Guitar Strings and Dragon Wings

Chapter 28

Lives Past

Deep in the Everfree forest…

It was a typical spring day at the first Royal Castle. The gardens were lush and full, the grounds full of activity, and the royal guests, there were so many of them. High up in one of the towers a little filly with a brilliant white coat and flowing pink hair had her face buried in a book.

"Oh this is gonna be a good one, I can tell." The little filly said.

Knock-knock*

There came abrupt tapping at her door.

"Go away, I'm reading!" she yelled.

"Tia!" a small voice called, "You have to come meet the guests!"

"I wanna read Luna!" she called back. "They can wait!"

"Ugh!" the voice angrily replied. "Not this again!"

She could hear Luna storm off down the hall in anger.

"What's her problem?" she muttered to herself.

Continuing to drown in her book she entered a world beyond that of Equestria. One that had fantastic creatures, an amazing heroine pony, an epic adventure on which she had to embark…

Knock-knock*

"What is it?!" she yelled.

One of the royal guards answered this time. "Sorry to disturb you princess, but what should I tell the guests downstairs?" he asked.

"Alright alright! I'm coming already, gosh!" she responded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the exhausting party celebrating the Royal sister's new castle, the two little fillies hung out on a balcony overlooking the endless forest. Luna gave her sister a glass of punch she had fetched from downstairs. She took the glass with her magic and began to sip from it, watching the sun slowly begin to set, just as she willed it to do so.

"Gah… I hate being little!" cried Celestia. "I was older than everyone at the party, but they still just see us as little foals."

Luna took a sip of her own glass of punch. "Hey Tia, it's not all bad. Everypony loves you."

"Well sometimes, I wish they didn't. Sometimes I wish they would just leave us alone. Did you hear what they said, Luna? They were talking about an even bigger party! They called it a 'Grand Galloping Gala!' Can you believe that? I don't want to do this every year for the rest of my life, however long that will be."

Celestia was visibly frustrated and defeated, sighing heavily into her own hooves.

"Come on Tia. Please cheer up." Said Luna. "Maybe you just need to find something to keep yourself occupied."

"But that's the problem Luna, I'm already so preoccupied, all the time." She gazed sorrowfully across the forest and distant mountains.

"Maybe you need to make some new friends." Her sister suggested.

Celestia contemplated the thought. "Like who?"

"Oh, I don't know…what about the ponies in the Crystal Empire?"

"Nah, too far away." Scoffed Celestia.

"Okay then… how about you take a trip to Trottingham?"

"Same thing." Said Celestia.

Luna sighed. "Well maybe you should meet someone who's not a pony."

"Yeah with all the guards I have around me…that'll never happen."

"Well, I gave it my best shot." Said Luna.

"I appreciate the advice anyways." Celestia smiled at her. "At least I know you're always looking out for me." She brushed away her pink mane which had traveled downward a bit while they were talking. Once again she turned to face the setting sun.

"Hey do you see that?" she asked. Celestia pointed a hoof at the object. "Up in the sky, it looks like it's coming this way."

"That's weird." Said Luna uncomfortably. "It looks almost like a fireball or something."

Nervously Luna began to back away, ready to go inside the safety of the castle. "Maybe we should get the guards, Tia."

"Wait Luna, look it's dropping out of the sky… and it looks like it's on fire."

Celestia couldn't help but watch the object plummet to the earth slowly. The flames surrounding it seemed to undulate and dance across its surface. It continued to fall, leaving a trail of smoke behind. The fiery object gradually passed beneath the tree line.

After a second or two there came loud thumping noise, letting the sisters know the object had impacted. A large plume of smoke started to slowly rise from the epicenter.

"Cool!" cried Celestia, "Finally, something fun to do." The little filly stretched out her wings preparing to take off.

"Wait Tia!" yelled Luna, "We should go get some of the guards!"

"Nah, I'm gonna have some fun! C'mon Luna."

The dark blue filly hesitantly thought about her sister's invitation. It wasn't as if they would get in trouble, she was just feeling a little scared.

"It'll be alright Luna, I promise." Her big sister assured.

"Well… um…okay." Luna reluctantly agreed.

Celestia grabbed her sister's hoof and jumped into the air, coaxing her along. Luna unfurled her wings as well and began to fly with her sister.

"Tia I swear, if something goes wrong…"

"Nothing will go wrong, Luna. We're just gonna do a little investigation. That's all."

They flew across the castle gardens, over the castle entrance, and over a long, lushly green, field of grass. They made their way over the first few trees of the forest, coming ever closer to the tall plume. The sun was starting to drop just behind the mountains now and darkness approached.

"We'll have to be quick." Said Celestia.

"Or I can just make the moon extra bright." Replied Luna.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you could do that." She admitted.

They finally reached a large clearing of trees. From overhead they could see a faint orange glow down beneath the tree canopy.

"Looks like we won't need the light anyways." Celestia commented.

They dipped beneath the surface of branches, bobbing and weaving though the rough plumage of green leaves. The glow started to illuminate their faces, but they still couldn't make out the shape of the object. After descending past one last cluster of branches they reached the forest floor. The glowing object resided just over a small cliff.

Hesitantly, the two fillies approached the cliff's edge and peered over. They had initially expected to see some kind of meteor or other large flaming object, but what they actually saw astounded them even more.

The flames surrounding the object began to die down, receding into nothing, and without warning the object started to sway up and down. The orange object was breathing and alive!

"Okay, Tia. We should definitely go back now." urged Luna.

"But we're sooo close." Whispered Celestia. "Just stay right behind me, I'm going in for a closer look."

"Umm… but… Tia… grr…" grumbled Luna. She agitatedly obeyed, staying in Celestia's immediate proximity.

They hopped down the cliff, gently falling by using their wings to slow their descent. Once they reached ground level the resituated themselves.

"Close enough?" pleaded Luna.

"Not even." Replied Celestia.

The white filly took each step as silently as possible, cautiously watching the object for any sudden movements.

The huge object, or creature as it appeared to be, was covered in vibrant orange scales. Celestia noted that the being's surface looked horribly burned. It had left an enormous crater and scar in the forest floor about fifty or so feet long, and the creature itself was only about ten feet in length. One last orange flames on its head sizzled out of existence.

The creature took in one large gulp of air and deeply exhaled. It had not yet noticed Celestia as she silently approached from behind.

Celestia knew in the back of her mind that this creature before them was a dragon. Its long and slender body fully spanned the length of the crater. Its tail was horribly burnt and fully unwound, revealing every scar from some kind of battle. The orange dragon's hide was terribly defaced as well, leaving pockets between scales that trickled blood and others that were singed from some intense flame.

The white filly noticed that the dragon's arms were clutched close to its chest.

"I…I think it's holding something." Celestia whispered.

"W-w-who's… there?" the dragon breathlessly whispered.

"I-it's a female." Said Celestia.

"P-please don't hurt me, whoever you are…" the dragon weakly pleaded. It pushed off the ground with one arm and flipped over onto its back. The female dragons' frame was sleek, athletic, and unusually thin. She lazily rolled her head on the ground to face the two sisters.

"Oh… it's just some ponies, thank goodness." She said. Her face was terribly maimed, leaving deep scars across her eyelids and mouth. Her calm, feminine, yellow eyes entranced the ponies. In one bloody and burnt arm she held something red.

"What happened to you, dragon?" asked Celestia concernedly.

"I…" she paused, "I… was taking back my egg from some of my kind. They took it from me and said I was too young to be a mother."

"What? That's ridiculous! How could they?" shouted Celestia. Her blood began to boil with rage.

"It doesn't matter…now." said the dragoness. "My only regret now is that I won't be able to raise my son." She unopened her clenched hand and gently placed the large red egg on the ground in front of Celestia and Luna.

"W-wait, how do you know it's a boy." Asked Luna.

"Mother dragons always know. We take great pride in raising our own, it is what we live for. I'm just sad now… knowing I'll never see him grow up."

The dragoness wheezed, struggling to catch her breath. However it seemed that with each passing second, her death was approaching.

"Well…" said Celestia, "I think you are a great mother, young or not. No naïve, neglectful parent would go through the sacrifice you have made today."

The dragoness coughed and wheezed once more.

"cough*…I'm glad to hear that pony." A tear started to stream down her scarred and bloody face. "I have a favor to ask, ponies." She paused.

"Yes, a-anything." Replied Celestia.

"Could you please raise him for me, at least until he can be with his own kind?" Her breath was baited, always seeming to be just out of reach.

"O-of course we will." Celestia answered.

"Wait Tia!?" cried Luna. "Just how are we supposed to take care of a dragon, Tia?!" she fumed.

"Luna, we control the sun, and the moon, and everything else in Equestria. I think we can handle a dragon after all of that. Besides I'll take care of him myself, personally."

"But…Tia…" pleaded Luna.

"It's settled." Celestia said to the dragoness. "We'll take care of your son."

"Oh…" the dragon wheezed. "Thank you so much, pony. You're my savior…cough*… I think it's about my time…now…to leave this world…" Her eyes started to flutter, struggling to stay open.

"W-wait!" yelled Celestia. "What's his name?"

"He will take his name from his father…Kall…and…. the name passed down through my lineage…Hroth. That means his name shall be forever… Hroth von'Kall."

She flipped her head skyward, as she struggled to catch her breath one final time. She held a claw to her chest, clinging onto life for as long as possible.

Celestia felt her heart wrench at the sight or her dying, it was unbearable to watch.

"I'm sorry my son…"

With a final cough she stopped.

There was no more baited breath, no more wheezing.

Her eyes fluttered once more before calmly shutting. Her brutally maimed face was gently taken over with peace, and a final, long deserved serenity. Her clawed hand that she gripped her chest with fell to the wayside, coming to rest down next to her red egg. Her head slowly back over to face the sisters, her eyes shut and her mouth only slightly open in a very natural pose. The stream of tears that had run down the dragon's face had left a wet trail down the sides of her cheeks.

The sight caused the sisters to tear up as well.

"I…feel so sorry for her Luna…" Celestia's voice was barely above a whisper.

"As do I, Tia…" Luna quietly replied.

"What do you think we should do with the egg?"

"I…I'm not sure."

They didn't have to wait long, as the red egg about two feet in height began to wobble around. It fell on its side and began to roll around in place.

"Tia, we should help the baby." Suggested Luna.

"You're right. I'm gonna try something." Little Celestia said.

She positioned herself to launch a spell with her horn, planting her feet firmly on the soil. When a yellow wisp of magic engulfed her horn she fired a bolt which struck the egg on its side. The sudden impact caused the egg to violently spin and a singular crack started to form at its peak. After spinning for a few seconds, the egg gradually came to a stop.

The crack on its surface began to shift and weaken. One roughly circular piece of shell gave way and a tiny, red, scaly mouth protruded outwards. The mouth opened slightly, taking in a few small fleeting breaths. A little, pink, forked tongue tasted the air a few times.

"Aww…" said Celestia, "It's so cute."

The baby proceeded to pry one petite hand though the crack and dug in its miniscule claws into the outer shell. The reptile continued to weakly poke and prod the red encasing, until suddenly it broke into two halves. The blood-red reptile, startled from the sudden break flailed its arms and legs about as it collided with the dirt. It's yellow, membranous wings fell to the side uncontrollably, and its mouth flung open in distress.

"Hey little guy…" Celestia cooed.

Not quite sure what was going on the, baby dragon looked about with piercing yellow eyes, until it fell upon the similar looking dragon lying dead in the earth next to him. The tiny reptile slowly inched his way over to her, crawling on all fours. He had completely ignored the pony sisters.

He nudged the larger dragon's opened clawed hand with the top his ridged head, but it did not move. Her arm just limply dangled off to the side. The little red dragon, not giving up, continued to move up the length of her body, eventually reaching her open mouth. He nudged his head once again on the underside of chin, but just as before her jaw hung down loosely.

"This is breaking my heart Luna…" Celestia whispered. She could feel a lump in her throat welling up inside.

"I…I know what you mean." Her sister replied.

Defeated, the dragon lowered his head, looking at the ground. Then, with one final gesture, he reached out his tiny arms as far across his mother's face as he possibly could, and rested his head against hers. While maintaining his loving hug, he gave a low throaty grumble.

"Mrrr…rrrr…" the little dragon sounded.

His mother did not respond.

"Luna, I promised I'd take care of him, and I wholeheartedly will, for as long as I live." The white filly assured.

"And I won't stop you, Tia." Said Luna.

Celestia gave her a tearful smile, finally feeling like she had a greater purpose.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"NOOOO PLEASE KALL!" screamed the princess.

The colossal beast held Celestia firmly in place with his left hand and began to chant in some unknown dialect. He raised his right clawed hand which began to envelope itself in green energy he conjured from within his body. His fingers wrapped tightly around her back and his palm pressed against her sternum. Ever so slowly he lowered his open right hand, engulfed in the green energy, down onto her head.

Celestia could feel something in her head being forcibly vacuumed out, and she knew what it was. After what felt like an eternity the object was finally released from her cranium. When the beast removed his palm he held within it a glowing white sphere.

"You don't have to do this Kall…" Celestia groaned.

"Yes, I do." the beast grumbled.

He tightly clenched his hand into a fist, putting enormous pressure on the orb. The sphere began to crack under the stress.

BOOM!

The orb disintegrated into bright luminescent shards which were wildly flung about.

"We have to do something!" yelled Wallace. A blue hoof held him back from running off. He was surprised to see it was Nova.

"No, stay here." Nova replied calmly.

"But she's going to die…" Wallace desperately replied.

"She is in no danger, my human friend. But if you aggravate the dragon, he might hurt her."

It was hard for Wallace to watch this. Over the past few days he had felt much more attached to the princess, and now with her screams echoing through his mind he was extremely confused at his friends' lack of worry.

"Please Wally…" said Pinkie, "…just stay here with me." Her normal upbeat tone was now full of sorrow.

"Grr… fine." Wallace grumbled.

The red monster unfurled his hand, showing them all one sparkling particle that looked like a distant star.

"Where is the other one, queen?!" the monster yelled.

"It's long gone Kall…" muttered Celestia, "I gave it up a long time ago…"

The monster reared his head in disgust. "Lying wench! Very well… since you are so willing to throw away your gifts then I shall simply take this one from you as well."

He squeezed his hand around the star and crushed it bitterly. There was a miniscule explosion that he contained within his palm. The sound of the blast was muffled, but Celestia felt the effects immediately.

"No…" she weakly coughed.

When the star from her orb was broken her hair began to shorten and lose it rainbow of colors. The blue and green within her hair began to fade. The horn on her head began to convert into her yellow energy and slowly fade away. Celestia could feel her wings begin to go through the same process, fading away into nothingness.

"How does it feel to be so helpless, queen. To have all your power taken away? Now imagine how my entire species has felt for centuries, always living in the shadow of beings who claim to be more superior they were."

All four of her legs shrank, as did her neck and spine, leaving her only about half as tall as her original form. Her old pink mane now dangled loosely in her face as she began to slip out of consciousness.

"Now you are no better than your common folk." Said the dragon.

Leaving her completely defenseless, the beast released his hold on the white pony. Almost instinctively Wallace reached out his left hand, surging with his power. The energy from his hand shot forth at lightning speed, gently cradling the weakened princess.

Wallace began to reel her in using mind, as she dangled limply in midair.

"You monster!" cried Twilight. "What have you done to her?!"

"It is not of your concern, little one. I am going to the Well of your power and will claim it for myself, and for all dragons. Which reminds me…"

The red giant stuck out a clawed finger towards Twilight, pointing at something behind her.

"You! Dragon!" the monster yelled.

"M-m-me?" asked Spike.

"Yes you! Come over here now, or I will burn this city to the ground!"

Spike carefully hopped off of Twilight's back and starting walking towards the beast hesitantly.

"Wait Spike!" called Twilight. "Don't go. Please."

He quickly glanced back at her. "I'm sorry Twilight, I don't really have a choice."

The ponies helplessly watched as Spike walked the short distance over to his towering superior. The red dragon leaned his head down, stretching out his neck to inspect the small purple dragon. When Spike was just barely underneath him, he stopped and stared right back up at him. He couldn't move now even if he wanted to. He was petrified at the king's immense presence.

"Why do you live with them?" he asked through rows of serrated teeth.

"T-t-they raised me…" he stammered.

"I was raised by ponies as well, and now look where we stand." he grumbled.

"B-b-but you were—"

"I was nothing!" the beast yelled. "At least I was nothing with them. But the queen… she has denied us our rightful place as the apex species of this world. Think about it, dragon. Do they really treat you as an equal?!"

Spike couldn't help but think about all the times where he was cast aside, when other's priorities took precedence over his, when the ponies he cared about barely even gave him notice. He turned around and faced the group of ponies with the king glaring at them from overhead.

"Do you really see a future with them?" the king asked.

Spike locked eyes with Twilight, wanting to say something that just wouldn't come out. Then he glanced at Rarity, thinking about every time he tried to impress her and help her out, never getting any recognition in return.

"Is this the life you want to live? Come with us and you shall be royalty yourself. Anything you can desire would be yours at a moment's notice."

A tear began to roll down Twilight's cheek as Spike turned back to the great red beast.

"L-let's go." The little dragon responded.

Instantaneously the king swept him up in his grasp. He carefully placed Spike over his shoulder as he held on for dear life.

"Another loss for the ponies." The king bellowed. "It's a shame you only treat your own kind with any decency. Otherwise you could've saved yourselves a great deal of misery. Let us be off!"

With a great burst of downward thrust the king took the skies. His subordinates took the cue and followed. With two powerful flaps each they began to ascend into the sky.

"NOOO SPIKKKKE!" screamed Twilight.

Wallace was gritting his teeth in anger. "Okay so now can we kill them?!" he asked Nova.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Greyl! Allele! Do it now!" the king demanded.

His subordinates began to dive back down towards Ponyville. They synchronously split into two directions, each taking one half of the city. Allele felt an emerald-green flame building in her chest while Greyl prepared a similar attack of red flames. With one fell swoop they unleashed a hell-storm upon several buildings, consuming their straw and wooden roofs with twisting and swirling multi-colored fire. The ponies trapped inside the buildings began to panic as their homes and livelihoods were quickly devoured by the flames. One by one the ponies began to empty into the streets in a frenzied panic.

The dragons, satisfied at their handiwork, began to nose upward and ascend into the sky once more.

"Excellent!" the king shouted, "Let them try to deal with us now, with their city falling to pieces."

His officers caught up to him in the sky, now hundreds of feet up.

Spike looked down from his perch with sheer horror in his eyes. There was nothing he could do now. He could not jump off now for the fall would surely kill him, and any attempt to stop them would mean certain death as well.

"Please don't hurt anymore of them!" Spike pleaded.

The king snorted. "Not today, little dragon. We have more important matters to attend to now."

Below Spike could see ponies running in panic, flames blazing out of control, plumes of smoke reaching for the sky. Worst of all he could hear the most terrible screaming…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wallace brought the now transformed Celestia down to the ground, cocooned within his yellow magical power. Everyone formed a circle around her as she slowly began to awake. Twilight put her hoof under Celestia's head, giving her some much needed support. She was now no taller or larger than any of Twilight's other friends.

"Princess Celestia, please say something…" begged Twilight.

"Yeah, please tell us to go kick those dragons' asses." Wallace asserted.

"This isn't the time for jokes man." Jiggs said angrily.

"Who's joking?! Packies' dead!"

The sound of yelling stirred the princess awake. Celestia weakly opened her eyes and smiled, glad to see everyone was still okay.

"Twilight… I…"

No one could hear her quite clearly enough. It was an immense task just to speak those few words.

"What should we do now?" Twilight asked.

"Just…" she paused when saw something above. She began to open her pink eyes fully at the dreadful sight.

Then, they heard it.

SWOOOOSH!

The group turned in horror to see what Celestia was looking at, but it was already too late. Two opposite ends of Ponyville now had terrible fires raging. The east end was being consumed in scarlet red flames while the west end was taken over by bright, radiant, green flames.

"Shit! They'll pay for that!" yelled Wallace. The golden headband on his head began to vibrate and surge with power. The violet gemstone began to flicker and sparkle as his rage grew.

"No Wallace!" Celestia called harshly. He stopped in his tracks when he heard his name.

"Please… don't chase after them… just… help the citizens." She sounded so breathless after her ordeal.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" a female pony screamed at the top of her lungs.

"She's right Wally," Pinkie said, "We have to help everypony."

"GRR… alright." He grumbled.

"W-we should split up." Suggested Applejack.

"AJ's got the right idea." Said Twilight in a hurry. "Nova, take Wallace, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie to the east side of town and I'll take everyone else to the west side. We have to hurry, so move!"

Rarity turned and started running. "Well you heard the lady! Let's go!" she shouted.

Pinkie Pie wrapped a hoof around Wallace's arm and pulled on him. He wasn't exactly thrilled about letting the dragons go, but at this point he had no choice. Nova, knowing there was nothing to argue, began to give pursuit as well.

Twilight leaned back down to Celestia. "We're going to save them Princess…"

"I know you will… Twilight." she said through labored breathing, "Just leave me, I'll catch up…"

Seeing her teacher look so different and so weak filled Twilight with such confusing emotions, but she had to turn to the task at hand.

"As you say." She hesitantly lowered Celestia's back down to the ground, turning back to Applejack and Jiggs.

"I'm so sorry he's gone, Twilight." Applejack said.

"AAHHHHHIIIIEEEE!" came another scream off in the distance.

The unicorn had another tear run down her face. "I'll worry about Spike later… but for right now we have bigger problems to deal with. Let's go!"

Jiggs began to bolt for one of the towering plumes of greyish black smoke. "Way ahead of ya!" he yelled.

Twilight and Applejack began to give chase after him, feeling their heartbeats race.

"Do you have a plan Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Not really…huff*… just save as many as I can. And…huff*… it looks like he has…huff*… the same idea."

Jiggs was quickly speeding off ahead of them, already doubling his distance between. His oily black hair was being whisked behind his face. Each second his velocity increased and shoes dug further into the ground with each powerful thrust.

He turned a corner on a dime and Twilight lost sight of him.

"We… huff*… have to hurry!" yelled Twilight.

"You're…huff*… tellin' me!" Applejack replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deep in the woods there came a faint scream.

"Eeeeee…"

Rainbow Dash was inspecting a charred crater which still had a few wisps of smoke wafting up gently into the air. At the sound of the scream she jerked her head.

"Hey! Any of you guys hear that?!" she called.

"Hear what?!" A male voice called back.

"I heard a scream, Azure!" Rainbow yelled back.

She saw a grey figure behind a maze of evergreen trees rise up and approach her direction. The silhouette weaved in and out of obstacles before flying right over her. It was Azure.

The grey Pegasus stopped midflight at the sight of Rainbow and began to descend to the forest floor. His sky blue mane trailed behind him on the way down.

"I'm sorry, you said you heard something?" he asked.

"Yeah, it sounded like some sort of scream." She replied.

"Well, Astral's gone pretty deep into the woods, so let's go check it out. It might take too long to go get him."

"Okay, sure." She responded hesitantly.

With two powerful thrusts they both started to soar upwards. The layer of branches began to thicken as they ascended but they dodged accordingly. After climbing rising though each successive layer of foliage they came closer to the top canopy. With one final burst they broke through the tree line and turned northward.

The sight immediately crushed Rainbow's heart.

"NOO! There's a fire in Ponyville!"

She didn't want to believe it, but the mountain of smoke rising over her beloved town told the whole story.

"What do we do?!" she cried.

Azure sternly took her hoof in his, which caught her attention.

She looked up at him through teary magenta eyes, feeling her cheeks redden.

"How long can you maintain supersonic speed?" he asked calmly.

"I-I don't know…" she stammered, "…only about a minute or two I guess."

"Then start helping everypony in town." He ordered. "I'm going to Cloudesdale to get everyone. We'll start making a storm cloud."

He broke his grip and began to fly off, when she stopped him. She grasped his hoof tightly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"J-j-just…please hurry back." She squealed weakly.

He smiled confidently. "As the fastest Royal knight in Equestria, I promise I'll hurry, with everything I have."

Rainbow felt her heart start to rise ever so slightly.

"Just start helping, do anything you can, and above all be brave." He said.

Rainbow sniffled behind some tears as she let go of him. "Okay…I'll be brave."

She began to crack a weak smile.

"I'll be back in a flash." He assured her.

Rainbow had no idea how true those words would prove to be. He took off higher into the air, aiming for their hometown far away in the sky. A trail of blue matching the color of his tail began to follow behind him as he increased his speed exponentially, second by second.

Rainbow watched his forelegs pull in close to his body and his wings tuck back further with each flap. She knew that stance all too well.

BOOOOOM!

Azure broke the sonic wall, leaving behind a sapphire blue shockwave that twinkled in the sunlight. The wall of air he created plowed into Ponyville's surrounding atmosphere, making the plumes of smoke waver in the wind. Rainbow felt a small percussive burst hit her in the chest, knocking her back slightly and making her ears ring.

"It's weird being on the outside looking in." she noted. "But no time to think about it now!"

Without taking another second to dawdle around, she stormed off for Ponyville's residential district, which was engulfed in terrible green flame.