V - It All Falls Apart
As the Sun Sets
by Mystic
Chapter V
It All Falls Apart
The distance tried to swallow Twilight whole. She could feel herself getting sucked into the endless view, the world blurring together until it was just a haze. The sun was high in the sky, and a hot wind blew from the east. It snagged on her clothing and tugged at her mane and tail.
The last few days had sped like trees blurring past a train window. It was hard to accept that much time had passed at all. The first morning was filled with meetings and talks, Glamduural rumbling and Celestia as collected as ever. That afternoon Pyre had taken her out and shown her around the city.
What Twilight had seen had left her slightly awed. She lost count of the number of caverns, halls, and tunnels, each of them filled with strange and wonderful things. There had been caves filled with mountains of gold and gems, halls covered in hundreds of feet worth of the most detailed murals Twilight had ever seen, and caverns with lava pools that were once used during hatching time.
It was incredible, and Twilight wished more than once that her friends were here to see it with her. The feeling of being lost in a strange and wonderful place, absorbing as much of the experience as she could, was one that she hoped she would never get used to.
And then there had been Pyre herself, who had proven to be… interesting. The dragon would be happy and lively one moment, but then, seemingly without warning, something would trigger her to slip behind a stoic and distant mask.
She remembered the conversation they had when Pyre had showed Twilight her room:
Twilight stepped into the cave, immediately pausing. The room was surprisingly small. Although, it was still twice the size of most pony buildings.
She was struck by how… deserted the place looked. In the corner was a shallow depression surrounded by a, compared to normal dragon standards, modest pile of glittering diamonds—somewhere for Pyre to sleep, Twilight guessed. In the middle was a bonfire that crackled and popped set into a small pit, and that was about it. The rest of the room was empty and covered in dust.
“What do you think of the murals?”
Twilight turned around. Pyre was staring at her expectantly. “The murals?”
“On the walls! See them? I carved them all myself.”
Twilight cast a faint light spell that splashed purple around the room and walked up to the wall. She couldn’t have kept herself from gasping even if she tried.
“These are amazing!”
“Do you really like them?”
“Yes!” Twilight moved around, unable to decide on any one place to look. The walls were a canvas, alive with carvings of the most detailed landscapes she had ever seen. Twilight could see a far horizon framed with mountains, crowned in banks of thin cloud. A forest covered a section over a dozen feet high and wide, and Twilight couldn’t get over the fact that every single tree had been carved in place, down to their branches. There was an ocean on the other wall, small islands surrounded by the endless expanse of water. The sky looked as if it just went on and on and only stopped when it slipped off the edge of the earth. It was all so real.
“How did you do this?” Twilight said weakly.
Pyre gave a small toothless smile. “Lots and lots of time. Remember how I told you that I am going to be the dragon responsible for taking care of the history murals?”
“Oh yeah! Wow, you’re really, really good!”
“Thank you.” Twilight was pleased to see Pyre blush at the compliment. “I modelled it on a view I saw from the Red Mountains. ...Years ago now.”
Twilight’s smile faded at the pause in the dragon’s voice. “I’m surprised you remember it so well.”
The dragon gave a half smile. “I had to… fill in some of the gaps myself. I haven’t been there in a very long time.”
Twilight paused. “Oh? How come? Surely you could fly out there any time you wanted?”
“Not really. My uncle doesn’t like me leaving the city.”
“Oh.” Twilight bit her lip. A silence crept in, thick and smothering. There was something in Pyre’s voice; it had changed, growing vague, like she was drifting away. “Um, why not?”
Pyre shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, I guess. I have everything right here, and it’s safe. There’s not much point going otherwise, I think.”
Twilight had no idea how to respond, so she just nodded her head. “Yeah…”
Pyre turned around, reaching up and brushing the wall with a claw. “I’m pretty proud of this mural, though, so I’m really happy to hear you like it.” She paused. “One day I’ll go there for real.”
“I—I think it’s wonderful.”
Pyre smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Pyre did, however, have an insatiable appetite for anything pony related. When Twilight found her asking questions about pony life and how Equestria and pony society worked, it would take hours for her to stop. She would ask question after question, sometimes even interrupting her own speech to ask another.
Today Pyre had taken Twilight up to see something special. ‘You’ll love this’ was all she said. They had climbed up and up, through the winding caves, before they had ascended a steep stone staircase that was too narrow for any dragon much larger than Pyre, and finally came out into blinding sunlight.
There, Twilight had found herself on top of the mountain. She was on a flat circle, the weather-beaten stone carved in vague and faded patterns underneath her hooves. Around her were crumbling pillars and arches arranged in a rough semi-circle, tall obsidian blocks that cast long shadows in the early morning sun.
“Oh wow,” Twilight murmured, spinning a complete circle. “What is this place?”
“It’s called the Observatory,” Pyre said. She met Twilight’s eyes before looking away. “Apparently old dragons used to fly up here to watch the stars and give them names. But you probably already knew what ‘Observatory’ meant...”
Twilight had to tear herself away from the view. She could see so much further up here than she could from her balcony room. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. The air was thin, and no matter how hard she inhaled, the tightness in her lungs refused to go away. “This is incredible! Imagine being up here at night…” She paused for a moment. “Have you ever been here at night?”
Pyre’s cracked the smallest grin. “ Yeah, you should see it. There are more stars than there is space.” She moved over to the edge, throwing Twilight a quick look over her shoulder. “Come over here and see how high we are. I bet you haven’t been quite this high up before.”
Twilight followed, stepping up very carefully to the ledge. It was a sheer drop before the mountain started rolling out. The ground seemed to be a lifetime away, the mighty towers of Dragoliath not even coming close to her mountain perch.
“I wouldn’t want to fall,” Twilight said with a shaky laugh. She gulped.
“Don’t worry, you won’t fall.”
“What are those?” Twilight asked, pointing to a great ridge of shadows on the southern horizon. They looked like the teeth of some gargantuan dragon.
“They’re the Frozen Wastes,” Pyre said, her voice picking up. “My uncle says that only the bravest dragons go there to hunt for giant diamonds. They find them in caves deep beneath glaciers. Uncle says there are ice wyverns that guard them, and you have to fight them for the treasure. They are mostly known as King’s Diamonds, because it’s really only the kings that are strong enough to get them. Although Uncle told me that Forgȉr could probably get them if he tried, and that’s why he made him his personal guard.”
“I see them,” Twilight said quietly. She had only ever read one account about the blasted nightmare that was the Frozen Wastes. An insane adventurer named Pathlight had gone into the Wastes just west of Draxonis with a small team. Only, he had come home completely alone, missing both ears from frostbite and without any food. Nopony since had dared to brave the walls of ice higher than Canterlot Mountain, or the glaciers that shifted overnight, completely disorientating travellers, or the winds so cold they would freeze a pony’s blood. Or at least that’s what Pathlight had claimed. Again, nopony wanted to go and find out for themselves.
“I wonder what’s past them,” Pyre murmured. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was meant to respond.
“Maybe the mountains go on forever?”
Pyre nodded slowly, her eyes still stuck on the horizon. “Wouldn’t you just love to go and find out? I mean, look at them. I’m sure there are all kinds of things out there, monsters that only the bravest dragons can hunt, just like the ones in the stories…” She trailed off, biting her lip.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to say, so she turned around, a sudden idea taking hold.
“Where are you going?” Pyre asked.
“Having a look over here.”
“Over there, but that’s the eas—” She stopped.
Twilight walked up to the edge, her breath caught in her throat. Once she had realised just how far she could see, the idea wouldn’t budge. She had to check. And this time, there was nothing stopping her.
She reached the edge and paused, just staring out into the east for the first time since reaching Dragoliath.
The vast plains of blood-red sand ended abruptly somewhere out in the veil of distance. Twilight squinted hard to try and make out details. She could swear the land suddenly ended with a great black wall made from strange shapes and giant, bulging storm clouds that fought each other in the sky. The whole thing rose up, a dark smear that looked like a wave cresting over the horizon.
Streaks of eldritch lightning arced along the skyline, green and far too bright. The air looked thick, a sludge of murk and gloom, and Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that even the light from the sun was being sucked into the shadow, unable to escape the dark clouds brooding in the sky.
The Shadowed Lands. She had glimpsed them in Celestia’s map, and here they were for real. This was what everypony and dragon and griffon was talking about. The lands of darkness, a place which Celestia refused to speak about in great detail. This was where the trouble was brewing; it was where the discontent and the talk of shadow was coming.
“Uncle never really talks much about the Shadows.”
Twilight spun around to find Pyre looking straight past her and to the east. “He doesn’t? Why not?”
“Because he says there is nothing to talk about. It’s a dead place, he says, where there is nothing alive and nothing worth talking about.”
“Do you believe him?”
Pyre frowned. “I don’t think there’s anything alive in there. At least nothing that can get out.”
There was something in her tone that Twilight couldn’t quite shake. And just like that, the dragon had slipped away behind a guarded expression.
“But you have heard stories about it, haven’t you?”
She nodded.
“Like what?”
“Stories of all the bad things in the world, of all of the darkness the world has ever had. They’re all there, locked deep away. They came from there and then they were put back a long time ago.”
A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine. “Do you believe those stories?”
Pyre took a very long time to reply. “All the others are true.”
It took a while to get anywhere in Dragoliath. Although, Twilight knew that had something to do with the fact that she had to be flown around on Pyre’s back half the time. She probably weighed the dragon down.
The fact that the city was like a maze didn’t really help, either. Pyre had tried to explain the city’s layout, and while it made sense to hear about, it didn’t really translate all that well into what she experienced. It was divided into four distinct levels or tiers. Each ringed the mountain completely, and each was characterised by a sprawling mess of tunnels.
Each level was unique, but they mostly had hundreds of smaller caves or halls, connected together by wide tunnels. There were only three exits, or entrances, on each level, the biggest being on level one—the cave Twilight entered when they first arrived. This was the main gate, and it could be blocked by a massive door that was made thousands of years ago. Though Pyre said it hadn’t been closed in nearly that long either. All the other entrances featured narrow choke points past the first halls, places where it was possible to blockade with rock or more doors. It was a fortress, that much was obvious to Twilight, but the real question she kept coming back to was why would anyone be dumb enough to attack a city filled with dragons in the first place?
In the mountain’s centre was a waterfall of lava. As incredible as it was, Twilight found it immensely frustrating because it just didn’t make sense. Somehow, and Pyre didn’t know why either, the lava was drawn up before falling back down through a vast central shaft. The waterfall used to be drawn from to create the various rivers and pools of lava used for hatching and cleaning, and it provided the heat that seeped through the mountain, keeping the dragons comfortable.
But beside from that, Twilight couldn’t remember much else. She knew she had been told the names of various sections, but there were just too many to even begin to remember them all.
“Where are we headed now?” Twilight cried out over the rushing wind. She huddled on Pyre’s back, clinging on with all her strength.
“Back to the King’s Hall,” she replied. “Your princess wanted you back for that meeting, remember?”
Twilight nodded. She remembered. A talk about a new diamond mine that had opened inside the Canterlot mountains. The unique natural magical radiation that bathed Equestria resulted in the most spectacular green diamonds, and apparently Glamduural wanted a selection of the largest ones as a symbol of his ties to the Equestrian monarchy.
“We’re cutting through the Smoke Tunnels. I normally don’t come this way, but it’s the fastest path.”
“Huh? Why don’t you come this way?” They didn’t look terribly smoky to her. The walls looked a little rough, but that was all.
“Oh… It’s just out of the way a little, I guess. The tunnels aren’t in the best condition, either.”
Twilight looked around, peering hard through the gloom. Then, clear as day, as soon as it was pointed out, she started seeing the damage. Cracks ran up the walls and ceiling, and huge fragments of rock lay splintered in the middle of the tunnel. Scorch marks were seared on every surface, along with darker, rust-coloured stains. The deeper they went into the tunnel, the more Twilight noticed a smell growing: a mixture of charcoal, ash, and something stronger, something rotten. She wrinkled her nose.
“Sorry,” Pyre muttered. “It doesn’t go on for long.”
“What… happened down here?”
“My Uncle fought and killed Angard the Jaded and all of the dragons he had with him.”
Twilight blinked. Pyre’s tone of voice was so hard and determined. And rigid, too. “K-killed him? Why?”
“It happened a long time ago, but it was over territory and gold. He was trying to take what was my Uncle’s.” There it was again, a note of steel in Pyre’s voice. But it didn’t feel defensive, almost forced.
“Oh,” was all Twilight said. She had to remind herself again and again that they were dragons, not ponies, and that the same rules didn’t apply.
They fell quiet after that, soaring through the battle-scarred cave. Twilight kept searching for something to say, something to break the silence, but she couldn’t find anything that felt right after what had just been said. What could she say? She could just change the subject, but would that appear rude? Like she didn’t care?
Twilight paused. She had heard something, a low thump. Just like flapping wings. Big wings.
“Pyre, can you hear that?”
Even from her position on Pyre’s back, she could see her frown. “Yes, I think it’s just another dragon. They’re around here.”
“Oh.” The explanation made perfect sense, but Twilight gripped on a little tighter nonetheless. “Okay then.”
But as Twilight listened, the sound of wings only drew closer, building and growing until she could almost feel the movement in the air. It was heading straight from them.
A great wind slammed into the pair. Bursting out of the darkness and into the dim light cast by a bonfire, a slate-grey dragon swept into view. He was huge, fifty feet long with great claws and fangs almost as long and thick as Twilight’s leg. His orange eyes glowed in the shadows. He snorted, exhaling a wave of acrid smoke.
Twilight felt Pyre lock up underneath her.
“Hello, hello, little wyrm,” the dragon said, his voice slick. He wheeled around to circle Pyre. “To see you down in this part of the city? Strange. Normally you’re not so… brave.” He wheeled around again, this time closer. Twilight realised that he was forcing Pyre to descend.
“What do you want, Vakyral?” Pyre’s voice called out into the darkness, her head twisting around to follow Vakryal.
Twilight could feel Pyre’s heart pounding.
“What do I want? You need to land.”
“E-excuse me?”
“I said land.” The voice was cold, hard. Rigid with something bubbling just below the surface. He swept around again, this time even closer.
Pyre hesitated for a split second, her heart racing, before she dropped. She landed next to one of the bonfires. Twilight could see a cave mouth half-hidden by the poor light. So close yet so far. She didn’t slide of Pyre’s back, unsure about what on earth was going on.
Twilight shifted to whisper in Pyre’s ear, “Is everything oka—”
The low rumble of Vakyral’s landing cut her short. He took a step closer, his wings held open. Twilight could smell his smoking breath.
“This is fortunate…”
“What is?” Pyre asked, her voice trembling at the end of her sentence. She lifted her head up a little higher and swallowed.
“For today. For your being down here. For my running into you. And on today of all days.” His lips curled at the edges.
Twilight watched as his eyes rake over Pyre before landing directly on her. She shivered. There was a cold light inside that burned a little brighter the second he saw her.
“And Alduaine’s charge is here as well!” He leered at her. “There is no end to the day’s good fortune.”
“You’re not making any sense,” Pyre said shortly.
He snorted another blast of smoke. “I always hated your uncle, you know.”
Pyre started. “H-he’s your king!”
Vakyral snarled. “The dragons have no king. There is no king and there never has been.”
“What are you implying? That sounds like—”
He leaned in, baring his fangs and growling. Something flashed deep in his eyes, something that made Twilight’s skin crawl. She glanced over to the exit.
“There is no king. You’re not a real dragon, little wyrm. Did you know that? You’re a mockery of one. I always hated that too. You hide under your Uncle’s shadow, but there you stay, cowering like the pony on your back.”
Apparently Pyre had a similar line of thought to Twilight. “We’re going to go now,” she said, keeping her head high. Twilight could hear her voice wavering, though.
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not leaving, little wyrm. Not this time. Not today. I finally have my chance. I have hated you both for so long, and today of all days I no longer have to wait.”
Pyre took a step back. “What are you thinking? Do you have any idea what the King will do to you when he hears about this?”
Vakyral burst into laughter. “He will hear! Oh, have no fear of that, little wyrm. He will hear. Today of all days. As the sun sets in the west, he will hear. The Black Dragon cries out.”
“You will let us pass!”
Vakryal took a step closer. His fangs glistened. “Your uncle cannot do anything.”
“Princess Celestia will!” Twilight almost looked around to see who had spoken before she realised it was her. Her stomach plummeted beneath her hooves.
The dragon snarled. “That name is meaningless now. Empty and hollow. The name will not do anything because it does not mean anything. Not anymore.”
Pyre took another step back. “You’re crazy.”
“What did you say?”
Pyre shook. “You heard me. You’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Vakryal’s eyes burned. “I wish I could see the look on your face when it all crashes, little wyrm. The Black Dragon is unlike anything you have ever seen. But I think the look on your face right now is good enough.”
Pyre stopped shaking. There was something in Vakryal’s tone, the anger had disappeared, and suddenly it was back to being lifeless and cold.
“What do you mean?” Pyre asked.
He smiled. “You’re dead.” Then he exhaled a torrent of searing flame that turned stone underneath it cherry red.
Except Twilight and Pyre weren’t there. Twilight had been waiting, and the second Vakryal had stopped speaking, she had teleported away, aiming for the cave entrance she had seen earlier. Materialising, she urged Pyre to move behind the cave edge, out of sight from Vakryal. Twilight could hear him roar. The dragon exhaled torrents of fire that threw flashes of light around like fireworks.
“Where are you, miserable wyrm? You cannot save yourself!” There was a boom as he slammed something against the stone floor. “Where are you?”
Pyre trembled, staring straight ahead with wide eyes. Twilight pushed her, but the dragon wouldn’t budge.
“Please, Pyre!” she hissed. “We have to go!”
Her voice shocked Pyre into moving. Without saying a word, she jumped into the air and took off, flying away as fast as she could. All Twilight could do was hold on for dear life.
Behind them, his voice shaking the earth, Vakryal screamed.
They collapsed inside a small cave. Pyre nearly fell over, her whole body wracked with shakes, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.
Twilight jumped off. Her coat was sticky with sweat. “We lost him,” she said, sitting down. “He’s gone.”
Pyre covered her face with a claw and coughed. “That didn’t happen,” she said. “That didn’t happen.”
“We’re okay,” Twilight said, almost to herself. “We’re fine. Don’t worry.”
Pyre took a deep breath. “He tried to kill us. I can’t believe it. He actually tried to kill us!”
Twilight just shook her head. Her mind was spinning, and she couldn’t focus on anything. “I—I really don’t know.”
“And what was he talking about? Something about it all crashing down? The Black Dragon? He wasn’t making any sense!”
“I don’t know, Pyre,” Twilight said again. “I…” She trailed off into a shaken silence.
“He tried to kill us…”
Twilight breathed deeply and took a hesitant step over. She touched Pyre lightly on the shoulder. “We’re okay. We got away.”
Pyre shook her head again and looked up into Twilight’s face. Her eyes were red. “I don’t understand why he would do that. My uncle would kill him for that…” She stopped, her expression hardening.
“What?” Twilight blinked, pulling her hoof away. “You’re joking, right?”
But Pyre didn’t seem to hear her. “We have to go. We have to see my uncle.”
“But why?” Twilight asked with a weak chuckle. Pyre wasn’t serious, was she?
“We need to tell my uncle! Come on! Something’s not right here at all and we have to tell them!” Pyre’s eyes burned into Twilight’s until she looked away.
“Okay then,” she said. He probably should know about all of this, and so should Princess Celestia. Twilight bit her lip until she thought it might bleed. “Let’s go.”
When Twilight and Pyre burst into the King’s Hall, time seemed to freeze. Everyone inside fell silent immediately. Their gazes locked onto the newcomers. Celestia stopped mid-sentence, and she raised an eyebrow.
Pyre was panting again. “Uncle!” she cried.
Twilight could feel the eyes of dozens of dragons, unblinking and fierce. She suppressed a shiver.
“Pyre!” Glamduural growled. “What are you doing!”
Pyre almost crashed the landing, stumbling on her claws. Twilight jumped off. “It’s Vakryal!” the dragon gasped. “ He confronted us in the Smoke Tunnels, and he’s gone crazy!”
The King’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “You took Alduaine’s student into the Smoke Tunnels?”
“We were on our way here and—”
“You fool! Have you no sense? Do you want to give the snakes down there an opportunity to make me look weak?”
“No!” Pyre’s eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open. “Of course not! I just—”
“Then explain to me why you barge into this council screaming and shouting?” The King glowered, his lips pulling back to reveal his curved teeth.
“Vakryal tried to kill us! Both of us!”
Rumbles broke out, a chorus of growls and hisses.
Celestia and the guards around her froze. “Are you okay, Twilight?” the Princess asked. She took a step towards Twilight and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close.
“Yes, I’m fine!” Twilight said quickly. She still let herself melt into the hug, though.
“What did you say?” Glamduural asked, slowly and deliberately, stressing each word.
“He tried to kill us!” Pyre moved up close to her uncle, searching his great eyes with her own. “He said he was waiting for today, of all days, to finally be able to do it!”
“He would never dare go that far.”
“He did! He said that everything was going to crash down and that he could finally do it. Believe me, please!”
The pair held each other’s gaze for half a second before Glamduural lifted his head and roared to the ceiling, “That snake! I am going to tear Vakryal limb from limb! Bring Forgȉr to me!” Then he looked down and said, “What do you mean ‘everything was going to crash down’?”
“I’m not sure!” Pyre looked around like she was searching for something. “He said something about a Black Dragon and something coming. I don’t know what it… means… though…” She stopped, looking horrified at her uncle’s expression.
The King had frozen, his eyes locked open. All of the blood had drained from Celestia’s face, and she looked up at Glamduural.
“I don’t understand?” Pyre said.
“The Black Dragon?” Glamduural repeated. A rumble grew deep in his chest. “Is that what you said?”
Pyre took a step back. “Y—yes!”
“Moriath…” Celestia whispered. Her expression was rigid as steel, but Twilight could see something wavering in her eyes. The same expression that had been in Pyre’s after they had stopped running from Vakryal.
“No. He’s lying.” Glamduural shook his head.
“Who’s the Black Dragon?” Twilight asked, her voice shaking.
She was ignored. “What if it’s true?” Celestia said. She had started to pace. “What then?”
“Don’t be absurd, Alduaine. Weren’t you the one responsible for his imprisonment?”
Celestia shook her head. “We should go to Thomoral, Glamduural. See what he has to say. Perhaps he has heard something—perhaps he can help.”
“The Old Drake?” Glamduural growled. But before he could say another word, Forgȉr came sweeping down from an adjoining cave.
“My Lord?”
The King wheeled his head around to face him. “Bring Vakryal to me! And if he refuses, tear off his wings. I want him alive so I can break his neck myself!”
Forgȉr bared his teeth, snarling. “It will be my pleasure.” With surprising agility, he took off, disappearing down one of the tunnels.
Glamduural snorted. “We cannot go to the Old Drake. It would be a waste of time, and you know it. One rabid wyrm whispers his name, a name which could easily belong to an impostor, and you want to run off to see that lying coward? He is more likely to give you a riddle than offer any real help.”
“It’s called caution,” Celestia said, her eyes flashing. “I do not want to take that risk, and he could help.”
“You’re being foolish.”
“You do not know of what you speak!” Celestia shot back. “You do not know who the Black Dragon is, what he is capable of!”
Glamduural bared his teeth. “Do you challenge my ability to lead my own city, Alduaine?”
“Of course not—”
“Then allow me to lead! I do not need your council for these rumours, though your concern is appreciated.”
Celestia took a deep breath. “The whispers are adding up, Glamduural. Do not be deaf to them.”
“I am not deaf. Nor am I blind to what goes on.” The King shifted on his pile. “I watch many things, Alduaine. I watch and wait. I know how to act. If the time comes, I can and will move to defend against any threat, but I will not move in response to whispers alone.”
They were interrupted by Forgȉr sweeping back into the Hall, followed closely by a second dragon. “My Lord! One of the city watch said he saw the wyrm leave the city barely fifteen minutes ago!”
“He flees! The coward!” Glamduural roared.
“Do I give chase?” Forgȉr said.
The King thought for a moment, smoke curling from his nostrils. He exhaled loudly, but his voiced trembled with anger. “No. I need you here. We have things that need discussing, plans that need to be examined. And Vakryal is fast. Did they say where he was headed?”
“The east,” the second dragon replied.
Celestia lowered her head. “Of course he is.”
“That’s where they all run,” Glamduural said, snapping his jaws. “That’s where they have run for centuries. There is nothing new or damning about that at all.”
“Then what would you do?”
“Wait. Watch. Be prepared. Be alert.” The King bared his teeth in a sneer. “I have been playing this game for centuries, Alduaine. While you ruled in peace, I have been fighting and winning. Nothing will change.”
Celestia looked ready to respond, but instead she closed her eyes and exhaled. “As you wish. Keep your eyes open and your fangs sharp, Glamduural. This is not a game we can afford to lose.”
The King snorted. “I always do. I assume you will break for the evening?”
“Yes. Thank you. We will speak soon.” Without another word, Celestia turned and walked towards the nearby chariot. The guards scrambled to make themselves ready to leave.
Twilight gave a quick smile to Pyre in way of goodbye, one which was hastily returned. She winced when she saw Glamduural fix Pyre with a cold glare.
But there was nothing she could do other than give another weak smile before she was whisked away, the gloom swallowing the Hall until there was nothing left but darkness.
The rundown had been brief. Swift wanted to know if their orders had changed, to which the Princess had said ‘no’. The captain had nodded before dismissing the rest of her team. Celestia raised an eyebrow but didn’t otherwise comment until they were alone. Twilight watched from the corner, sipping water because her stomach didn’t want to hold anything solid.
“What is it, Swift?”
The guard walked back in front of the Princess, each step deliberate. She took a deep breath before saying, “Are you sure, Princess?”
“What do you mean?”
Swift shifted on her hooves. She kept her gaze straight, though. “About staying here. About not doing anything.”
“Of course I am sure,” Celestia said. “We need to be here to help. We need to watch and see what transpires before we do anything overly rash.”
‘Forgive me, Your Highness, for being so bold, but… I think we should leave.”
The Princess paused. But she recovered quickly and said, “Understood, but we cannot leave here now, Swift. Glamduural is correct. We do not know for sure, and we cannot leave until we do.”
Swift’s façade cracked. Her brow furrowed. “But, forgive me again, why?”
Celestia held her gaze for a long time. “Because we cannot leave them alone, Swift. I need more information before deciding what to do next, before I can act. There is more to this, more to these whispers, and the more I hear, the more serious this becomes. If I need to act, it will be seriously and decisively, and I cannot make that call without properly being informed about what exactly is going on.”
The guard took a deep breath and saluted. Her eyes still wavered. “Of course, Your Highness. As you wish.” Then she turned and left, leaving Twilight and the Princess alone.
The silence ticked by, Celestia still in the middle of the room, lost in thought, Twilight standing awkwardly by a wall, not sure where to look, not sure what to say. It was stifling hot, and Twilight felt a trickle of sweat run down the side of her face. She could barely breathe.
“I am sorry, Twilight.”
The unicorn frowned. “What for, Princess?”
“For worrying you. I know what this seems like. I know how scared you must be feeling.”
Twilight opened her mouth… but then she closed it. She didn’t want to lie to her princess. “I just want to know what’s going on…”
Celestia turned, finally facing Twilight. Her expression looked haunted, ravaged by something that Twilight couldn’t name. “Nothing for you to worry about. How many times I have called upon you to save Equestria? This time, I will look after you. Have faith, Twilight. Can you do that for me?”
Twilight stared up at her mentor, her strength breaking underneath Celestia’s tortured gaze. “I think I can, Princess. I think so.”
The Princess lowered her head, almost as if she no longer had the strength to hold it. “Thank you, Twilight. Thank you. I will not let anything bad happen to you—to any of this.”
Looking at the Princess, Twilight wanted nothing more than to reach over and hug her. For her own sake as much as her mentor’s. She was so tired of the dark things, of all the talk of rumours and threats. She wanted to go home to her friends.
Yet, she stayed where she was, too scared to get any closer. She knew it was silly and irrational, but she couldn’t do it. Her Princess was so different, so unfamiliar.
So in the end, she asked a question. “Who’s the Old Drake, Princess?”
Celestia looked up. “He is the oldest dragon alive. He is the brother of Moriath, the Black Dragon, and one of the four sons of Dosforoth, the father of all dragons.”
“Dosforoth,” Twilight murmured.
“Yes, that’s right. Dosforoth. His four sons were mighty and powerful beyond comprehension. But then the shadow came, and war fell over the land, and the sons of the King of all Dragons took to the skies to fight for the agents of evil.”
“The Old Drake was evil?”
“Evil?” The Princess thought for a moment. “Perhaps he was evil. But then he left. He abandoned his brothers and the shadow and fled to the south where he set up a mighty kingdom, a place where dragons could live together in freedom and in peace. And he called it Draxonis, the land of the dragons.”
“He established Draxonis?”
“Yes he did. A very, very long time ago.”
“But then… what happened?”
Celestia turned to Twilight. “The dragons grew greedy. The dragons let their instincts rule them. They wanted more land, more gems, and more power. And so they tried to overthrow The Old Drake.”
“Tried?”
Celestia smiled wryly, her eyes still locked on a moment of time that Twilight could only dream of. “They tried. But he was old and one of Dosforoth’s sons, and he was stronger than any normal dragon.”
“But then… that doesn’t answer the first question.”
“He wasn’t overthrown, that was true, but he did not stay in Draxonis. Some say he too succumbed to his instincts, and he fled to hide them. I believe he just grew too disheartened by dragon nature. He drafted treaties to see the dragons placed under strict bonds of honour to stop them from destroying themselves, and then he settled in Darros, a mountain in The Shadowed Lands to watch the Shadow, making sure no dragon could bring ruin to the world.”
“So he’s almost like a guardian angel?”
Celestia laughed, a pure and free sound that rang through the room. “Of a sort, yes. He is a dragon through and through, a hoarder by nature. He has some of the most exquisite and rare artifacts in existence. And secrets. Such a great number of secrets.”
“And you told Glamduural that maybe he could help?”
“He could help. He is very old and very powerful, but Glamduural is right. He very rarely helps directly. If you ask for his help, you are unlikely to get it in the manner you desire.”
Twilight nodded, yawning despite herself as she did. It had been a very, very long day. But still, she smiled, glad that both she and Pyre had made it out okay. She hoped Pyre wasn’t in too much trouble because of her…
“Are you tired, Twilight?”
“Perhaps a little,” Twilight admitted with another yawn.
“Then rest,” the Princess said kindly. “I will wake you should anything happens.”
“You will?”
“I will. Rest easy, Twilight Sparkle. You deserve some quiet.”
Twilight did as she was told, moving over to her bed where her soft mattress was waiting for her. She couldn’t be bothered to remove her outfit, so she left it on, curling up underneath the thin sheet.
The Princess seemed a little bit more back to normal now, the same kind and benevolent monarch whom she trusted… and needed to trust. That alone was more reassuring than anything, and Twilight repeated the thought over and over in her head to shield from her bubbling anxiousness.
It did not take long for sleep to find Twilight. She let it in eagerly, a chance to forget about the world for one moment of peace.
As Twilight slept, she dreamed of many things, few of which made sense. She dreamed of great cloud fortresses and even bigger mountains of stone so black that it looked as if all the light in the world was being absorbed in its darkness. She dreamed of fire that swallowed the whole world. She dreamed of entire forests disappearing in sheets of flame, becoming nothing but smoke and waves of embers lost to the wind.
But she also saw things she knew, places she loved and things she feared. She watched as Canterlot burned to the ground, breaking apart and falling from its mountain perch in an avalanche of stone and death. She watched as Ponyville, her home and her life, was engulfed in shadow and fire, the flame wiping it from the face of the earth.
Central to everything was a great beast who wrought all of this destruction. Its wings were obsidian, and its green eyes were as sharp as cut gemstone. Its lumbering scales were jagged plates of armour. It snarled. Eldritch green flame poured out its mouth and engulfed everything that Twilight loved.
But amongst the shadow and the fire, there was a light. From several sources it shone, fighting the darkness at every turn. A battle from ancient times, a struggle that filled up every available space and swallowed up everyone and everything. Yet to Twilight’s horror, the light could never hold against such a power. It broke, scattering to the four corners of the land, leaving the unicorn alone in the ruins of her home.
In her dreams, Twilight screamed. She screamed out in anger, in fear, and in despair. And still the world burned. It burned until there was nothing left, nothing but the great dragon and the shadow.
It was from a fitful sleep that Twilight woke. She stirred in her bed, uncertain of what had woken her.
There was a light in the room.
Twilight opened her eyes, rubbing them with a hoof. The light was not like any light she had seen before. The light was not white, or red or orange… this light was green. There was a rush, and then the light disappeared, leaving long shadows in its wake.
A roar shattered the silence of the evening like a hammer striking glass. It shook the earth, threatening to bring down the sky with its ferocity. It was a primal scream, a challenge to all those who heard it.
“Princess!” Twilight shouted. “What’s going on?”
The earth shook once more as another roar filled the air, this one different, deeper. Another joined it and then another. The Princess was nowhere to be found.
Twilight was about to get up when she heard hoofsteps. Swift burst into the room, her eyes wide.
“Get up!” the guard barked. “Up and put on your saddlebags!”
“W—what’s going on?” Twilight asked, still sitting lamely in bed.
“I don’t know! The city is burning, and you must get up! We have to leave!” There was another roar. They were louder now, and Swift’s whole body locked up. “Stay here. Put on your saddlebags and don’t move. I have to go find the Princess. I will be back.”
And then she was gone, rushing back out the door.
Scrambling to her hooves, Twilight grabbed her saddlebags, strapped them on, and dashed over to the window. She swung the heavy glass open with a flash of magic and burst out onto the balcony.
She froze.
The sun had disappeared below the horizon, the last of the orange rays soaking the sky in blood. But that’s not what she was looking at. There, on the edge of the area she could view, was a dragon unlike any other she had ever seen, except for those in her dreams.
He was the largest creature Twilight had ever seen, over two hundred feet long from snout to tail, his bulky body covered in scales that looked like chunks of armour, just like the dragon in her dream. His entire body was the darkest shade of black, the only colour being his piercing eyes, green and glinting emeralds.
He was the dragon of Twilight’s nightmare.
The dragon roared again, perched on top of one of the mighty towers in the lower levels of the city. Pillars of fire poured from his mouth, filling the sky with pale green flame.
“Moriath,” Twilight breathed. He was real…
…and he was here.
Moriath was surrounded by a wave of other, smaller, dragons in seconds. They swept around him, racing into the city, roaring and breathing flame.
The realisation gripped at Twilight, stopping her heart. They were under attack! The city was under attack! She recognised Vakryal. He swept into the Dragoliath, his face twisted in rage.
Even as Twilight watched, the dragons of Dragoliath answered the threat. They poured out of the caves and raced toward their enemies with great strokes of their wings. The two forces clashed in the air, dragons colliding into each other like meteors, biting and gouging at each other’s necks, breathing fire into their faces. Dragoliath was vastly outnumbered, though, and the fallen plummeted from the sky, smashing to the ground below in ruin.
“Twilight! Twilight!”
The unicorn spun around at the sound of her name only to see the Princess run into the room. The look in her eyes was almost more chilling than the fighting dragons outside.
“Princess!”
“Are you alright, Twilight? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Princess! I just woke up! What’s happening? What’s going on?!”
“We’re under attack,” Celestia said, stuffing Twilight’s loose clothes and books into her saddlebags. “Moriath, he has struck today. The rumours were true. It is him…”
“What do we do, Princess?” Twilight shouted. “Tell us what to do!”
The Princess froze, her eyes locked wide open.
“Your Highness! Wait!” Twilight jerked at the new sound. Swift burst into the room, the other guards close behind her. “Stay near me, Princess! Please!”
“Orders, your Highness!”
“I…” Twilight stammered.
“Do we attack?”
“We cannot leave the mountain,” Celestia said, her voice hardening, slipping into the role of a commander in a heartbeat. “They outnumber us and you are no match for so many fully grown dragons.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Do we flee? Leave for Equestria now?”
“No!” Celestia barked. “Not with the enemy on our doorstep. We must find Glamduural and see what the situation is. Dragoliath is not defenceless. Its tunnels may be wide but they are easy to hold from those who wish to attack it. We can survive this, and we will.”
Celestia turned, looking out to the dragons fighting in the city. Moriath roared again as even more of his soldiers flew out from behind the mountain.
“Swift, we are going back down the tunnels to the King’s Hall. Moriath must be repelled. There we can discuss further.”
Swift began to nod before her eyes widened, staring past Twilight and the Princess before she screamed, “Look out!”
Twilight turned to see a fireball streaking through the air toward them, pulsing green flame that crackled and hissed. A golden shield enveloped the balcony in a great flash, and the fire exploded against it. The force of the explosion knocked Twilight to the ground.
She struggled to her hooves, coughing loudly, to see Celestia standing tall. Her horn burned gold along its length, and she stared out to the city and locked her gaze on the Black Dragon.
Moriath was glaring back. His eyes narrowed and glinted. The obsidian tower cracked under the pressure of his claws. He roared, his mighty wings flaring out on either side.
“Go, Twilight,” Celestia said. “I will meet you in the King’s Hall. Swift, ensure she gets there safely.”
“No!” the Captain yelled. “I stay with you, Princess!”
“You will do as I sa—”
Moriath let loose another plume of fire. This one was aimed lower, streaking through the air faster than Twilight could blink. It hit the bottom of the balcony and ripped the stone apart, the air flashing green and gold as Celestia’s shield shattered.
Twilight fell. The balcony crumbled around her in a rush of splintered stone. Her world flipped upside down, the sound vanishing, leaving nothing but a loud ringing. She saw a flash of blue flying towards her from the city, and then something smashed into her head, knocking the light from the world and plunging Twilight into darkness.
The last thing she heard was a lone voice that sounded out against the noise, screaming to her, “Twilight! NO!”
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Because it's only 20 minutes after midnight, who needs sleep? Unfortunately I do so I'll post a response in the morning.
2283525 Heh, looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
2283534
Well, at this rate 'In the morning' is looking more like 'next afternoon' as is, so I might as well get on with it.
"In the corner was a shallow depression surrounded by a, compared to normal dragon standards, modest pile of glittering diamonds"
Aka worth enough money to finance the global economy for the next 5 years.
"but the real question she kept coming back to was why would anyone be dumb enough to attack a city filled with dragons in the first place?"
Because they are a very stupid person indeed, or someone with a damn powerful weapon.
And boom! Shit hits the fan in the most epic way possible! And right when I was wondering if you were going to find some way to make Twilight feel even more anxious than she already is!
And in response to the above quote, I think we've found an answer to that question Twilight.
All in all a good chapter, posted at the most inopportune time maybe but good none the less.
And after so much built up all shit broke lose..... oh yes IT. IS. ON!!
A Black Dragon, eh? Bigger than any other dragon, eh? And he's named Deathwing, you say? Err, I mean, Moriath.
Epic chapter. I just hope this won't be like the many, many, many stories out there where it ends with Celestia being unable to do a damn thing in the end so others have to save the day. Or with her dying. I hate that. Been looking so long for a Twilight x Celestia adventure with the both of them working together, bonding and saving the day together, and so far this is one of the few stories that seems to be shaping up like that. It can still change, I realise, but it would make me sad if this followed the typical fanfic plot of shoving Celestia out of the picture (because her saving the day is not interesting to read, or some such inane reason). Your story, though, so you do what you think is best.
ahh shit
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQfD-RkrBvJDMj63xnk7r12buNzNtou9QC6LshNtDGONF2_o_Ck
Again
I am extremely worried about this confrontation, especially since Celestia is not seemingly in her prime.
A few theories as to why:
1. She had lived in some token amount of peace for a millennia, not using her full powers for so long that she has weakened.
2. As she is linked to the sun, she to has rising and descending power levels, though only on a much larger scale.
3. Old age actually has an affect on her somehow.
4. My second favourite explanation is made because chapter 1 off-handily mentions Twilight having a trip in Luna's mind. This means that this story is in the same continuity as "The Sun Whisper's Your Name". putting in spoilers in case some one has not read it: Celstia had to rest because of having to control both Celestia bodies on her own for so long, however to me, it seems that the time of rest was disproportionate to the task she completed. Perhaps she had gained enough energy to wake up and raise the sun again, but not enough to actually be fully recovered. I like the idea that the foreshadowing that these stories were linked was in one simple line of text that is easily glossed over.
5. My favourite explanation is this: She had mentally blocked herself from the power with her current mentality which could be hinted at from chapter 4 (last chapter) when Celestia and Twilight are alone and Celestia starts talking about the east, with glowing body, resonating voice, and burning eyes. This is further shown by her "Sorry Twilight, that was inexcusable" line which shows that she immediately regrets letting that part of her out. The next peice of evidence is from the story's description "the princess struggling to reconcile her role in the world". If you lock away a certain part of you for 1000+ years I doubt that it is a simple manner to bring it back up.
It could also be a combination of any of these two things, with me betting 4&5 if there is a multiple ones involved, if only because those are my favourite two theories
All that said I am now waiting for the next chapter!
2284608 This is indeed a direct Sequel to "The Sun Whispers Your Name" check out his blog posts. ;)
2285009
ah, further conformation! I shall look at the blog posts later. Normally I just read them as soon as they appear in my feed but for some reason I had not yet followed Mystic, which is now fixed
And so it truly begins. Time for the epic... epic... something. I don't really know how this is going to play out, but I can tell it will be awesome.
Just like me!
Instantly think of Morgoth.
----------
Extra space.
Maybe "aside"? It sounds a little strange to me as is, but it may just be me.
Extra space.
This is bucking awesome!
I hope we get another update soon! (as in, not as long as this update took, please! 
)
Confound your cliffhanger chapter endings!
I know it's unfair to demand more when you give to us so freely as it is but. . .
MOAR!
If Glamduural was voiced, what he sound like? Does he sound like the Megatron from the live-action Transformers movie? Because that's the voice I'm giving him.
Summon the troops! War is at hoof! URA!
2283774 Game time!
2283945 I don't know who Deathwing is! D: Also, I actually aimed to reach an interesting balance between the two ponies for the rest of the story. Hopefully it turns out alright! Thanks for reading!
2284367 Surprise attacks are like that :D
2284608 Theories! I love theories! Haha. As for the answer, well it should be coming. There is a lot of story left for Celestia, and she has a long way to go. Hopefully y'all enjoy the ride!
2285734 Thank you for reading and thanks for the catches! :)
2286123 Hopefully the next update shouldn't be too far away. I think I am moving out of the chapters where I have to essentially rewrite them from scratch, sometimes more than once, to get them right, lol.
2287995 Hehe, it's coming!
2289465 A deep growl, something that resonates with power. He's been king for a long time, after all.
2291435
Always.
2291427 Bad times are ahead, that's for sure.
Holy shit. I want more.
More I tell you.
More.
I know you're holding back on us, write, damnit! Write!
2291677 Heh, don't worry! More is coming!
King Dragon Guy isn't the smartest chap on the block, is he.
2297392 Poor guy. I guess that's what happens when you grow complacent over hundreds of years.
Well, i left this chapter unread entirely too long. I saw the chapter title and knew there would be a shitstorm-inducing cliffhanger.
On a sidenote, the first... oh thirty seconds to a minute of this song just seem like the perfect intro to Aldi (I'm probably not going to be calling her Celly anymore, I like Alduaine better.
)'s battle theme. I'm not sure what it would transition into other than possibly a hard fast instrumental orchestral piece, or a slower, more powerful metal or rock instrumental song. I've not really listened to much that would follow it well, but i'm sure i'll come across something. I've got ideas, and even though i've no experience with sound editing, this must be done. Eventually...
Your stories are better than the actual show. I want to see them animated.
2310254 Ooh, now that sounds exciting and very, very cool! Haha. Thanks so much for reading and for taking the time to leave your thoughts! :D
2313825 Thank you very much!
Ahh... it's that time again when I get to feel like I'm raining on a parade that everyone else is enjoying. So it is to be me.
That perspective thing is still doing my nut. For the most part, it feels worse than in the early chapters, and after some consideration I think it's because the PoV seems more inconsistent here. At least early on it was mostly Twilight doing stuff, and the little bits of telling were happily sitting on a very blurry line. But now, they keep popping up for other characters in a way that just feels bizarre when I read it.
On the upside, the descriptions of the dragon's home is very solid, especially considering how concise they generally are. Elsewhere, unfortunately, there is a lot of character description that seems somewhere between excessive and downright redundant. And no, the irony of me talking about being concise is not lost on me.
Beyond that, I feel like the tempo shift comes a chapter too late. The whole way through Don't be Afraid I was feeling the 'get on with it' twitch, although that isn't a reflection of the chapter itself. I think it was more to do with Yesterday and Tomorrow which didn't add much to the story as a whole; you've gone for an early introduction of the vibe that something is wrong, and it doesn't feel like it's holding up solo. Maybe I just feel that there really hasn't been much interaction with the reader on that topic from Twilight's first look at the 'map' to the reveal of Moriath. Of course, this is our traditional clash—there was lots of world-building, but the plot is a fairly simple point to point progression, with little room left for the imagination. It feels more like a monorail than an exciting adventure.
Like the story, but not the plot.
I wish I could be more positive about it, but there ya go.
-Scott
It would have been nice to know that this was a sequel before I started reading, now I have to stop until I finish the other.
Finally! Spring arrived in my country and I grew incredibly sick as always! Not able to do nothing, I finally had time to get into my bed with a nice can of tea, and to take time for this epic piece (thanks to Kindle without any printing, let Epic Ponies Doing Epic Things come!).
I partly totally forgot that this is a(n unfinished) fanfiction. The quality of this piece! Reading those five chapters, I lost myself in a wonderful world, a thing that I haven't done for too long. Even if I haven't read All Paths Lead Home yet, I have to admit that this one has the potential for becoming your new "biggest diamond". And being a "The Sun Whispers"-fan, that's something to say!
That's not only because you stopped exactly at the first big, bad invasion-fight, leaving me only the fight with the Sentinel (I loved Twilight's mentality there, btw) to survive. Me and fights...
The world building alone is language-wise on a new level, what of course also is caused by the wide-spaced scenario. The Sun Whispers surely was a very fine craft, but being bound to Luna's mind didn't give you the opportunity to send us, the readers, on an epic journey. Also Hell's Traitor was really good, but burned ground with tortured hills isn't something that challenges this one, either. It was really, really nice to see your writing walk freely through whatever landscapes it may passes.
And man! That second chapter was the best thing I've read since months! They flew over the sea and I was like "look down! Look down there and cry!". And the Leviathan, who I thought to be a whale at first, was the highlight imo. Sure, they slept in an ancient castle (stone castles never get boring, huh?) and nearly got killed by Twilight's... twilightness. But that thing! Celestia's phrase "It had been a very long time since there was more than one on the surface" may is my favorite statement of her in the whole mlp-Universe. This is really a thing I would love to learn more about. There are many of them, okay, but is there a whole tribe? Celestia said that he's banned from the Equestrian coast, but how would she recognize the banned one? Until, she banned all of them in a treaty with their tribe.
I also loved the moment, when Twilight stood next to Celestia on that hill, just after Celestia lowered the sun. That show that Luna started. She's so far away, yet she feels so near. All my YES! This battles the level of epicness of the cave scene in The Sun Whispers, where the liquid moonlight runs down the walls. Well, almost. You can't beat that scene, c'mon!
What leads my thoughts to the second thing that makes this story as good as it is... personalities!
An innocent archmage travels with a beast in disguise into a land of ferocity. Sound good!
While I liked the enormous size of the landscapes they pass, I'm in love with the tiniest pieces you offered for their personalities. For example, after Celestia lowered the sun back in Canterlot, Luna returned from her awakening-flight to her sister and Twilight. Even when there wasn't a sun in the sky, Luna threw a large shadow over the observatory tower as she landed. You certainly have to be the princess of the night to throw shadows in the dark.
Celestia, on the other hoof, stood in this world like an impossible old relict herself. That's maybe just me, but seeing how the memories feasted upon her was the highest joy. She just felt so warm, so powerful and yet so helpless. She somehow stands over everything, but her pain that's caused by the impossible time-span that lies behind her, just let's everything seem so much bigger, just more epic, and her so little.
And Twilight, the Element of Magic, who saved Equestria multiple times is caught in a Maelstrom of this impossible time. All the time, she doesn't look bigger than a foal. She felt for me so useless, as if her existence wasn't needed in that world at all. Just as Celestia said, travel to learn, nothing more. Save and without risk. But on a second look, it's just the background of the photo that makes her so tiny. She's facing the lived history of her world, long-since forgotten by books and scholars, elders, beings. If you think about it, nothing special at all. Just a new perspective for everything. How she forgets about the shadows and all her sorrows at the sight of history, as she is offered to enter the old halls. Twilight never stops being Twilight in your stories, and that's great. If it was for me, she would still be reaching out for the dragon's history, the shadows, but well. I guess I can't get something epic without the final battle, eh? I look forward to read it, though.
And Spike! That he didn't want to come... understandable. Celestia's statement that he couldn't handle the early breakfasts nearly killed me. However... I can't but think of Rarity and Spike following them to the dragonlands. Her contacts, Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolds (who seem to be armed lately)... it surely would be possible.
As I know it from your works, it's almost flawless in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Here and there, you lost yourself in your own epicness, but that's a hard thing not to do I guess.
I don't know a single rule that legitimates does along with they.
I don't think you should cut to [word] too to too [word]. To what now?
And isn't Alduaine the name of her spear...? The dragons developed a name for her that's just the same name as her spear? Coincidence, suuuure...
Yeah, that's everything I got so far. Let's see where this story will go. I hope we're not too near the end.
Carpe noctem,
--Chaodiurn
It only took me like, thirty years to finally get around to reading this!
Holy crap, things are seriously kicking into action here. When Celestia was telling Swift that she "cannot make that call without properly being informed about what exactly is going on", I was expecting Swift to bust out and be like "YES, THAT, EXACTLY! Stop being so damned vague and explain wtf is going on here so I can stop being useless!" I'm kind'a glad it took me to long to get around to reading this chapter, because that's five weeks less that I have to wait to read the next chapter.
Also, @2291435
I'm surprised nobody responded to this, especially considering the parallel between Moriath and Deathwing's roles.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Deathwing
[youtube=Wq4Y7ztznKc]
I feel like this story is being... dare I say, too descriptive.
Damn you...
You make Luna and the Nightmare so damn sexy...
Especially the nightmare.
Why can't I just be there. I'd take one and Twilight could take the other? Problem solved!
Wow, I had forgotten I never actually got around to reading this chapter. Good stuff man
To echo what other commenters have said its really good to finally see someone do an adventure fic with Twilight and Celestia, hoping to see them work side by side a good deal
I'm really liking the Tolkienesque world building you've got going on. The dragon culture, geography, architecture, the ancient war, well everything really, is really doing it for me!
I hope schools going good for you and that you get to a place where you can write again soon!
Rotten no good sheep herding cliffhanger@!!¤⊙[§€!!!
Tomorrow marks the one year mark of this story's last update. I remember reading each chapter as it was posted.
I hope it gets revived soon. I've still got it favorited awaiting its continuation. Great story.
i really like this story hope more soon
NOOOOO!!!! I NEED TO KNOWWWWWW!!!
3741136 DAW i always thought that pic was cute
with that out of the way im debating reading this or not im not really into Adventures
more