The Plunge (edited)

Scales of the Dawn
by Roflknief
Ch. 1 The plunge
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Twilight is the hour between night and day. Most think of twilight as the time when the sun sets and night begins, but it is also the time when the night ends and the dawn comes with its hope of what will happen in the new day.

Pain. Pain and falling. Pain was something he had felt his whole life, but the feeling of falling was new. This pain was new in that it was more concentrated than the usual dull burning of his flesh and bones as it was radiating from his right wing and right foreleg.

The emotions he felt were those of fear and anger. Fear at what came after the fall and what their master would do if they lost the battle. His anger, however, was less defined as he did not know why he felt it to begin with. He felt rage towards the world and everything in it, save those of its flight.

He could feel the cold air over his twilight colored scales as he tried to regain control over the wind around him, but his right wing failed him again and again.

The tail swipe he had taken seemed it would be his end, and it may have been if another had not, by chance, flown under him as he fell. The two dragons collided with the purple drake on top of the larger green dragon and both began to fall. The impact slammed the purple one’s jaw into the wing joint of the green’s left wing. Both jaw and joint broke from the impact, sending them into a tumbling decent.

When the fall ended, both lay in the eternal snow. The purple had landed on the green and both lay still but for the pained breathes that shook both their forms. The impact had killed neither out-right, but the green’s right side had hit a rock in the snow and was bleeding heavily. The fight between the many dragons over head had raged on while the two lay below the battle, unconscious.

The smaller dragon opened its eyes to see its emerald colored companion letting out a wheezing laugh as it said “The Destroyer is no more. It has cost us great, but we have fulfilled our purpose and now leave the world in the hands of the mortal races.” Once he finished saying this, the purple drake that had fallen on him began to claw its way up his side over his damaged wing towards his head. It was a pitiful sight to see, this young one broken and battered still trying to fight a battle already lost. He pitied this corrupted and crazed drake and pondered a way to save it.

The time of dragons had passed here, but maybe somewhere else where he would be needed and could be saved away from the source of the madness that gripped him, he could find peace. When the purple drake was within reach, the larger grabbed him and pulled him close as a green light radiated from them both followed by a brighter flash that when the light faded the purple drake was gone. The green spoke again, “May you find peace little one,” then lay still.

The drake had always known pain, but this… It was as if molten rock was being pulled through him. He knew not how long this lasted, as during the pain he lost control of his other senses. When it ended, what he felt could only be described as bliss.

The dull throbbing pain and the rage he had felt his entire life were gone. The pain from his injuries was still present, but those could be healed though he was sure he would be killed as so many of his kind had been before him.

He then heard a voice that sounded as if it came from all directions, though he could not make out what it said other than its final words “…where both you and they need you to be.”

He didn’t really know why he was hated or why he was told to do what his master had ordered, but that mattered little when he had no choice but to obey. He had barely an instant to ponder his fate before he felt himself drop onto a hard surface and heard the sound of groaning wood, breaking glass and hardened clay, and the exclamations of shock and surprise of some unknown number of entities around him. The fresh waves of pain from this second fall were enough to cause the drake to slip back in to his unconscious state and knew no more.

---Earlier that day---

The three friends had been enjoying a relaxing day together after Twilight had helped Fluttershy get a book from the library on animal shelters. With the help of Applejack, they build a shelter for the adorable if demanding white bunny that was now happily running around his new room.

They had just settled down to have some stew Fluttershy had made as a thank you to her friends for their help when an unexpected green flash blinded them, followed by a red drake slamming down on the table Twilight had just finished setting. A small fragment of glass cut Applejack on one of her legs from a cup that was smashed. It was a small cut and she hardly even noticed it.

Once they were able to see and the shock of what they were seeing had passed, all three cried out in fright. Fluttershy fled, quivering in the corner, while Applejack and Twilight backed up several paces before pausing to examine the red drake lying still on the table in front of them.

The sights of its sharp teeth and claws, shining ruby scales glistening in the light of the setting sun light filtering in through the window that created an awe inspiring spectrum of all the colors of the sun set and dawn, leathery wings though one was at an odd angle, and the blood that seeped from its numerous wounds and mouth petrified them with fear.

They hesitantly began to approach, exchanging looks of alarm as they wondered what to do with the fire breathing lizard in front of them. Fluttershy was, to the surprise and initial horror of the other two mares, the one to take control of the situation as she flew over to the dragon on her table and began to use a nearby towel to apply pressure to a wound.

There was an injured living being in need of help and her fear was not enough to stop her from trying to help it. Fluttershy looked at Twilight and told her “Twilight I need you to get more clean towels and my first aid kit.” Twilight nodded and scampered over to the corner of the kitchen that held the first aid kit.

Then she turned to face Applejack and told her “Applejack I am going to need your help to set the broken bones.”

Applejack was unfamiliar with helping treat injuries and seeing blood, but her friend had asked her for help so she gritted her teeth and followed Fluttershy’s requests.

With a flash of purple magic, Twilight set the first aid kit next to Fluttershy who began pulling out the needed bottles, patches, and gauze.

While Applejack was able to work through her discomfort, Twilight was unable to handle it and decided it was best for her to go seek help from the hospital. Fluttershy would need better supplies to make casts to set and hold the broken bones in place to heal.

Cleaning the wounds went as expected. Thankfully, the dragon did not wake up during the treatment, but the bandages and gauze were less effective on scales than on fur or flesh, however, it was all they had and would have to do.

When Nurse Redheart arrived, she had a typical hospital stretcher and the needed supplies to further treat the wounds Twilight had described to her. She stayed to help as long as she could before returning to the hospital. She made it clear on the way out that while they were happy to help, they would not allow a dragon to stay at the hospital. She deliberately did not ask how they had come to find this damaged dragon, as she and most of the town had realized not to be surprised by the things the Element of Harmony holders got into.

With all the treatment they give completed, the three friends moved the dragon onto the stretcher and, after struggling to get it up the stairs, set it in the corner of Fluttershy’s room. They had decided it should stay there, as Fluttershy did not want it near her animals unsupervised, even though with its mouth, wing and leg injured, the dragon was really not much of a threat.

Finally, with the chance to examine the creature, they noticed just how different it looked from the few dragons they had seen before.

Its tail, neck, and front legs were longer and its face was more like their own, with its elongated mouth and nose. The longer front legs gave the impression of it being a quadrupedal. The three major injuries it had all appeared to have been caused by blunt force, but what would have caused all of them they could not figure out.

Twilight was the first to break the silence that had settled over them since they had started staring at Fluttershy’s newest house guest.

“Fluttershy are you sure this is a good idea? I’ll send a letter to Celestia telling her what has happened and asking for advice, but I don’t know how long it will take her to respond and I don’t like the idea of you alone with that thing” she said, gesturing to the sleeping dragon.

Applejack spoke up before Fluttershy, adding “Ah agree with Twilight here sugercube, it just doesn’t seem safe. We should call the royal guard an’ have them take it” with a worried look in her eyes.

“Ah know ya want to help, but this ain’t no baby bunny or bird. It’s a wild Dragon and is probably not going to like waking up somewhere it doesn’t know and it might lash out.”

Fluttershy finally summoned the courage to answer her friends’ arguments, but responded with an unusual firmness in her voice “I know that Applejack, but oh that’s the reason I need to do this. He is probably so scared after whatever awful thing happened to him that he needs someone to help him. If it was one of you in his place, I would want the same for you.”

Seeing her friend would not be moved, Twilight sighed and turn to leave saying as she did “I will see what Celestia wants us to do, but I can’t think she will have a good place to treat a dragon.” There was then a loud knock on the front door, startling the three inside.

“News must be spreading around about the dragon.” Twilight mused as all three headed towards the door.

However it was not someone from the town as they had expected, but Princess Luna who immediately asked in a bellowing voice “Hath thee seen anything suspicious? We hath sensed a disturbance with in our realm and believe it may hath had effect hither.”

Then she saw Applejack and Fluttershy still with blood on them and her eyes widened, crouching into a defensive stance ready to punish whatever had hurt her subjects.

“WHO EVER DEAR ENTER OUR WORLD AND INJURE OUR SUBJECTS SHALL PAY FOR THEIR ACTIONS!” Luna roared as she entered the house looking for the culprit.

The friends covered their ringing ears and tried to derail Luna’s war path before she summoned the royal guard for a witch hunt.

Dream of the Dawn

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Scales of the Dawn
by Roflknief

Ch. 2 Dream of the Dawn

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“Princess Luna, we are all fine. There was a dragon that—” Twilight began to explain before being cut off my Luna.

“A DRAGON HATH ATTACKED?” Luna cried out in shock, looking at Twilight again and noticing that she and her two friends were covering their ears in pain. “Why has the guard not yet been called? If the dragons are trying to start a war, we must prepare for it.” Luna continued in a quieter and calmer, though still urgent tone, remembering her lessons on modern speech.

At this point between the loud noises and Luna’s rage, Fluttershy cowered behind AJ crying. AJ was looking to Twilight for guidance about what to do, worry plain in her eyes.

“Princess Luna, please, there was no attack. Every pony is fine that blood is not theirs.” Which was true, as no pony was injured, just the dragon upstairs.

Luna looked questioningly at the three and asked “If no pony was hurt, then where did the blood come from and what happen to the dragon?”

It was Applejack who spoke up this time to answer Luna’s question “It’s the dragon’s blood your highness. We don’t know what happened to it before it got here, but we helped it best we could.”

Fluttershy had begun to calm down and peered around Applejack and said in a barely audible tone “Yes it was very, very hurt and I just had to help the little dragon.”

“Little? Fluttershy, that thing was bigger than y’all are” replied Applejack, looking behind her to see at the still hiding pegasus behind her, causing Fluttershy to withdraw back behind Applejack.

“Where is the dragon now? I will need to deal with this to ensure there is no political backlash that could cause a conflict between Equestria and the dragons, as well as find out what it is doing here and what happened to it!” Luna said this while wondering how her sister would handle this and making a mental note to inform her of the situation once it was under control.

Twilight stepped forward “It’s currently upstairs in Fluttershy’s room. We couldn’t take it to the hospital, couldn’t convince Fluttershy to put it outside in one of her animal shelters, or think of anywhere else to put it.” She shot a glance over to Fluttershy “So in the end, Fluttershy convinced us it would be best to let her keep it nearby, after what happened to it. It must be terrified and if one of us was in its place, I would want as much kindness too.” She finished with a small smile at Fluttershy, causing the pegasus to smile and come a bit farther out from behind Applejack and her long pink mane. Applejack also showed her support of her friend’s decision by placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder and giving her a small smile and nod.

Luna nodded her head, thinking over the possible alternatives. She could have the dragon taken to Canterlot where the palace doctors could tend to it, but that would have the negatives of causing possible political issues. Taking the dragon to the palace could be seen as imprisonment and put many ponies in danger if it did not enjoy waking up in the middle of a hospital far from where it may have been trying to go.

“How much experience do you have treating injured creatures?” Luna asked Fluttershy who promptly lost all the boldness her friend’s encouragement had given her and she hid behind her mane as she responded in little more than a whisper.

“I-I’ve been taking care of the animals around Ponyville and the edge of the Ever Free Forest ever since I left Couldsdale years ago” she responded from behind her mane, looking at the worn, wooden boards under her hoofs.

Luna pondered this and she began to ascend the steps to the upper floor. She had experience taking care of injured creatures. She was the element of kindness holder that yelling a dragon in to a crying fit, maybe she could handle this if the injuries did not require more serious medical attention. Celestia has shown faith in them, so I too shall trust her judgment.

Once Luna saw the slumbering dragon wrapped in casts and bandages with a thin hospital blanket draped over it, her brow furrowed. She had never seen this kind of dragon before and was finding it difficult to think of how it obtained these injuries. It was small and young by dragon standards, but was still the size of an average earth pony with large wings loosely held to its sides while it slept. Stopping next to the side of the cot, Luna closed her eyes and her horn began to glow.

Fluttershy nervously asked from behind her mane “Princess Luna, I was wondering, if that’s ok, what you are doing” clearly concerned for her newest patient. She did not receive an answer, as Luna’s horn continued to glow slightly and she made no move to respond.

---

The sun would soon rise over the horizon, but for now the opening to the cave and the small rock ledge jutting out of the cliff face lay shrouded in twilight as the dragon stared off toward the growing light. He was sitting still, simply enjoying the calm of the exposed cliff face and the cool breeze till a regal female voice from the dark cave behind caused him to turn and lower into a crouch, ready to fight as he had been created to do.

“It is rare to see someone perceive themself so different than how they appear” Luna stated as she walked over the hard rock with grace. “Dragon, I am Princess Luna, raiser of the moon and protector of the night. Who are you and why have you come to our land?”

Appraising the equestrian creature before him, the dragon noted that it did appear to be female and larger than him, though slimmer. It had wings, a horn, and four legs, giving it few weapons in a fight, but what did he have to fight for?

He remained in his ready stance as he considered the questions. Had he been asked that by one of his superiors, he would have answered ‘a tool of the master’s will’, but he did not know if his master was even alive and the pain and threat of more seemed to, for the first time in his existence, been removed. As for the second question, he had no idea where he was or how he got there and as this strange looking horse appeared rather intimidating, he decided to go with the course of action that had become his way of survival, submission.

“I have no name nor do I know where I am or how I got here” he said as slide to the hard ground in a submissive position as he lowered his eyes to stare at the rocky floor.

Luna was taken aback by such a display by a dragon, one of the fiercest creatures in all of Equestria. ‘What could have happened to this poor soul to change him from the nature of most dragons?’ Luna wondered as she reevaluated the situation after this unexpected turn of events.

Luna, deciding she needed more information, then asked “Do you know how you obtained the injuries you currently have?”

This caused the dragon to look at himself. He had no injuries as far as he could see, but did remember the broken bones and bruises he had gained from the battle and wondered how he could have healed already. It was then that he realized he had no idea when he started staring at the horizon or how he had gotten there.

“What happened to my injuries and where are we?” He questioned.

“Your wounds are still fresh; we are in your dream which is why you currently appear unharmed” Luna informed him as she moved to stand beside him, staring at the light in the distance and evaluating the dream before her. “You realize the change you currently face and hope to see the light. You find yourself in twilight, unsure if you are about to plunge into darkness or feel the warmth of dawn.” After a pause, she continued “What is it you fear will come and what do you hope to achieve?”

Another pause followed Luna’s evaluation of his dream and the question she had posed, until the dragon rose from the ground and turn to face the edge of the cliff once more.

For the first time he was able to think clearly, as though the haze of anger and madness had been lifted from his mind. He pondered what he valued and what brought the cold dread to his being. He could think of many things he feared: the return of the burning sensation he had always felt, the wrath of his master and superiors, and what would come if the plan succeeded. ‘The things I fear not happening’ was all he could think of for what he hoped for.

“I would look into your mind if you will allow it so that I may better understand what has happened and who you are. I understand this is a large request, but I can sense there is something coming, a great change and I believe you may be linked to it or at least have a part to play. Having the most information possible will help me protect all of Equestria. As such, I feel compelled to ask this of you.”

When she spoke of protecting others, he felt himself instinctively nod his head in consent. ‘Why do I feel so eager to help? I have hurt many, so why does it feel different now’ he contemplated before he felt his sight fade as memories flashed before his eyes.

His youth spent being taught the necessary skills and information for serving in the master’s plan. The missions he had been sent on to further prepare him, though Luna quickly withdrew from those as many of the acts he had been twisted to commit horrified her, and finally to the battle where he had sustained his injuries in. She spent a long time examining the information about his world and the types of dragons, specifically the emerald, ruby, and twilight dragon flights. Each of the flights was charged by the titans to be the guardians of a part of creation.

The emerald dragons were the keepers of The Emerald Dream realm, seemingly without bound and of unimaginable depth that influenced the world. He knew the Titans, or the creators of all life, had used the dream as a place to store pieces of their creation they chose not to use or lost interest in, but little of what it actually was.

To guard all life was the task given to the ruby dragons. They were to be the eternal watchers of the balance between life and death. It was in their nature to protect others and their very tears and blood have healing properties. They possessed magic capable of shielding others and themselves.

The Twilight dragon flight was created from the unhatched eggs of the other orders by changing the eggs with magic, corrupting and denaturing them. Once complete, the process was irreversible. The dragons of this flight had the ability to drain magic energy and store it in themselves, empowering them, but if too much energy was absorbed, they became unstable. This was the type of dragon he had become.

Once she finished her examination of his life, pity, sorrow, and slight wonder at the magic of a different world filled her eyes as she looked sideways at him.

“Thou hath endured much in such a short life and hath been twisted to committed many atrocities, but no longer will the hardships be force upon thee or those who wish to use you be allowed to. We will not allow such grievances to come to pass” she said in a gentler voice, compared to the more royal tone she had first greeted him, though slipping back into her old speech patterns. She reached out with a wing to rest on the drake’s twilight scales of his back.

She did not feel it was necessary to worry him, already so scared with the potential problems her glimpses into his mind had confirmed. They would all learn soon enough.

Tearing his eyes away from the vista in front of him, he turned to look up hopefully in to the eyes of the one next to him and as he did, a small smile played across her face. Her horn began to glow as she broke the eye contact to look to the view off the cliff. The sun finally rose over the edge of the world, creating an awe inspiring dawn covering all the hues from pale yellow to lustrous ruby as it crested the horizon.

---

Sombra walked through the cold snow drifts of the far north as he dwelled on his failed attempt to take the Crystal Empire with rage. ‘Who would dare take from me what is mine? It had been the work of the two that had imprisoned me; I know it was their meddling again! It had to be them and I will make them pay along with their pathetic subjects!’

He had been reduced to a mere specter. A shade held only to this world by magic, hatred, and his will for revenge. In the material realm, he would have been no more than a shadow, but here in the dream he could take physical form and it was here he felt a great power, as if calling him. He had heard its words as it whispered to him, calling him to it and promising him the power to crush all who opposed him, as it had for over a thousand years. They were always speaking to him till he could not distinguish between his own thoughts and the whispers.

It was here in the far north, farther than the Crystal Empire, in this realm that the whispers had sent him. The voice grew louder the farther he went, growing far clearer than ever before and it was here they told him that he was to lay the trap. After failing to regain the crystal heart and it being shielded from him, they needed a new way to free the whispering one. The self-proclaimed guardian of this realm had the power to free him. All it needed was her within its reach…