The Cadence of Her Last Breath
Spike and Grumble stared at the sign in front of them, carefully reading each line of text.
“In a land of magic, myths, and monsters, one must be ready at all times to face their fears and confront that which fate holds in store for them. The cycles of life that sustain us all cannot be escaped, and respect for the nature of those cycles will be observed at all times within this hunting area.
This area falls under the “protected zone: level two” classification under section 2, paragraph b of the Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Resource Regulations. For more information, please contact your local mayor’s office for the full, five-page copy of Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Resource Regulations. Important guidelines are as follows;
1 – No more than three dragons per hunting party, and only one dragon per hunting party is required to have a hunting license, and licenses may be obtained from any local mayor’s office. Hatchlings and juveniles are not counted towards this total, but the number of hatchlings is not allowed to exceed the number of adults. Hatchlings and Juveniles are not allowed to track or strike at prey unless under the full and constant supervision of an adult who can guarantee their safety at all times.
2 – For the preservation of this hunting area for future hunters, dragons exceeding size class three are not allowed. If this includes you, please contact the local mayor’s office for information on alternative hunting sites or information on exceptions. Also, abilities that could cause excess damage to the forest (for example: fire, acid, or soil manipulation) are to be used sparingly, if at all. A good guide is ask yourself if an ability would leave evidence of its use, if so, try to avoid it.
3 – Blades are allowed, but are not to exceed three times the length of the longest digit of the foreclaw. For a hunting party, the dragon with the longest digit will be used as the guide for the rest of the party.
4 – Trophy hunting is strictly prohibited in this area. Killing an animal for any reason other than food, population control, or self-defense will result in fines and possible loss of the hunter’s license.
5 – Be careful. This region is home to many dangerous creatures. Some are large and quite strong, others hunt in groups, there are also others that have magical powers or other attributes that make them quite dangerous. Contact the local mayor’s office for a full listing.
Life and death are a part of nature that cannot be escaped. By confronting that, we do not move away from nature, but closer to it. As dragons, we face nature on its terms and will either emerge victorious, or join the cycle. Hunt well, live well, die well.
- Fluttershy, Guardian of the Forest”
Grumble let out a low whistle. “I guess that girl’s tougher than she looks.”
“Yeah.” Spike looked to the left and right of the sign. A blue rope-fence stretched out into the forest, marking what he assumed was the perimeter of the hunting area. “When she talked about going over the paperwork for your license, I thought she was an assistant to the mayor or something.”
“Now that we know better, let’s get going,” Grumble stepped over the fence carefully and looked back at Spike, “Unless you exceed size class 3.”
Spike sighed as he followed Grumble, easily walking under the rope with his head held high. “Funny.”
Grumble laughed as the two started walking into the depths of the hunting area, keeping an eye out for tracks or any other evidence of animal activity. “What about the blade thing? You don’t have claws, so if you went hunting on your own, would not be able to bring a knife?”
“I don’t really need one.” Spike kept an eye on his surroundings, looking for any sign of movement. “I don’t hunt all that often, and when I do, it’s usually for somedragon else and I just bring my catch out whole.” His ear twitched at the sound of a breaking twig off to the right and he spun his head to look in that direction. All he saw was a squirrel pulling acorns off a tree. “I wrote a letter to the regulations committee, asking about it, and they added a bit to the end of the blade rule stating that, if you don’t have claws, you can have a blade that does not exceed twice the length of your tail.” Grumble stopped walking, letting Spike get ahead of him. Spike looked back and noticed that Grumble was staring at his butt. “What?” Spike looked bent his neck to see, turning in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. “Is there something on me.”
“No, but dude,” Grumble shook his head and started walking again, “you’ve got a weird tail.”
Spike watched Grumble walk away for a moment before glancing back and flicking his tail. “Huh, I guess I do.” Spike ran after Grumble to catch up with him. “So, what are we gonna do?”
Grumble glanced over at Spike. “Sorry, boss, I think you’re stuck with it.”
It took Spike a moment to process the dragon’s statements, but once he did, he stopped walking and slapped a hoof to his face. “Not about my tail, about the hunting!”
Grumble stopped walking and turned to face the pony. “What do you mean?”
“How do dragons hunt?” Spike sat down and looked around. He then threw his hooves out, gesturing at the space around them. “Aren’t we supposed to be doing something right now?”
Grumble tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I’m not following. You’re probably the most successful hunter I know; you’ve never come back from a hunt empty, uh, hoofed? Hooved? Um, why are you asking me what to do?”
“Honestly, I don’t really know how to hunt.” Spike scratched the back of his neck. “I just sort of wander around aimlessly until something tries to eat me.”
Grumble stared at him for a moment before turning and walking away. “Cheater.”
“Hey wait,” Spike ran after him, “tell me what to do!”
“Hunt!” Grumble kept walking. “You’re supposed to search for prey, or for a place the prey may show up at.”
“Search?” Spike broke out into a smile. “I can do that.”
“Huh?” Grumble looked back again. Spike was standing still, eyes closed and horn glowing. After a few seconds, he nodded his head a few times, sending out a pulsing ring of magical energy out with each dip of his head. The rings faded away as they spread away from the pony. Grumble groaned. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you? You’re completely missing the point of-“
Spike’s eyes snapped open and he put his hoof up. “Shut up.” Grumble stopped for a moment, but quickly opened his mouth to speak again. “I said shut up.” Spike turned his head to look one way, then another. He kept looking back and forth. “Grumble?”
Something was wrong, the dragon could tell by the look in the pony’s eyes, he was getting ready for a fight. “Yeah, boss?” Grumble looked around, ready for an attack.
“Go find the others, make sure they’re safe.” Spike pointed back towards the campsite and a bit to the south. “There’s something in that direction that’s big, strong, and not a dragon.”
Grumble looked in the direction indicated. “The fishing hole!”
“I’m counting on you Grumble, don’t let me down.” Spike started heading towards the campsite, but a bit north.
“Wait,” Grumble started after him, “where are you going?”
Spike stopped and looked back. “There’s something even stronger here, and it’s headed for the campsite.” He turned back and broke into a run, leaving Grumble alone in the forest.
“Good luck, boss.” Grumble turned and started running towards the fishing hole, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and ready to take flight as soon as the forest’s canopy allowed it.
Spike’s ear twitched at every noise, no matter how slight. The energy he had been following disappeared a few moments ago, but he should be close to whatever it was he was looking for. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary, and that worried the pony a lot more than anything else could have. Given his size, Spike should have the advantage of stealth over any other creature in the forest, but if the thing he was tracking was truly a wild beast, it should be massive. At least, that’s what the level of magical power indicated. But the magical power wasn’t like anything he had ever felt before, it was strong certainly, but the pony couldn’t quite tell how strong. The creature he sent Grumble after was just as strange, but he could feel a definite amount of energy evenly distributed through a defined body, in other words, he knew Grumble could handle it. This thing he was tracking was different, it’s power was odd, amorphous, flowing and trailing. It was more like dragon magic than a wild creature, but it was still different. The worst part was, Spike couldn’t tell which was stronger, his power, or the creature’s.
Spike stopped dead in his tracks as he heard another sound. This sound was different, and it was close. The pony controlled his breathing and snuck towards the sound. It was a series of groans and cracks, similar to the sounds made when you wake up on a cold day. With the sound came a slight surge of power, but it felt different, almost familiar. If anything, it reminded Spike of his own magic.
There was nothing for the pony to do but continue tracking. Up until the thing’s magical power disappeared, it had been travelling almost straight towards the campsite. He couldn’t let it get there. He realized just how important it was to stop the creature as he rounded a tree nearby. He found himself staring into a pair of bright green eyes. Green eyes on a purple-furred pony with a green mane, green tail, horn and a stack of books on either flank. He was staring at himself.
“No! Rarity, don’t!” Twilight backed away from the dragoness as she advanced.
“I’m sorry, dear, you brought this on yourself.” Rarity wrapped her tail around the hatchling and pulled her close. Rarity lifted a claw towards the younger dragon’s cheek. In this claw, she held a napkin. “Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to be such a messy eater.” Twilight groaned and gave an apathetic struggle as Rarity wiped traces of food from her face. “Maybe, one of these days, I’ll learn to stop packing peanut butter - brown sugar and peanut butter - fluff.”
“No!” Twilight squirmed as Rarity adjusted to scrub at a particularly stubborn patch of fluff on the hatchling’s cheek. “They’re good!”
The dragoness released her prisoner once the cleaning was completed. “If that’s true, then why do you insist on treating peanut butter as a fashion accessory?” Twilight didn’t answer, she just sat down near her fishing pole. Rarity giggled and sat down next her. “I shouldn’t tease you so much.”
Twilight glanced over. “Maybe I should tease you more?”
Rarity put a claw to her chest and gasped in mock surprise. “You wouldn’t dare!” Twilight fought back a smile as best she could, but Rarity noticed and put a claw around her shoulder. “I did give you plenty to tease me about when I told you I had a crush on Spike.”
“I won’t tease you about that,” Twilight looked down and tapped her claws together, “not ever.”
The dragoness sighed softly as she watched the hatchling pick up the fishing pole and give the line a few tugs. “Thank you, dear, but I have to ask, why?”
The tip of the fishing pole bobbed up and down as Twilight laughed. “I’m just glad it’s Spike.”
Rarity laughed softly as the hatchling leaned into her side. “You’ve taken quite a liking to him, haven’t you?”
Twilight looked up. “So have you.”
Rarity rubbed her claw against the top of the hatchling’s head. “I think that counts as teasing.”
The hatchling leaned in tighter against her guardian. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok,” Rarity laughed, “I’m sure you didn’t mean it.” The hatchling didn’t answer, she just pressed up harder against Rarity’s side. It was starting to hurt. “Twilight?” The dragoness put her claws on the hatchling’s shoulders and pried her away. She was shivering. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”
“It’s cold.” The hatchling looked up with a sad look in her eyes and crossed her arms, rubbing them together with slow jerking movements. “Why is it so cold?”
Rarity let go of Twilight and grabbed the canvas they were using as a picnic blanket. She wrapped it around the hatchling like a shawl and placed the back of a claw against her forehead. After a few seconds, she removed her claw and bundled the hatchling up a little tighter. “Are you sick? Is there anything else wrong?”
Twilight’s eyes went wide and her claw shot out, pointing at something behind Rarity. “What is that?!”
The dragoness spun around, keeping herself between the hatchling and whatever she was pointing at. She looked around but didn’t see anything. “Twilight? What is it, I don’t see-“ She stopped as faint red glow appeared within the forest. Trees started creaking as the glow approached the river. A series of new noises joined the trees after a few moments, randomly alternating dull thuds and sharp cracks, like an ax hitting wood. Rarity unwrapped Twilight from the canvas, keeping an eye on the forest the entire time. “Stay behind me, but be ready to run.”
Twilight nodded silently and held her claws together as the sounds grew louder, coming closer. The red glow grew more defined as well, until a red ring of light drifted out from among the trees. As it moved, the trees to either side were inflicted with large gashes, as if some invisible claw were striking at them.
Rarity backed up as black mist started to swirl within the ring. She kept Twilight hidden behind her. “Don’t worry, darling,” she whispered, “I have the advantage in this terrain.” The mist formed into a solid disc of black. Yellow mist started swirling around the outside of the red ring, and beyond that, sickly, greenish-grey smoke started to swirl. “It’s nothing more than an overgrown chameleon.” Rarity’s words were meant to reassure herself just as much as they were meant to reassure Twilight.
The creature in front of them slowly materialized, and Rarity saw that it was anything but an overgrown chameleon. It stood as large as Applejack on six gangly, limbs. Each limb ended in a knife-like claw that left furrows in the dirt as it walked. At the end of the creature’s neck, its single yellow-and-red eye filled most of its head, the rest was an open mouth filled with needle like teeth. The creature’s tongue, the same sickly-grey shade as its skin and too large for its mouth, hung out and dripped with rancid spittle.
“It’s too big,” Twilight’s voice shook with fear as she grabbed the end of Rarity’s tail, “what are we going to do?”
“It’s ok, dear.” Rarity’s voice was strangely calm as she reached back and pulled her tail out of the hatchling’s grip. The dragoness immediately rushed forward, charging at the creature.
“NO!” Twilight could only watch as Rarity closed the distance between her and the monster.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re big!” The dragoness dodged as the creature swung its forelimbs at her, she then dove underneath the creature’s body. She lifted her claw up high, reaching towards the underside of the monster towering above her. “Cause then you can reach their belly!” With a yell fueled purely by adrenaline, she slammed her claw down to the ground. Nothing happened.
The dragoness had enough time to blink in surprise before the creature kicked her back in the direction she came from. She cried out in pain as she bounced along the rocky terrain, coming to a stop just short of the hatchling she was fighting to protect. Rarity looked up just as Twilight started moving towards her. Rarity threw her claw up in front of her, causing the hatchling to stop. The dragoness pulled herself up and immediately spun around. The earth moved with her, large chunks of the surrounding rock breaking free from their foundations and launching towards the creature. They fell to the ground harmlessly before even coming close to the creature.
Rarity backed away, fear coursing through her veins as the monster started moving forward. She did the only thing she could think to do. She brought both claws down to the ground with a loud yell, and a wall of stone lifted into place between them and the monster. She then ran towards the river, grabbing Twilight’s spines in her mouth as she ran. Holding tightly to the hatchling, Rarity waded out as far as she could while still holding Twilight above water. The dragoness started crying as she pulled the hatchling into a tight hug. “Twilight, whatever happens, I want you to close your eyes, and keep them shut. Promise me, please.”
“Why?” Twilight fought against the grip to look up at Rarity’s face. “What are you going to do?”
“Promise me.” Behind them, the creature battered away at the wall of stone. Rarity knew the weak sandstone defense wouldn’t hold long. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“No!” Twilight threw her claws over her ear-fins. “Don’t say that! That’s what they said! I don’t want you to say that!” The hatchling buried her face against Rarity’s chest and cried. “Please don’t leave me.”
There was a large crash as the creature broke through the sandstone barrier and started running towards them. Rarity leaned down and kissed Twilight on the top of the head. “I love you.”
Twilight looked up just as Rarity’s horns started to glow. “No,” she said weakly, “don’t do that. You’ll get hurt again.”
Rarity just smiled through the tears as she formed her magic around the hatchling and flung her across the river. The feedback was almost instantaneous as the dragoness’ power twisted back in on itself. It struck her like a bolt of lightning, knocking her back towards shore. She landed face down in the shallows with half her face above the water. She could feel the twisted energy dance across her skin, numbing her and threating to steal her consciousness, but she fought it. Twilight was safe, so all she had to do was make it into the river. She reached a claw out in front of her and started dragging herself towards deeper water. There was a chance she could survive the river monsters, and she had to take it. That was the only chance she had.
Across the river, Twilight could only watch as the beast caught up to Rarity and brought its claw down.
Chapter Title
The Cadence of Her Last Breath by Nightwish
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Nuuuuuuuu
This is like, 4 chapters in a day? Holy crap...
This. Is. AMAZING!! I hope rarity survives... And then her and spike have an awkward conversation about their feelings. At least awkward at first..
2273794It was originally one 15k incomplete chapter that I'm splitting into 5
My guess: Steven Magnet
Well. This barrage of updates cost me another good bit of sleep. Totally. Worth. It.
Seriously, this is one of the most intriguing AUs I've ever read. You've got a knack for taking a kaleidoscope view of the FiM continuity and expanding it way past that. Technically it's as easy as asking and answering a series of "What if..?" questions. In practice, it's a lot more difficult to reconcile all those questions and weave them into a cohesive and coherent story. Aegis Shield does work of comparable nature and quality (Princess Nightmare Moon, anypony?), and like him, you've now landed on not just my Watched Fic list, but my Watched Author list. (Edit: Huh. Looks like you already were. POINT STANDS.)
Keep up this magnificent work. Also Rarity, your generosity had better not literally be the death of you!
So, I'm curious, I'm in Texas(central U.S. Time). To my perspective, there are a lot of people reading and commenting for the time. 5 A.M. - 8 A.M. Is it because of europeans on mid-morning to early afternoon(2 p.m. in france right now), Americans(not exclusively U.S.A.) logging on before work, or Asians on at night?
I'm not really expecting an answer, I just notice discrete timeblocks of comments and wonder.
Well played, sir. Well bloody played.
2273794 - Even if Grumble shows up and she survives the encounter... how injured will she be? She ate another feedback jolt from Twilight's nature, the first one near crippled her, I can't imagine a second being any better... Unfortunately, Twilight's magic seems to be fairly indiscriminate in it's retaliation.
I hate cliffhangers. You hear me? I hate them!
2273871 It would be a Mighty BATTLE!.. But I have an appointment to get to. We must postpone this battle for another day.
2273980Yet to see it, I worked from the book.
2273814 I'm over in England, my time as I finish is 3pm, check it against your timestamp for a reference on that, your comment I'm replying to is registered at over an hour and forty minutes ago too
And no winners? Well that's a bugger. I was hoping my outside shot would be worth it. So the real answer is Chrysalis, right? Changelings would explain the cloned Spike. Changelings explain a lot...
2273925Not the cutie mark crusaders, just the crusaders.
2273914
You have escaped... this time... *shakes fist*
2274013 yeah me too! Im STILL not sure about seeing the movie. they did good with the Lord of the Rings but with The Hobbit they pretty much took every other book of Tolkins and butchered them to make one
Im just to afraid of the gory mess that they probably made of everything
Huh. Some sort of antimagic lizard. Nasty.
Most compelling cliffhanger. I look forward to more.
Rarity!
The end of this chapter was great. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter. 
2274066 I honestly don't see how they could do that. Most of tolkien's works, like the silmarillion and his journals were compilations of the history and lore he created for his world. Relatively few of his works were even character based. Trying to put anything but the Hobbit book into the Hobbit movie would probably result in a terrible mess. Though I think there were two other books about bilbo baggins, The last song of Bilbo Baggins, and some other one.
I will most likely watch it at some point.
2274016 Well, out of the guesses, I picked the character that will be introduced next and that person "won". I'll be sending him a keychain, but witholding his username until that character is introduced in order to avoid spoilers.
Augh! Cliffhanger!!!
RARITY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Ah, so the answer was Chrysalis, or another changeling at least.
doh guessing the serpent with the moustache now... magnet guy
Some of us don't sleep well or work odd hours. I also live in Texas (dfw area), however I check the site and stories when I wake up, again when I get to work, again during lunch, again when I have some free time, again when I get home. So I can say that as a 19 year old full time employee & college student, I check the site about 7-10 times a day (between 5:30 am and midnight). I know some if my buddies in New Jersey, Ohio, California, Tokyo, Sweden, & England, check the site on a regular basis as well. However yes due to the timezone differences you are correct about some (or a lot) of the comments.
We just did a reading of your story last week. (Brony Book Club) We use teamspeak and give roles to everyone. I play fluttershy. Its a lot of fun.
What part of Texas are you in?
In regards to Chapter 16 (The Cadence of Her Last Breath)...
Let this be a lesson, often hard-learned, in any fantasy-themed RolePlaying Game, Massively Multiplayer Online game, or novel setting: arcane casters should always travel closely with melee &/or "tank" company
.
Suddenly, Spike.
You motherfucker and your cliff hangers and killing Rarity right after Twi finds out that Spike and Rarity love each other like she wants them to!!!!
PLEASE!
Please don't kill your Rarity!
She's one of my favorite takes on Rarity!!
I eagerly await the update!
2274123 I reccomend it to you.
I saw the hobbit, it is a monster of a movie, like three hours long, and you wont realize this until it is over...
they took some liberties, but good ones.
2274072 And that is why we needs high-powered rifles. Cuz some creatures ya can't kill with magical unicorn farts!
Levitate rock high above creature, then release field. Rock falls via gravity, squishes monster.
Loopholes are very important in battle magic strategy.
2274123 well according to the news articles they said they had combined all the rest of the books along with The Hobbit so they could make the three movies that they've come up with. granted if they hadn't we'd have what a 2 1/2 hr or so movie?
The question isn't if she survives this. That's a given. The question is A, who will rescue her, and B, how injured will both of them be in the process?
Cliff Hanger, hanging from a cliff, and that's why he's called Cliff Hanger...
2277775 Thanks for that, now I'm going to have that jingle stuck in my head.
2275184 Austin area.
2276999 It's on the read later, but you have a choice, I read that, or I continue working on the next chapter.
Im guessing rarity will be fine and all, I mean in the early chapters you overshadowed that a mountain of sharp as hell diamond needles protect her.
Simply amazing and this is now easily my favourite line from all chapters!
Rarity better not Die on Twilight. Or I swear this story goes really bad really fast.
2300464So true, so, so, true.
DUN DUN DUN! MOAR!
2393557Rainbow dash is a little bit protective of Rarity, why will be explained in the next chapter. (It's almost done.)
2393557 What are you referring to with Applejack?
2393946
Actually never mind the AJ part, I got ahead of myself typing that out.
As for the rest, that would surely do it. I guess ill just have to wait for the reason (im sure it makes sense, basically just saying she is being protective in any manner would explain the 'tude)
Now it's a race: Who will save Rarity? Grumble, or the - checks chapter 5 - earthmate's spindles?
Also, earthbending. Now I want to read an Avatar crossover.
“I just sort of wander around aimlessly until something tries to eat me.”
Priceless!
“
Hey it works in Skyrim.
8633214
True True