> Ghosts of the Umbral Flame
>  by NovaTheFireBolt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Blood Fare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghosts Of The Umbral Flame

Chapter One: Blood Fare

In the quiet region just north of Equestria, very long before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were born, harmony was maintained between the ponies and the dragons. They helped and supported each other when need be and had grown to become the proper idol of a society.

But just as there is always a time of peace, there is also a heart wrenching end to one.

All it takes is one twisted soul to send all hope down the drain; one bloodthirsty king had formed an army large enough to overthrow the Draconic Empire. These doom bringers were trained to be unparalleled against the fiercest warriors in the Empire, wielding armor semi-impervious to fire and weapons that could cut through scales like a knife through warm butter.

The army stormed the Empire with troops that marched like thunder, and killed every dragon in sight. Full of honor and righteous fury, the dragons retaliated at the surprise attack. They fought valiantly: for honor, for family, and for their land.

The King anticipated his adversaries’ moves and attacked again using his unicorn soldiers laden with magically reinforced bows and explosive tipped arrows. Explosions could be heard for miles as the soldiers -his pride and joy, really- unleashed volley after volley of desolation down upon the Draconic Empire.

The dragons took massive casualties as their once strong home shook and crumbled against the King’s army. Children and unhatched eggs were reaped by the destructive offense that he had sown, tainted seed by tainted seed, and these seeds soon grew into trees whose branches spread leaving many innocent lives entangled within its thorns. The dragons would face extinction if a retreat was not sounded. Very few dragons knew who was to make such an order since the Draconic Queen had been slaughtered in the battle.

Despite the chaos, one took the reins. One black dragon, the Alpha leader, ordered them to the darkest depths of the earth, and blocked the entrance with a landslide. All alive and injured dragons stayed there for many years, keeping the sadness and anger from their losses locked away in their souls.

A dozen years passed since that war, and whatever dragons were left had been declared dead and extinct by the horrible king. With the dragons gone, he took control over their land. He expanded his castle and became the most powerful being in the region.

Like any other king, he started a family that would one day take his place on the throne and rule the residents of his great and powerful civilization. He had many earth pony daughters and a few earth pony sons. They acted, lived, and grew up alike with one intention in mind: take the throne.

One of his daughters, however, was born a unicorn. She stayed in her chambers mostly and was scarcely ever seen outside of them. The maids would clean and dust while she sat at her desk, writing spells and reading scrolls.

She studied all forms of magic which included the dark magic used by her father’s unicorn soldiers. She could conjure a spell to heal extreme injuries all the way to spells that could stop ones heart and turn blood to fire; however, she never used any of the dark magic spells. She was kind hearted and never hurt any creature. The unicorn only had intentions of healing the sick and injured.

And there were plenty of injured dragons in the cavern she found outside the castle. Never having a chance to truly test the extent of her powers in the castle, she decided she would do so in the cavern.

She knew if her father got wind of what she was using her magic for, and on whom she was using it on, her death would be expressed to the entire land.

Dragons were very diverse and mythical beasts before their migration to Equestria. They were the incarnation of children's nightmares. Their parents would soothe them with lies when one would wake up crying about the glowing eyes in the dark followed by the fire-breathing reptilian jaws. Naturally, they also told them nothing could get past the castle walls. The King himself made sure his walls were impenetrable, and in his manipulative way insured parents would tell this to their frightened children.

These lies fed to the children were fuel to the fire about how dragons never existed, but after all, they are lies.

Of course, the older ponies knew the terrible dangers dragons could bring if they rose up from the underground and attacked the castle. They lived through the horrible, bloody war their almighty King waged against the now dead Draconic Empire. The fillies and colts who were tortured by endless nightmares of those two horrible glowing eyes had been raised by the elders; some were even taught how to combat the elusive Draconic remnants.

This castle and all its residents were unaware of the rising tension between the King and his previous rivals, for the spark had been set, and soon the flame would burn through the darkness, catching fire to anything nearby.

===============================

The King ruled with an iron hoof. His actions were much like the tyrant, Discord, who ruled over Equestria. That land was a random phantasmagoria of chaos and darkness.

The King however, did not possess the powers to manipulate the land into the horrible dream-like world Equestria lived in, for he was not an all-powerful Alicorn or spirit of chaos and unhappiness.

He was simply a very clever earth pony who rose to the throne with the help of his cunning, violence, and silver tongue.

In hopes of using his children to one day control the land more so than he already did, he found himself a wife and had many children.

To his subtle dismay, most of them were earth ponies.

However, one of his daughters was different from the rest. She was born a weak and fragile unicorn. The Kings hopes were severely crippled when he learned she may not survive for longer than a few, short years.

But, as she grew older her body and magic grew stronger. Her father sent her to the most powerful unicorn teacher in the land, in hopes that one day she could help him take complete and utter control.

She studied feverishly and devoted her younger life to learning about the possibilities her magic could one day procure to make her father proud.

Then one fateful day, he requested her to help him conjure a spell. A spell she didn't understand, but helped him anyway because it was to do the one thing she had been training to do for nearly her entire life.

She unknowingly helped him bring about the one weapon to control Armageddon.

That young unicorn grew up and learned more and more each day. It wasn't long until she put the pieces of the puzzle together about what lies her father had told her, and what horrible power she given to him. Soon after, an unrecognizable fear awoke inside her heart, and she shut the world away, keeping her powers for herself and those who truly needed them.

Some would say she had become insane, perhaps even a little too somber for a Kings daughter with the entire land at her disposal. The maids, residents, and even her mother had decided it was for the best that she not be asked to emerge from her room because of the clinical insanity they were so sure she had.

The young mare relished hearing this assumption because it was another step closer to being completely forgotten; even the maids stopped visiting her room. She aspired to stay with the dragons in the cavern she found.

Each day, she would wake up before the sun had shown over the hills, dressed warmly and levitate herself outside of the castle. As she reached the grass, still wet with early morning dew, she would run as fast as her legs could carry her. Some would even come to say she had done this routine so many times it made her the fastest in the region.

Only the King, his children, and his warriors knew of the creatures she would rush out of the safe confines of the castle to see. She had carefully made sure that the overwatch guards would always be surveying the opposite direction when she left the castle. If anypony figured out what she was doing, she would surely be hanged.

She darted through trees and leapt over streams to reach the dark and secretive draconic cavern hidden away in the forest.

When she reached the scaled beasts’ home, she treated every single dragon with the utmost respect. And for that, they accepted her. They were careful with her at first because she was the first pony that had found them in many years. But, the Alpha leader of the creatures saw something in her others did not: Loneliness. It was a feeling he knew all too well and had grown to resent it.

At her first visit, she had asked the Alpha if any dragons were in need of medical attention. Directing her to a few injured remnants of the Draconic Empire, she weaved tendrils of magic around them and healed paralysis, severed limbs and missing wings. If pressured to do so, many were convinced she could bring back the dead from the feats she accomplished.

After her work was done with the injured, the Alpha told her she was welcome anytime she wanted. Now, she helped mothers with the baby dragons and brought them diamonds she found on her path to the cavern.

===============================

On her way to their home one day, she witnessed a mother dragon bringing an egg from the cavern, tears rolling down her face. When the young mare asked why she was doing this, the mother told her the egg was touched by the shadows of a Constellation Demon Spawn and would never hatch. The shadows of those creatures could poison and mutilate anything with its dark and destructive magic. Such creatures were abundant in the dark catacombs of the earth and had affected entire families of unhatched eggs.

The mother brought the egg to a sandy riverbed and buried it. Her claws glistened with fresh tears as she solemnly walked away, wiping her face.

The mare waited for her to return to the cavern and watched her scaly red hide disappear into the darkness. When she was gone, the mare quickly dug up the egg and laid it in the sand, trying not to shake it with the unborn dragon inside. She believed if there was any chance the dragon was going to survive, it was with her.

She may have been young, but her magical abilities were exceptionally advanced and may have even surpassed her teacher’s magical prowess. The dragons thought she could resurrect the dead because of her cakewalk of a performance with the injured residents of the cavern. How difficult could it be to heal a baby dragon?

Thinking back to her studies on age acceleration magic, she remembered she would need a bright, clear crystal to cast the spell. The crystal would amplify said spell and increase its usually ineffective weak outcome, but such stones were VERY rare and only one small shard had been found in the mines below the castle. Her idea was to mix simple regeneration magic used by nurse ponies to stop the poison from the Constellation Demon and acceleration magic to make the dragon hatch at a later age.

New dragons left the cavern all the time, but never any baby dragons. The youngest she ever saw leave on their own was her age, which was about the time dragons were considered adults since they had already developed claws on their hands and feet and spikes on their back and tail.

She looked at the suns position in the sky. Its zenith was just glowing over the top of the hills and lit the sky ablaze with an eerie orange light. It was nearly time for her father to wake up and the maids to wake the rest of the family. Herself included.

Not wanting to cause wide spread hysteria throughout the castle from her absence, she quickly buried the egg, cast a stasis spell over it so no more decay could occur, and rushed back to the castle as fast as she could.

Never before had she been caught. And now with the egg to take care of was simply a horrible time to start.

===============================

She reached the castle walls and quickly began to ascend with her levitation. The strain was unbearable. She wasn't fully grown and her powers weren't ready for self-levitation magic. 

Shutting her eyes, she used memories of the egg she found earlier to fuel her determination. With one final surge of upward magic, her hooves brushed her room’s windowsill and she desperately climbed inside, collapsing on the floor in an exhausted pile.

After recovering her breath, she opened her eyes and glanced up at the set of hooves in front of her. The maid, sent to wake the family, gasped as she realized that this mare that was covered in dirt and sand was the daughter of her king! A hundred thoughts went through her head as she tried to decide on what to do.

Then the young mare decided for her and said, "Tell anypony about this and horrible things will happen to you that nopony wants to clean, am I understood?" 

The maid quickly nodded as memories of what happened to the last maid who didn't follow her orders. That poor pony had filled the girls tub with scalding hot water. She burnt herself, and in return, burnt the maid by dumping the tubs contents on her. She still had the scars.

===============================

"Daughter! I'm glad you could join me!" Rumbled the old king as her hooves clopped against the floor. "There is a matter I need to speak to you about." His voice wavered. This was a sign his large pride was buried under fear. Curious, the king was known for his bravery in battle and unnerving pride just about everywhere else.

The only thing that really scared her father were dragons. The last time he met the creatures in battle they had not been prepared whatsoever, and their leader was lost in the midst of combat. With no one to give them orders, they lost.

If they had time to prepare, the King's head would be on a wall mantle in the Draconic Empire's throne room above a slow burning fireplace and his body on a rotisserie.

She considered the possibility that he discovered her daily travels to their cavern. No, he wouldn't be this calm. The last pony to make him angry was sent to the gallows, and hanged within mere seconds after being found with one of the King's many daughters. 

"If my memory serves correct, you studied dragon habits and behaviors in the private school I sent you to." The mare nodded slowly, hiding her emotions. "I have recently discovered a dragon cavern not too far from our castle walls."

Her blood ran cold as permafrost.

"While our pasts aren't... the most friendly, we are on good terms for the moment. I would like you to visit the dragons and try to setup a talk for me with their Alpha." The unicorn mare knew of the wars her father fought against the dragons. They ended with his archers shooting explosive arrows at the hatchery. The dragons would have faced extinction had they not retreated. The thought of someone stooping so low as to kill unhatched baby dragons sent shivers down her spine.

"I accept your request, father." She bowed her head, hiding the disgust in her eyes from her father’s past sins. "I shall leave early tomorrow morning, before everyone else to avoid suspicion among the family." she replied. 

Her father smiled. It was a smile that hid a thousand lies. He had lied to her many times about the wars, making himself sound like the righteous warrior. There was something else he wanted to say, but he wasn't going to say it. As she turned away, she let out a sigh.

She was going to see the dragons tomorrow, and speak with the powerful Alpha. Heading back to her chambers, she heard her father speak to one of the many well-armored castle guards.

"...into the underground? Will it work?” 

“Yes... It is necessary. Now go. Inform the others."

The guard clanked away in his metal suit. Those words meant nothing to her now, but she feared she was going to have to find out the hard way later on.

===============================

After a casual dinner in her room, she picked out her phoenix quill from a drawer and placed a blank scroll on her desk. She grabbed the quill in her levitation and began to write:

"Pain and suffering, locked away; never ending, every day"

She dabbed the quill in an ink jar, its bright red color reflected the setting sun through her window.

"Take a creation from the sky, beat it down, it won't fly"

The writing spilled from her head as she remembered the spell she helped her father create.

"Seek revenge on the one; kill the rest, just for fun"

It was her first spell and he lied to her, saying it would lock away all the worlds’ murderers deep below the ground, never to return again.

"Kill us all, no control, cast the spell and take a fall. Shroud the sky, bodies piled, nice and high"

The spell, when performed the first time, had locked away the greatest darkness ever discovered by ponykind: a Constellation Demon Mother. It stole the creature from its peaceful home among the stars and buried it deep, deep underground. Some Constellation Demon Spawns had invaded the Draconic Remnants home cavern. Their power was nothing compared to their Mothers, though. Had it been the mother to touch the dragon egg she had hidden away, the dragon inside would be a mutant creature only found in nightmares.

She placed down the red, reflective phoenix quill and closed her eyes, thinking back to the day she had created that spell. A horrible spell she could not take back.

She remembered how happy she'd felt and how happy her father was because of her. The spell had made a brilliant flash in the starry nighttime sky, and the earth groaned in protest as the evils of the world were shoved into the darkness.

The King lied through his teeth to bend his daughter’s power into gaining himself the most dangerous weapon at his disposal.

The exhausted mare got up from her desk and clambered into bed, letting her head collapse on the pillow and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Dreams danced around in her mind as the day rushed to catch up to her.

===============================

Bodies were spread out beside her on the soft grass, leaking crimson blood through fatal cuts and gashes.

The sky was ablaze with an umbra-like fire, burning through the stars and the moon with brilliant colors. 

Splashes of blue fire played around Scorpio, and streaks of orange flame prickled the ends of the Ursa Major. Both of the constellations came to life, and tried to escape the seething flame.

The sky fires spread like light prevailing over darkness. Then, the dead bodies strewn out all around her began to chant, and their eyes reflected the fantastic display of stars and fire. 

Something else was in those hollow, white eyes, she noticed, something very different.

Pure hatred burned in their pupils and corrupted them like an evil poison.

The beautiful sky fires were squelched by six, yellow, ageless stars that burned with the same hatred. The stars shifted into an awkward formation, making a "V" shape looking down upon the necromantic ponies, all of them leaking more and more of the red life fluid.

The sky ripped and tore at itself, creating the silhouette of the beast shoved into the earth so long ago by her and the King. The six stars became its eyes and they looked into her soul, peering down, and down. 

It opened its giant maw and blew a horrible shadow over the land, covering everything in a deadly poison that would soon erode the area, making it an inhabitable wasteland and killing everything that touched its toxic air.

===============================

The young mare awoke with a start and a cold sweat mussing her coat and mane.

She knew that was not a dream she was in. It was a prophecy, and because of her, every sentient being in the land was going to fall at the hooves of her father.

It was going to be an eventful day for the kingdom tomorrow.


TO BE CONTINUED...
> Thunderous Desecration 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Thunderous Desecration
 
Rain.
 
It always rained on the days she had something to be done. Most of these chores had to do with something outside and therefore, in the pouring rain.
 
She didn't mind it though. The slight precipitation reminded her of her father’s rule over the land. He would rise from nothing, become so obsessed with power and just fall flat on his face, just as rain falls when it's at its highest point. 

A slight smile spread across her face. It had been so long since she felt happy, even though it had to do with sadistic and pretend thoughts of the King being swatted down off his throne.
 
She was instructed to wait outside the Dragons cavern while the Alpha was informed of her arrival. This wasn't normal she thought. The dragons normally welcomed her with joy and praise when she came to their home.
 
The Alpha was a black dragon, just like past Alphas, and seemed to melt out of the shadows as he walked to the entrance and spoke to her, in a deep, rumbling voice, "Please child, come inside. There is a great matter we must discuss." She nodded politely and followed him into the depths of the cavern.
 
It was quite the distance to the chamber where the Alpha wished to speak to her in. They passed very few other dragons on their path. Such occurrences were rare since the inhabitants of the cavern had no place else to go, and crowded the dark walkways.
 
One dragon, however had mumbled to the Alpha something about the Draconic remnants on the precipice of another horrible and bloody war. The now terrified mare felt her blood run cold and nearly fell onto the stone floor when her legs decided to stop working properly. 

"Another war?" she mumbled to herself. 

The Alpha noticed she had heard and reached out to steady her. "Do not fear, child. It is but only a rumour." The Alpha spoke to her in his gentlest voice, knowing that he normally had a presence that put fear in the eyes of his enemies and unfortunately, sometimes his  closest friends. He smiled reassuringly at her. 

"Come. We are close."
 
===============================
 
The chamber was at the lowest point of the cavern and a spiral staircase hugged the walls leading to the bottom of the chamber.
 
The floor was made of a thick, reflective crystal. and the unicorn stared in amazement as she walked along it's crystalline  surface and a large dragon skull came into focus from inside the reflective stone. 

"This... This is amazing." she whispered in awe towards the Alpha. 

"It truly is one of a kind. This tomb is home to my father, the Savior of the long and forgotten Draconic Empire." The Alpha bowed his spiked head in respect for the dead Empire. 

"My father lost many respected members of the Empire before coming to this underground cavern. Not all of the members could make the pilgrimage sadly. My father made it here and this... This is the only remainder of him in this world," the dragon chuckled to himself. A hint of insanity shone through that laugh.

"I was born to protect this cave... I will die protecting it. The war I mentioned before,” the Alpha continued with a sad tone, "the rumors are true. Apparently the king is done with this state of peace and has planned to attack our home in the next few hours. I have had my warriors preparing for this since we discovered what his plan was." The Alpha shook his head and glanced down at the skull buried in the crystal floor.
 
He looked back up at the mare to see her crying. "I'm sorry it was told to you like this. I was never aware of what you thought of your father." 

The mare rubbed away her tears, watching a few fall onto the cold, crystalline surface. She didn't know if it was the insanity the maids said she had, but she began to laugh, the tears rubbed against her cheek again with a shaky hoof. 

"I hated my father. I always have and I would love to see him killed. But it's the thought of what that bastard did last time..." She could no longer bear think about it and rose to her hooves, shaking away the memorial disgust.
 
The Alpha had tried to repress similar, but more precise memories...

His family blown to hell by one  monsters' order. The memory came flooding back to him full force, unrelenting in the pain it brought.
 
Even with his heart full of vigor and anger, he wasn't quick enough to stop the archers and their hellish rain. His son and wife died that day. Despite his orders to stay in deep in the vault of their home where it would be safe from the fighting, his wife went to the hatchery to try and save the eggs. It was by a horrible chance that she was stuck in the crossfire, and blown to pieces by the explosive ordinance.
 
The Alpha regained his composure. He was a sign of power and nobility; sulking about the past wasn't going to show those attributes. A gentle claw lifted the mares chin to face him. 

"I will not lose. I swear on the blood of my ancestors they will not enter and kill any non-combatant. But for this I need your help. You may know that dragons have a basic magical skill." The mare nodded, not understanding where he was going with the statement. "I know of that egg you saved by the riverbed."

Her eyes widened in fear. "How did you know...?" 

The Alpha gave her a toothy grin. "From past experiences, we discovered when prolonged unicorn magic mixes with a dragon’s body, the magic seemingly fuses into the dragon. When that egg hatches, the dragon inside will have an advanced magical ability based on how powerful a spell you used. I can sense it's raw power resonating from here. Whatever you did, it is alive and VERY powerful."
 
The Alpha scratched the back of his head. "Maybe even stronger than me, but not by much."

This piqued the mare’s interest.
 
"But... How will it be able to help? It's just a baby dragon. I wasn't able to cast a spell to induce rapid maturity. Whatever powers will be uncontrollable if it hatches as a baby."

The Alpha, just realizing this, said to her with a destructive look on his face, "Brace yourself."

He flapped his wings twice and lifted off the ground. As he neared the top of the chamber, his wings ceased their continuous flapping. As the puzzled mare realized what he was doing, she quickly moved against the wall of the chamber.
 
He fell like a rock and landed on the crystal floor with explosive force, sending hundreds of small crystal shards flying from the floor. The Alpha recovered from the fall quickly and snatched a shard from the air with stunning speed. 

"Use this to do your spell. As I understand, that spell requires a medium to travel through." He gave the shard to the mare and she took it without hesitation.
 
An explosion rocked the chamber sending the mare tumbling into the Alpha. He picked her up in his gentle claws and used his wings to shield them from falling debris.
 
"The attack has begun! We are out of time!"
 
The Alpha felt a bubbling anger, an anger that had a reason. Anger fueled by the last time he felt shockwaves like these. 
"My child... My wife...” 

His eyes began to glow a sickly purple. Wisps of green fire were licking the back of his throat. The Alpha used his unending rage for the King, his quest for vengeance for his loved ones, and unleashed his fire. The beam of super-hot balefire was turned towards the ceiling of the chamber. 

The beam collided against the ceiling with the force only very few dragons can control. Sunlight fell through the freshly melted rock and shined against the crystal floor. The Alpha's eyes stopped glowing and his balefire retracted back to his throat. 

The mare stared at him in awe.
 
"We are not out of time. Hang on, child."

TO BE CONTINUED...
> Birth of the Second Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Birth of the Second Sun.
 
The war had begun.
 
Dragons soared through the air wielding nothing but their razor sharp claws and tail spikes. Not out of ignorance, but simply because that's all they needed.

The King’s army however, was clad in their semi fire-proofed armor, powerful swords, and magically reinforced bows.
 
Unicorn archers drew back their bows, equipped with the dreaded explosive tips. The front line, mid line, and back line archers released a volley of the arrows upon the cavern. Explosions rocked the deepest catacombs, filling the sheltering dragon’s homes with dust and rock. As the archers reloaded, dragons swarmed their positions and rained heavy fire upon them. In a swift, single attack, the air filled with the ash of hundreds of soldiers. 

The dragons were spread thin, but with the little resistance from the King's misjudgement about how many dragons were left in the cavern, the battle was going smoothly.

Victory was in the dragon’s sight; very soon it would seem.
 
Then the fate of the land was decided. The King witnessed an organized retaliation from the Draconic Remnants and pulled out all the stops.

The message was sent quickly, and the proper response was set in motion.
 
A ring of unicorn soldiers, far away from the heat of the battle, began to chant, the power in the words ebbing through them, reeling it's ugly head, impatient with the due process.

Their horns started to glow. 

Cracks tore through the ground around their vicinity, sending wisps of steam into the air. Trees nearby shattered, sending splinters in every direction. The soldiers chants grew louder and the cracks in the earth deepened with a noise like thunder.
 
From inside the soldiers ring, dirt and stone crumbled away into the darkness, and the ground heaved as the Demon below woke up.
 
The soldiers ran in all directions as the drone of their chanting echoed along the walls of the hole. A beast below bellowed and its purple talons dug into the walls, raining dirt and dust onto itself. A large, shadowy being emerged from the hole and it spread its wings stretching over the land like an eclipse of the sun. With one swift flap, it took to the skies, black soot falling off its body trailing behind it like a smokescreen.
 
It was the Constellation Demon Mother known as Typherias. She had a short, reptile-like neck covered in starry spikes shaped like a sleeked crown. The head resembled a grotesque dragon with six glowing yellow eyes that blazed like the sun. Her claws could slice through a dragon in one clean swipe.
 
And she was hungry.
 
===============================
 
The Alpha reached the top of the freshly melted rock hole he created with his balefire and landing on the scorched grass, he gently placed the mare onto it. 

"The battle will be difficult without my orders. Run to the egg, child. Run and cast the spell." The Alpha yelled to her over the quieting noise of death and explosions. She nodded to him and began to run. She ran faster that day than ever before. Lives of dragons rested in her hooves.
 
She could not falter now.
 
Glancing towards the sun in the sky, she noticed a peculiar black outline of a dragon. Must be the Alpha she thought. It took her a second to realize that most of the explosions ceased. 

Slowing to a quick jog, she assessed the lack of noise. Strong gusts of wind began to make trees sway and darkness covered the land like a veil shrouded the sun.
 
Strange enough, there was such a cover over the celestial body. The puzzled mare stopped completely and squinted up towards the star. The oddly shaped black outline of what seemed like a dragon, only much larger she saw earlier was still there. Strangely, the light wasn't completely blocked out by the black form. It seemed to... 

Pass right through it.
 
"That bastard! He summoned Typherias!" screamed the mare, beginning to run again. She sprinted for her life from the hell that Typherias would bring.
 
===============================
 
The Alpha dodged a barrage of flaming arrows and watched their descent. Tracking the smoke trails, he assaulted the archers. Few had reloaded and opened fire against him. The Alpha barrel rolled to the left, spun into a tree and grabbed the upper trunk as it broke free from its roots. Using the backwards motion from his evasive roll, he swiped a line of archers away with the detached log.
 
Sliding back onto his feet, he faced seven squads of VERY angry soldiers. Arrows pelted his scales and bounced off harmlessly as he bounded towards one line of soldiers. Skidding to a stop, he brought his tail around like a wrecking ball; few soldiers were impaled on his spikes while others were crushed to a bloody stain on the grassy hill.
 
An explosive arrow hissed as it flew past his head, nearly destroying him. Another line of archers and soldiers advanced towards him.
 
The Alpha took a deep breath, and jumped at the line magically drawing back their bows preparing to fire.
 
Right as they let the arrows fly, he flapped his wings furiously. The draft blew the arrows back at the soldiers and desecrated them, raining blood onto the Alpha who was grinning all the while.

Covered in blood, the Alpha turned towards the remaining soldiers. They were running away! 

"Ha! These are your soldiers, great king?” sneered the Alpha. He turned to the cliff and leapt off, gliding into the air at the last moment. 
 
As he soared, he noticed a peculiar black spot in the distance that seemed to block the sun. Having never seen such an occurrence before, he flew closer towards it, hoping to see what the mysterious black spot was.
 
===============================
 
Typherias flew towards the sun and stretched her wings out to block it. Then she began to use her dark magic to absorb every cell of every creature on the battlefield below. This would create a vacuum effect and leave no ways of escape for her victims. All creatures needed to eat, and this is how Typherias ate: in large quantities, cell by cell.
 
She spoke and her voice rang over all the land, "This is the end of you creatures. Prepare to draw your last breath and watch as all you love is absorbed into my wake!"
 
===============================
 
The young mare reached the riverbed at which she stored the egg. Panting heavily, she began to dig into the sand. Her hoof hit something and she heard a loud crack. 

Scared that she might have broken the egg, she used her magic to clear away the rest of the sand. A glow penetrated a cover of glass that surrounded the egg.
 
Shadows moved towards her as Typherias continued to block off more of the sun, casting darkness over all the land. She frantically searched for a rock to smash the glass with. Finding none, she used her telekinesis and jabbed into the glass. Cracks formed around the surge that she fired into it. She unloaded again and again until the egg was freed.
 
Laying the crystal given to her by the Alpha in the sand, she began to weave her magic, making a net around the egg. She then connected the net to the crystal, tying the two objects together.
 
Shadows edged closer and closer to her and she felt her coat ripple from Typherias's spell.
 
"Enough of this!" she screamed as she closed her eyes and focused on the maturity acceleration spell. Her horn produced an overglow and the crystal hummed with the energy being siphoned into it.
 
Motes of light danced along the magical weave she created around the egg, and the crystal vibrated in the sand.
 
"COME ON! WORK, DAMNIT!" raged the mare, her horn creating a second, brighter overglow. The strings of light danced and pulsated, wrapping around the egg which was now glowing as well. A third overglow flared on her horn as her coat rippled again, the dark magic being worked by Typherias increasing in strength.
 
Finally, the strings of light tightened around the crystal and the egg, and a light flashed leaving the mare temporarily blinded.
 
===============================
 
Flapping his wings against the powerful drafts in the higher altitudes, the Alpha had gotten very close to the strange black veil over the sun. He could feel a strange sensation, almost like the veil was tugging on his body, drawing him closer.
 
He flew faster, curious as to what dark magics were at work. 

He blinked and a ominous tug pulled on his entire body. Now the "veil" wasn't so far away anymore. It turned its head and faced the Alpha, staring him down with its six eyes.
 
The Alpha was dumbstruck, and just stared right back. This creature looked like a behemoth compared to his monstrous size. Then, it spoke, its voice shaking his bones, "Do you wish to die first, perhaps? Fall at the mercy of me, Typherias?"
 
The Alpha snapped out of his continuous staring and replied to the beast, straightening his neck. "I am the last living Alpha leader of the Draconic Empire, and I will fight to my last breath! Do not expect me to submit so easily." The Alpha blew a jet of flame for emphasis. "If it is a battle you want then so be it! Die with honor, Typherias!"
 
She grinned, and stopped her dark magic from flowing. The spell could be finished after this simple battle, she told herself. Swallowing the magic bubbling in her throat, she turned in the sky and her starry skin rippled as she dived for the Alpha, baring her razor sharp teeth. He flew upwards, dodging the attack and blew a stream of fire into her 6 eyes, sending her reeling in the air. With a toothy grin, he flew at her falling body.
 
===============================
 
The mare regained her sight, but she was left squinting from the afterglow left by the flash. Rubbing her face with a leg, she shook the blurriness away. Glancing up towards where she left the dragon’s egg and crystal, the blurriness faded away all at once, and she gasped at what she saw.
 
A dragon’s large skeletal remains were held together by serpentine pieces of fire and ligaments. Blood oozed from his muscles as the missing pieces were filled in by the moving flame, healing the flesh and growing red scales.
 
Before his complete regeneration, he leaned in close to the mare, and opened his bright, yellow scalene eyes, still fresh with a glossy coating that was blinked away.

"Are you my mother?" The dragon asked in a seemingly lower pitch than the mare expected.
 
With tears in her eyes, the mare shook her head. She had never felt so much more accomplished in her life, and for such a good cause. "I...I...I'm not...No, I'm not your mother."

The red dragon let his head droop, some scales popping up on his neck as the holes closed up, completing the regeneration.
 
The mare laid a hoof on his brow, not knowing what to do for the dragon.
 
An explosion destroyed a tree behind her, and she spun to face where the arrow was sent from.
 
"Daughter! I see you have made a new friend!"
 
Every instinct in her body told her to send hundreds of magical spear at her father. He wore bright blue armor and two unicorn soldiers flanked him, which she doubted weren't expendable guards to the Kings true purpose for fighting.
 
"Don't be so shocked, daughter. I always knew of your 'adventures' to their cavern. If anything, I should thank you for showing me where it was!" He stepped closer to her, grinning ear to ear.
 
The mare reeled backwards into the dragon’s wings, her eyes wide with fear. "You knew... You didn't act earlier because you wanted to kill them." she roared. Of course the king remained with his sadistic smile, edging closer to his mortified daughter.
 
"YOU WANTED TO KILL THEM ALL JUST FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL GAIN!" Her blood seethed with anger. She was on the edge of impaling her father with rods of burning magic.
 
The dragon next to her snapped out of its downward gaze and fixated on the King. 

"This one... He hurt others... Didn't he?" The mare looked at the dragons eyes and she noticed how familiar they looked.
 
Her dream from the night earlier was becoming true as she saw the burning hatred in the dragons eyes. "Yes... He did..." whispered the mare so quietly only the dragon could hear, a smile spreading on her face.
 
The King looked between his daughter and the dragon, still not quite putting together what was happening. Impatience got the best of him and he yelled to his soldiers, "Kill them! Kill them both!"
 
The archers drew their bows and loaded two explosive arrows. The King ran into the woods, fleeing the imminent death of his daughter.
 
Then the full-size, newborn dragon lunged at the archers, claws out and teeth barred.
 
> Blinders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: Blinders
 
The Alpha dove through the air, giving chase to the falling Constellation Demon, Typherias. She had accepted his offer of dying with honor, so no mercy had to be shown for the creature. This was a dragon’s unspoken personal law.
 
He roared more flame at the demon and continued his pursuit.
She was close, right within his reach. The Demon was clutching its face, wiping away the burning sensation in her eyes.
 
"You spoke so surely of my death, Typherias!" roared the Alpha over the noise of the wind. He dove in closer and tore at her wings with his claws, creating holes in the leathery star-skin.
 
Typherias was a creature of darkness and despair. She was a master at tricking others and inflicting complete despair on them in the time they felt most successful.
 
So she did what she did best. 

She had drawn the honor-bound Alpha close. Now her gluttony longed to cause him despair.
 
"Oh, I am still sure of your death, dragon! Now..." she opened her eyes, and they were bright cobalt. "BURN!"
 
===============================
 
Blood and bits of the two archers were strewn around the claws of the red dragon, his scales glistening with the coat of fresh blood that stained them.
 
"You will never hurt anything again..." The dragon rumbled as he scraped the bits of equine off his claws. The mare levitated herself onto the dragons back. "Their leader is getting away! If you run, we can stop him too!"
 
The dragon’s scalene eyes widened at the statement, and raised his wings into the air, and took off, sending sand in all directions. The power from this dragon was immense, the mare noticed. The spell had worked much better than what was originally anticipated.
 
Soaring above scorched and partially destroyed trees, the dragon caught a glance of the Kings blue armor, and positioned himself, claws ready to kill. 

"If it's not much trouble, cleave off his head first." The mare remembered her thoughts about her father’s head on a mantle. Giving a sign of acknowledgement, the dragon nodded and folded it's wings in, making the air whine.
 
Then he dove in at the blue armored stallion.

===============================
In a flash, Typherias opened her starry maw and let loose a solid beam of cobalt magic. It collided with the Alpha before he could register the attack. The magic seared through the Alpha’s right wing, burning away the thin membrane. Without it, proper flight would be damn near impossible, and he would collide against the ground like a meteorite. But the thought of dying from the power of the honour-less Demon kept the pain at bay, and forced him to react. Slowly, his rage came back. The memories of his dead family gave him power once again, and the Balefire erupted from his throat: seemingly coming straight from Hell with how hot it burned.

The two magical energies collided, causing a thunderclap to sound all across the land, drawing the attention of any bystander on the ground. An orb coalesced where the contesting energies met. An immense power struggle between the Alpha and the Constellation Demon.
 
Giving a push on the balefire, the Alpha closed his eyes and shut the rest of the world away, giving his undivided attention to killing the Constellation Demon as they fell through the sky.
 
===============================
 
Time slowed down to a crawl as the mare and her new dragon accomplice flew through branches to get to the fleeing king. A glare was reflected off his blue armor, sending off his position like a signal flare. The dragon dive-bombed for the King, and the mare hung on for her life.
 
They landed in front of him, making a small crater in the dirt from the force of landing. The dragon bared its pearly-white teeth to the king, making him shudder against the ferocity possessed by such a creature. The mare clambered off his back and sat in front of her father, her face expressionless.

“Well?” The king stammered. “Aren’t you going to order your pet to kill me?” 

The young mare felt two ways about his question. The first was that this dragon, despite how it was created, was not her pet. She may have saved it from certain death, but she was no tyrant over others like her father.
 
Secondly, she wouldn’t order anypony’s death. The dragon made a decision that was much like her own: kill the starter of the horrible wars that killed so many innocent others.

“I will not become like you, father. I will not end the life of another for personal gain.” She grinned, feeling a sense of righteousness in those words. 

The king laughed heartedly at her. “We are not entirely different. I killed to ensure the passage of my kingdoms existence. You lead this crusade to save those scaled bastards." He spat out the last word like poison, as if it stung him to even mention anything remotely relevant about dragons. The King glared at the dragon behind his rebellious daughter. 

The mare was thoroughly confused. Did he really think she was the Draconic Remnants leader? 

"I am not a leader." 

She stepped to the side of the dragon, clearing his path. 

"I am a follower -sympathiser, if you will."

Nodding to the dragon who was nearly shaking with bloodlust, she turned away from her father. 

"And this is your punishment for bringing Typherias into this." 

She weaved her magic through the ground, summoning age-old vines. They exploded from the ground around the King, constraining his legs to where he stood. 

The King struggled, but the Mare's magical prowess proved itself once again. The vines wrapped and contorted around his blue armour, restricting his movement. 

"You will be trapped here for the rest of your miserable life. Then when the time comes, you will die watching everything burn." The mare spoke in a low, condescending tone. Her father was beneath her; he was just another stepping stone she had to cross in her life. 

"You will die watching your world burn in the light of my power as I undo the problems you caused. Starting with Typherias..."

She looked towards the sky, expecting to see Typherias.

But what she saw she would never forget.

Typherias was falling. 

Falling from the sky right above her and the red dragon.

> Hybridization
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: Hybridization

They say an undiscovered species disappears from the world every day. 

But that isn't the problem.

The problem is, how many species are created in a day, and go undiscovered despite all the good they do for the land?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



The Alpha was dying.

Typherias seemed to have a never ending flow of magic to feed the cobalt beam she was breathing at the Alpha. To contest with said beam, he parried with Balefire. The hottest known substance in the known world.

Although Dragons are fireproof, Balefire was something else. It gave off a heat that felt just plain disgusting. 

It was also burning the scales around his mouth from which the Balefire erupted. 

That wasn't his only problem, though. 

During the fall, Typherias had disintegrated the leathery membrane on his right wing, rendering it useless for flight. Even if he were to succeed in breaking through her magic, he would die from the height of the fall.

And his distance was dwindling down like a candle stick next to the sun.

===============================

She couldn't move. 

The Constellation Demon that threatened to kill them all was about to only kill three.

Her, the red Dragon, and her Father.

"Looks like I win, little foal."

The Mare turned to her father, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You're going to die with me."

She looked to the silent Dragon, not expecting words, but sympathy. He only looked at her with a emotionless expression.

But something was in his eyes that set her sad soul at ease. He understood the least, but in his innocence -excluding the two soldiers he destroyed- he understood the most.

Then, breaking the silence, he spoke, that low guttural voice forever etched itself into the Mare's memory.

"It will be a noble death. We die doing what we set out for ourselves."

And with that, he looked towards the Demon, completely fearless of his imminent death.

===============================

Typherias spent the last 7 years sleeping, building up massive energy. Her Spawns absorbed energy from other living creatures for her and she grew more powerful every time they deposited the energy into her starry body. 

All that energy inside her though, contained bits and pieces of dragon; the main source from which her Spawns absorbed from. 

This explains her dragon-like form, and how the Alpha was able to contest with her power. 

They were nearly the same species, so it was natural that Typherias used a variant of Dragon magic to fight. 

An orb had formed where her beam met the Alphas Balefire, sending out random streaks of blue-green energy. The free-falling standoff between the two titans would meet a catastrophic conclusion if the orb exploded. 

The Alpha wasn't ignorant of this fact, and he intended on using it to his advantage. 

Lessening his push on the Balefire, the burning on his maw lessened as well. But doing this gave Typherias the upper hand in the duel and the orb moved closer to the Alpha. 

This is it, the Alpha thought. 

Raising his undamaged wing, he banked out of the fall, veering to the left giving him some distance from the Demon.

His Balefire was quenched as he retracted his wing and dive-bombed for the blue orb of energy. 

"I am the Alpha Dragon, and you're going to burn in Hell!"

He said it not as a thought, but a fact.

===============================

A rogue wind made the trees sway, and the bloodstained grass ripple. The mares mane whipped around in the air, as did her fathers.

The vines still refused to release their vice grip on him despite how much he struggled. It was either just by chance that the vines were loose around his head, or a cruel decision of fate that he was able to watch Typherias and the Alpha duel in the air. 

His greatest enemy and most powerful weapon contested in their descent with each others own form of magic. It was a wonderful display of lights and majestic power.   

It was to his dismay that the Alpha had veered away from his Demon, not letting him see the utter destruction he was sure she would bring the black dragon. 

Until the Alpha did something he didn't expect. 

He dove for the energy Typherias had collected when his own collided with hers, and let out an inaudible roar that left a rattle in his bones.

"Damn creatures..."

Then the old king closed his eyes, and waited for the end. 

===============================

His world turned white-hot as his body merged with the Constellation Demon's cobalt orb of tame energy. He held no remorse for his self-sacrifice as the orb contorted and expanded, accepting his body. 

A rapid change of mass and an impact of high velocities was causing Typherias to lose control of the magical flow going into the sphere, thus, it went critical. 

And then, whatever remains of the Alpha there were in that lifetime seemed to speak out to Typherias, mocking her in an echoing tone.

"Burn brighter, Demon." 

The orb exploded in a blue ripple, and Typherias was strewn in every direction.

Along with the spell she left in her chest before she combatted the Alpha.

A spell that ripped cells off of organisms for her to absorb. 

But the spell wasn't ready, and it went awry.

Some cell cultures were taken from the Alpha, then, when the explosion reached the ground, cells were taken from the mare and red dragon. 

It was painless, like a gust of wind was passing over the mare, her mane rippling. The red dragon simply watched the blue lights in the sky as they faded away. 

===============================

A spark.

All it took was a spark, either from the Alpha's sacrifice or the shadow of the mare's magic carried over in her stolen cells.

A small torrent of genes and traits seemed to fuse together, mixing both dragon and pony. 

By conventional means of mixing these two traits would imply two parents; a dragon and pony. But they are very different species and no offspring could ever be created. 

Now, by some unknown will of fate, Typherias's broken spell was conjoining them.

And the world was not ready for what would happen next.

===============================

The mare and the dragon didn't know what to do.

Typherias was gone, the Alpha was gone, and the King was trapped within the vice grip of magical vines.

Clouds began to cover the wild skies, and a storm came forth from them. Rain began to fall, and the mare sat on her haunches, exhaling a breath she forgot she was holding.

Instinctively, the dragon raised a wing to shield her from the storm. Wiping the rain off her brow, she leaned against the dragon.

"Well," the mare said. "What now?" 

The dragon shrugged.

She let out a sigh, and relaxed against him, the rain turning into a downpour. Lightning danced overhead, and thunder rumbled in the distance. 

"We could go home," said the dragon.

Home. It was something the mare hadn't thought about. How would her family react? Surely the would cast me out once and for all, she thought. 

"Not worth it." 

He puffed smoke through his nostrils in agreement.

The lightning and thunder struck once more, shaking the ground. Lightning jumped from cloud to cloud, teeming with energy. A few crimson flashes could be seen in the bunch.

The dragon felt a tug in his stomach; an attraction of sorts. The mare felt it too, a strange pull to the sky and the land.

They exchanged glances, and shared a moment of empathy. 

"You felt it as well?" the mare queried. 

"I did." 

The red lightning was more abundant now, striking trees and splitting stones around the companions. Wind roared and rain fell harder. 

They stood up, the dragon still keeping his wing over the mare to shield her from the elements. Curiosity got the best off her and she trotted to a rock that had been split by the lightning. Inside the split, there were hundreds of small white crystals.

Just like the floor of the chamber the Alpha showed her. 

She backed away from the stone as the crystals inside began to hum with red energy. 

"What magic is this?" the mare shouted over the noise of the thunder. 

===============================

The Alpha watched over his loved ones in life, and in death. 

He died valiantly and continued to patrol his land as a ghost; a Draconic specter. 

He felt the power resonate around the dragon and the mare. He sensed their world about to receive a gift. For a future untold, he knew one thing: this gift would save them. 

===============================

Two bolts of red lightning cascaded down from the Heavens  and struck the dragon and the mare in tandem. They were not paralyzed or killed, but filled with a power beyond belief.

They became conduits for the lightning as it went through them into a point ahead. 

The genes stolen from the two were struck, and pure, white light blinded them. The mare attempted to shield her eyes, but it was as if she was looking right at the sun. 

When the light died down, and she opened her eyes, after images of the woods were left in her vision. She cast a quick spell to dispose of them, and looked towards the epicenter of the rapidly fading light. 

What she saw, changed her life forever.

A colt. 

Ashen colored mane with light blond streaks and a maroon colored coat. 

And he was lying on his side, being pelted by cold rain.

The mare ran for the colt as she shook herself free from the shock she was in. The dragon nonchalantly followed her and covered them both with his wings. 

The colt was small, and it was as if he was only a few months old. The mare brushed his ash mane away from his eyes and saw that he had a horn. 

A unicorn. 

Carefully, she grabbed the colt in her magic and began to run. 

There was one place she was sure she could go still. One place that would not cast her aside. 

The Dragons' cavern. 

And so she ran, the red dragon in tow.
> Solstice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: Solstice 

The stars, the assumed source of all unicorn magic, were out that night, and all of creation was in a state of perfect harmony. 

The dragons, wounded and unscathed, all together in the megachamber. A fire was set on the crystalline floor as a memorial to the Alpha. The smoke seemed to dance throughout all of the chamber and exit swiftly through the new skylight in the ceiling. Moonlight was shrouded by the smoke as it exited and was blown away by the wind currents.

The mare lay the closest to the fire where she watched over the sleeping colt. The red dragon curled around the two, subconsciously guarding them from anything that could come to harm them. 

The colt, his shiny maroon coat reflected the glow of the fire. The mare questioned as to how he came into existence or if he was already there on the battlefield the entire time. 

Was it possible that the red lightning had something to do with it, she though to herself. The colt stirred ever so slightly and turned over to his other side, letting the fire warm his entirety. While watching him, one thought kept flashing through her head.

One and the same.

How it applied here, she was unsure. But it would reveal itself in due time, she assured herself.

A grey scaled dragon descended into the chamber bearing a Balefire torch; the mare was sure it was the last bit of the Alpha still in existence. He approached the memorial as the dragons in his path parted to give him space to walk. 

Upon reaching it, he leveled the torch to his brow, muttered something to the flame, and dipped the green into the red. 

The Balefire gently extended it's tendrils into the memorial and merged, tinting the flame green. Placing the exhausted torch into the flame, the grey scaled dragon joined his companions and sat with them, watching the blaze.

"May all of the valiant warriors who fought today remember him. The Alpha was our greatest leader. Through sacrifice many times over, he has earned the right to take the position to the grave with himself."

Hushed whispers rippled through the crowd; mostly among zealous veterans. 

The Alpha was now allowed his position in death. 

This was not tradition for the Draconic Empire. Even though it was previously ruled by a Queen, the same rules and customs applied; after the death of one leader, it's predecessor would be elected to the position after a battle with another willing Dragon. Whomever emerged victorious reigned supreme; no questions asked.

The grey dragon raised a claw and silence was drawn about.

"I understand what you feel," he continued.

"That is why the Grey Sun council has decided that the Games be held in 7 years time," he said confidently. Turning to another gray scaled dragon, he nodded and his companion brought forth an hour glass.

"When the enchanted sands fall to the bottom of the hour glass, those willing to fight for leadership will do so."

More hushed exchanges between the dragons brought a curious setting to the crowd. One question kept being asked: why wait the 7 years? 

Upon hearing the question, the grey dragon began to speak again, silence spreading almost immediately when he spoke.

"We shall wait the 7 years to recuperate from this event today," he said. "Additionally, we may know Typherias was vanquished, but we have no idea what became of the spawns in the lower chambers."

An understanding was reached and the grey dragon merged into the crowd to answer separate questions.

The mare looked to the red dragon curled around her, wanting to ask if he would participate. He must have known what the look meant because he shook his head slowly. 

In a hushed tone he spoke to her, "I am not their leader." Glancing to the hour glass, he nodded, reassuring himself he was right. She didn't doubt he was right due to his quiet and relaxed nature, but things change over the years; she expected him to contemplate fighting in the Games throughout the 7 years to follow.

She looked away from the dragons and their power play to watch the colt again. He was curled up tightly, warming his back to the fire. A slight smile spread across her face and reached out a hoof to move his grey and blond mane away from his forehead.

A unicorn. Why a unicorn? 

His horn was seemingly bigger than what she thought would be appropriate for a colt of his size. Only a shadow larger though. Not a remarkable difference, but something noticed upon a closer look. 

She took her hoof away from his head and tucked it back under herself, relaxing against the heat of the flame. 

===============================

Specks of purple light floated out of the grassy fields scorched with smoke and chars. The lights began to pulsate, feeding on each other, growing bigger. 

The process began to accelerate. The purple lights multiplied like cancer and floated higher into the sky, attracting insects who were soon devoured by it's glow.

A voice reverberated through the lights like telepathy from a source unknown. A cry for help through the breeze of a late summertime night. 

Save your mother, it said. Come to my aid.

Something woke up below the caverns.

Some things, to be exact.

===============================

"An earthquake? Here?" shouted the Grey dragon over the roar of the earth. The red dragon took hold of the mare in his clawed hands, and spread his wings, preparing to fly.

"Wait! The colt!" she screamed. Opening his claws, she wrapped the colt in her magic and brought him in closer to herself.

Debris began to fall from the ceiling above, showering everyone below in rocks and dirt. A stone had fallen above the mare and connected with her head, making her lose her magical grip on the colt. He didn't fall very far, but still didn't wake up.

Blood seeped into the mares eye, making her shut it and wipe most of it away with a hoof. The red dragon reached out for the colt and began to take off into the nighttime air above.

Then the quake stopped.

Curious, the mare leapt from the dragons claw and walked to the center of the chamber, examining the fallen debris.

"What could have caused this-" 

She was cut off by a thousand screams that came from below the chamber; something primal and adolescent. 

Reeling back to her companion, she turned her attention to what seemed like ink seeping upwards through the crystal ground. 

A pillar of Spawns erupted from the crystalline floor, their tint a deathly shade of purple. Their movement seemed to crawl and race at the same time, like an enchanted sapling springing from the dirt. 

They turned for the hole in the ceiling.

The mare seethed with fury as she tried to magically grab the top of the pillar and impede it's progress. But the Spawns branched out and around the shield, struggling to be free. 

"I can't keep them at bay much longer," the mare shouted. "Do what you can to stop them!" 

Dragons bounded forward and blew flames at the Spawns, turning their gel-like bodies white hot.

It kept on going like a juggernaut, not phased at all by the viscous attacks.

===============================

Wake up.

The Draconic Ghost grew more furious when his requests were not obeyed. 

Wake up. 

He watched over the trials taking place in the megachamber; the Spawns were escaping and nothing could stop them.

Wake up.

Except one stubborn colt.

Prove yourself. Wake up.

The Draconic Ghost withdrew, staring down above the area.

Please wake up, Hybrid. Save them. 

===============================

Yellow eyes.

The colt had glowing yellow eyes.

The mare looked over to him while struggling to keep the Spawns contained, and saw he was standing, his head lowered.

He looked murderous the way his mane covered his eyes that glowed a golden yellow. 

The colt raised his head and his horn flared up like a forest fire, encasing itself in a blazing light.

Taking a careful step forward, he glared up at the Pillar of Spawns, still crawling upwards towards the night sky.

The mare swore she saw him smile as his eyes turned pure yellow, and his horn gained a second overglow.

The Spawns seemed to slow their ascent, watching him, curious as to what he was going to do. 

Next to emerging from depths, that was their biggest mistake.

Thunder shook the megachamber and sent the mare and the dragons to the walls, blasting them back with an echoing THOOM!!

A ring of flame formed from where the pillar exited the floor, rising up a few yards from it's base. 

The colt placed a hoof forward and the wall of fire serpentined higher, tightening itself around the Spawns like a noose. 

They shrieked and writhed, showering the chamber in their burning, disintegrating bodies that had separated from the mass. 

His mane waved in the turbulence of the flame he was commanding, clearing away from his face and horn. The mare wanted to stand by him; make sure he was alright, but she feared if she got too close he would turn her to ashes.

The fire wall pulsed like it had a heart beat of it's own, working in tandem with the colts'. 

Taking one more step, the blaze erupted skyward, turning all traces of the Spawns into nothingness. 

As the fire died out, the colt returned to normal.

Then, he swayed, and fainted.

Trotting swiftly up to his fallen form, the mare carefully embraced the colt. She placed a hoof to his neck. 

Good. A pulse. 

The grey dragon drew close to them, studying the colt who had just desecrated a very large threat on his own. 

"The boy smells of dragon." 

Confused, the mare looked to the colt, then back to the dragon.

"We are in a cave full of dragons. Of course he smells of your kin." 

Shaking his head, the grey dragon reached out with a claw and touched him on the chest, right above his heart. Smiling, he withdrew to his recovering friends. 

Looking around the chamber, the red dragon saw many expressions on the chambers inhabitants scaled faces; mostly of shock and awe. He was no exception, of course.

===============================

The colt was sleeping soundly as the mare read over a few scrolls she recovered from a short trip back to her fathers castle 3 days prior.

The king was there, waiting for her. He escaped his vine imprisonment when a search party was sent out to find him. 

He told her that she would be hunted, and when she was found inside the castle again, she would be made an example of. 

She shrugged off these threats. It wasn't like she wanted to return there again anyway.

Using a spell she remembered, she had carved a berth in the rock walls of the cavern for herself, the colt, and the red dragon. 

It was comfortable.

The colt rarely woke up, and when he did, he would turn about on his bed, find a new position to sleep in, and return to his slumber. 

Eating didn't seem to be a problem with him since he hadn't eaten anything since he was discovered. 

The mare laid food by his bed for him; hay and apples, a normal Equine diet.

Her scrolls she retrieved from the castle explained the many types of Constellation Animals: Scorpions, Wolves, Bears, et cetera. 

But in all the records of Constellations, very little was found of Typherias and other beings of the like. 

The only bits she found consisted of strange glyphs and markings found in ancient zebra areas. These glyphs resembled the crown shape and six eyes Typherias had on her head. 

Except in the multiple forms of the glyphs, the basics varied. Sometimes, the head shape was less dragon and more equine shaped. Sometimes it appeared more serpentine than anything else.

The mare placed down the scrolls and left her little room to find the grey dragon and discover what he meant when he said the colt smelt of dragon. 

He was not hard to find.

"That colt saved our lives and still you disrespect him!"

The grey dragon argued with a new silver scaled dragon: his understudy. 

Silver replied angrily, baring his teeth. "You want to let him battle in the games! What respect should I have for a small, equine-" he stopped, searching for the right word. 

"Saviour?" 

"Beast." He spat out the word like it was a poison just to mention the colt.

"You know he has every right. I know you can sense-"

"I sense nothing more than a stain on the Draconic race! He is not one of us!"

Reeling his neck backwards, grey scales chuckled. "He protected us from the Spawns without any regard to his own safety. These are Dragon traits. I'm beginning to think you are the one who is not one of us."

Growling, the understudy slapped his tail into a wall with a resounding WHOOM and left, fuming with rage.

The mare trotted up to the grey dragon, her eyes full of worry.

"The Alpha was always saying how one day our saviour would come. We thought it was him all along." He smiled and turned towards the mare, motioning for her to follow him.

So they walked.

"He said that this 'saviour' would lead us in the right direction; steer us away from the dark path."

Curious, the mare stayed silent and listened.

"Of course nothing was specified other than how it would become our leader. Not the gender, name, or even species was specified for us. The Grey Sun council has convened so many times on this matter, but to no avail."

Leading her into a separate tunnel, they came upon a gem lined mineshaft full of rubies, emeralds, and other rocks.

"And then you came along. We thought it was you, but my understudy convinced me otherwise. I see now that he was right-well, no offense."

Smiling, she nodded, taking no offense. 

"And now..."

He stopped when they came towards a wall covered in glyphs. Pointing to one certain shape, the mare was speechless.

"This was found not too long before you arrived for the first time. We had no idea what it meant-nor do we know what any of the other symbols mean, but this we weren't completely clueless to."

The mare cast a small orb of light and took a better look at the glyph.

It was a unicorn carved onto a ruby. It was looking straight forward, a seemingly murderous look in it's eyes.

And it's horn was ablaze. 

The glyph was a picture of the colt.

"We know now that he is the one to save us. And there is nothing better than a hybrid-a master of two worlds-to protect this land."

Confused, the mare asked her question. 

"So, the colt is part pony...and...part dragon?"

The grey dragon gave her a toothy grin and nodded. 

"To be exact, half you and half him." He motioned for the tunnel they traversed, and the red dragon was there, holding the colt. 

"He's awake, and he's hungry," said the red dragon.

Grabbing a stray shard of ruby from the ground, he offered it to the colt, who took it without question; gnawing on it, shaving bits of it away with his incisors.

Blushing furiously, the mare began to speak. "Wait...wait... Nooo... I think I would remember...ah...something like THAT-" He held up a claw to stop her from embarrassing herself. 

"No dear. Nothing like that. Obviously, there was some kind of magical eruption of sorts. Maybe a side effect of Typherias's dark magic. Maybe even a direct effect, implying you were hit by a spell."

Thinking back to the battle, she remembered she was hit: the airless wind that rippled her coat. So she nodded, piecing his theory together in her head.

"So, somehow, bits of you and bits of him merged together and formed a really young colt."

Sighing, the mare replied. "It's magic, you can't explain it sometimes."


To be continued...


===============================

(Thank you all for your patience on this chapter. Some things came up and they took first priority. The next chapter won't take as long.)

  




 

 










> The Coliseum 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: The Coliseum

Seven long years have passed since the birth of the infamous dragon-pony hybrid. During those years, the mare he had come to know as his mother raised him to be the savior the Draconic Remnants needed him to be in the safety of their cavern and surrounding areas.

He became very intelligent. She educated him with some scrolls she had liberated from her old home. After learning to read, he adapted a lust for knowledge, and he would absorb it quick as a breath of air. 

Spells, however, were limited.

Of course, being what he was, he could manipulate and summon fire with his magic with as much ease as a dragon breathing a jet of flame. The mare, however, would not let him test how high a degree of flame he could generate for the sake of the safety of others. But mostly her own safety, since she lived with him.

His Telekineses abilities ranged from being able to levitate smaller dragons and large rocks. This was easier for the two to practice with because of the abundance of both. Most of their other spell tests were not as prominent, though. 

The red dragon taught him to fight, not just with brute strength and muscle, but with his mind. He taught him how battles must be won in his head before actually fought on the battleground. They casually spared, the hybrid mostly on the defensive posture because of his disadvantage of not being the same size as a dragon.

Thanks to his Draconic genes, his hide was harder and more resistant to injuries like burns and cuts. Through training with the red dragon, his agility got better, his reaction speed was faster, and he was ultimately stronger than any other pony nearby. 

The hybrid also served as the grey dragon's new understudy.

The last silver scaled one had become a being of jealousy and anger, storming off into the wind, never to be seen again. 

After weeks of debate, the entirety of the Grey Sun council had decided that the hybrid have the right to battle in the Games for the Alpha position. 

They did not think he would actually participate.

===============================

"AGAIN!" shouted the red dragon over the fading roar of the hybrid's flame.

They had been testing how hot of a blaze he could generate for the past hour. The mare had gone out into the nearby forest to gather supplies for a potion she was creating, and they thought they'd take this legendary opportunity by the reins. She had not disclosed what this potion would do, however, so they couldn't judge how hard the ingredients would be to find. Thus, they didn't know how long she'd be gone.

Gritting his teeth, the hybrid brought up a flame around the pile of gems laid out on the grass that he had been trying to liquify. From the previous attempts, the pile was black and looked like slag. Pushing harder, the flame grew hotter and more intense. 

"Focus," he told him. 

The hybrid fixated his sight on the epicenter of the burn, willing it to expand and consume the pile of gems. He felt an age old desire to burn resurface, and focused it into his magic.

Slowly, they began to melt, whatever colors were left were running into each other making it look like a mound of midnight black ooze. An overglow enveloped his horn. Sweat beaded on his brow and dripped into his eye, making him take a quick breath and push harder on the flame. 

The red dragon leaned back and smiled, content with the new outcome of the challenge. 

"Very good," he said to the hybrid as the flame died. 

"The Alpha would be proud."

They both turned to greet the mare, laden with saddlebags filled to the brim with berries and colorful flora. 

The hybrid trotted up to her and motioned for her to look at the result of his hard work. She did and smiled at him, but as she continued onwards, she frowned at the red dragon for making him test his flame more than what she allowed.

The dragon grinned sheepishly in return. 

The hybrid returned to his slag pile, broke off a small hardened piece and levitated it into his mouth. Pleased with the taste, he cantered into the cavern, leaving the dragon and the mare behind. Smiling, the mare took off her saddlebags and sat next to her Draconic friend.

"He sure has grown, hasn't he?" she said, looking into the saddlebags for one particular object.

"Haven't we all?" he replied as a light drizzle began to fall from the clouds above.

Chuckling, she levitated a small hoof-sized object wrapped in a large leaf out of the bottom of her saddlebag and floated it in front of him.

Curious, he glanced at her a raised an eyebrow.

"Just open it. You'll see."

With a careful claw, he unwrapped it's binding and the leaf fell to the ground.

What he saw took his breath away.

===============================

"I knew I'd find you here," said the grey dragon as he walked into the mining tunnel that was now mostly empty after the continuous 7 years of use.

Looking away from the glyphs, the hybrid craned his neck to greet the dragon.

"You know," the dragon began, "I do plan on battling in the games. Maybe you can watch me from the stadium-" 

"I will be participating as well."

His voice was cold and gritty and shocked the dragon when he heard it. The hybrid almost never spoke, and when he did, it was usually one sentence and very precise. 

"Well then," the dragon replied, picking an emerald out of the wall and popping it into his maw. "I suppose I can't stop you or convince you otherwise. You do have the right to battle."

The hybrid gazed at him angrily.

"I mean that the odds are against you. The other fighters are all dragons-three times your size. What makes you think you have any chance of winning the Alpha position?"

He casually turned away from the glyphs on the walls, moving his mane away from his eyes and walked next to the dragon, not looking anywhere but straight ahead.

"I believe I can win."

And with that, he left the grey dragon alone in the tunnel, left there to mull about everything the hybrid said to him. 

===============================

The coliseum was enormous.

As the story goes, it was born from a volcanic mountain that erupted just about every which way but down. Effectively, it was a bowl for magma in the later years. The magma cooled and was then shaped to be the coliseum it is now. The rim was flat, and served as seats for those who wished to watch the battle that raged inside. 

Dragons were in the coliseum training for the the Alpha Games that would be held in three days time. The hourglass that indicated this was placed in the center, for everyone to see.

"Well, this is it."

The mare, trotted upon it's rim, saddlebags upon her back and the hybrid next to her. Their manes rippled in the winds and the land was given a strange orange ambience from the sun being blocked by the clouds.

They watched the red dragon on the ground below, training for the Games. 

Sighing, she traversed into the bowl, tasked with retrieving the hourglass and returning it to the Draconic Remnants cavern. The hybrid followed her, gnawing on a sapphire all the while. 

"Why do you want to fight?" she asked, placing a tentative hoof on a loose rock, half expecting a non-cryptic answer.

After a full ten seconds of thinking, the hybrid just shrugged. "I believe I can win," he said.

"And do you really believe you can? Or are you just saying that to assure yourself?"

A rock slipped below his hoof and he growled slightly, striking fear into every rock nearby. 

"I do."

She glanced back at him, and continued down into the coliseum. A sly smile spread over her face as she let it sink in.

He wasn't fighting in the Games only for the position of Alpha, nor was he fighting to test his strength.

He was fighting because he honestly thought he would win. 

"Then I believe you can, too."

===============================

"A dragon has been spotted flying towards us, my liege!" shouted a castle guard as he entered the kings throne room, breathing heavily. "What are your orders?"

Slowly, his crowned head rose from a scroll riddled with spells and magical secrets. 

"I am well aware of the creatures in and around my castle. Leave now. Go on."

He shooed the guard away with a hoof, and with a bow, he left back to his post. 

Over the past 7 years, the king had aged pleasantly, while his castle however, had remained the same. 

His stance on dragons had altered, though. 

"Welcome, beast," the king said, his voice quiet enough so only he could hear.

The silver scaled dragon who had flown many a mile back to his homeland entered the throne room through a skylight in the ceiling, and dropped to the floor almost silently.

"Did you bring it?" the king queried, returning his attention to the scroll. 

Opening his claw, the silver dragon placed an egg with a fiery design embedded on it in front of the king. 

"One phoenix egg. As promised," he grumbled.

Smiling, the king rolled the scroll up and let the dragon take it. Unraveling it slightly, he read parts of it. Satisfied, he raveled it up and with a swift pump of his wings, he was gone once more.

"Damn creatures... Always so cryptic."

===============================

The hybrid had dreams that were a mess of things he didn't quite understand, but a small tug made him feel like he should. 

Shadows roiled like an ocean, whipping back and forth in the moonlit skies. 

He had this dream many times, but each time the black ocean of stars raged more than the last.

And then he woke up.

===============================

The Games were one day away, and most of the dragons had traveled to the coliseum to either watch or compete. 

The hourglass was tucked away deep in the megachamber, right were the mare had left it the day before. After a good nights rest, the mare and the hybrid disembarked from the cavern. She trotted to where the hybrid was waiting, laying down under the sun.

"Come now. I can teleport us back to the coliseum."

Opening an eye, the hybrid rose to his hooves and whipped his mane out of his face. 

"I am ready."

And in a sudden flash, they were gone.

The hybrid did not know he was not ready to face what was to come next. Not without help, at least.

===============================

A wind tore into the silver dragons face, making him veer slightly away from his initial destination with a tilt of his wings. A cold front was approaching from the north and rivaled with the heat wave from the south. When they collided, a storm brewed. The same one he ventured through now. He knew of the danger, but his objective was more important than his own safety.

He carried a scroll in his claw, ready to guard it with his life; it's secrets would either ensure him immortality, or an instant death.

But he knew one thing for sure.

The Games were about to get much more deadly, the skies darker, and the earth heavy with the weight of spilled blood.

================================

(I have to thank all my friends for persisting me to finish this chapter up. Because had they not, I would have finished the story in this Chapter alone.)

> Eclipse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Eclipse 

An orange tint stained the clouds above, giving the coliseum an even scarier look. All the blood spilled and corpses that lay only a few feet below the surface made the area smell of death. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly soothing the anxiety stricken mare that walked up it's side, traversing to the rim where she would watch the competitors battle for the rank of Alpha. Her saddlebag weighed her down, and the trek was difficult enough without the bag.

It had been 7 years since she last saw a being of such stature and nobility, that some part of her longed for this event; if anybody was willing to fight for the Alpha position and had the willpower and strength necessary to win, then they truly deserved it. 

When she reached the rim the hybrid was there waiting for her, staring down at the field where the battles would ensue. It was much to her delight to hear that he would be able to use whatever magic he had in the games. Although he was seemingly fearless, she couldn't help but fear for him; he could be stepped on, and killed.

He promised that wouldn't happen, though.

"Do you have a plan?" she breathed, tired from the climb.

He stayed silent, scraping away the dirt below him with his hoof. "This used to be a volcano," he murmured.

"From what I've gathered, yes, it was; before it exploded. Then the rain cooled what lava was left and dirt gathered over that."

He gave a simple nod, and bounded down the slope into the center of the coliseum, near the other competitors. From there, two fighters would be chosen, the winner of that fight would battle the winner of the next, and so on and so forth.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not a fight to the death. The opponent could surrender if he was so inclined to live and fight another day. It was taken as a compliment to submit to the opponents superior strength, but gained them no honor.

The hybrid took his place on the field next to the red dragon, and studied the three opponents near to him. There was a green dragon. Bulky, yet slow. He would be an easy kill. Next, a cobalt scaled one. He was a moderate fighter. Not too skinny and not too muscular. The hybrid theorized speed would be needed, rather than power to take him down.

Then there was the sanguine dragon with the pearly white eyes. His scales were coated in a sheen of dried blood from a source unknown. He was ferocious. The hybrid saw him crush boulders with his head, and walk away, unscathed.

He would be the only challenge.

Suddenly, silence fell over the crowd as a member of the Grey Sun council raised a claw from the rim of the coliseum. The mare stood next to him, and glanced up at the dragon, very confused. A dramatic pause ensued, and then, he reared back and shot a jet of bright yellow flame into the air, and the crowd erupted into cheerful, earsplitting roars that shook the ground. The mare fell backwards, reeling from the shock.

The Alpha games had begun.

As the crowd began to calm once more, the council member spoke, his voice booming over the entire coliseum from the magic the mare was weaving into him. 

"The first battle will involve..."

Everything drowned out for the hybrid. He began to focus on his body, his strength and willpower to win. He felt a bit of power well inside him, like a pool of water deep underground, locked away, only accessible to those with the strength to dig down and grit their teeth. Every sense crawled as he stood perfectly still, listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart, the feel of the heat not too far below the dirt, and the scent of...

Blood. A harsh coppery smell that overwhelmed him, and snapped him out of his trance. 

"Are you ready to die, Polovina drakona?" 

The name was something the sanguine dragon called him in a language that was heavily accented, and meant "half dragon" in a very condescending way. The hybrid hated the name, and it made his blood boil. He glanced up to meet the stare of his opponent, and slowly surveyed his surroundings.

Yes, there was no mistake. He was fighting the sanguine dragon and he was fighting first. The other contestants retreated to a lower part of the rim to watch the battle. 

It was going to be a good show, the hybrid thought.

===============================

A blinding pain shook through the silver dragon's body, almost causing him to fall into unconsciousness. But he held on, gritting his teeth all the while. Although it was excruciatingly painful, the rewards were plentiful. Such gifts were impossible to come by under normal circumstances.

But nothing was normal anymore.

He had attempted to read the scroll given to him by the king, and in return he got a large tumor next to his heart filled with dark energies. The tumor dissolved in his blood, as it was meant to, and the energy was expelled through the soft skin under his chest scales. 

The point of the punishment was to make the attempted reader not just try to read the glyphs, but absorb the symbols, follow the flow of their lines and have them merge together through elevated focus. An advanced magic user or unicorn would have this knowledge, but the dragon wasn't either of those things.

The dragon didn't understand how to unleash the power within the scroll just yet, and another tumor developed and dissolved inside his chest. Black ooze leaked from underneath his scales like a stream. It fell onto the ground and evaporated into the air like mist, staining the green grass with a black dew.

Eventually, he would understand the scroll and it's powers would be unleashed.

And the world would know true fear once more.

===============================

"This place will become your tomb, hybrid!" the dragon bellowed as he slammed his spiked tail into the earth where the hybrid was standing just seconds before. The ground shattered and dirt was thrown into the air making a slight haze, hiding the hybrid as he moved.

The hybrid strafed to the left and came up behind the behemoth, letting his magic flow to the tip of his horn. As the behemoth turned around, magic was released directly into his right shoulder, sending waves of pain throughout the forearm. 

The dragon roared with such anger that the ground cracked below his claws. "You'll pay dearly for that," he seethed.

The hybrid laughed.

Quick as lightning, the dragon bashed him away with the back of his hand, sending the hybrid flying. He attempted to turn and brace for the crash, but his flight ended abruptly as he crashed into the wall of the coliseum. An impression was left as he fell away from the wall and landed on the dirt with a thud.

"NO! GET UP!"

The mare stood at the edge of the rim, shouting at the hybrid. Tears welled in her eyes as the behemoth advanced towards him, a sadistic grin spreading across his face as he pumped a fist at the hybrid. 

After years of training with dragons, the hybrid knew exactly where to hit them to do the most damage, or at least slow them down enough to find an opening to gain the advantage over them.

So he bolted for the center of mass.

He shot from the ground in a blur and landed all four of his hooves on the behemoth's chest, cracking the weaker scales like porcelain tiles and knocking the wind from the behemoth's lungs. Pushing off of him, the hybrid flew backwards into the air. The behemoth was shoved back, gasping for a breath that just wasn't there. 

The hybrid touched against the wall, and launched off of that, too, leaving an even larger crater from where he first hit it. His horn surged to life, crackling with power. The behemoth, still unable to breath, struggled to looked up at the light that rocketed towards his head.

===============================

The scroll, already yellow from age, turned an acrid black color and disintegrated in the claws of the silver dragon. The ash that was left was then blown away in the thermal winds that roared on top of the hills that riddled the area around the coliseum.

"I... No! That was it! I know I was right that time!" the upset dragon cried. He had been unsuccessful in all of his attempts to read the scroll, and decided to move closer to the coliseum when the cold winds shifted to his last position. The winter air was not helping his growing temper.

He rest his head over the last bit of ashes that lay near him, and curled his tail around himself, wanting to disappear from the world forever because of his many failures.

Shutting his eyes, he began to fall into a light sleep, the thermal winds making it easier for him to find the much needed rest he wanted so badly. 

"You were right that time, you know."

Weblike shadows embedded themselves into the scales around his brow, forcing him wide awake from the stinging sensation it brought. The voice, clearly feminine, was coarse and gritty, like the speaker had been deathly ill. It echoed though, as if it was projected from a large cavern not too far away. 

"I will speak. You will listen," the voice demanded. He attempted to nod slightly, but the webs held his head in a vice grip and pain rippled through his skull. He was immobilized.

"Seven years ago, there was a battle. It was believed that I was killed in the heat of it, and fear was vanquished from the hearts of every creature that knew my power."

He remembered the battle. He was there, fighting a group of the King's soldiers that were attempting to divert the river into the cavern, causing it to flood. Memories of all the death he caused that day warmed him with delight as he remembered each of his victims' faces...

Something truly was amiss.

There was no regret or pity for the soldiers he mauled, and this puzzled him. When had he become so dark and hateful?

"They didn't know that I could not be killed; only banished or contained. My body was destroyed, and my mind was lost to the shadows."

The dragon was perplexed still by his lack of morality, and only half listened to the voice. 

"Until I was summoned by you, of course."

His attention was ripped from his own perilous thoughts and his heart rate quickened. Sensing this, the voice laughed.

"Yes, my host. You did it."

He was ecstatic. He actually did something right! The Draconic Remnants wouldn't stand a chance with the power he unlocked aiding him, he thought.

Wait. "Host"? What had it meant by that, he wondered.

He found out pretty quick when the webs began to widen inside the scales on his head, cracking them from the inside. Blood was then drawn as spears of darkness emerged from the shadows themselves and were then embedded into his side, writhing deeper and deeper with each pulse of dark energy. Pain exploded through every single fiber of his being as the shock of his own body was being stolen from him was extinguished.

All feeling was expunged as another conscience invaded his own, forcing it to submit without any challenge whatsoever. His mind, separated from his body, was entirely replaced by the mind of the invader, and there was nothing he could do to stop it; he was a prisoner in the confines of his own body. Fear tore through him as whatever he had left was transformed into darkness, morphing his body into something nightmarish and gruelling. 

Claws that had been his own were now shifting, becoming serrated and even more deadly. The spikes along his back became like his claws, only larger and more plentiful than before. Scales shifted with his bone structure as both changed into something horrible. Four holes opened on his head, two on each side next to his pre-existing eyes. 

Then, it dawned on him as he witnessed his body become more and more like the demon that nearly destroyed the land seven years ago. 

A sudden hunger drilled itself into the forefront of all his thoughts, shoving aside the petty ideas of how to regain control and stop the shadowed one. The hunger wasn't for food, power, or knowledge, but for war. 

Bloodlust shattered every bit of sanity left, and the figure rose off the dirt, spreading it's shadowy wings. All six eyes opened in tandem, flaring a hideous yellow, casting a glow around it's nightmarish head. 

"It's been a long time since I've had a body," she said. The dragons mind trembled with terror and the hunger that now seemed like it stretched through infinity, begging to be satisfied.

With a swift beat of her wings, the demon soared through the volcanic winds, tracking a black cloud of shadows behind her as she flew towards the coliseum. 

Fear would be known once more as a Constellation Demon.

Typherias had reawakened.

And she was hungry.

===============================

(Firstly, I want to thank Theraclese for making this story a super rad soundtrack. It can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za_FgkgIqNU&feature=plcp
Please subscribe to him! He's not getting the credit he deserves!)



> Endgame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: Endgame

We have traveled so far and I've learned so many things from following in your shadow.

But now I realize that I am the only one who can seize my fate. 

And believe me, when I look at it from where you told me to look, it's like a second sun shining in the sky.

===============================

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!!?" the sanguine behemoth bellowed, his voice brimming with insanity and hate. The hybrid had successfully fired a bolt of magic directly into his opponents eye socket from a point blank range, turning the soft jelly into a burnt wound that wept blood. In return, he was launched further down the coliseum by a powerful bash from the behemoth's tail. Thankfully, he missed hitting him with the spikes, and only left him with a rather painful bruise on his chest. 

"I gave you a blind spot," the hybrid whispered, standing taller than before. He had taken a beating, but returned it whenever he had the chance. Given the fact that the behemoth had gotten rather irritated with battling a pony and having to deal with a smaller target, he was wearing himself out too quickly. It had become easier to dodge his attacks, and the hybrid was relentless in his own offensives. 

Squeezing his injured eye closed, the bleeding behemoth charged, teeth bared and claws ready to kill. His scowl alone could break a mountain in half.

The hybrid worked his magic deep underneath a small area in front of himself. He thought back to what the mare had said, and how the coliseum used to be a volcano. Where there was a volcano, there could be a source of lava nearby. 

The behemoth was closing in, his pace slow but steady. Many drops of blood escaped his closed eye, making a breadcrumb trail of gore behind him as he began to move faster, spreading his wings to make himself appear a larger threat than he actually was. It was an old trick used to scare off troublesome predators that had the unfortunate luck to stumble into the cavern, not knowing what was inside. Predators like bears, manticores,  or timberwolves were of no interest to dragons, so they simply scared the creatures away, rather than brutally destroying them.

The hybrid was unfazed by this, and felt rather empowered by the fact that the behemoth felt the need to do such a thing. Was it fear, that fed him such an idea? Or was it the ever present hatred the behemoth had for him? He was sure he would never discover, and he didn't care. 

Then, the behemoth did something he did not suspect; he paralleled his chest to the dirt, staying above it by only a claws length, and flapped his wings with an extreme amount of force, lunging his body forward at the hybrid, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Rocketing towards him, the behemoth readied his claws to sink into a soft, fleshy hide and add the blood of this soon-to-be victim to his sanguine scales. 

The hybrids' luck shone through at that moment as a small stream of bright orange lava erupted through the dirt, showering him in solidified sparks. His horn flared with a combustive overglow, displacing the air with small heat waves as something awoke inside his heart.  Something powerful and confident.

Dragons were not affected by lava, and the hybrid knew this. But it did do something: it blinded the behemoth, only temporarily, though. But that's all he needed. 

Unable to stop himself on such a quick notice, he flew right into the stream of lava and continued through it. Leaping skywards, the hybrid aimed his horn, still ablaze with a golden glow, downwards towards the blinded dragon. 

Snickering, the hybrid fired seven volleys of magic into the back of the behemoth's head. The first four cracked scales, the next one  pierced the thick hide underneath those scales, and the final two fractured his unbelievably stubborn skull. 

The lava had stiffened over his face, making speech almost impossible. Instead, a guttural roar shook the earth asunder as every magical bolt drilled itself into his body. 

Landing next to his fallen form, the hybrid braced for another sudden attack; he had no more tricks to use, so he'd have to keep dodging and unloading short barrages of magic.

The behemoth lay still. 

Every dragon in the coliseum held their breath, the air ominously still from the lack of movement.

The hybrid moved close to the fallen form of the behemoth, not forgetting the fact he may not be dead, and simply luring him in. 

===============================

The demon saw the forms of a hundred dragons all sitting around a crater. She was confused through and through of why, until the hosts' draconic mind had remembered the sight from ages past. 

Of course, this was their leadership games, she thought.

She soared higher, catching a thermal on her wings, pushing her far closer to the coliseum much faster than before. 

Glancing her cold six-eyed gaze downwards, she saw the form of a dragon laying down, most likely injured or dead. But what confused her was the lack of a competitor; she couldn't see the other dragon anywhere on the field. 

So, she dived as fast as she could at the sanguine body, claws at the ready to sever any ties with the world of the living that someone who would oppose her still had.

===============================

The behemoth grinned.

The hybrid didn't see this notion, for he was at the front of his maw: right within range.

Snapping open his jaws, the behemoth lunged for the surprised hybrid. Time slowed to crawl, and he watched rather sharp teeth advance towards his entirety. 

The mare up on the rim shouted something, but he didn't hear it. 

There wasn't any time to dodge.

KERRACK!!

And then there wasn't a need to.

A hushed breath forced itself from the behemoth's mouth, blowing a musky, death-like scent into the hybrids face. He took a few steps back, pebbles cracking under his hooves. 

It took him a second to realize what he was seeing.

A shadowy spear had pierced clean through the behemoth's brain; forehead to neck. 

"The time has arrived," said the figure with a sultry voice that dripped with darkness and malcontent.

He reeled back, not believing what his eyes were seeing. It just wasn't possible. 

The spear was pulled out of the dead dragon, and retracted back to the tip of the newcomers tail as the dark figure turned around,  the body below it crunching with the sound of bones turning into dust with each step. It's wings were wrapped around it's body, hiding it's head inside their cover.

Tentacles sprouted out of the being, two rooting themselves in front of the awestruck hybrid, sending him back even further.
The others drilled themselves deep into the dead behemoth's back, and then they began to pulse with a purple light. Then, the body began to sag, it's blood being drained away by the tentacles.

The being chose now to reel her head, hissing with delight as the dragons in the stadium gasped. 

The hybrid felt his pulse quicken. 

"You."

She faced him, all six eyes studying his form, trying to read what he would say next from his body language.

"You are the one from the scrolls. You are the star queen," he said, finding confidence in his knowledge as it all came flooding back to him. "From the great zebra sky-fall, you were the one who fell." 

She sneered. It was strange how she could smell so much fear from the dragons, yet none from this pony. No, that wasn't quite right. He wasn't just equine. There was something else about his scent she couldn't quite place.

"Such a clever one, you are, aren't you? Yes, I am the one the zebras wrote of. What of it?" 

He laughed. 

Curious, she stopped pumping the blood from the body below her; it was nearly empty anyway. Retracting her tentacles she walked off the husk, grabbed it's head in her serrated claws, and flung it to the far opposite end of the coliseum. 

"Did I say something HUMOROUS?" 

"No, but the fact you aren't dead is rather funny though," he countered, still chuckling with delight.

Oh, you'll die now, she thought to herself.

The tentacles lunged again, except this time they wouldn't miss their target. 

"NO. YOU. DON'T."

A shield flickered to life in front of the hybrid right before the tentacles found their way to his neck. A strong magical field disrupted the wake of shadow that made up the extra appendages, shattering them.

"Don't you DARE," the mare enforced. 

"TOUCH."

Her horn overcharged, displacing the darkness with light.

"HIM." 

The ground erupted around the mare as she let loose a full barrage of magical spears, each shining with the intensity of a pure white supernova, shattering against the endless dark that made up the demons' form. They exploded as they met her skin, battering away the shadow that tangled itself around her body like a spiders web. 

When the attack ended, the mare knelt on one knee, exhausted from expending so much energy in one go. The hybrid ran up to her, bracing himself against her side for support. 

"That was amazing," he stated.

"Don't...get too...excited... Typherias still lives," she stammered. 

Managing a look to where the demon stood, he saw a figure that was something that could be described nothing more than raw nightmare fuel.

There she stood, bleeding a purple ooze from the gaps in her stolen Draconic hide. She was missing an entire arm, save for the skeletal one that remained in place, held there by tiny bright purple rings that encased every joint. Slowly, the darkness seeped back to fill in the gaps where she was injured and regenerated herself. 

"Do you think..."

She cracked her neck.

"That will be enough to stop me?"

The mare rose off her knee, composing herself. Now was not the time to show a weakness. Her horn began to charge again, preparing another barrage.

The hybrid stepped in front of her and shook his head. 

"Leave this to me." 

She went to object, but he had already began moving towards Typherias at a brisk pace. A powerful surge of heat washed over her, making her mane ripple. 

The hybrid punctuated each step with a stomp as his hooves began to make the ground emit smoke, leaving prints in the dirt behind him as he neared what seemed like death given physical form. Typherias craned her neck to stare him down as he neared her, unwavering and confident. 

===============================

The Draconic ghost stayed at the hybrids back, watching over him when the others could not. He felt a bit of anger wash over him when he discovered he didn't kill Typherias outright, but only stunted her inevitable growth by seven years. 

But now he had a chance at redemption.

Little did the hybrid know, that when he needed it most, an unbelievable power could be unleashed with the ghost's help. A power so strong that not even the Constellation Demon would be able to withstand it. 

Together, they would be able to vanquish her for a very long time.

United, they could secure a peaceful future for all sentient beings that had once lived in fear of the Constellation Demon known as Typherias.

===============================

The sky had darkened, stained by the luminance of the moon passing in front of the sun. It was times like these in which magical phenomenon occurred. Some say the souls of those who were murdered come back to haunt their murderers. Others say that natural magic energies become multiplied tenfold. 

A pulse resonated from the spherical object in the mares saddlebag, and she felt it beat against her side. Opening the bag, she levitated out the crystalline orb. Inside, a small red ball pulsed in tandem with the hybrids heartbeat, displacing the light around it with it's own incandescent illumination. 

Her red Draconic companion landed beside her, smiling proudly at the hybrid that glanced back ever so slightly to receive the praise. The mare gave the orb to him, and he threw it to the hybrid. 

Catching it in a levitation field, he studied it, feeling a trickle of energy flow through his output of magic and into the tip of his horn. Turning it about, the red light inside began to pulse faster...

A cool wind rippled through his mane. 

...faster...

The breeze felt familiar, like a bit of himself was in it's wake.

Click. Ignition.

The orb exploded into what felt like a localized heat wave, igniting the air around the hybrid. Flames danced and pushed against the earth, writhing around in the dirt.  

Typherias had become very vexed with the continued existence of the hybrid, and reached out a serrated claw to sever his neck. Unfortunately for her, the energies that surrounded him weren't having any of that. A serpentine flame slashed at the claw, sending her back and giving the hybrid more breathing room. 

The fires that danced around him began to take shape, becoming less feral and more contained. He closed his eyes and accepted the newfound strength pounding through his veins. 

A torso formed above the hybrid.

Distinct laugh echoed through the coliseum, reawakening old memories the mare had forgotten about. 

Wings sprouted out of the back of the fire-creature. 

"It seems I didn't get to take you to Hell with me, DEMON." 

A head and arms sprouted forth from the body, their wild fiery state being honed into a well-known being of stature and nobility. 

"But I can not fail now."

In unison, the hybrid and the blazing Draconic ghost opened their eyes, and a pure golden-yellow light poured from them, bathing their bodies in the glow. 

"NO! This cannot be! You died seven years ago!" Typherias shouted at the ghost, a scared look in her eyes. 

"I can say the same for you," it rumbled. 

She reared her head back, released a fearsome growl, and charged at them, arms outstretched. 

Laughing heartily, they moved to the side and she passed them. The ghost reached out a blazing claw and gripped her nightingale head with superior strength. They leaned forward, and it slammed her head into the dirt, showering the broken earth with sparks and bits of fire shaken loose from it's body. 

Planting her arms next to her head, she pushed with all her might, and slowly began to move against the downward force the ghost was putting on her head. Knowing it wouldn't be enough, she kicked her lower body skywards and twisted out of the hold. 

The ghost turned to face her as she propelled herself into the air upside down, then righted herself and beat her wings, flying higher.  

"You won't get away that easily," the hybrid whispered. 

Spreading it's wings, the ghost took flight, never losing it's position above the hybrid by extending it's torso to be longer and more snake-like. 

Typherias dove down slightly to get equal with the ghost, then she charged it, claws first. The ghost got as close as it could to her without getting in range of her claws, and shot above her, biting one of her wings at the joint where it connected to her back, and firmly grasping the other wing in the same spot with a claw.

It's teeth didn't pierce her scales, but they burnt her very badly. Smoke poured from where the teeth connected with the wing joint, and it obscured her vision. 

Placing a claw onto the center of her back, the ghost began to push her away, trying to rip the wings right off her back. She was clearly in pain, but did a good job of hiding it. Wrapping her tail around the ghosts body she hoped to cut it off from the source. Using the razor-like spikes on her tail, she quickly sawed through the connection the ghost had to the hybrid, and the flames dispersed instantly. 

Flexing her wings, she dive-bombed the hybrid, hoping to finish the battle once and for all. 

"THIS IS THE END FOR YOU!!" 

Typherias was literally mere seconds from devouring the hybrid. 

Suddenly, the blazing ghost reformed in an explosion of sparks and motes of yellow light and bashed her down into the dirt with an open palm delivered to the back of her head. 

"We will not be extinguished that easily, Demon," the hybrid and the ghost said in tandem. 

Infuriated, she rose from the cracked ground and leapt away from them. Planting her feet firmly in the dirt, she began to charge her energy into a cobalt ball.

"It is time to finish that battle we started seven years ago, Alpha!" she shouted at the ghost. 

"Very well. Although I've lost my Balefire, I will not lose!" 

Opening it's maw, it unleashed a cascade of pure golden light that displaced the dirt below it, sending clouds of dust into the air. The shockwave alone was earth-shattering. 

Typherias launched her cobalt beam of energy that then collided with the lightwave. 

Time seemed to stop as all noise was expunged from the entire coliseum. Then, it started again as an explosive thunderclap roared through all the land.

The already broken earth erupted into an ocean of huge chunks of rock and magma. The molten rock flowed between the cracks, threatening to devour the last bits of solid ground.

Neither titans faltered in their battle. Both waves of energy played a volatile game of tug of war, eradicating bits of pyre shot upwards. Plates of stone shifted towards the outer walls as pressure amassed below the colliding energies.

"DO IT!!" the hybrid bellowed, his voice almost unheard on the mare's ears.

"BANISH HER, DAMNIT!" he cried again, the strain of sustaining the ghost finally showing through his amazing power.

Leaping over the chinks in the ground, she let her magic flow freely and went over the spell in her head. The heat was unbearable, but she endured. She had to. 

Coming to a halt a pony's length away from Typherias, a voice that wasn't her own pounded in her head. 

"Join meeeeeeee..." it screeched. 

Shaking off the intrusion, the mare ignored Typherias's mind games and unleashed her spell. 

The spell was never tested. It was one that the mare had created if Typherias awoke once again. It was supposed to force the demon back into her place in the starry sky. She had only told the hybrid of it's existence, and after he failed to successfully learn it, they had both decided it was probably for the best if she was the only one who could cast it. 

A quick magical discharge flashed between the mare and Typherias, and the sky lurched above her. 

Aiming carefully, the mare directed the nighttime sky down and around the demon, it's water-like surface rippling as it fell like a meteor to grab hold of it's rogue shard.

When it touched the demon, she lost her dark purple sheen and it was replaced with the beautiful shade of black that was the night itself. Her cobalt wave of energy was reduced to nothing as the night absorbed the bulk of her body.

"It wasn't a question," the voice reverberated again. 

Shifting as much as she could, she moved a shoulder that had already been absorbed into the path of the oncoming lightwave. The light collided, then was squelched into nothingness. Such an attack was useless against darkness itself, and served as a shield for Typherias.

Reaching out with a free claw that had not been absorbed by the night, she grabbed the mare around the neck, barely squeezing enough to choke her. 

Just then, the hybrids power ran dry, and the ghost collapsed into itself in a shower of sparks, released from it's fiery hold. Already tired, the hybrid began sprinting at Typherias to free the mare so she could finish the banishment spell.

Typherias had no intentions of being trapped in the stars for another eternity. 

She tossed the mare into the wake of the night. When she hit the blackness, she didn't bounce off; she stuck. It was pulling her in as well. 

Despair fell across the hybrids' face as he witnessed the only mother figure in his life get stolen from him. He ran at the Demon faster, not sure what he would do to free the mare. 

Typherias laughed as the mare cried out in pain as the night flash froze her body as more and more of it was absorbed. It felt like a thousand tiny knives were being dug through her chest, clamping around her heart and freezing that, too.

The hybrid lunged at the Demon, hatred replacing all other emotions. 

She flung what was left of herself into the blackness of the night. 

He collided with it headfirst, and was absorbed almost instantly.

It's purpose complete, the nighttime imploded back into it's old position, taking the three victims with it.

That was the time when Typherias reigned victorious. 

===============================

The two ponies stirred from a silent unconsciousness in an unfamiliar place.

"What is this place?"

"I'd say Hell, but it's far too dark to be sure." 

Chains rattled in the distance.

"This is where I spent an eternity, before the spell-mistress here, summoned me."

A small yellow glow was emitted from across what seemed like an antechamber, shining some light on the cold ground they all were chained to.

"I was too dangerous and too volatile, they told me. Can you believe that? Me! Volatile!" 

A slight shifting sound of metal against metal echoed up into the large ceiling. 

"Demon, we are sic-"  

"Please, dearest, call me by my proper name. We have much time to spend together, so we might as well be candid, hm?"

Inhaling quickly, the mare started again. "Typherias, whatever trick this is, we will break out of it and stop you," she spoke.

"This is no trick of mine. I told you. This is where I was locked up before you summoned me down to that damn rock you call 'home'."

"Then who put us here," the hybrid asked, his stress level increasing steadily. 

"My brothers and sisters, of course. You didn't think I was the only one of my kind, did you, HYBRID?"

Typherias lunged at him, her chains pulling taut and stopping her right before she could open her huge maw and bite him in half. 

She had changed again, her form looking like it did when the mare first saw her. The only difference being that her chin jutted outwards more, and the three prominent spikes on her head were longer. The two outer spikes almost made up her brow. She still retained her six eyes, all of which casting plenty of light on the room around them. 

"That spell you cast was disrupted when I stole you two away. So, hopefully, these chains will wither enough so I can leave and-who knows? Terrorize what's left of the place you called home? Kill the ancestors of the ones you hold dear?"

The hybrid leaned to the mare as Typherias curled up across the room, finding it hard to get comfortable because of all the chains restraining her.

"How long will we be trapped here?" 

The silence roared like a waterfall.

"I don't kn-"

"One star year, I'd say." 

How much is th-"

"Two-thousand and seven years of your time. Oh, but don't worry. You won't age, deteriorate, or break as older equine's often do. Here, we are suspended in mortality. The chains will keep you alive."

She paused for a second and thought, swishing her tail against the cool floor.

"And sane." 

The hybrid doubted his sanity could be saved while in the presence of a beast of such darknesses. 

The mare looked to her companion and saw the hopelessness in his eyes. She felt compelled to hold him; ease his heavy heart. 

So she hugged him, and whispered something in his ear, just quiet enough so Typherias could not hear it.

"We will wait, and we will endure." 

He nodded, and hugged her back. When the mare finally let go and retreated to her spot on the floor, the hybrid laid down, slowly drifting into sleep. 

"And when we are released, Typherias..." the demon grinned, knowing what he was going to say. "I am going to be angry."

"And I will be looking for you."

Those were the last things he and the mare said for the next two-thousand and seven years.

To be continued...

===============================

I want to thank EVERYONE who read this. Although it's only a handful of people, I still can't help but be thankful. This isn't the end of the Hybrid's saga though. He's still got two more instalments. Maybe more. I also have to thank all of those who made music for this Fic. We've come a long way since then, and I still don't feel like I've expressed my gratitude enough. All criticism is appreciated. I want to do something with my skill in writing, and I need all the experience I can get. 

Burn bright everyone.