Firewing it swooped it down to go into Firewing’s skull.

In five seconds Firewing calmly sidestepped out of the way and let the blade tip come harmlessly down onto the ground. He quickly brought his axe leg up and with a grunt, thrust it into the back of the reman. He pulled it out quickly as another reman came forward with its weapon against its chest.

It took it into its paws and swung it at a wide arc. Firewing pulled his chest in and jumped back from the swing. He moved forward and blocked the next blow with his axe, then swung down with his sword and slashed across its shoulder and chest.

He looked forward and urgently ducked as an arrow sped towards him. It missed him by a hair and hit a reman behind him in the eye. Firewing spun around and finished another reman by slashing with his sword across its stomach. It went down without a sound.

Another reman came up to him. Firewing took a step forwards and brought his axe down, which was blocked by the reman’s shield. Firewing took the moment and aimed his sword lower, towards the knee. He thrust it forwards and brought the reman on its knees. He did a quick spin, slashing across the stomach of another reman as he did so, and brought the sword through the neck, decapitating it.

He got back down on four hooves and galloped towards the archers, ducking and rolling from any of the other reman attacks. One reman got in his way with a giant axe that was swung towards his chest. Firewing jumped in the air and smashed him into the ground with his hooves, before running towards the archers once more.

When he was close enough he leapt into the air once more and came down on the first archer, who was trying to prep its bow for another shot, but instead died gurgling with a sword embedded through its chest.

The second archer dropped its bow, pulled out a dagger and charged. Firewing pulled out his sword of the first archer and swung his axe into the neck of the second archer, decapitating the reman and sending the body into a backwards somersault.

Another reman came forward, this time with a shorter, straight sword. It slashed down to split him open, Firewing, however, was barely quick enough to block with his sword. He swooped down with his axe to end it, but the reman was fast and backed away from him, sending Firewing to the ground.

Firewing rolled out of the way as the reman went to plunge its sword into his bare chest. Firewing jumped back on his four hooves then reared up once more, his sword and axe re-appearing.

The reman lunged forwards. Firewing deflected the attack and made a move of his own with his axe. The reman recovered and deflected the axe in a fast motion. Stunned, Firewing made another attack, this time with his sword making a feint attack and his axe bearing the fatal blow.

The reman was quick, and managed to dodge the swing of his sword, and was able to block the axe before it met its shoulder blades. The continued trading blows for a while, with neither of them gaining an advantage.

Another reman came up from his left, hoping to take him out while he was busy, and therefore, defenceless. Firewing saw this in the corner of his eyes and quickly pulled back; bringing the reman he was engaged with into the swing of the sword. The sword came down and embedded itself into the reman’s skull. Firewing took the advantage and rolled around the other reman, who was trying to pull its sword out, and plunged his sword into the creature’s back, who died with a quiet scream.

Another reman suddenly came towards him with a lowered spear. It thrust it forward in the attempt to skewer him. Firewing deflected the spear out of the way and into the reman he had just finished off, before swinging down with his axe into the remans shoulder, and stabbed him in the stomach with his sword.

He pulled both weapons away and allowed the reman to collapse onto its knees. He then spun around and with his sword, slashed once more across the stomach, sending the reman onto its back.

Firewing dropped onto all fours and looked around him upon noticing noone else was attacking him, the sword and axe pulling back into their scabbards and holders respectively.

Around him lay around twelve or so remans, lying dead in pools of blood. ‘Wait a minute,’ he thought. He counted the dead again. ‘Twelve? I’m sure there was twenty two!’

He looked towards the door and his eyes widened in alarm. “They’ve gone after Fluttershy!” he cried. He began galloping towards the door in the hope he could stop them. He was stopped when he felt the wind blown out of him by a powerful punch in the stomach, which sent him skidding across the ground. He opened up his eyes and growled when he saw his attacker.

Above him was the reman in steel armour, sneering at him with drool running down its lips. It backed away and unsheathed its sword. “Your daughter will be mine,” it said with venom. “I’m going to enjoy breaking her, you know. The first thing I’m gonna do, though, is let her watch you die.”

Firewing scrambled up onto his hind legs and his sword and axe sang out once more. He looked at the reman with hatred and anger. He brought up his sword and axe in a defensive position and waited for the first strike.

He hoped, no, he prayed Fluttershy had the key and was out by now.

---

Fluttershy glanced back once more as she watched her father turn around to face the remans. She scolded herself for leaving him like this, but she couldn’t do anything except be hoof fodder against them – she just didn’t have the courage to kill.

She got to the black iron door, swallowed the crawling lump in her throat once more and opened it, dreading whatever was behind it. She had expected arrows to come out of the walls, magical bolts raining down on her, the floor opening up to reveal lava.

She was pleasantly surprised to find nothing, just a really large hall with tens of thousands of really thin stone columns holding it together, disappearing into the darkness. “If the key is somewhere here,” she said to herself, “then this could take ages!”

She knew she didn’t have ages. The remans might’ve had broken and rusty swords but they were strong and relentless. They would, at some point (and although she hated herself to think of it), kill her father and come after her.

She began galloping for her life in a random direction into the blackness. The saddlebags rustled on her back as she ran, and the gem hovering over her head was having a hard time to keep up.

She darted her head around frantically, searching for any sign of the book in which the key was housed in. “Oh,” she moaned, her ears falling flat on her head, “this is hopeless. How could I find a book in the middle of this place?”

Just then, as if it had a mind of its own, the gem began floating northwards. Fluttershy, upon noticing the fading light, looked up to see the gem moving away. “Wait!” she screeched. “Come back! Don’t leave me here in the dark!” She began galloping after it. The gem was moving quickly but Fluttershy was a fast runner, some would say even faster than Applejack if they ever saw her run, so she had no trouble keeping up with it.

After a while of seemingly running in a random direction the gem stopped and pulsated a bright blue glow, which spread out across the hall, revealing it in its splendour. Fluttershy looked up and tilted her a head a little. “Why have you stopped now?” She looked forward and gasped with a mix of wonder, and joy.

A vast number of empty bookshelves as high as her cottage stood arrayed in rows going back into the darkness. Fluttershy’s smile grew wide as she knew that the book holding the key was in there somewhere. Now all she had to do was find it.

“Thank you,” she said to the gem. The gem didn’t respond; only give off another pulsating light to illuminate the hall. She trotted into the library, as it seemed to be, and began scanning the shelves for a single black covered book.

She realised she wouldn’t get far on the ground, as she could easily cover the whole area from the air. She was a pegasus, after all. She spread her wings and thrust them down towards the ground, giving her a push into the air. She flapped them down again and again, with the sound of air meeting her wings louder, and more metallic, due to the blade that covered her feathers.

She made it above the shelves and gasped at the size of this place. She felt a bit under whelmed at first, but she knew she had to find it. Her father depended on her; the whole world depended on her to find it.

She swung her wings back and kicked out her hind legs, giving her the thrust she needed to go forward. She was soon slowly moving around the shelves, her eyes looking down to the ground for any sign of the book.

She floated above the shelves for around five minutes or so, beginning to lose hope, when something caught her eye. A single, white podium, decorated in markings and runes of ancient Equestrian origin. While on top, rested a big, black book, with the symbol of the Dragonlords embedded into it. Fluttershy grinned. “Found it.”

An arrow whizzing past her ear brought her out of her daze and she quickly dived down to the ground. She landed on her hooves quick but hard, making her hooves feel a bit sore. She hopped over to the podium and quickly opened the book, grabbed hold of the key and stuffed it into her saddlebags.

With that taken care of she had to get out of here. She held her breath and stayed silent when she heard the sounds of grunting and arguing. Her eyes widened with realisation that the remans were here, and coming to find her. And that meant…

“No.” she shook her head despairingly, tears welling up in her eyes. “Dad, please no…”

“There she is!” a reman suddenly cried. Fluttershy spun around and saw a reman with a bow and a single arrow in its paws. “I’ve got her!”

Fluttershy got up and shot upwards into the air. The reman fired its shot, but instead of hitting Fluttershy, it soared right through where she was standing, and killed a reman that was coming up behind her in the neck.

“Don’t let her get away!” another screamed out. Fluttershy shot forwards in a bid to get away and lose them. She would have to find and mourn her father later, right now she had to get away from these beasts.

She soared in a single line, and then darted quickly to the left, trying to confuse them into where she was. She said a silent, “Thank you,” to Rainbow Dash for teaching her that. She looked back once more to see she was losing them and gave a sigh of relief.

She looked back in front of her, but instead of open air, she smashed into one of the columns. She slid down the column with a groan and found herself back on the ground. Apart from her head hurting she felt herself over and saw she was okay.

She got up and made to gallop off quickly when she felt a rope go around her neck. She gasped for breath as it was tightened around her and forced her to move with the holder. “Ha ha, we got you now, cutie,” the reman with the rope in its paws sneered.

Fluttershy pulled and tugged in a bid to get free. But the other remans were now beside that one and had their weapons trained on her. “Please!” she cried. “Let me go! If you don’t we’re all going to die!”

The remans just laughed. “Come on, missy. The boss will be happy with us when we show ‘em you,” one said.

Fluttershy, out of primal instinct, bucked the column behind her. She opened her eyes when she heard the cracking sound of stone. ‘Wow,’ she thought. ‘I’m stronger than I thought.’ Then it hit her.

The crash on the top might have weakened the old stone, the columns were thin enough for such an impact to do so, and the bucking must have loosened it from the base as well. She only had one or two chances of this, and even then there was a chance it wouldn’t work. She just hoped gravity was on her side.

She pulled back with all her strength, staggering the reman to the ground, and bucked hard on the thin stone column, smashing the base apart. Cracks started to show across the length of the column, as age began to show itself. The pillar collapsed onto another pillar, then another, and another, and another, until the entire hall began to cave in on itself.

The remans looked up and their jaws dropped in horror. Fluttershy took this moment and pulled the rope out of its loosened paws, and took it off her neck. She immediately galloped away as the roof collapsed on top of the frozen remans, crushing them in the rubble.

She looked back and grimaced as rubble fell on top of the remans. “Sorry,” she whispered before galloping hard to find a door so she could get out of this place. She looked around her as the columns fell onto each other like dominoes. The whole mountain must be collapsing on top of her, but that was of little concern. She needed to find her father, get the keys and get out.

The gem darted from her head to the right. Fluttershy noticed and took off after it, knowing that wherever it would be going it was in the right direction. It soon sent her in front of a familiar black iron door. She couldn’t care less where it sent her as long as she wasn’t stuck here.

She swung the door open, jumped, through, and closed it again, just as the columns closest to her began to collapse. She reared up and pressed her back against the door, waiting until the rumbling sound behind her stopped. After a while the sound of falling stone faded away and the world went silent, save the sound of swords meeting.

Fluttershy looked up and saw her father; walking three legged with his sword raised against his chest, circling the reman in steel armour. The two were locked in a death gaze, with their weapons pointing towards the ceiling.

The reman came forward and swung his up high, then thrust it down towards Firewing’s head. Her father blocked the blow, but then had the wind blown out of him once more when he was kicked into the air and into one of the columns behind him.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened with horror as she saw the reman sneer and walk up to her downed father with the raised sword. Without even a moment’s hesitation, or thought for that matter, she charged forward, galloping as fast as her legs could go.

The reman raised its sword above the head to deliver the killing blow. Fluttershy leapt into the air and dived towards the reman. Fluttershy closed her eyes and hoped for the best. She didn’t notice her sword appearing from its scabbard, or hear its quiet song of death.

She felt herself hitting the reman on the side, sending him to the ground with an anguished cry, and making him drop his sword. The two rolled for a moment before coming to a stop a few feet away from Firewing, who at that moment opened his eyes and shook his head.

“Ugh, my head,” he complained. He got up and noticed the reman he was fighting wasn’t there. “What happened?” he looked to his right and gasped.

Fluttershy meanwhile opened up one eye when she stopped feeling the world go around. The reman was dead; its eyes were wide open, with shock and pain revealed in its final moments.

Fluttershy looked down and gasped in horror when she saw her sword leg embedded into its side. She pulled it out with a squeal and backed away in horror. She raised her shaking sword leg and saw her sword dripping in its blood. She felt revulsion flow through her as she saw the blood drip onto her foreleg. “Wha… what have I done?!” she cried out into the chamber.

“You did good, Fluttershy,” a reply came from behind her. Fluttershy turned around and saw Firewing staring at her with an unreadable expression.

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her mane; some of it was covered in the blood of the reman she had killed. “I’m sorry, dad!” she cried. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I was just trying to stop him from killing you!” She started shaking her head, making Firewing fear she was going into shock. “I… I di… I didn’t want to kill him.”

Firewing walked over and Fluttershy got a good look at him. He was covered in black reman blood and had a few scratches from sword wounds. He wrapped his legs around Fluttershy and brought her in a comforting embrace. “Shh, sweetheart, there’s nothing to be sorry about. But let me ask you something, would you rather watch me die then him?”

Fluttershy shot her head up and looked at him in disbelief. “No, of course not,” she answered.

Firewing nodded in satisfaction. “Then you did the right thing, Fluttershy.” He gave her a small smile, and then backed away. “Now, did you get the key?”

Fluttershy nodded and took out the key with her mouth. Firewing smiled. “That’s my girl.” He took the key in his mouth, placed it in his saddlebags (which he found in the corner), and ruffled his daughter’s hair, making her smile a little. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“But how? I kinda destroyed the other way,” Fluttershy said, pointing towards the door behind them.

“Hmm,” Firewing pondered. He looked around the chamber. “I don’t want to go back in case there’re more remans. We can’t go that way, either. So I’m opting that we should go hmm… left,” he said, pointing into the darkness.

Fluttershy shrugged. “I’m right behind you, dad,” she said. She looked back once more at the reman whom she killed and wondered for a second whether her father was right, whether she was justified killing it. She realised if she hadn’t come a second sooner, the reman would’ve killed him and she would’ve been taken as a slave.

She shuddered at the thought. A part of her felt glad though that she did it and saved her father in the process, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to kill anything else again, ever. It was feeling she couldn’t describe and would probably weigh heavy on her for a long time.

She came out of her thoughts when she heard a mighty rumble echo across the chamber. She looked up and blushed, thinking it was her stomach. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little hungry.” The rumble came again, this time louder and closer. “Okay, that one wasn’t my stomach. Was that yours?”

“No. None of them were either of us, Fluttershy,” Firewing responded. Suddenly from behind them a heavy explosion came. The ground heaved and collapsed behind them as something crawled out of the ground. Fluttershy and Firewing stepped back in horror as the creature showed itself.

Its head was that of a dragon, with huge teeth, a scaly head, with a horn like a rhino’s protruding from between its nostrils. But any resemblance to dragons ended after that. The creature had two claws, while the rest of its body was that of a giant snake that was the colour of twilight.

“Wh-what is t-t-that thing?!” Fluttershy spluttered, as it slowly and menacingly advanced towards them.

“A lindworm,” Firewing replied, slowly backing away from it. “They’re creatures that love to live in places like these. They’re pretty much blind but have accumulated a heightened sense of smell, and can eat anything. Must have disturbed it when somepony collapsed the hall.”

“So what do we do?” Fluttershy asked, backing away from the creature as it loomed over them.

“Basically… rrrruuunnnnn!” he cried. He spun around and galloped into the darkness. Fluttershy shook herself out of her trance and caught up with him.

The lindworm roared and chased after them, its lumbering form soon gaining them with ease. It lunged its head at Fluttershy, who veered to the right as quick as she could, making it smash its head into the ground.

“I can see a door!” Firewing called over to his shoulder. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and saw he was right. A single black iron door, like the ones before it, stood in their way between safety and becoming a two-course meal.

Firewing spun around and bucked the door open. “Come on, Fluttershy, get through!” Fluttershy leapt through the gap, with Firewing close behind, who snapped it shut behind them. They could hear the sound of the lindworm smashing into the door, trying to force it open. “Will it get through?” Fluttershy asked.

Firewing shook his head. “The wall’s too thick. It won’t be able to get us. It needs to try a different way than that.”

No sooner did he finish speaking, the smashing at the wall stopped. Firewing and Fluttershy pressed their ears to the door and listened. “It’s gone,” Fluttershy stated. “But where?”

“I don’t know and I don’t want to find out. Let’s get out of here.” The two turned around and saw a thin, stone bridge going across a sheer drop that disappeared into nothing.

Fluttershy approached with a sense of unease. Firewing noticed this and chuckled. “You’ve got nothing to be worried about. At least you can use your wings.”

Fluttershy looked at Firewing then looked at her wings. “Oh yeah, I forgot about those,” she said sheepishly.

Firewing rolled his eyes and laughed. “How could you forget about limbs on your body? You are impossible to fully understand.” Firewing nudged Fluttershy forward. “You go first, I’ll be right behind you.”

Fluttershy nodded and swallowing the lump that liked to crawl up her throat, walked forward. She made every step with lightly, in fear of the bridge collapsing under a heavy step, like what happened to the columns back in the hall.

She glanced downwards and saw the blackness below. She didn’t find it as nauseating when she couldn’t see the bottom, but it was still just as intimidating. “You’re doing good, sweetheart, keep it up.” Fluttershy nodded and kept walking, every step closer to the far end was tying a knot in her stomach that told her the bridge is about to collapse even tighter.

“At least we don’t have to deal with a lindworm,” she said with a nervous laugh. No sooner had she said those words, the ground on the side they came across opened up and the lindworm emerged. Fluttershy planted a hoof on her face and groaned. “Why did I just say that?”

“Quick, get to the other side, now!” Firewing barked. Fluttershy jumped the last few feet to the other side and looked back to wait for her father to cross.

“Come on, dad!” she shouted. “The exit is right there!”

Firewing was frozen to the spot as the Lindworm advanced onto the bridge. The stone began to crack under the weight of the monster as it shadowed the Dragonlords. Firewing began to back away from the lindworm, which took another heavy step forward.

The stone couldn’t take the strain and it split apart with a thunderous rumble. The lindworm roared as it plummeted into the darkness below. Firewing watched the creature fall to its death and was about to turn when he felt the bridge fully give way.

He looked up to Fluttershy with solemn eyes and said, “Goodbye,” before the bridge gave way and he fell too.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Fluttershy screamed. Without hesitating she slung her saddlebags off and with a scream of defiance dived off the end into the chasm after her father.

She could feel the force against her face as she soared at speeds she had never done before. As she dived she knew how Rainbow must’ve felt performing the Sonic Rainboom on both occasions. She felt her eyes water as gravity pushed against her, trying to force her to give up. But she wasn’t going let the elements of nature get in her way. She needed, no, she wanted to save her father, and not even Heimdallr would stop her.

Fluttershy could see the silhouette of her now unconscious father coming up, rolling about as if he was in a ball that was being kicked about. He was thankfully at the centre of the chasm so he wasn’t hitting the sides, but Fluttershy knew that if didn’t catch him soon, she would have preferred it if he did.

She tucked her wings in and stretched out her forelegs, giving her more of a streamlined appearance as she dived towards her father. She needed to get under him so he could fall onto her back, then there was the trouble of safely landing.

The chasm opened up and Fluttershy saw the ground quickly approaching, with the dead lindworm on its back already there. She knew she had to act now or both of them would die. With a thrust of her wings she veered around her father and positioned herself so that she was right below him. She evened herself up and let herself drop for a while, she then spread her wings and she soared upwards, hitting her father with a squeak.

Her father was heavy, much heavier than what she was used to carrying, but she had him on her back and that was all that mattered. She gave a few flaps of her wings to steady her fall, which worked and soon she was floating to the ground.

She eventually made it to the ground next to the dead lindworm and collapsed onto her stomach, her father rolling off of her, panting heavily. Sweat poured down her face, and her wings felt like they were just about to fall off.

A heavy groan caught her attention as she saw her father open his eyes. “Is this Paradise? It’s not what I was expecting,” he said as he got up on his hooves.

“No… it isn’t Paradise…” Fluttershy said in a raspy voice.

Firewing turned around at the rasping and gasped when he saw her. “Come on, you, let’s get you outside for some fresh air.” He got down on his belly, allowing Fluttershy to painfully crawl up onto his back and lock her legs around him.

With a grunt Firewing got back up and looked around for an exit. He grinned when he saw a flight of stairs. He broke into a canter and made his way up the stairs, all the while not noticing his daughter had fallen asleep from exhaustion.

He made it to a plain wooden door and opened it, feeling the fresh night air on his face as he did so. He stepped forward and looked around. The night sky was dotted with bright stars, and the moon was just beginning to make its way into the sky. “Must be early evening,” he said. He looked behind him to see his daughter sleeping peacefully. “Rest easy,” he sighed. “You’ve had a rough day.”

He jumped off the rock and climbed into the woods, hoping to find a suitable place to bathe and clean up.

---

Fluttershy woke up a few hours later to the sound of birds in their early evening songs. She felt every bone in her body ache and her wings were even worst. Her back hurt, and she stunk of blood and sweat. “Dad?” she called out. At first there was no reply. “Dad?!”

“Over here, sweetie!” a voice called from somewhere beyond the hedges. She clumsily got up and walked groggily through the bushes into a clearing where a small lake lay. It was round like the spa tub she and her friends went to sometimes to just hang out and enjoy each others company.

At the far end of it was Firewing with a small smile. “Good morning to you. How you feeling?” he said with good cheer.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and looked up. “But it’s night time.”

Firewing rolled his eyes. “Yes it is. Now climb on in and freshen yourself up.”

Fluttershy looked down, and saw her legs were covered in dirt and Reman blood. She thought her face wouldn’t fare better, so she took a step in and gave a silent scream as the cold water touched her leg.

She touched the bottom with one leg and soon placed the three other legs in as well. With gritted teeth she lowered herself into the water, the cold water feeling like needles being pinned into her whole body.

She lowered herself until it her neck and head was above the water line, her teeth rattled as she laid out in the lake. “Nice, isn’t it?”

“N-n-n-n-n-ni-ni-ni-nic-nic-nic-nice?” Fluttershy rattled. “I-I-I-I-it-it’s f-f-f-fr-fr-free-free-z-zing!”

Firewing chuckled. “It’s not bad when you get used to it. But if you don’t like it so much then clean yourself up and jump out.”

Fluttershy nodded and dived under the water for a second before emerging once more, the blood and dirt that stained her face now gone. She hastily climbed out of the lake and ran back to the campfire to dry off. Instead of waiting outside the fire, however, she jumped right into it and breathed a relaxing sigh as the warm fire coated her body in its heat.

Once she felt a bit warmer and drier she jumped out and shook the soot and ash that fell on her coat out. She collapsed onto the ground, still feeling exhausted from her dive and other trials she had to face today. It was at that moment when she noticed she didn’t have her saddlebags with her. She remembered with a sad sigh that she threw them off to catch Firewing as he fell. But it wasn’t too bad in the end. She had her medallion with her, and her father was still alive. They were more important than a couple of replaceable bags.

Her ears twitched as she heard her father approached with a cheery smile on his face. “We did well today, Fluttershy,” he said as he walked past Fluttershy and laid down on the opposite side of the campfire. “We got the key, and came out of it with only a few scratches. We are now just one step closer to bringing Heimdallr down.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I’m glad that we did it, dad. Really glad.”

“I should thank you, by the way,” he said after a moment’s silence. “For saving my life. Twice.”

Fluttershy gave him a warm smile. “That’s okay, I’m just glad to know you’re safe. I don’t think I could do this alone.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Guess I’m not brave enough,” Fluttershy replied. Firewing shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not a brave pony, dad. I’m a coward who jumps at her own shadow for goodness sake! What chance would I have against Heimdallr on my own?”

“Fluttershy, I think your being too hard on yourself,” Firewing said with a smile. He got up and walked over to where Fluttershy was, and then laid down next to her. “Bravery is not something you should always have, Fluttershy. That could lead to arrogance.”

“My friend Rainbow Dash is always brave,” Fluttershy said, looking away from him.

“Then your friend is a fool, and an arrogant one at that,” Firewing continued. “Bravery can lead us to do dangerous things, things that we usually end up regretting. True bravery, however, is when a pony stands up against something what they think is wrong, when they need to. And you,” he slung a leg around his daughter’s shoulders, “are far braver than anypony I’ve ever met. Barring your mother.”

Fluttershy slumped and shook her head. “I’m not.”

“Yes you are. You walked hundreds of miles, alone, into one of the most hostile countries on Terra. You stood up against Heimdallr after he stole your mind. You destroyed an entire hall to get away from the remans. You killed a reman when I was in danger, and finally you dived down a dark chasm to save me.” He shook his head. “That, my child, is true bravery. So stop thinking yourself a coward. Okay?”

He ruffled Fluttershy’s mane, hitting a ticklish spot and making her giggle. “Okay, dad,” she said honestly. She could see he was right though. She did do all of those things, one or two of them she wasn’t proud of but all the same many would consider them brave acts. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now if you excuse me, I need to use the little colts room.” He got up and walked away through the clearing and out of sight.

“Thanks for sharing that with me, dad!” Fluttershy called out to him as he disappeared with a grin. With only a light breeze she took off the hair band and let her mane fall down around her ears and her face, the way she liked it.

As she laid out on the grass, staring into the fire, her mind began to wander. Being a quiet pony she did a lot of thinking, and many criticisms she had of others had all been done in her head, so were never spoken aloud in fear of offending the pony in question.

Now, she was only thinking about one thing. Her mother. After today Fluttershy was worried about the future, and whether or not she’d or her father would survive the journey ahead. However, before she died she wanted to know about her mother, what was she like, was she shy? Was she everything Fluttershy wasn’t?

“Okay, Fluttershy,” she told herself, “there’s no more wasting time. As soon as dad gets back I will ask, no, demand him to tell me everything about my mother and why I was left at the orphanage. No more delays, Fluttershy, you can do this. You’ve taken on worse than this so you can easily say; ‘I want to know about my mother now’… Maybe I should add a ‘please’ in that, it seemed a little forced.”

“You want to know about your mother, I hear?”

Fluttershy jumped into the air with a squeak and spun around at the sight and sound of Firewing. After a while of taken heavy breathes and waiting for her heart to slow down, she nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Firewing sullenly nodded. “But can’t it wait till morning?”

“No!” she snapped, making Firewing flinch. “I have waited for twenty years to know about my mother and father, and I’m sick and tired of waiting. I want to know, tonight!” she said, before adding a quiet, “please?”

Firewing looked at Fluttershy for a moment. He knew of course that Fluttershy had a right to know about Rosemary, about what happened, and why she was left at the orphanage and not be with her true family. She had a right to know, and although it was painful for him, he would have to endure it.

With a sigh he lowered himself onto his belly and shifted around until he was comfortable. “Okay then, what do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Fluttershy instantly replied. “From how you met her to when you left me, and everything in the middle.”

Firewing nodded and took a moment to compose himself. “Well,” he began. “I think we should start before all that. By the age of eighty I was captain of a Dragonlord company. I had done many great feats of heroism in that time, most of them I’m not proud of, and by then every Dragonlord in the order looked up to me, barring the Primarch of course. One day, however, was when I decided on a change. A change that would change my life, and bring about yours…”

Comments

[Fluttershy20]

Here's the second half, out earlier than I anticipated. I've just about finished chapter 13 so that should be out in about a week or so.

Hope you all like it.

[Xaratos]

Nice

[andmos]

Did i see a Skyriim referanse?

[paper bag wizard]

i think i saw a lord of the ring referanse

[Bronydragon]

She's about to hear how he met her mother. This will take some time I guess.

Bronydragon

[Feo Takahari]

I guess it's time to give in and admit that I don't like this story, even though I thought I would. The thing I most love about MLP is that the protagonists all shine, but none shine blindingly--even Rarity, who in any other show would be a burden to the others, can pull her weight in a crisis, and conversely, even the uber-powerful Twilight can screw up and get herself in big trouble. The Dragonlords feel, not necessarily overpowered, but overly special-snowflake, and the more Fluttershy becomes one, the less she feels like a three-dimensional character and the more she feels like a wish-fulfillment fantasy.

[zernoc56]

1403966
i agree, it was the narrow bridge that reminded me of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. it was awesome

[Spice of Life]

This chapter killed the story for me. You made Firewing much to skilled and made the remans completely worthless. It wasn't bad when I thought there were only three remans but then you got twenty-five of them running around sucking at their main motivation in life. I can kinda see it working out for Firewing if there were only three but 25 or so? Thats just silly and really kills any immersion I had in the story.

[Th3 Torx]

2298232 I think that's kinda reasonable when you think about him being a dragonlord for a hundred years, I mean he is a highly trained superpony* with almost a century of experience.

*better sight, hearing and I'm guessing reaction speed, remember how fast Fluttershy was with the sword the first time she used it.

Besides he only defeated 12, the rest were taken care of by Fluttershy.

[Shilic]

Doctor Who and How I met your Mother.... This keeps getting better and better! What a

[asmcint]

2418298
It's not that they suck, it's that they have no formal training and were facing off against someone with over a century of experience. Not to mention that said someone is also stronger, faster, and more perceptive than most beings of any given race, barring the dragons. The Remans fell to his sword, and rightly so... Well, at least twelve did. The other ten were Fluttershy's doing.

[Marked of Luna]

Fus Ro kick?

[Servant Phoenix]

Firewing: RUN YOU FOFILLY!

[Alchemystudent]

OOOOOOH, this was so good! I loved seeing Fluttershy having to deal wiht her greatest strengh and her weakness plus her own first kill.