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Prologue1,800 words
Chapter 1: A Stranger Arrives.1,755 words
Chapter 2: First Contact1,705 words
Chapter 3: Race Day2,028 words
Chapter 4: Dragonfire.2,163 words
Intermission: Dark Schemes608 words
Chapter 5: Memories3,223 words
Chapter 6: Energon2,119 words
Chapter 7: Call to Post.2,535 words
Chapter 8: Nightmares3,003 words
Intermission: Dogs of War1,308 words
Chapter 9: Code of Honor2,446 words
Chapter 10: Revelations2,415 words
Chapter 11: Lair2,747 words
Chapter 12: Darkness Rising2,112 words
Chapter 13: Broken Arrow3,691 words
Chapter 14: Prime2,278 words
Chapter 15: One Shall Rise, One Shall Fall2,364 words
Chapter 16: Changes1,885 words
Epilogue: Breaking News706 words
Voice Among the Stars260 words
Sequel: Queen of the Predacons770 words

Chapter 4: Dragonfire.

Chapter 4

Dragonfire

LOCATION: Library Balcony
TIME: Noon.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Gyvon, watching as the dragon dropped from the sky. The ponies all scattered in a panic. The ones in the grandstands nearly trampled each other in a desperate attempt to flee, while those that were on the track sidelines simply ran as far as they could. The pegasi scattered in all directions like spooked birds, though a few deliberately flew to the northeast, towards Canterlot. "Oh, I hope they warn the Royal Guards! They'll save us!" squeaked Spike, fear nearly paralyzing the young dragon.

"Well, Spike old buddy, it looks like I'm on duty now." said Gyvon, stepping towards the railing. "Stand back." And with that, Gyvon began to transform. Flesh and cloth were replaced by metal and glass. Wings extended from his back, and below them, twin jet's folded out from a compartment. From Gyvon's chest, a fighter's nosecone protruded slightly, giving him access to radar. His hair retracted, and from a compartment on his back a helmet folded up. Armored plates extended from Gyvon's forearms and shins.

When the transformation process had completed, Gyvon jumped off the balcony and flew towards the great beast. Spike, having watched with disbelief, could only muster a soft "woah."

LOCATION: Ponyville Town Center
TIME: Noon.

The great beast hungered. For the first time in centuries, the dragon had woken up from it's slumber, and it was famished. Now, it's meal fled before it's terrible form. By roaring, the beast had merely alerted it's prey to it's presence. This did not matter. The dragon loved nothing more than to feel the fear of it's prey before savoring the flesh.

There was one, however, that did not flee. A pink filly, wearing a gaudy tiara on her head. The filly was paralyzed with fear, eyes wide in fright. The filly would be no more than a mouthful to the dragon, but there were plenty more running around town. Plenty more to sate it's appetite.

The dragon began stalking towards the filly, slobber leaking copiously from it's mouth. "DIAMOND" cried another pony, this one wearing a tie and collar. The dragon paid the stallion no mind. There was nothing it could do to harm the beast.

But, there was one who could. At full speed, Gyvon flew in and punched the monster in the side of it's head. This merely annoyed the dragon, who then swatted the offending insect with the back of it's hand, sending Gyvon hurling through the Carousel Boutique. The dragon then turned back to it's appetizer, only to find that the filly had managed to flee while the beast was distracted. The monster roared in fury at having it's meal denied.

Inside the boutique, Gyvon picked himself up and dusted himself off. He noticed a white unicorn rushing over to him. "Take cover. I've got this." he said, reactivating his thrusters and jetting back out to engage the beast. Along the way he extended a cleaver from his right arm, and activated the Gatling cannon in his left. He fired a seven round burst at the dragon, but the 5.56mm bullets merely ricocheted off the armored scales. This gained the beast's attention, and caused it to breathe a blast of fire towards Gyvon.

As he dodged the blast, Gyvon noticed two figures flying in from the north. They were two of Canterlot's Royal Guards. Ok, the warning got out thought Gyvon, who took a moment to analyze the situation. The Royal Guards banked towards the beast, extending their wings as they dived. Their razor sharp feathers bit deeply into the dragon's flesh as they flew by, leaving fine gashes and dislodging numerous scales. The dragoon was enraged. For the first time in centuries, the beast felt pain. As the guards turned for another pass, the beast breathed fire at them. The first one was knocked out of the sky by a rush of air as the flames shot by, singeing his tail in the process. His partner was not so lucky. He was caught in the heart of the blast, and was instantly vaporized.

As the beast went to finish off the remaining guard, Gyvon sprang into action. Bringing his blade to bear, he slashed at the beast's face, slicing it's right eye in half. Enraged even further, the dragon whipped it's tail around, narrowly missing the thing that had injured it. As Gyvon turned to face the creature yet again, help had arrived. Twilight Sparkle and the white Unicorn from earlier were levitating sections of the grandstand and tossing them at the dragon. Rainbow Dash and a yellow, pink maned pegasus were carrying in rocks and dropping them onto the monster. From the concession area, a pink earth-pony shoved a fruitcake down the barrel of a cannon, and fired, hitting the monster in the belly and knocking the wind out of it. Another earth-pony had managed to throw a lasso around the creature's wings, preventing it from flying away.

With the dragon thoroughly preoccupied, Gyvon made his move. He raised his Gatling cannon again, this time aiming for one of the missing scales on the beast's chest, and fired three rounds. The bullets penetrated the naked flesh easily, and tumbled around the body cavity, destroying the dragon's internal organs. Having been struck a mortal wound, the dragon collapsed. It was not quite dead yet, and it tried to breath another blast at the thing that had killed it. But the beast couldn't, it's lungs were thoroughly shredded. As Gyvon walked up to the dragon, it got a good look at it's killer before succumbing to the blackness.

Gyvon looked around, surveying the aftermath of the battle. The ponies had returned to see what had happened, some disbelieving that a dragon could be slain, others fearful at the thing that had done so. He saw Twilight Sparkle staring at him. Her body was in a defensive posture, and there was fear in her eyes. He retracted his weapons, and transformed back to his human form, shocking all that saw him do so.

"Gyvon? Is that you?" asked Twilight, cautiously stepping closer. "Like I told you, Twilight, it's a long story." replied Gyvon, kneeling down to her eye level. As he spoke, Rainbow Dash and four other ponies that he hadn't met yet gathered around Twilight, looking Gyvon over. "And I'm assuming that these are your friends. It's a pleasure to meet you. All of you. Although, I wish the circumstances were better."

As if a damn had broken, the ponies began to cheer. A few at first, but the noise soon grew to a crescendo. Some stood a distance away, yelling their approval. The braver ones started rushing towards their savior. Others jumped and danced with joy at having the town saved. One mint colored unicorn even stood on her hind legs and clapped with her front hooves. This was an entirely new experience for Gyvon. Being a SEAL, he had never expected nor had he sought public praise for his work. He couldn't help but smile and raise his hand to wave to the growing crowd, causing their cheers to become even louder.

Suddenly, a shadow encroached on the town center. Expecting another attack, Gyvon brought his Gatling to bear, and looked up, searching for a foe. What he saw, instead, was an entire brigade of Canterlot's Royal Guards swarming the skies. One pegasus, this one with ornate black, gold trimmed armor, broke off from the formation and flew to where Gyvon was standing. Seeing that there was no threat, Gyvon lowered and retracted his weapons once again

As the pegasus landed, Gyvon noticed that he was different from the other Royal guards. His armor was not only a different color, but also studded with brilliantly cut sapphires. His coat was a dark grey color, and there was a scar over the guard's left eye. The tip of his right ear appeared to have been chewed off, and there appeared to be even more scars over what Gyvon could see of the Guard's body. Veteran. concluded Gyvon. As the pegasus landed, the assembled crowd quickly grew quiet.

"I'm Brigadier General Icewing of the Canterlot Royal Guards, 1st Airborne. We had gotten reports of a dragon attack on Ponyville." stated the pegasus. "What happened here, and who are you?" he demanded. "Sir, Lieutenant Gyvon, United States Navy." replied Gyvon, standing at attention. "And, as you can see, the dragon's been taken care of." Icewing snorted "I can see that. Was anyone hurt?" Gyvon lowered his head. "Unfortunately, yes." he replied, his voice growing somber. "Halfway through the battle, two guards showed up. One was knocked out of the sky. The other took a direct hit from the dragon's fire breath. Those were the only casualties I saw." Gyvon looked the General in the eye. "Why did you only send two guards, sir?" he asked. General Icewing was taken aback by the question. "I didn't. They must've been on patrol when they saw the attack and intervened on their own. Where is the survivor?" Gyvon pointed over to the injured guard, who was being attended to by a nurse. "Thank you. We will speak later. I need to debrief him."

As the General rushed off to speak with the surviving guard, there came the sound of trumpets blaring. Flying in from the north was a carriage being pulled by more of the Royal Guards. Riding on the carriage were two mares unlike any that Gyvon had seen so far. These must be the Princesses, thought Gyvon. As they got closer, Gyvon saw that the descriptions in the history books he had read did not do them justice. When he'd read that Princess Celestia's mane was all colors of the rainbow, he imagined it to be similar to Rainbow Dash's. Now he could see that the colors were flowing like water. Princess Luna's mane, on the other hand, appeared to be composed of actual stars.

As the carriage landed, all of the ponies except General Icewing, Twilight, and her friends began to kneel. The Princesses stepped out of the carriage, and for the first time, Gyvon saw just how much taller they were than the other ponies. While Twilight Sparkle only came up to his chest, Gyvon could look Princess Celestia in the eye without having to kneel down first.

As Princess Celestia approached, Gyvon noticed that she seemed to be projecting an aura of calmness. Her very presence was enough for him to feel that everything was going to be alright. For the first time since that disastrous mission in Saudi Arabia, Gyvon felt truly at peace.

"You must be the one Twilight told me about." Said Princess Celestia, her voice as sweet as honey. "Was it you who slayed the dragon?" asked the Princess, "It was." replied Gyvon. Princess Luna stepped forward. "Then, thou hast our deepest gratitude, good sir." she said, her voice harsher than her sister's, almost reverberating. "Pray tell, was anypony hurt in the attack?" Gyvon shook his head. "Just the two guards as far as I can tell. I haven't had time to fully assess the situation. But..." Gyvon sighed, "... it could have been much worse."

After he had spoken with the injured guard and a few members of the crowd, General Icewing walked over to Princess Celestia. "It appears that we owe Lieutenant Gyvon our thanks. Like he suspected, there were no other casualties. He even managed to save the life of a young filly." Gyvon bowed his head. "Just doing my job." Icewing was shocked by this statement. "Slaying dragons is your job?" Gyvon snickered. "Not specifically. The real thanks goes to Twilight and her friends. Without their timely assistance, I might not have been able to stop the beast."

Twilight and her friends beamed at the praise, and the princesses looked over at them with pride. "Oh yes, they are wonderful girls." Celestia said. "However, whoever is most deserving of praise is of no matter. A dragon has been slain. By my royal decree, a celebration is in order." As if on cue, more pegasi flew in, each pulling large wagons loaded to capacity with various treats and beverages. "They were meant for the end of the race, but it's better not to let the party goods go to waste." And with that, the town once again exploded in cheers.

Unbeknownst to anyone, it was not only ponies that saw the battle. As the impromptu victory celebration went on, cold, calculating eyes watched.

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