Snakeasaur Saga - The Quest For Harmony

CHAPTER III: Judgement of the Night

"I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares." ― Mark Z. Danielewski

The night was an marvelous yet scary time.

Since the dawn of civilization, the night has always been viewed as a time of beauty, mystery, and fear; unlike the day, which just blazed forth in a blinding light and never changed, the night saw many changes throughout the universe, and revealed it all for the mortal world to see and enjoy. It's darkness was both a beauty and a terror: the beautiful moon and countless stars were a wonder of the natural world, and changed shape and position with the coming and going of the seasons, but at the same time it's darkened, icy-cold depths struck fear of the unknown into the hearts of ponies everywhere, and thus many tended to avoid these hidden dangers and stay within the warmth and safety of their homes.

What was best known and loved about the night was that it was a time of rest; whereas one toiled and slaved under the burning, blinding, and unforgiving sun, ponies all over Equestria could find much needed comfort and sleep at the end of the day, under the gentle, soothing glow of the kindly moon and stars. Pony-kind may not care much for the darkened nights, but they loved what it had to offer in that regard, for it was a time when they could escape from the torments and stress of the day, and find blissful peace in dreams.

But even then one could find trouble even in sleep: when the fears and troubles of the living world leak into their subconscious minds, turning pleasant dreams into nightmares, thus destroying their hopes for freedom in sleep.

Thankfully for the ponies of Equestria, the one responsible for banishing nightmares had returned after a thousand years, and was ready to get back to work...

...didn't mean she wasn't as nervous as heck for it, though.

Up within her room in Canterlot, the younger of the two alicorn sisters that had ruled Equestria for over three thousand years was pacing back and forth across the fluffy, navy-blue carpet in a nervous titter; it had only been a few days since her magic had returned to her. As shown through her coat and mane, which had regained its darker shade and ethereal flow, the Princess of the Night had regained her rightful power as the ruler of her realm. And even after almost a whole year of preparation, for this one single day...she couldn't be more anxious, 'cause tonight, for the first time in over a thousand years, she would re-assume her old duties as the Dream Walker, and attempt to re-connect with Equestria and its subjects.

Her nervous pacing was interrupted by a knocking on the door; it was opened a crack right after, allowing her sister of the day to peak her head in. "Luna...?" Celestia asked in a whisper, before spotting her standing in the middle of the room. "Oh, you haven't started yet..." She said aloud, pushing the door open and stepping inside the room, approaching her. "Just checking one last time before bed. Why haven't you begun dream tending?"

Luna sighed, casting her gaze to the floor. "You make it sound like such a surprise." She stated humorlessly.

"Only because you allow it to be." Celestia stated, wrapping a comforting wing around her shoulder.

Luna scoffed, turning away from her sister. "Part of me wonders if they'll even know me as who I was back then." She stated simply. "Another part hopes that they never do."

"Luna, it's been long enough already. You've been hiding up here for more than two years; I've given you a chance to rest and stay away from your duties to the kingdom so you could adjust to the modern age, but now most ponies are beginning to doubt you've even exist, let alone returned from the moon." Celestia stated flatly, though the concern and warmth didn't leave her voice. "Equestria needs its Dream Guider again; not since your banishment have the ponies had anypony to chase away the nightmares."

Celestia slid her wing off her sister, folding it to her side as she got up, turning to leave the room. She paused in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder. "I'll let you decide what to do, and if you do, I can only say good luck." She said apologetically. "Good night, sister."

"Rest well, Tia." Luna murmured, waving a hoof. The door closed soon after as Celestia left, leaving her alone in the preferred darkness of her room.

The younger alicorn looked torn. It had, indeed, been more than two years since that night; the night when, after one thousand long and painful years of exile within her own celestial orb, the long lost princess of Equestria's past had return to the modern world, still trapped within the monstrous form that she had become after giving into the darkness...and the same night when those young mares became the new bearers of the elements and freed her from the clutches of said darkness, destroying the malevolent being known as Nightmare Moon and freed her.

She would be eternally grateful to that young lavender unicorn...Twilight Sparkle, she believed it was...and her herd for releasing her from her imprisonment, and allowing her to reunite with her sister after all this time, though unfortunately, she never got to personally thank them, for no sooner did Celestia announce to that small village that the unicorn (who turned out to be her sister's student) would be staying with the other bearers to learn more about the Elements was Luna whisked away to her sister's new castle, within the mountain-side city of Canterlot, where she and her sister spent an entire week alone, mending the bonds that had been broken over a thousand years ago. After every last tear of sorrow and joy had been shed, Celestia reintroduced her sister as the second princess of Equestria, and within a day's time, all of Equestria knew of their new princess, though Celestia allowed her sister a good deal of time to readjust to the modern world.

A thoughtful smile formed on her lips. It had been two whole years since that decision, which Luna used to adjust to the modern world and all its changes...well, most of its changes.

One such change she accepted was that giant magical mirror with the small black box where one could engage in fantasy adventures brought to life for entertainment. She had spent many nights slaying dragons and seeking out scrolls, as well as mining diamonds and fighting creepers; quite a delightful invention, indeed, and the name of StarPrincess1000 had become quite the legend amongst the gaming world called the 'internet'.

Another change she enjoyed was how delicious food had gotten over the years; those 'Oreo' cookies had quickly become her favorite treat, though she feared for her figure from time to time. Even though she would never say it out loud, it was quite clear just how much a thousand years of tasty, unhealthy foods had been doing to her sister's flanks.

But then there were the negative changes; things the world would've been better off with if they had never seen the light of day. She didn't care how 'convenient' it was. That monstrously-loud toilet bowl was Evil! Evil, she say! She nearly had a heart attack the first time she used it, roaring and gurgling like a ferocious beast under her posterior.

And don't even get her started on the Microwave Incident...

Anyway, moving on from that topic, the source of her anxiousness was clear enough, as her sister mentioned; it had been two years since her return...two whole years of trying to adjust to a world that she did not belong in anymore...so now it was enough. Tonight was the night: the night for her to stop sitting around on her black, moon-marked rump and return to her duties as the Princess of the Night. And by that it meant it was time for her to return to her duties as Dream Guider.

A Dream Guider was a Dream Walker who was chosen by the royalty or divine power to use their gifts to help guide the overall population into safe slumber; to alter their dreams so that the nightmares they faced were banished from their minds, and to guide their dream so that they could find a way to face their daily fears. Understandably, some less noble hearts would use these gifts for their own darker gain or even amusement, so Celestia used her own power to prevent any but the chosen from doing this. Luna, being the princess of the night, naturally had this gift, and thus used them to guide her subjects in the same manner...

Now was a time the ponies needed this ability more than ever, for the village of Ponyville wasn't the only part of Equestria that had suffered the wrath of Discord during his brief escape; all of Equestria had felt his touch, and ponies everywhere were suffering from the effects, both physical and mental. They needed someone to ease their fears and let them find peace.

Question was: would she chase away the pony's nightmares...or just bring forth new ones?

Her actions as Nightmare Moon and the dread she had brought upon pony-kind had definitely caused a downfall in her popularity, to say the least; even to those who had forgotten the original legend, she was a monster who had arrived in Equestria after taking away their only-known protector and banishing the sun that they all depended on for life. It was only made worse when the scientists and philosophers of this age made the connections between her and the story of old, thus renewing the legend and views of the Nightmare to the world. Needless to say, she was not the most popular princess amongst the ponies.

Did she truly think they wanted the pony who nearly destroyed their world and supposedly gobbled up their foals for snacks entering their heads, the one place where they were suppose to be safe from her and her shadows?

Probably not.

...well, she wasn't going to find out just moping about the tower, was she?

Oh well, if she failed, she could always just go back to her adventures in the magic mirrors and black box; she needed something to do while waiting for Changeling: Isolation to finish downloading, anyway.

She stepped out onto the balcony of her room, taking in a breath of the cool, crisp night air. The seasons were changing, that was for sure. The heat and light of summer had passed weeks ago, and autumn was well on its way, the air already cold and crisp, and the days growing shorter. Even now, in the dark of night, she could see the trees in the courtyard and out to the lands beyond; the leaves were still green, but that green was slowly turning into shades of gold. The annual Running of the Leaves event wasn't far away now.

Her gaze hardened with determination and a bit of uncertainly, she fired up her magic and entered the dream realm; her entire body rippled with a dark blue energy as she seemed to phase out of existence, re-materializing in the endless space of Equestria's collective subconscious, her hooves touching down on the endless stream of stars beneath her.

She smiled; it had been so long since she felt this...

...it was grand.

She then set forward, spreading her bat-like wings and taking off through the realm of the subconscious. Before her, she could see the world of Equestria, as if its endless miles were all compressed into one realm; throughout it all, she could see thousands upon thousands of stars, each unique in their own ways, just as the ponies whose sleeping minds they represented.

"Prepare thyself for peaceful nights, my little ponies!" Luna announced to the world before her as she flew forward. "Your Princess of the Night has returned!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!"

Luna quickly lifted a hoof, trying to calm her first patient down. "Nay, young mare! T'is a misunderstanding!" She pleaded to the mare who was hiding behind the hockey mask-wearing stallion with the knife that she had just been trying to flee from seconds ago. "We are we to aid thee in thy inner fears!"

"SHE'S GOING TO EAT MEEEEEEEE!" The mare screamed, latching a death-grip around the neck of the knife-wielding maniac, who began wheezing for breath. "THE HORROR! THE HORROR!"

"HEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPP! I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN!" The stallion wailed, desperately scaling the giant spider web to escape from her.

"Would thou calm thy arse?!" Luna snapped, a vein of irritation sprouting on her head; even the giant dream tarantula was giving them a weird look. "You act as though Tirek is on your tail!"

The pony gasped in horror. "TIREK'S HERE TOO?! WHY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE BANISHED TO THE MOON!" The young, brown-furred coat wailed in a whiny voice, clinging desperately to the large, green, four legged Creeper.

"Oh, for the love of my sister..." Luna snarled, eyes bursting into white light. *"...WOULD THOU JUST CEASE THY RAMBLINGS ALREADY?!"***

This only made the colt wail harder, thoroughly traumatized for life. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"NIGHTMARE MOON!"

"WE ARE NOT!"

"I'M GONNA DIE!"

"DO NOT TEMPT US!"

"I WANNA LIVE!"

"THEN YOU WILL STOP THIS RACKET!"

"IN THE NAME OF FAUST, SOMEPONY SAVE MEEEEE!"

"*Gasp!* *HOW DARE THEE ABUSE AND INSULT OUR MOTHER'S NAME!"***

"WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!"

"I'M GONNA DIE!"

"WHERE ARE THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY WHEN YOU NEED THEM?!"

"NIGHTMARE MOOOOOON!"

"THOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF BUCKING IDIOTS!"

The counter shook as an exhausted alicorn slammed her head into it, groaning in mental and possibly physical pain; the chalice of milk she held with a hoof jiggled, spilling a bit of the contents onto the counter. Wearily, she lifted her face long enough to grab an oreo off her plate and, after dipping it in her milk a few times, popped it into her mouth, face-planting against the polished metal once more, moaning pitifully as she chewed.

"Wow. Tough night on the job?" The sandy-blonde unicorn stallion asked as he wiped the counter with a rag.

Luna lifted her head so that her chin rested on the counter, looking up at the stallion with sad, weary eyes. "The torments of this night were amongst the worst in our life, Sir Donut Joe." She murmured like a heart-broken filly. "Had we not know better, we would've believed Discord had never been imprisoned to begin with."

"That bad, huh?" Donut Joe asked again, looking sympathetic; he used his magic to place a fresh plate of oreos in front of her, taking the older plate away. "Well, what did you expect? No offense, but ya di'n't make a good first impr'ssion when ya got back after a thousand years. One. Thousand. Years for Equestria to forget the monster and for you to get your wits back, and what do you do when you return?"

Luna huffed bitterly, pouting like a spoiled foal. "T'wasn't all our fault." She whined. "We were still under the control of the Nightmare Forces. Did you really think that, after a millennium of isolation, We in our right mind would've want to entice another sentence right after?"

The stallion shrugged. "Discord certainly wanted to."

"We are not Discord." The alicorn stated sternly, though she didn't have much heart to those words. "Though as far as our subjects are concerned, we may as well be."

"I don't think so." Donut Joe stated, drying out a washed glass with a rag. "Discord did a number on all of Equestria, and everypony's still dealin' with some personal issue that bastard forced them through; in the last three days, I've already had more than two hundred customers each coming in to drown their sorrow in sugar and caffeine. You'd be surprised just how much sugar one pony can take before passing out." He stated absentmindedly, before continuing. "All of Equestria's goin' through Tartarus at the moment, dealin' with all this chaos crap...and nopony's seen a Dream Walker like ya since you were banished; my guess' that everypony thought ya were just another part of their nightmares and not the real thing."

Luna mulled over this quietly, though didn't seem any happier with this theory. "If that is so, then why did they refer to me in my true form as Nightmare Moon?"

"Perhaps they haven't gotten to know Princess Luna yet?" He offered back. "Ever since ya got back ya locked yourself away in yer tower and refused to show the world just how much ya changed. How are they suppose to know ya changed if ya haven't proven it otherwise?"

"I think that's to be obvious during my first visit to Ponyville, when I had undergone an entire bodily transformation..." Luna muttered, stuffing another Oreo into her mouth afterwards.

Donut Joe merely shook his head in exasperation...until an idea crossed his mind. "Well, you haven't tried visit Ponyville since you got back..."

Luna's thestral-like ears perked up at this, realization slapping her across the face like a wet rag; the elemental bearers...of course! They were the ones who had released her from the dark forces to begin with! And Celestia's Student...the one named Twilight...she nearly face-hoofed herself toward her own stupidity.

"Has it truly been that obvious this whole time?" She asked herself and Donut Joe aloud. "T'is been in front of our royal face this whole time!"

"Uhhhhh...Luna? Ya okay?"

"Of course we are 'okay'!" The alicorn proclaimed, grabbing his cheeks with her hooves and pulling him across the counter. "Don't thou see, Knight of the Baked Goods Tavern? My sister's student, Lady Twilight of the Sparkle House, is the bearer of the very Element of Magic and Friendship itself! That, and she's one of the most learned ponies in Equestria's history!" He held him tight with one arm, waving the other out toward some grand horizon. "If anypony amongst our subjects can teach us how to become loved and adored once more, t'is her and her herd of element bearers: the very avatars of the tree itself!"

The stallion wheezed for breath, struggling to wriggle out of her iron-like grasp. "T-That was...kinda...the...idea..." He choked, turning blue in the face.

"T'is the grandest of ideas!" Luna stated as she released her captive, allowing him to fall back behind the counter, wheezing for breath. "We have yet to directly thank our current bearers for their courage in saving us from our darkness. Besides, we believe it's high time we met young Lady Sparkle; our sister speaks very highly of her."

Donut Joe chuckled as he pulled himself up off the floor, rubbing his throat with a hoof. "Yeah, I can see that happenin'." He stated. "Twilight's a good kid. I know; use to come around to my store sometimes during her late night studies. If anypony's gonna like you, it's her."

Luna hummed in approval. "Then I believe it's settled, then." She stated, trotting toward the partially-transparent doors of the dream-state version of Canterlot's Donut Emporium. "I am off to Ponyville, to meet with my sister's student and my savior!" Before she left, though, she glanced back over her wing. "We thank thee for your service and advice, Sir Joe of the Dounts!" She said earnestly. "May your sugary treats never spoil!"

And without another word, the princess of the night returned to the collective dream realm, allowing the stallion to return to whatever dream he was having before.

Luna was practically skipping with glee as she soared amongst the stars toward Ponyville's subconsciousness; she had heard many things about the young Twilight Sparkle from her sister, who had nothing but good to say about her. It would be good to finally meet the predecessors of the Elements of Harmony, or at least their leader.

Hmmmm...perhaps she could even give young Lady Twilight some tips on wielding them in dire-

Something was wrong.

In the Dream Realm, every single living soul in Equestria was represented as a single star, burning as beautifully and bright as their strength and will were; if someone was of strong will and inner strength, then the star burned bright, while those of low spirits and deep fear were small and wavering.

And before her, in the galaxy that represent the population of Ponyville...there were a lot of small, wavering stars.

Frowning in concern, Luna quickly fired up her magic and phased back into the physical realm, stepping out onto the distant hilltop that overlooked the whole of Ponyville...but even she was not prepared for the sight before her: the town and the Everfree near it's border were in ruins. It was as if an entire hurricane had torn through! The entire south-west side of Ponyville facing the forest, including most of the once beautiful Sweet Apple Acres, had been completely destroyed, the trees and buildings smashed or torn apart in horrific ways. Many buildings on the other side of town had been damaged or even destroyed by branches, trees, and even giant boulders that had been thrown over them. Luckily most of the market and more important buildings were set up in the north or east side, and therefore only suffered slight damage, but there would be many ponies sleeping in the streets now...including poor Dame Applejack of Honesty...

And the ponies. She could see many tents and bonfires set up through the middle and inner circles, away from the forest-side, so at least they were still capable enough to tend to themselves...but there was no way nopony had gotten out of this unscathed, if the tents with the red crosses were anything to judge by. She could spot ponies near those tents, laying about on cots or blankets, being tended by others...she could only pray that nopony was killed...

...but what was worst of all was the fear.

The very air surrounding the town was thick with the emotion: tense, deep-rooted, primal fear. Luna recognized it anywhere: It was the kind of fear that could only be felt by a helpless animal, who was in the territory of the alpha predator, but couldn't see it, and couldn't fight back in anyway. Everypony of Ponyville who wasn't unconscious was full of it...fretting...trembling...waiting...waiting for those gleaming eyes to appear...and for those sharp teeth to strike.

By Faust's mane...what in the name of Equestria happened here?

And how in Tartarus did she and Celestia sleep through it?

Luna frowned in determination; surely the Elements of Harmony, if not injured, would be investigating this case. She would aid them in this quest, and find this...predator that everypony was terrified of.

She spread her wings and took off, re-entering the dream realm. In the endless cosmos, she searched for any of the bearer's Soul Stars: the stars that burned with the power of the Elements of Harmony, and therefore would stand out anywhere...but...she couldn't see them. They were nowhere in Ponyville...perhaps they had already left to find the source of this strange phenomenon? She hoped she wasn't too lat-

There they were! She spotted them: a group of stars that seemed to burn brighter than the others, with the different colors of the rainbow. They were just leaving the Everfree Forest, thankfully in good health...but something was...

Her heart leapt in her mouth: there were only five of them.

One of them was missing.

She quickly stepped out of the Dream Realm, just in time to see them exiting the forest. All five ponies were dirty, battered, and bruised, looking as if they had just gone through a war, both physically and mentally: the rainbow-maned pegasus was arguing to the others, pacing back and forth in the air with anxiousness, as if she wanted to just take off into the distance, while the others just trudged along tiredly.

"...just walking away while she's staying with that monster?!" She shouted angrily, landing on the ground in front of them and stopping the group. "I say we go back and blast that jerk with the Elements and get Twilight outta there!"

"Wasn't bein' out-right attacked and scared half ta death good enuff fer ya, ya Zap-Appled dumb-bell?!" The pony Luna recognized as the Element of Honesty shouted back just as angrily. "Ya heard what he said; he'll kill us if anypony besides Pinkie and Tw'ahlight go back! And I'm not even sure the Elements would work on 'im!"

"So what; we just leave Twilight to die?!"

Applejack huffed in anger, stomping a hoof on the ground. "That's not it and ya know it! Look, I'm worried 'bout Twah'light as much as ya'll are. Heck, I'm scared ta death for her...but in case ya'll forgot, I've got other things to worry about! If ya wanna go and git yerself killed, be mah guess! But I've gotta family ta worry 'bout and a home to start rebuildin' to go runnin' off and gettin' myself burnt ta death!"

"She's not going to die!" The pink earth-pony snapped, from the sound of her tone for the hundredth's time. "Get a Clue, an Uno, a Scrabble, and possibly a touch of Twister! Spyro. Won't. Hurt. Twilight! He said so himself!"

"And you actually believe that freak?!" Rainbow Dash snarled angrily. "He's a dragon! A monster! His 'word's' as good as dirt!" She spat upon the ground for good measure, hate spreading across her face like a shadow. "You're the only one who can go back, so why didn't you-"

"Not gonna happen!" Pinkie Pie snapped. "If I go back, I make everything I told Twilight a big, fat lie! I'm not a lair, Dashie! And it would also make us look like we don't trust Spyro; how are we going to be his prophecy-buddies if he can't even trust us in return?"

Rainbow Dash didn't answer; she instead settled for grabbing onto the sides of her head and screaming in frustration. "GRRRAAAAAAUUGGHHHH! DON'T ANY OF YOU GET IT?! WE'RE NOT FRIENDS WITH IT! IT'S. A. DRAGOOOON!"

"What's this about a dragon?" Any further arguing was interrupted as Luna stepped forward, who had been listening with only mild-interest until the word 'Dragon' was spoken.

Rarity was the first to respond: "P-P-Princess Luna! This is an unexpecte-"

"EEEEEEEKKK! NIGHTMARE MOON!" Pinkie screamed in horror. "SHE'S COME TO EAT US AALLLL-"

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity exclaimed, swatting Pinkie slightly with her magic. "Honestly!" She then pulled Pinkie away, stepping forward herself. "*Ahem!* D-Do forgive her, your highness. She can be a bit questionable at times."

Luna merely huffed. "Do not fret. We are quite use to it by now." She grumbled under her breath.

Befor Rarity could speak, Rainbow Dash suddenly zoomed in, closing the distance between the two. "Awesome! Now we got the princesses!" She turned to Luna, getting close enough to touch snouts, much to Luna's discomfort. "We need your help: There's this really evil dragon in the everfree! He's got Twilight, attacked us, an-"

"LIAR, LIAR, SADDLE ON FIRE!" Pinkie Pie screamed, shoving the pegasus away and standing in her place. "Don't do anything, Black Snooty!" She pleaded. "Spyro's a nice dragon! It was only after Dashie attacked him that he got all scary and mean! Don't believe that lying liar-pants!"

"YOU'RE THE LIAR, YOU CANDY-EATING PUFFBALL!" Rainbow Dash shouted before trying to shove Pinkie out of the way. The earth pony wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she pushed. "That monster tried to kill us all!"

"You started it!" Pinkie growled as she pushed against her in return, the two struggling back and forth. "Spyro was really nice and friendly until you came in and tried to kick his brains out!"

"He was about to attack Twilight!"

"HE WAS NOT! I'M GETTING REALLY TIRED OF SAYING IT OVER AND OVER! ME! PINKIE! GETTING TIRED OF SAYING SOMETHING! YOU'VE GOT SERIOUS ISSUES, DASHIE!"

"YEAH, WELL...yo...you...YOUR GRANNY PIE EATS BROCCOLI!"

"*GAAAASP!* YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!"

With a flash of her horn, Luna encased the two bickering ponies in giant balls of a crystalline material, leaving only their faces exposed, before promptly picking them up and tossing them away; they sailed away a few dozen yards before crashing into some distance bushes. With an aggravated huff, she turned her attention to the remaining ponies. "Now, would thou be so kind as to tell us what in Tartarus is going on?!

Rarity shook her head, as if to clear it from the confusion. "Well, I'll keep it short. A few hours ago, this 'dragon' appeared in the ancient ruins of your old castle." She explained calmly. "I use the term dragon loosely, because...well...you should've seen it, your highness: it was like nothing I've ever seen before! It was...monstrous! It seemed okay at first; it got along just fine with Twilight and Pinkie, but then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy set it off, and..." She paused, shuddering at the memories of fire and thunder. "...it attacked us. It was terrifying!"

Luna listened with steeled resolve, her heart already hardening for battle. She and her sister had dealt with many dragons before, and each time they had successfully driven off each and every one. This would be no different...except that it would be only her this time around.

Applejack put a comforting hoof on the unicorn's back. "Yeah, it durn was..." She agreed. "...I thought it was gonna kill all'a us, but then it just went quiet, and told us to leave. We did, but...Twilight decided to stay behind with it. She believes that it's part of some ancient prophecy, and that the Elements of Harmony brought it here from anudder world."

Luna scoffed, her face wrinkling with disgust. "Preposterous!" She exclaimed. "Why in my mother's name would the Tree bring a monster like what you described into Equestria?"

The orange mare, however, only glared at her. "Why dont'cha ask yer sister?" She snapped, her voice full of bitter bite. "The one who wrote 'bout us in that damn book?"

Luna blinked. Celestia? Book? What were they talking about?

Rarity composed herself, wincing slightly as her movements agitated her shoulder bruise. "The dragon...Spyro, I think it called itself; he seemed okay with Twilight staying, but he said that if anyone else besides Pinkie tried to go back, he'd kill us." She said, looking up to Luna in pleading. "We can't go back to see if she's alright, and Pinkie refuses to because she doesn't want to break Twilight's or the dragon's trust. We don't want to fight it, but if you would be so kind...could you at least go and check on Twilight for us? It's a lot to ask, I know, but-"

"Consider it done." The alicorn assured her, a surprising bit of warmth slipping into her normally-stern tone. "We'll not let this beast harm a single hair of young Twilight's mane."

Rarity beamed. "You will? Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou-"

"Just be careful, ya hear?" Applejack cut in, pushing Rarity a bit to shut her up. The earth pony's face was dark with concern and doubt. "I know yer the princess, and that yer both tougher than anypony in Equestria...but after what I saw tonight, I ain't so sure that's the case anymore."

Luna frowned at her words.

But no explanation was given as she simply pulled her hat down and turned away. "Let's get going, ya'll." She muttered to the others. "We got a lot of stuff ta do before we can sleep."

"You can all stay at Carousel Boutique with Sweetie Belle and I until we fix up your homes." Rarity offered as she followed. Applejack smiled softly, nodding in thanks. "Now, let's see if we can break those two out of these crystals..."

Luna watched them go, slightly frustrated that she didn't get an answer, when her gaze met Fluttershy's, who had remained quiet during the entire conversation...and she nearly recoiled. The pegasus look absolutely crushed; her mane and tail were limp and dragging, and her body looked lifeless and almost robotic, as if the very life had been drained from it...but was worse of all were her eyes.

They were the eyes of a mare who had been broken, utterly and completely. Luna had seen those eyes many times before over the centuries: A great hero who had been brought down and crushed underfoot. A mother whose child had died in her hooves. A child who had seen the true face of darkness and lost all hope. And now, a pony who had seen the true face of power and fear, and despite her best efforts, had fallen before it.

They were the eyes of a broken soul. The eyes of true despair.

The two only stared at each other, neither saying anything; the normally shy and timid Fluttershy didn't so much as flinch at the sight of the former Nightmare Moon. She only stared at each, the fur of her cheeks wet and matted with tears that had run themselves dry, her face full of a 'dead' sort of sorrow and despair; if it wasn't for her slow, hollow breathing, most ponies would've mistaken her for a statue. It wasn't until Rarity came back and coaxingly guided Fluttershy away from the princess did she actually move, her movements slow and robotic. As they walked away, she almost missed the word whispered from the pegasus' lips.

"...coward..."

Luna could only stare after them in disbelief. She had learned of Fluttershy's nature through the letters her sister shared from Twilight, which spoke leagues of Fluttershy's shy and timid, yet sweet and lively nature. So kind...so loving...such a pure, innocent soul, now broken and beaten within an inch of its life, nothing more than a hollow shell of its former light.

A deep, cold ball of fury formed in her chest, as she glared toward the forest.

That monster will pay for this.

Spreading her wings, she took to the sky for her ancient home in the Everfree. As she flew above the burned canopy, her magic flowed from her horn down her body, forming out into separate pieces along her head, neck, chest, back, and legs. These blobs of sparkling magic aura formed and harden into black armor forged from an ancient metal lost of Equestria today, shaping itself into leg guards, a winged chest plate, neck plating, and a helmet, all resembling the armor she wore as Nightmare Moon. As her flowing mane was tied back at the base of her helmet, a large, double-sided sword formed by her side, with a navy-blue handle with wings for the hand-guards.

She glanced at the sword flying by her side, recalling the last time she had flown to war with this armor. Not since she and her sister faced against Sombra...

She put those thoughts away, steeling herself for the battle to come...but nothing could prepare her either for the sight that befell her the moment she arrived: the sight of the Ancient Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters...her old home, now transformed into this. At first glance at the now decimated, ash-covered ruins and the enormous, energized crystals that had formed about it, she briefly believed that Sombra HAD returned, but she realized that couldn't be it. The crystals themselves were much different than the ones Sombra created: these were unlike any she had seen before; smooth, glassy, glowing like giant stars fallen to the planet and blazing with energy, unlike the dark, black, rocky formations that sucked the life out of their surroundings that the dark unicorn was infamous for.

Yet, there was something strangely familiar about them.

'What in Equestria was Twilight thinking when she agreed to stay?!' Luna exclaimed mentally as she landed at the entrance of the ruins, the one that had been smashed opened by the beast, giving Luna a good estimate of its size as she passed through it. 'Did her encounter with Sahqoyol teach her nothing?!'

That was a decent point: certainly her little venture to the mountain and the red drake nesting there would've taught her better when it came to facing dragons...but apparently not, despite her letters describing the frightening encounter. Luna herself had been both horrified and outraged, demanding explanation from her sister: What was Celestia thinking, sending six normal teenage mares to confront a bucking dragon?! This was clearly a job for the Royal Equestrian Army, not a group of untrained, unarmed fillies! The current captain of the Canterlot Unicorn Guard was quite willing to agree, apparently being related to young Twilight herself. The fact that they were the Elements of Harmony made it even worse: if even just one of them had been killed by it, then the Elements would've been lost to oblivion once more, and who knew when they would return?

But as it turned out, Celestia's own hooves had been tied in the mess at the time: ever since the Elements had been unearthed and Nightmare Moon defeated, the Court of Canterlot had been in an uproar; the sun alicorn had nearly been driven crazy by the outrageous complaints what passed as Equestria's 'Government' had been raising. It was all the same: 'What would these bearers do to us?' 'Why didn't the Elements choose someone of 'gifted lineage'?' 'What will these commoners do with them?' 'What will happen to our wealth and power?'

Not one question came out of their lips that hadn't been about anything other than themselves, their power, or their wealth.

Then word of the dragon reached Celestia, in the form of the panicked pegasus messenger who came crashing into the room mid-court, screaming his head off about it. Celestia made the move to call for the royal guard, but before she could even send the order, she was interrupted by the slur of a stallion that Luna had come to despise: Lord Blueblood, of the house by the same name.

The father of our current waste of flesh Prince Blueblood, Lord 'Blackheart' Blueblood, as he had been secretly dubbed by Celestia, was (in Luna's opinion) possibly one of the worst stallions in the history of Equestria, surpassed only by Sombra himself. Openly tribalist and egotistical, he was dangerous for a noble: whereas his son was nothing more than a lazy, prissy, pretty-boy fattened by daddy's money, 'Blackheart' was far more cunning, ambitious, and downright despicable. More than once, he had made a move against his fellow nobles, those close to their houses, and even the crown itself to further his goals, but had the notorious skill of escaping punishment, either through slithering out of the proof, or pulling strings throughout Canterlot.

From the moment Luna returned he sought to find some way to either ruin or  dispose of the Element Bearers so they wouldn't be a threat to his influence, or worse, to use them to his own gain. And this moment played right into his plans: before Celestia could issue the order, he proposed to send the elements to deal with it. After all, as he said to the whole court before him, they had dealt with Nightmare Moon; surely they could deal with one dragon. And if they couldn't, then how was Equestria suppose to trust them or Celestia's judgement/faith in them?

His family being one of the last true relations to Celestia was the ONLY reason the sun alicorn didn't vaporize him on the spot.

And the fact that Sahqoyol was a dragon more tolerating of ponies was the only reason she even went along with his outrageous idea, despite its weight: stupid beyond belief or not, it was a fair argument, and she would be sure that the whole of Canterlot's filth would send Equestria into a panic if she didn't go along with it.

So, as much as she wanted to strangle that inbred bastard with her bare hooves, she sent the task for Twilight and her friends to solve, praying that the tree would keep them safe. Thankfully, her prayers were answered, and thanks to Fluttershy's skills with creatures, the dragon left without harming a single pony, and Celestia had the honor of rubbing her salty smugness in Lord Blueblood's injured pride.

But if anything should've came from that experience, it should've been a good sense of caution when it came to dealing with dragons.

'Apparently not!' Luna grumbled as she ascended the stairs leading to north wing of the palace; she was following the magical signature of the young unicorn's magic, like metal to a magnet. 'Note to self: once Lady Sparkle has been rescued, put her up for the Royal Guard's Draconic Resistance Training Program!'

But that idea would have to wait, for she had reached her destination...one that brought back memories of a time that had long past, but one that she was part of. The north wing of the palace was once her own private corners when she and Celestia had lived there; as she stood before the carved doorway, images of a once-happier time played through her mind, of a life she had long left behind. It had been in this very room where she had earned her cutie mark, aiding her sister in her duties by raising the moon and painting the stars for the first time.

Twilight Sparkle was in the room, sleeping upon the tattered and moldy stuffing of the mattress of Luna's old bed, which had been ravaged by the forces of time and the elements; apart from her messy fur, a few scuffs here and there, and a bandaged foreleg, she looked no worse for wear, even peaceful as she slept...regardless of what laid next to her. Behind her, with it's long form coiled around the entire room, thundering breaths rumbling from its massive lungs, and purple scales shimmering in the moonlight, slept the very dragon that the ponies had described.

Luna couldn't believe...how crazy ponies could be this days!

This was it? This was the 'monstrous beast' that had left the entire village in an inner panic?! It was nothing more than a wyrmling, barely half the size of a full grown adult! It probably was no older than Twilight by dragon standards, mid-to-late-teens at best. True, it was possibly the most intimidating dragon she had ever seen, if only by appearance (must be a new breed, which would explain Twilight's desire to stay and study it), but that was all it had going for it; she could feel a decent amount of inner power within the creature, but it felt...confined. Pressed down. Hidden away. Most likely it hadn't unlocked it's true potential yet...

She knew what was going on: This was probably a first-blood wyrmling who had gotten lost from the migration path during whatever storm caused the chaos outside, and had taken refugee in the ruins. And given the mortal ponies habit of over-exaggerating ever little detail, they probably believed it to have created the storm and 'came from another world' and all that nonsense.

And Celestia said Twilight was of brilliant mind...

She knew she should be grateful that there was no true threat...but she couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed. This could've been her big chance; to slay the evil monster in battle and earn the love and respect of her subjects that she had lacked for so long (at least the ones from Ponyville)...but to slay this...wouldn't be fair sport; like beating up a helpless filly half her size...

She huffed in frustration, kicking a stone away with her hoof. She had summoned her armor and weapons for nothing; and that had been a cool entrance, too.

Still, she should see if Twilight was well, and not in any fear or danger (as well as ask what the buck she was thinking when she stayed?!) before getting this spooky little runt to leave pony territory.

Dispelling her sword with a burst of magic, she quietly approached the two before laying herself down next to the purple unicorn, who moaned softly in her sleep as she was shifted slightly, but remained asleep. Luna paused, waiting for her to calm down, before lowering her head and touching her horn to Twilight's forehead, connecting the minds and allowing the alicorn to enter the dream of Celestia's most faithful student.

It was a beautiful day in PonyVille. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and all of PonyVille was out and about enjoying the beautiful weather.

Suddenly a dark shadow fell over the village, and out of nowhere a monstrous, enormous dragon flew in, landing in front of the Main Hall, where everyone was gathered for no real reason whatsoever. It was an adult Equestrian Dragon that resembled the purple dragon sleeping next to her, complete with purple scales, golden horns and tail blade, red wings, and angry eyes.

The mayor stepped forward to start a greeting, but the dragon growled.

"YOU HAVE MISSPELLED MY NAME! I WARNED YOU OF MY ARRIVAL, AND HERE YOU HAVE BLATANTLY DEFIED MY GOOD WILL WITH THIS!"

He pointed at one small banner, which read: 'Welcome to Ponyville, Jendov'

Carrot Top! When would she learn to write smaller?

"THIS DISGRACEFUL ACT ENRAGES ME! I DEMAND A SACRIFICE!"

"You heard the dragon!" The mayor yelled. "Who is the oldest and fairest virgin in Ponyville?"

Several dozen hooves pointed at Twilight. The unicorn went stiff in shock, yet she could swear she heard Spike wailing "Rarity! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" somewhere.

"Sorry, Twilight. Need of the many and all!" The mayor announced and clapped her hooves. Several strong stallions grabbed the student of friendship and dragged her to a post with shackles that had appeared out of nowhere. Just like the innocent yet revealing white dress she was suddenly wearing.

Twilight was shackled to the post as the dragon closed in on her, hunger and evil in his eyes. "Help!" the shackled pony yelled. "Help! I don't want to be eaten!"

"NOBODY CAN HELP YOU NOW!" The dragon growled evilly.

"I can!"

"WHO DARES?"

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cheered as a well known form dropped out of the sky in front of her.

"I shall rescue you, my most faithful and attractive student!" the princess announced, wearing heavy yet revealing golden armor and shin guards. Her tiara was replaced with a heavy crown-helmet combination. "Prepare to taste my MIND BULLETS!"

Celestia's horn lit up with magic, and small rainbow spheres shot from it and hit the dragon. The monster dramatically grabbed its chest. "OH NO, I AM UNDONE!"

It fell over, landing right next to Twilight and Celestia with a crash, who freed her student.

"Now, let us see who this dragon truly is!" the Goddess of the Sun and Princess of Equestria announced boldly. The head of the monster glowed in telepathic magic and was pulled off!

"The Great and Powerful Trixie!" the whole place said in unison.

"It was her plan to dress up as the dragon and capture you, my smart and sexy student!" Celestia explained. "Then she would force you to work as her stage hand, manager and sensual massage mare."

"And the Great and Powerful Trixie would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling ponies and your dumb owl!"

"Hoo!"

"Now that you are safe, my well organized and flexible Twilight, why don't we go somewhere private and you help me out of this armor?" Celestia asked, nuzzling her student gently.

Synthesizer music started to play...

"WHAT IN THE NINE LEVELS OF TARTARUS ARE THOU DOING WITH MY SISTER?!"

Twilight was only centimeters from lip-locking with the sun alicorn when the entire dream realm was shattered from reality, the very existence being torn asunder by the voice that boomed through the cosmos; the village, the Trixie dragon, Celestia, all of it exploded as if made of glass, shattering into shards of subconsciousness before disintegrating into nothingness. Twilight, now torn from her blissful subconscious, looked around in confusion, awe, and a bit of panic as it all disappeared around her, turning into a endless starry void. And standing before her was Princess Luna herself, adorned in black battle armor, looking as if she had seen a ghost...or some really steamy porn, if her wing boner was anything to judge by.

"P...Princess Luna?" Twilight squeaked, still confused as heck. "What's going on?"

Luna grimaced, shaking with the shivers and blushing like mad as she tried to repel the image from her mind, but it was no use; it would haunt her dreams for the rest of her ethereal life.

"Never...never again." She murmured.

"Umm...are you okay, princess?"

Luna gave her head a good shake, slapping the images away, and folded her wings back to her sides as she looked down to the troubled unicorn. "We...we are perfectly fine, young Twilight." She assured her. "We just need a moment to recover from the...i-imagery." She scowled. "Thou has quite a disturbed realm of subconscious, young filly."

Twilight's ears perked up. "Realm of Subconscious...wait...this is a dream? But...you're not part of it?"

"Of course not." Luna stated, a bit impressed the pony was able to learn that on her own. "This is our Dream Walking state, which we use to fulfill our nightly duties."

As if a switch had flipped, Twilight suddenly exploded with joy. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" She squealed. "This means all the old Legends of the Dream Guiders are true!" She began to bounce around with a child-like excitement, much to the confusion of the moon princess. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, I knew it! In your face, Moon Dancer! In! Your! Face! Oh, I has so many questions: Are the Dream Guiders still around? How many of you are there? Are there really laws regarding the Dream Walking ability? Do they use their abilities to extract information from enemies? How-"

She was interrupted by a sliver-shoed hoof stuffing into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge out.

"Would Thou cease thy constant prattle for one second?!" Luna just about snarled in frustration; when Twilight nodded, she removed her hoof. "Do you even know why I've come to you on this night, or have you forgotten the fact that you are currently sleeping next to a fifty foot dragon?!"

Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "...the girls sent you, didn't they?"

"In a sense, yes."

This, however, had the opposite effect Luna was expecting. "Oh, no. Oh, nonononononono!" She did a little fidgety dance on her hooves, looking about nervously. "You have to leave, now, before he knows you're here!"

The alicorn blanched in surprise. "Excuse us?" She exclaimed, somewhat offended. "We came to rescue thee! A bit of gratit-"

"I don't need rescuing! I stayed at my own will!" Twilight hissed, keeping her voice down. "Look, I'm glad that you're trying to help and all that, but this really isn't the time; if my friends said anything about his power, it's true! You need to go before he wakes up, for your sake, not mine!"

Now Luna was personally offended, an angry glare forming on her face. "Are thou implying that this dragon can defeat us; we who have defeated dragons more than *three times his size in the past?!" She nearly shouted. "We've detected his power before we came; it is unlocked and minimal at best!"*

"No he's not! He's only compressing it inside himself to keep the excess energies from killing me!"

The realm went deathly quiet.

"I've felt the power that radiates from him at full; my horn nearly exploded from the sheer amount of it alone!" She continued, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "I've seen and felt what he is and what he can do! We all have! All my life I've held your sister and you and the greatest, strongest ponies in Equestria...but now, after what I've seen tonight...I'm not sure anymore." She paused a moment before shaking the emotions away. "Please, you have to go! He'll kill anyone who enters the ruins besides Pinkie and myself-!"

"SILENCE!" Luna's royal voice boom through the cosmos, knocking Twilight off her hooves; the lunar princess' eyes blazed with a brilliant white light, a familiar force of incredible magic coursing through the air and Twilight's horn in her rage. *"WE SHALL STOMACH NOT ANOTHER OF THY DISGRACEFUL SLANDER! DOES THOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THIS HALF-AGED*** WYRMLING IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE GODDESSES OF THE DAY AND NIGHT *THEMSELVES?!"* She scowled angrily, her power dimming down in a cool fury. *"And our sister gives thy 'faith' in her such high respect...and we gave you our hope...well, thou can be sure that we won't after this day! Once we have this animal's head mounted over our mantle, We will see to it that thou are stripped of thy title and duties as my sister's student! We'll see how thy deluded fantasies shall be after this!"***

Then the entire realm went white.

Severing her connection to Twilight's mind with more magical force than necessary, Luna huffed in anger and disgrace as she awoke and stood up, glaring at the pony at her hooves. This was the pony that Celestia took so much pride and love in? One that would denounce her strength following the next big disaster? She and her sister were the gods of Equestria! Their magical power of the sun and moon were unmatched throughout all of Equestria, and the sheer threat of it alone was enough to keep all other races from raising the blades of war against their ponies...and yet this ungrateful whelp believed that this overgrown lizard could defeat her?! Such words would've earned her a lifetime of exile back in her time, if not the chopping block!

With an angered huff, she flashed her horn and cast a spell over Twilight's form; a simple sleeping spell, one that would keep the unicorn asleep until sunrise. She didn't want the weakling getting in her way, or to see what was coming next. Given how disturbed she was with the concept of a fight, it would be best that she didn't see her slay the beast directly. She kept her stern glare on the sleeping unicorn, who's face began to wrinkle with trouble and concern; no doubt the fear of her future or false concern for her princess was keeping her from peaceful rest.

'Good.' Luna growled mentally, her sword re-materializing beside her. 'She should be worried, for once we are done here, she will never so much as step hoof in Canterlot itself ever again!'

"And you wonder why your subjects hate you."

That voice...that deep...predatory...primordial growl...tore deep into her heart as well as her mind, sparking a deep-rooted, ancient fear within her chest; a fear of the likes that she, as a supposed 'Goddess', shouldn't feel. The same fear her subjects were feeling.

The Fear of Prey.

Then a flare of power shot through the room, piercing almost painfully through Luna's horn, along with a golden, fire-like glow that lit up the dark room like a campfire would. She quickly turned around to face the dragon again; it still laid across the floor, having not moved at all since when she first saw it...but this time, its eyes were open and locked on her.

And those eyes...they were the eyes of destruction itself; the eyes of one who had destroyed hundreds, if not thousands, in its lifetime, destroying anything in its path as a simple act of life, walking away without a single drop of remorse. These were different than the eyes of a normal predator or monster, like a wolf, bear, or Hydra, which were creatures of instincts; despite their primal appearance, they were full of sapience, emotion, and knowledge. The ability to analyze their prey and plan the attack, along with the ability to take pleasure in drawing blood and crushing bone, and to choose who died and who didn't.

She had only seen eyes like these only once before: a demon centaur that now spent his days rotting in the pits of Tartarus...but even he lacked something that this young dragon had.

Rage.

Deep within the eyes of this...this monster, masked by his cold, reptilian face and primal yet sapient stare was a deep, burning rage. A fury of the likes the alicorn had never sensed before, not even in the eyes of Sombra or Tirek. It was contained at the moment, cooled by a strong will and calm surroundings, but it thrashed and roared like a blazing inferno; it was so strong it was physically manifesting itself in the form of the golden flame burning out of his eyes, licking the edges of his eyelids, just waiting for even the tiniest excuse to unleash itself. It wasn't even like someone who tried to fight it yet it burned on: it was as if this dragon was the rage itself, deliberately waiting for anything to go off...the tiniest insult or attack, or even the pettiest of excuses...anything, as if it wanted to get angry, just for the chance to unleash its full wrath and power upon the world, and completely incinerate everything in its path.

And right now, all that rage was directed at her.

Luna could only swallow nervously, her fear filling her eyes even as she tried to stand her ground. Perhaps Twilight and her friends had been onto something before...

On the other end, a certain dragon's heart may have been blazing with volcanic rage, but his mind was once again fast in work, analyzing this newcomer down to every little detail.

First thing he noticed was that she was neither a unicorn, pegasi, or 'normal horse', but what he guessed to be a combination of all three, with both wings and a horn. She was also larger than the other ponies he had seen, standing about head and neck taller and a few good feet longer than the other ponies. Both the soft, silky fur and smooth, lace-like feathers were a deep navy-blue in color, minus a large splotch of pure black that covered her lower back, hips, rear, thighs, and upper hind legs, as if someone had splashed her with a large blob of ink. Her body and facial structure, while still short, squishy, and human-like, was more like a true equine's than the others, possessing a more horse-like muzzle and body build. Her body also seemed...lanky: the young-looking face, larger eyes, long, skinny limbs, and skin almost stretched over a tall frame suggested she was a younger member of her species, not a true adult yet. Her mane and tail appeared to be made...of a small galaxy: Her long, magically flowing hair and tail appeared in be made of pure liquid magic, dark night-blue in color, and full of sparkling white dots resembling stars; it was as if she had a piece of the night for hair. Her wings were not like those of the pegasi: instead of the feathered wings of a bird, this pony had large, leathery bat wings, with the normal four wing fingers and one free thumb, possessing a dark-blue membrane with thousands of bio-luminescent dots covering the rims, resembling stars; these were matched with a pair of large, fork-tipped, bat-like ears and a webbed, fin-like tail rudder, further confirming the fact she was a creature of the night. Her horn was also longer and larger in comparison to a normal unicorn's, curving upwards like Twilight's did, while her hooves were solid like a earth pony's, and appeared to be made of light-blue crystal. Her teal-blue eyes were probably the most attention-grabbing part of her: the irises seemed to almost glow with the otherworldly light of the moon, while the pupil where slightly slitted in shape, though not as much as Spyro's. They were eyes that seemed out of place, those that had viewed the world at a much older time, and looked upon the modern era in confusion yet gratefulness...as if she was thankful to be here, yet didn't know how to fit in. And finally, her cutie mark was the symbol of a crescent moon.

Conclusion:...he needed no conclusion this time. For he already knew who she was.

His glare narrowed as he lifted his head off the floor, raising it up only slightly, just high enough to meet her eye level. "What business do you have trespassing in MY domain, Nightmare Moon*?"* He growled, his deep, growling voice sending tremors through her flesh.

Being addressed as her darker self was enough to snap her out of her fear-induced trance, and she scowled in her own anger. "We might ask of you the same question." She snapped in turn, sword at the ready. "What business does a wyrmling have within Equestrian borders terrorizing our subjects in such a manner?"

The dragon's gaze lingered on the sword hovering between them for a while before returning his glare at her...then he hissed a dark, cruel laugh, cold sadism filling his voice.

"You mean your sister's *subjects."*

Any fear she felt was burned to cinders in her flare of her own rage, her eyes briefly flashing white with the emotion.

"Don't act so undignified; it's nothing you don't deserve, Traitor*."* Spyro growled the last word, the glow of his eyes flaring in response. "The Tree told me all about your true *self, and of what you've done to your world and family."*

Luna's heart skipped a beat, her anger faltering in surprise. The Tree...this dragon knew of the tree! "Do not even dare speak of the Tree, reptile! Why in the realms of Eqqus would the very incarnation of light and harmony itself ever speak to a beast such as you!"

Spyro said nothing; he simply continued to stare sternly yet silently at her for a long, tense moment.

Then he shifted his limbs beneath him before slowly rising up on all fours to full height, now towering over the princess, before turning his head and lowering his gaze down to Twilight Sparkle. The young unicorn was now whimpering in her sleep, soft sobs escaping her lips as tears leaked from her closed eyes and ran down her cheeks. The poor pony was going through her own hell: once Luna had left, her dream realm shifted back to normal, but now as a nightmare.

It was all playing out: first Celestia, following Luna's demands, would strip her of her title as student. Then her family would disown her, not wanting to face the princess's wrath...they would take Spike from her...her friends would abandon her...she would be kicked out from her house...out of Ponyville...and finally be banished into the Everfree by society, to meet her death at the claws of the monsters that lived there.

Her fears were greatly exaggerated, to the point most would laugh...but Spyro didn't. Not even once.

Silly or not, over-reacting or not, this girl was living out her worse nightmare come true; the fears that had haunted her every day and drove her to live her life in this manner, and as far as she was concerned, they were finally fulfilled.

"This *is how you thank those who seek to help you?"* He growled, rage and hatred blazing in his voice, as he shot Luna another soul-rending glare. "By bringing forth their worst fears into light, and threatening to strip them of what they love?!"

Luna, with pride swallowing any sense of remorse or fear, scowled with indignity, as if she had been wrongly accused of a crime. "She doubted and mocked our might." She spat. "To even suggest that We, the goddess of the night, would fall to a hatchling like you is blasphemy of the highest degree! During our former reign, such actions were punished by a visit to the chopping block! Our sister may have softened our kingdom with her bleeding heart during our absence, but we will not take any disgrace from anyone, not even from the likes of her. I promise you both, one way for another, the heretic Twilight Sparkle will pay for insulting our honor!"

The sheer fury of the narrowed glare Spyro gave her would've been enough to kill a weaker mortal on the spot.

He growled, shifting his reptilian body to face the alicorn in an more imposing stance. **"She truly thought that you were in danger and sought to protect you. She wanted to keep you* safe, out of fear of losing someone she cared for and* respected..." His voice had slowly shifted back to mortal tone, all the while his glare and stance softening as he turned to look down upon the whimpering mare next to him. "...she was even willing to go against everything she believed with all her heart to help you; to turn her back against everything she knew her whole life because, even though you've done her wrong on an unforgivable scale, she cared enough to stay by your side, even when she had every right to fear and hate you."

He then lowered his head down to Twilight's sleeping yet sobbing form...and closed the distance; a soft, rumbling purr drummed from Spyro's throat as he muzzled the pony's head with a gentleness that shouldn't have been possible for a creature of that size and ferocity. The pony stiffen in subconscious fear...but slowly she relaxed, her sobs slowly dying as the gentle nuzzle calm her down, assuring her that she was safe. Soon she stopped crying altogether, humming softly as she snuggled in her bedding.

And as he comforted his young pony, it just vanished. His rage; all that primal fury...all that blood-lust and destruction...all that hate...just...gone, like the fire from his eyes, which died down into a soft glow. Disappearing into his body, allowing another emotion to take its place.

Care.

"That is a true form of kindness and love," Spyro said softly, his voice purring with his thrumming. "One that is not often found in mortal or dovah hearts. Andeven though I've known this female only for a few hours, I can honestly say I'm glad to have met her, and grateful that, even after what I've done, she would show that kindness to me."

Luna watched in disbelief; the moment was impossible...yet so surreal...she couldn't help but just stand there and watch.

How could this be? A dragon, a predator and destroyer of ponies, evil incarnate, showing affection and care for one it no doubt considered beneath itself? If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. Especially after all that primal fury she had seen before...

What was this creature?

He continued to nuzzle and purr Twilight until she was, once again, sleeping peacefully. The care and affection he was showing abruptly vanished as quickly as it arrived, the familiar flames of rage bursting from the dragon's eyes as he glared death at Luna once more.

"...but then you come around. You, who has no right to judge anyone for anything, *were given the same love, and you spit upon it as if it were dirt."* He snarled with a dark, cold fury. "Have you already forgotten what she has done for you; a salvation of the likes which you'll never be able to repay, Nightmare Moon? One. Thousand. Years. Of the greatest form of torturous exile in the universe, and you've learned nothing.

You are every bit as spoiled and petty as the day you betrayed your kingdom and tried to murder your own blood!"

"SILENCE!" Luna shrieked; with a flash of white, her sword was sent shooting through the air at incredible speed, intent on impaling the dragon's head.

Acting on reflexes faster than mortal creatures can comprehend, Spyro lunged forward with even greater speed and snatched the sword with his jaws, like a snake catching a mouse. With a predatory snarl, he then proceeded to crush the sword between his jaws with a mighty crunch; the crystalline blade shattered like glass between the dagger-like teeth, scattering to the floor before dispelling into blue arcane dust.

He paused a moment, rolling his tongue across his teeth at the taste of the dust lingering on them; it tasted a bit like Traptanium, a common and extremely-powerful physical manifestation of magic in Skylands...though if it were true Traptanium, it wouldn't have broken under even his bite.

Interesting, though, that these 'Equestrians' would have a similar element like it, if only a fraction as powerful.

"DO NOT SPEAK ANOTHER WORD OF OUR PAST TRANSGRESSIONS!" The princess all but roared; the entire room shook from the power of her voice, dust raining down from the rafters. "AND DO NOT ACCUSE US OF CRIMES THAT THOU HAVE COMMITTED ALSO, OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE PEGASUS WHOSE SOUL THOU HAVE TORN APART, AND THE OTHERS THOU TERRORIZED?! WE HAVE COME TO AVENGE THEIR INNOCENCE, AND TO SEE THOU NEVER SETS CLAW UPON EQUESTRIAN SOIL AGAIN!"

Spyro merely narrowed his gaze even further, unaffected by the Royal Canterlot Voice. "They brought it upon themselves." He growled darkly, swishing his tail in a serpentine fashion. "Whereas she approached me with respect and good will, they outright attacked me out of malice and biased prejudice." He paused, as if thinking it over for the first time; his eyes seemed to shift to an animalistic glaze, before reverting back to a burning fury. "They have no one else to blame for it, and I will not take any *kind of 'punishment' or disssssgrace for standing against petty wretches like them."*

He then bent his head down and picked Twilight up with his teeth by the scruff of her neck, in the same manner a cat would a kitten. The sleeping pony moaned softly at the action, but Luna's spell held fast as she remained asleep even as she was lifted off the ground and carried by the dragon over to the far wall, near the doorway they had used to enter the wing of the palace, and set her upon the ground at least fifty feet from her original spot...out of the way for what Luna should've seen coming.

Spyro stood there for a moment, gently nudging the pony with his snout to make sure she was fine; once he was certain of that, he backed away from her...and spun himself a complete 360 degrees, swinging his entire body and tail as a living weapon by his arms and wings, tearing out the entire walls of the castle tower with a powerful rumble. So fast and powerful was this attack, Luna couldn't even react before she took the full force of his thick, saurian tail slamming into her.

In that one split millisecond, time seemed to slow down as the tail smashed into her; a thick column of muscles stronger and more solid than stone, covered in diamond-hard scales, being swung at her with a speed and force that no Equestrian creature could match: a force strong enough to pulverize an alicorn's bones. Pain of the kind she hadn't felt before tore through her body like lightning as the blow shattered all the ribs, right limbs, and pelvis along her right side, and smashed all the organs along that side into paste; it took all she had to keep from passing out of the spot, even as the breath was forced out of her lungs in the form of a loud, ear-tearing, soul-rending scream of agony.

This all happened in one split millisecond. At normal speed, there was a brief explosion of red and blue before the alicorn was sent rocketing through the far wall at the speed of a fired cannonball; from outside the towers, the wall appeared to explode outwards in a blast of stone, dirt and wood as she came through, careening through the air above the courtyard before crashing into the stony path a good couple hundred feet from the tower like a meteor. The ground exploded in a continuous flurry of dirt and cobblestone as she tore through it in a skidding fashion, only stopping when she crashed into the far wall with a powerful slam.

What remained of the tower's roof and walls exploded forth as the dragon came barreling through, bounding down from above and landing upon the wall overlooking the courtyard like a leopard leaping from a tree. As his claws clamped upon the stone, his inner fire once again exploded forth from his chest and spread across his body and wings, transforming him once more into a demonic fiery beast with rune-covered wings.

The dragon showed his true power, and Luna realized she had made a terrible mistake.

(1) "NUV FEN ZU'U VOS DII ZEYMAHZINNE WAH KOS FOLAASUS PENTAAR NALL AAN RENEK, MEYAR-VIILTKEI WIIZAAN MED HEI!

"YOU. WILL. BUUUURN*!"*

With an explosion of sheer, fiery rage and power, his body exploded with flames as he reared back on his hind legs, leapt forward in a pounce, claws extended and throat blazing with fire, and roared.

Every pony and creature in Ponyville, the Everfree, and even as far as Canterlot would never forget that sound for as long as they lived. A loud, deep, primal, draconic roar of pure rage and ferocity, one that should've been silenced long ago by the very creation of civilization; no mortal creature in existence could ever create such a horrific bellow of pure primal rage. A fury and hatred so fierce...so ancient...so powerful...

The roar of a true dragon.

Applejack's heart leapt into her mouth as the roar tore through the night sky; the ponies that were aiding her in cleaning up Ponyville froze for a few full seconds before they went into a panic, screaming in fear and running about like a bunch of chickens, ironically causing even more damage.

After she had made sure her siblings and grandmother were safe, she had returned to town to get to work. It had been at least five hours since they first set out to the ruins, but only two hours since they returned. Sunrise was when the dragon said he would come, and it would only be about another hour until then. Pinkie Pie had done a surprisingly decent job of explaining to the townsfolk what had happened and what they needed to do. Of course, there was more than just a tension in the air, but under the guidance of the ponies who defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, the town more or less regained a since of order, and Applejack herself had rallied up a group of able-bodied ponies to clean up the damage and get everything ready for tomorrow.

But now she began to realize just how deep in hot water she and all of Equestria really was.

Although...there was still that little bit that she had seen before they had left: when Rainbow Dash and Twilight made up for what happened before-hand. He had crushed Rainbow's spirit like a bug under a hoof, and showed absolutely no remorse for it...and yet, by doing that, he had set the stage for her to open her heart and let Twilight in. Applejack knew the pegasus well enough to know that she would've never dropped the cool act and admitted she was wrong otherwise, so the dragon made it so she had no other choice.

It was cruel and harsh beyond belief...but it worked to mend a broken friendship.

It was very confusing, and left the orange earth pony torn and conflicted.

But there was one thing she knew for sure. That dragon...that...living force of nature...it was leagues above them in all ways, shapes, and forms. She could feel it in the earth as he walked. Hear it in the deep, thundering growl of his breath. And see it the fiery, primal rage that burned in those reptilian eyes.

This was what true dragons were meant to be. And had always been.

The lizards that lived in their world...the soft, quivering wyrms that bawled their eyes out before a simple pegasus...they were disgraces to their very kind.

This true titan of the skies...this harbinger of flame and destruction...this living incarnation of nature's freedom and wrath...he was the true meaning of strength and power...he showed just how small and helpless ponies really were...and now he had laid claim to their soft little world, brought forth by the Elements of Harmony themselves. Ponykind had their shot at ruling the very land and skies through  the power of the elements...but they proved themselves unworthy, and thus a new champion was chosen.

They brought him here to fix the chaos that both Discord and Ponykind had wrought...and to bring forth a new natural order to this world...

...or perhaps to restore a natural order that had long been lost?

Who knew?

Either way, Equestria was never going to be the same again.

She whimpered softly as she adjusted her hat to cover her face, praying to whatever gods were out there for Twilight's safety...and their own. Come sunrise, Equestria would enter a new age: an age where the corruption of this world would be cleansed in dragonfire, and reforged anew in the image of the dragon. Ponies would either have to accept him and his rule, or they would burn alongside the rest of the world.

The Age of Fire had begun.

Fluttershy nearly had a heart attack when the roar erupted from the forest, the organ furiously pumping in her chest as she bolted under the broken rubble of her smashed couch, trembling with terror.

Since Rarity had dropped her off, she and the critters that had survived managed to remove the tree that had crashed into the cottage (mainly thanks to Harry the Bear and his relatives), and now she had been tending to the wounds of those who had survived but had been injured. She had just finished tending to a mouse with a broken leg, and the happiness he and his family showed and almost been enough to soothe the pegasus' broken heart, but then the roar scared her back into hiding.

She laid there, whimpering in fear as she covered her teary eyes with her hooves, as that one dark word continued to echo in her mind.

Fluttershy had been called many things in her life: scaredy-pony, chicken, wimp, fluttercry, wuss, and the likes. These had been either the mocking of bullies, or the teasing of friends, but either way none of them held any true weight anymore; years of receiving them had dulled the once painful words into simple emptiness. But that one word had stabbed directly through the built-up barrier and pierced her very soul.

Coward.

In all her years, and all the ponies she had met, no one had ever called her a coward , and it stung worse than anything she had ever felt before.

And deep down...she knew it was true.

She was a coward. That was it. All that was needed to be said, for she knew it was the truth. She was a coward when her friends were forced to drag her up to the dragon's mountain, and she was a coward when she abandoned them out of fear for her worthless self. The only reason she could even stand up for them in the end was because she had the Stare to back her up. It had always been her backup plan; her secret weapon, when all else failed, and with it she felt she could stand up against anything for her friends, despite her fear.

But tonight? That...monster...had won; he stood up and laughed at what made all other dragons flee. He stared right back at her, tore through that stern facade, and ripped out the true pony that was hiding from the world, revealing her to be what she really was.

A Coward.

Her whimpers turned into outright sobs, tears running down her cheeks as her heart broke for the second time that night. Her critters gathered around her to comfort her as she wept, gently caressing her with their paws of petting her mane. But it was no use; she couldn't bring herself to face the beast. He will come, and change the very world, and all she could do was hide.

For that's what cowards do.

Pinkie Pie awoke with a jolt of surprise, nearly tumbling out of bed, as the windows to her bedroom rattled with a loud, scary roar; when she and the others got back, she had taken it upon herself to tell everypony about Spyro and his big debut tomorrow (as she was convinced the others wouldn't tell the whole truth, especially that mean lair-pants Dashie). Sure, everypony had been really scared, but if there was one thing Pinkie prided herself upon, it was handling tough situations and turning frowns upside-down. So, once everypony had calmed down and Applejack started getting everybody working on fixing up the town for the big day tomorrow, Pinkie was outright exhausted, even after all those doughnuts she had shoveled in before-hand, and decided to go the bed...until the roar woke her up, that is.

She groaned, slapping a hoof over her face. She knew this would happen; she tried to tell Luna to leave Spyro alone, but noooo...now she was going to have to work extra-hard tomorrow to get her new dragon buddy to feel welcome, because she was sure as snail-snot that nopony else was gonna even try.

With a tired sigh (That sounded like a kazoo), she flopped back into her poofy, cake-styled bed and stared up at the sprinkle-covered ceiling with a dopey frown. Why was everybody so mean to that poor dragon-wagon? He didn't do anything wrong, other than just being a dragon, and yet that was enough to turn everypony into complete jerks! Sure, he got all mad and flame-y at them, and may have made Dashie cry, but that was because Dashie started it by tiring to kick him in the face!

Though an apology for making her cry would be nice, anyway.

She frowned, this time in a surprisingly serious manner; what on earth was eating Dashie tonight? That was outright mean, to both Spyro and Twilight! The only other time she had seen the pegasus act that way was with that other dragon on the mountain...well, sure he didn't have a sense of humor, but that didn't mean he deserved to get kicked in the nose. That really hurts!

Maybe Dashie was racists against dragons? She hoped not.

This wasn't good at all; couldn't the girls see that this was all really important? Come on: the Elements of Harmony themselves brought him here; it must be for a really important reason! And Pinkie may not have known the main reason, but she knew another good one:

To help everybody get their smiles back.

The world was all dark and gloomy now, after what that really big meanie-pants Discord did to everybody, and all of her friends were still sad and gloomy themselves. She had seen it in their eyes; they couldn't hear their elements anymore. That warm, fuzzy feeling...that sense of safety and friendship that the elements gave, telling them everything would be fine. They could no longer hear or feel them thanks to that big jerk Discord; his dirty tricks had really gotten to them in that maze, and no amount of parties or stain-glass windows was going to fix the damage caused to their hearts.

But the Elements had brought help. Someone to fix their world, kick the bad guy's sorry butts, and keep everypony safe from the meanies and gloom.

And that help was the big purple dragon named Spyro.

Pinkie smiled as she snuggled back into the covers, a happy smile on her face as she closed her eyes; she knew that Spyro was here to help them, even if he didn't know it himself yet, and he was going to fix Equestria. Maybe even make it better than before! And she was going to do everything in her power to help him and make him feel at home in his new world. And the first thing to do would be to prepare a big 'Welcome to Equestria, Our New Dragon Overlord' party...if she could stay awake...

*BRIIIIIIIING!*

Her eyes shot open as she suddenly sat up in bed, hitting the alarm clock with a hoof.

"Oh boy! 3:00 AM!" She squealed. She flip the covers up to reveal an entire pink-and-blue birthday cake tucked next to her side, lit candles and all; she then grabbed the cake and promptly slammed her face into it, splattering icing and cake batter everywhere, munching loudly.

This would give her the energy she needed to plan out the up-coming party...and the first party she had ever thrown for a big adult dragon ever, so she had to make it good! Something a dragon would love.

Hmmmm...she wondered who in Ponyville would make a good maiden sacrifice...

Rarity cried out in pain as the needle she was delicately running through the torn fabric jammed into the frog of her hoof; the sudden roar from outside had shaken the entire boutique, scattering and knocking over what remaining things throughout the building that weren't already, and throwing the unicorn's magical aim off the large tear in the dress she was trying to mend. After seeing poor Fluttershy home, she immediately returned to hers to start preparing the damages the portal storm had created; she wouldn't be able to finish it all tonight, but there were a few things she had to get done soon, including repairing the dresses and suits of the very important order that she would be taking to Canterlot herself in a few weeks...once she had found a place to stay while there.

She moaned softly as she sucked on her pricked hoof, glaring with righteous anger at the everfree through her window. What was that beast up to now?! Didn't he already satisfy his dragon's thirst for pain and suffering enough tonight?!

Alright, so maybe they did start off on the wrong hoof; it was wrong for Rainbow Dash to just go up and attack him like that, and it was admittedly wrong to judge him as bad and evil just because he was a dragon. In fact, she actually believed he was quite hospitable and polite for a large, brutish, and monstrous beast at first, and he only got upset after Rainbow Dash tried to outright assault and injure him, as well as when Fluttershy demeaned him by trying the Stare of him (she was impressed beyond belief that he not only resisted the Stare, but seemed completely unaffected by it). Heck, she could even excuse and even understand him attacking them like that, him being a dragon and all...but there was no excuse for what he did to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Yes, Rainbow Dash was cruel and hurtful to Twilight, and she planned to have a few words with her about it once everyone met tomorrow for the arrival (granted the brute hadn't eaten Twilight already), and she certainly shouldn't have tried to outright attack him just because he was a dragon, but what he did to her...outright tearing her heart out and crushing it underfoot...it was...barbaric! Simply and truly barbaric!

And then Fluttershy...poor, poor Fluttershy. She practically had to drag the poor filly home, and who could blame her? She was forced to confront the very living incarnation of her deepest, darkest fear...and he crushed her very soul for her efforts. The Stare had been the one thing that gave her strength when she was scared, and it was her one defense against him as she literally stood up to face her fear...and he all but laughed at it. The one spark of hope and bravery she held onto, and he crushed just as he crushed Rainbow Dash's soul.

That horrible, horrible...monster!

...but...what could she do?

She wasn't stupid: she knew this was just the beginning. Soon he would come out of the Everfree and, if he was even a bit like the dragons in this world, would set claim to a new territory in Equestria, most likely over the entire Everfree Forest and all land surrounding it, including Ponyville. And if that display of rage and power in the castle was anything to judge by, then anyone who didn't give him the respect he demanded so fiercely for would burn. That will include anyone...including a certain white unicorn filly who had a habit of unknowingly running her mouth and offending people.

Rarity's angry, indignant huffs became a deep, weary sigh.

She would not risk it; as horrible and wretched as the creature acted, he was the one capable of leveling an entire kingdom. She was not going to risk her life or the lives of her family just to give him a piece of her mind. Besides, he seemed pleasant and well-behaved enough when he wasn't provoked, and even though she wanted to see at least an apology of some sort for being so horrible, she would try to bury the hatchet and start afresh, if only to protect herself and her family. She could only hope he had enough 'honor' to keep his word and not harm Twilight for staying behind...oh, yes, and that Luna would be able to hold her own out there...and that they themselves would be spared what was to come.

As long as he didn't hurt anyone she cared about (or try to burn down Canterlot or Manehatten), he could go off and do whatever it is dragons do; a bit selfish of her, true, but she was not going to risk her own life for somepony stupid enough to talk back to a living volcano.

But first, to fix up this mess. The first day of a new era was not going to be spent with her house looking like a Fillydelphia trash heap.

It took all of Rainbow Dash's willpower to keep from charging into the Everfree when the roar echoed across the land...that, and the massive chunk of magical crystal she was still trapped in from the wings down. After Luna left, Applejack managed to break Pinkie out of her crystal chunk with a solid buck of the hind legs, and was about to do the same to her when Pinkie demanded otherwise; she was going to actually throw a party for that...that monster, and she didn't trust Rainbow Dash to behave herself. After a bit of arguing, and discovering that the crystal would corrode and break apart on its own, the others agreed; thus a furious pegasus was dragged snarling, swearing, and screaming to the Ponyville Hot Air Balloon Stand, lifted up to her cloud-house and promptly left there on her doorstep.

Rainbow Dash had managed to scoot her way into her house, and had spent the past two hours slowly but surely breaking herself free; she had already freed her entire front half of her body and one of her wings when the roar erupted from the forest.

Angry tears pricked at her eyes as she snarled with rage and indignity, wriggling about angrily as she tried to wrench herself free. How could they do this to her?! After all they went through tonight, they were just going to sit back and let that beast roam free?! It was bad enough that they left Twilight alone with it, but Pinkie was actually going to welcome it with a party when it showed up tomorrow?!

Yeah, that was a great idea! What's the dessert, you sick pink buck? Baby ponies dipped in chocolate?!

She gave an angry shriek as she jerked back with all her might. The crystal encasing her trapped wing shattered, allowing her to yank it free, however the force of the motion threw her off balance, and she could only cry out in alarm as she toppled backwards. Thankfully, she was in front of her cutie-mark customized cloud bed, thus she had something soft to land on with a puff of cloud matter.

She laid there, huffing and puffing up a storm as she slowly calmed down, staring up at the cloudy ceiling, her mane spread out around her head as she caught her breath. It wasn't right...it wasn't right! Taking the side of that..that...that thing! And after what it did to them?! It thinks it can just come into their world, make a huge mess of Ponyville, take a part of Equestria for itself, and then outright attack and terrorize them like that, and they take its side?! How dare they?! How DARE THEY?!

The elements summoned it here, Twilight said.

Bullshit. It's all just another one of Twilight's weird beliefs, nothing more! There was no bucking way that the Elements of Harmony would summon a dragon to Equestria! They were evil, murderous monsters to the core! Every single one of 'em! And even if there was such a thing as good dragons, then he wasn't it by far!

You attacked him first.

Well, duh! What did they expect her to do when she saw that thing towering over them like he was going to attack?! And then trying to kill them was uncalled for, even after what she did! She didn't do anything to merit that.

An apology would've prevented that, you know.

The eternal battle within her, and seemingly all ambiance around her, was silenced as a very dark hatred and resolve filled her heart at that thought.

"I will die before I ever submit myself in any way to a dragon." She snarled aloud, spitting the name as if it was poison.

The tiny voice in her heart remained silent.

The hate fueling her body, she summoned all her strength into one final push with her hind legs; the crystal broke out with millions of glass-like fractures before finally shattering into a million pieces before dissolving into arcane dust. With a huff of relief, the now freed pegasus rolled back onto her bed, thoroughly exhausted. With a bit of effort, she kick her cover backs before pulling them back up over herself, shifting her body to find a comfortable position; it was clear she wasn't going to be able to get enough sleep before sunrise, and since she wouldn't be attending the party (invited or not), she might at well sleep off the day of what big disaster was coming up; screw those jerks, anyway. If that's how they thanked her help, then they can deal with the dragon themselves.

And with that thought, though she didn't notice it, the jewel of her element, which was now sitting on the side-table of her bed, faded even further.

As she turned in position, however, her gaze fell upon the same side-table she had placed her element upon...upon which sat a medium framed picture of a group of five pegasi and one earth pony standing outside the Canterlot Wonderbolt Derby Arena, warm, smiling faces all around...especially on the faces of the tomboy rainbow-maned and bashful pink-maned fillies.

"Never...never again." She muttered darkly, shifting away from the portrait and closing her eyes.

Spike froze mid-step, his body going stiff as the roar tore through the library...and through his mind. He had taken the news about what happened as well as one would expect; as they had promised, the girls had told him about what had happened: about how a new dragon had appeared in the Everfree, and that Twilight willingly stayed behind with it. Needless to stay, and as much as he usually wouldn't admit it...he was scared. The girls themselves were in terrible condition when they arrived, especially Fluttershy; all five of them looked like they had gone through a zombie apocalypse! And Twilight stayed behind, alone, with a full-grown dragon! He prayed that dragons weren't really as horrible as everypony made them out to be...especially judging from Zecora's reaction. He had finished cleaning up the Library a bit, he had been heading upstairs to go to bed, when the roar echoed through the night.

That roar...that loud, powerful roar...something about it...felt familiar. Like he should know it. It sparked something within him; something that had been buried deep in his brain, buried under all the pony emotions and logic pumped into him on the day of his birth...something primal.

He stumbled to the side, catching himself against the wall, as instincts and feelings deep within him finally bubbled up to the surface for the first time, all at once. His mind was consumed by images and thoughts that he had never experience before.

Fire.

Gold.

Destruction.

Power.

Death.

And yet...it all felt...right. Something like he should've known this whole time; something that had been missing from his life, and yet he didn't even know it.

In the guestroom of the Library, Zecora awoke with a horrible fright. The beast had claimed his first prey in Equestria, and if the following days would claim much more than that.

She could only pray that she was not one of them.

And all the way in Canterlot, Celestia awoke with a jolt as the roar echoed across the distant horizon, in the direction of a familiar ancient location. The roar of a kind she had not heard in eons. Not since she was just a little filly.

Her eyes widened in alarm, her heart slowly churning with dread.

The time had come...far earlier than it was suppose to.

The Age of Fire had begun...and they were not ready.

With a painful-sounding 'CRACK!', the bloodied and broken Luna slammed against the far wall, screaming in pain as she fell to the stony floor. She barely had time to recover before the dragon burst into the grand hall after her, roaring with fury. With a flash of magic, she quickly teleported out of his path, re-materializing down another hallway just in time to hear the wall explode from the impact, an angry roar bellowing through the ruins.

Gasping for breath as she laid upon the floor, she poured everything she had into the most powerful healing spells she knew, gritting her teeth in agony as bones snapped back into place and flesh sealed shut with smoke; even then, her body was torn and bleeding all over. The only armor that remained from her original shut was half of the helm; the fiercely bleeding gashes lining chest and torso showed how painful it was when the dragon grabbed her barrel-plate and tore it from her body, the metal craving her up like a griffin's venison feast.

This...this was not possible. She was the goddess of the night! The most powerful being in the universe, second only to Celestia! Entire kingdoms fell to her might! Dragons the size of mountains trembled in terror in her mere presence! She moved the very celestial orbs of the cosmos themselves!

And yet here she was, crippled upon first blow and reduced to a floppy, bloody ragdoll by this dragon, who was only half the size of a full grown adult.

Terror gripped the alicorn's heart as a dark growl rumbled through the hall; she whipped her head around just in time to see Spyro slither around the corner like a massive serpent, his claws leaving long groves in the stony floor, and his reptilian eyes and inner chest glowing with fire. Crying in terror and anger, Luna materialized thirty crystalline daggers and sent them flying at the dragon, bolting in the opposite direction as fast as her wounded legs would allow.

The blades shattered against his hide like shards of glass against the metal hull of a minotaur war-machine, the fragments scattering to the floor; Spyro snarled as he recoiled from the attack all the same, raising his wings to shield his face and eyes, lowering them to see her disappear down the hall.

"How long will you continue to flee like the coward you are? He hissed as he pawed at his face like a large cat, clawing away at the magic dust, before glaring after her in anger. "Or have you finally admitted defeat to your greater?"

Luna panted for breath as she hid amongst the armor suits within Armor Hall, pouring her magic back into healing spells upon herself. "W...We do not...intend to lose...this fight...yet!" She snapped back, gritting her teeth as she sealed the gashes on her chest, tears running down her eyes. "We will...not...be...beaten...by the likes...of Thee!"

Spyro gave a dark, cruel laugh, his voice echoing through the darkness. "You are a fool to think that this was even a fight to begin with. You claim to be a god, and yet you lose to one you believe to be beneath you? Pathetic...although, I will overlook this mistake, for many have made it before: Nothing *can defeat me, let alone the likes of a petty queen who fell to the likes of a herd of half-grown mares."*

That was enough to get Luna to pause, anger, indignity...and a bit of regret...briefly drowning out her pain and fear.

"We are not ashamed of being defeated by young Twilight Sparkle and her herd!" She spat, glaring at the darkness behind her as the last wounds finally sealed shut. "They freed me from a darkness I was too weak to resist, and w-"

"To Resist?! HA! You willingly gave yourself to the Nightmare, knowing full well its intentions of death to your own sister! Intentions born from your very emotions!! You were not under some 'spell' as you would like people to believe! You tried to murder her by your own will and power!"

"DO NOT JUDGE US OF OUR PAST SINS!" Luna screamed, teleporting out of the armory and reappearing in the throne room, summoning her blades once more; she was back to full strength and ready this time. "Thou cannot even begin to fathom the emotions that drove us to accepting the darkness! Thou have no idea what it was like; to slave away as much as my sister in tending the night, only for her to receive all the love and praise while we were treated as a monster!"

"Oh...but I do, Nightmare. The tree showed me everything about you, Fron-Kriid."

Luna nearly snarled like an animal in anger, whipping her head about, trying to find were the dragon was.

"I know your type all to well, Nightmare Moon: you believe that since you're of royal blood, that the love and respect of your subjects are absolute', correct?"

"O-Of course it is!" The princess snapped back, though a heavy feeling in her stomach said otherwise. "We are the daughter of Faust herself. Love and respect is our birthright!"

This time Spyro really did laugh: a loud, powerful...horrible laugh; cruel and murderous, one that stabbed even more fear into her already-pounding heart. It seemed to come from everywhere at once, echoing in many voices, like a chorus of voices laughing at her...mocking her...ready to tear her apart. The echoes, however, died down as he slithered down out of the shadows from above, sliding down the wall in a serpentine manner, landing on all fours before her. He leered down at her with a sneer of dark amusement, his upper-lip curled upwards in a toothy, saurian grin.

"Respect?! Birthright?! You petty, pathetic fool! Do you really think that anyone would respect you?!" He chuckled, his eyes glowing with a more amused fire than an angry one. "Respect is not given by 'rights'; it is earned. Your sister earned her subject's love and affection: she has cared for, mothered, guided and protected Equestria as a whole like it was her child. Even during your banishment, through the worst centuries of her life, she stayed to love the ponies that tore her apart from you, when by all 'rights' she should've destroyed them long ago. That *is why mortals respect and love her."*

His amusement vanished into rage as his sneer became a snarl of anger.

"You, on the other 'hoof', are nothing more than a spoiled brat: where your sister has gone through hell to earn her love, you laze around in your tower demanding mortals to give you what you want on a sliver, silk-clothed platter. And when you don't get it, you throw a fit and try to kill *whoever denied you, even when it was to help you!"*

"We've changed! We are no longer the monster we once were!" Luna shouted, tears building in her eyes; the swords hovering around her began to shake and falter in her grasp, before she hardened with resolve, taking a stance of battle. "I know what I did was wrong, and I will not rest until I've earned forgiveness for my past!"

The swords shot forward, rocketing toward the dragon with trails of sparkling blue magic. This time, though, Spyro dodged the enchanted weapons, leaping away with the nimbleness of a deer, before leaping forward in a pounce with an angry roar. Luna barely avoided being torn to pieces by his claws as they slashed at her; she flapped back out of reach and sent the swords after him again. Spyro quickly spun around to face them and threw his wings up, crossing them in front of himself like a mighty shield. The swords exploded against the fiery-glowing membrane with bright bursts of magic and flame, lighting up the ruins like dozens of fireworks.

Through the thick smoke and flashing lights, he retracted his wings and leapt forward with another pounce, body still flaming as he roared in rage. This time, however, Luna dodged by quickly taking to the skies; she wasn't going to let her guard down this time, and with her body healed, she was now at full fighting form.

The ground shook as long, bronze-colored claws punctured through the stony floor, barely missing the pony's tail by a split second, the sheer mass of the beast crashing upon the earth with the force of a small meteor. His head whipped up after the air-borne alicorn, snarling with primal rage; his enormous wings snapped outwards before he leapt up with a might flap, taking flight with the wind-lash of a small twister.

It is well known that dragons, while strong, are rather slow flyers; their sheer size and weight, combined with their massive wingspans, made them creatures that calmly soared through the sky, only moving fast when diving prey. So it's easy to understand why Luna, someone who had out-flown the sluggish lizards before, was alarmed as Spyro tore past her with speeds that could very well surpass Rainbow Dash. And precision too: as he rocketed past her, he slammed into her with incredible force with his head, catching her with one of his horns just enough to strike her without knocking her for a loop. It took all Luna had to keep from screaming in agony as the horn gorged her left side and tore clean through, spraying the air and dragon in her blood.

The alicorn gritted her teeth in pain as she fought against it, struggling to keep herself airborne; each flap of her wings sent a burst of blood gushing from the wounds, staining her right side and thigh red. With the mighty beating of his wings that prompted her to look up as the dragon descend back down from above, stopping his descendant to hover before her. His great glowing wings beat with the strength of a tornado. His mighty tail swished back and forth like a great river. His glowing chest burned with the fiery power on an erupting volcano. His impenetrable scales shone in the light of the moon. And his fiery eyes burned upon her with the anger and vengeance of the very world itself.

It was clear who was the real god of these two beings.

And she found herself hating him for it. Those burning, power-filled eyes stared down upon her as if she were a but a child throwing a tantrum. Eyes that looked down at her and all her regal glory and power, yet saw nothing more than a foal trying to make herself out to be a mare. Eyes of a wretched, disgusting...damnable creature who viewed her not as the divine, almighty goddess she was, but as a simple, spoiled mortal trying to put on a show of pride and greed.

Eyes that she had once seen long, long ago, on the one she knew as family.

With a flare of anger. she summoned more swords and shot them forward: He merely swatted them aside with a lash of his tail, not even flinching. He snorted afterwards, his glare hardening.

Gritting her teeth even harder, she tried casting a spell that would turn him into a mouse: The magic washed over him briefly before a surge of power erupted from within him, tearing her magic asunder. He bared his teeth slightly as a soft growl rumbled from his throat.

Her face twisted into an almost animalistic snarl as she just dropped the artful approach and simply fired solid magic energy, a beam of what resembled blue, sparkling fire erupting from her horn: the furious magic crashed against and washed over his chest, flowing over him like water. This time he was pushed back a bit, but he recovered instantly, merely putting more effort into staying in place, not taking any damage. His eyes seem to glow even brighter and angrier in response, as if absorbing her magic for himself.

"You truly believe you are divine, don't you?" He finally spoke in his 'mortal' voice, his tone that of someone insulted. "Even now, when you have fallen to the most primitive form of magic just to try to make me flinch, and yet I haven't had to use my own power once."

"WE ARE A GOD!!" Luna screamed in fury, her eyes briefly flashing white. "WE MOVE THE VERY CELESTIAL BODIES THEMSELVES!! WE SET THE VERY CYCLE OF NIGHT AND DAY INTO MOTION!! LOOK UPON THAT AND TELL US WE ARE NOT OF DIVINE POWER!!"

With another flare of her horn, great chains of black crystal and blue gemstones erupted from the earth far below; they tore through the air, their mighty links rattling with the sounds of clashing metal, intent of ripping the dragon limb from limb. This time Spyro did dodge the attack, skillfully evading the numerous chains with fast and almost graceful spins, flips, and aerial maneuvers that would certainly impress the wonderbolts; it almost looked as if he was dancing in the air. And the whole while, he moved in a way that allowed his tail to cleave and tear through the chains as he dodged them, the mighty links shattering and falling to the ground in long ropes or shattered fragments. This continued on for a good few minutes, before he spun to a stop, every chain destroyed.

This immediate sent a bolt of realization through the alicorn's mind, even as she healed her side wound during his 'dance'...which exactly what it was, as she would recognize it anywhere: those movements...those perfectly timed and performed maneuvers...that was no mere movement of an animal. They were actions that could've only be perfected through intense training and personal practice.

This 'animal' was not a mere beast of the wilds: he had been trained in the art of combat.

"The act of moving the sun and moon would be impressive...were they not corrupted." The dragon spat as he resumed simply hovering in front of her, not at all winded by his extensive movements. "Had the world not been twisted to fit your petty needs, the ability to do such would be impossible, even for the likes of that Discord wretch."

Luna's nose wrinkled in righteous disgust. "What slander are thou speaking of this time?"

Spyro's eyes narrowed. "That is none of your concern anymore, nor will it ever be again..." He hissed with a reptilian cruelty. "Do you really think you can earn repentance for crimes of your *magnitude?"* The tone of his voice told her that he was tiring of this little game. "Are you even aware *of the sheer level of evil you brought upon this world?*

It is not just about you trying to kill your sister: it's also about you killing off your entire home. You and Celestia control the very solar cycle itself: I know *you are very well aware of what would've happened once you brought forth Eternal Night. The crops dying and ponies freezing is only the sugar-coated version of the story: without the warmth of the sun, the world would freeze over, growing colder and colder by the minute. Soon, even if they had the means to make fire, all life of the planet wouldn't be able to resist freezing to death...if they hadn't starved already, and even then it wouldn't stop. The world would enter an Ice Age of the likes never seen before, and would only go colder and colder until it would be as cold as the space the planet floats in; a cold where not even bacteria would survive.*

But did you care? No...you were aware of this, and yet you deliberately *tried to kill off an entire world in the slowest, coldest, most horrible way imaginable! And why?"*

With those final words spoken, Luna finally snapped:

"Because no one was stupid enough to go out into your death-filled darkness *to stare up at the stars!"*

"DAMN YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!"

With an enraged roar, the alicorn erupted with power, spreading her wings, she soared up into the air, practically blazing with the power of a thousand stars; Spyro hissed in pain as the increasing light made him squint and hover back a few flaps. Luna continued to scream as her horn blazed with the full might and force of her alicorn-hood; the moon blazed brightly in the night, as if pouring its power into her body, the very air vibrating with the energy, blue and white fire blazing from her horn, and any mortal witnessing the sight would've believed that a god had descended upon the land in all his or her glory.

And with one final, furious scream, Luna thrust her head forward and blasted the dragon with every spark of her nightly magic in one, single, solid, giant fiery beam of pure alicorn power.

*BOOOOOMM!!*

Celestia's heart nearly stopped when she recognized the signature of the explosion of magic from the Everfree.

...The dust billowed around and fill her vision as Luna slowly stumbled through the air, clumsily flapping her wings as she fell from the sky and collapsed to the ground. Her body was drained, physically, mentally...and magically: she had poured every last drop of her magical aura into that one final attack: a sheer magical blast that she obtained by tapping her power into the very moon itself. It was an attack that was meant to be used in extreme emergencies only, fore it would be another good hundred years before she would be able to use it again...and the damage it would cause was a danger to Equestria as well as its enemies: the beam had leveled everything within its path. Stretching far out deeper into the Everfree was a massive canyon now torn into the earth, measuring over two hundred feet wide and almost twice that in depth, extending for what could've been miles into the forest. The trees lining the crumbling-fresh edges of the canyon were blazing with blue flames, smoke billowing into the skies, while a blizzard of ash floated down from above, covering the trees for miles in that direction or disappearing into the new depths below.

She laid there of her stomach, gasping for breath. the attack had drained her strength and magic completely, including her natural reserves. Ever mane and tail were drained, no longer in the form of flowing, starry aura; they had materialized into short, dark-blue hair, which laid strewn about and crusty with ash, dirt, and sweat. It would be weeks before she would be able to even use simple levitation magic, let alone recharge her overused reserves into manifesting her hair back into its magic state. She was also sore and throbbing from being reduced to a punching bag, as well as exhausted; she would be VERY sore the next day...

...and yet, she felt nothing but satisfaction, and a bit of joy. She had done it: she had blasted that wretch of a dragon clean off the face of the earth. She was a god. She had proven all the neighsayers wrong. And she would return home head held high with pride, knowing that she had saved Equestria from a terrible fat-

*SLASH*

Pain...unlike anything she had ever felt before rocketed through her skull; it felt as though someone had taken a red hot poker and shove it directly through her horn, all the way down to her brain...only, she realized from the blood gushing down it face...she didn't have her horn anymore (3).

Her explosion had silenced all ambiance in the forest, and thus it was perfectly quiet...meaning there was nothing to stop the soft clink of her blooded, decapitated horn from echoing across the plateau as it landed in front of her.

"You filthy whore. That HURT."

'No...it...it's not...possible...!' She thought as tears of horror came to her eyes It...it couldn't be...that...that had been her strongest attack! It was all her magic! Her godhood! Every last bit of the magic that RAISED AND LOWERED THE VERY FORCES OF THE COSMOS ITSELF!! HOW?! HOW COULD HE STILL BE ALIVE?!?!

As the dust and ash finally began to settle, she was able to finally see him. He hadn't even been blown off his feet or knocked off the plateau; if he didn't look like an angry god of death before, he certainly did now: His chest now sported heavy burn wounds, along with cracked, withered scales, smoke rising from them...but otherwise was completely uninjured. Long claw grooves had been raked across the ground as he had been forced back, but he had hung on the entire time, taking the full brunt of her strongest attack and still stood tall. His tail was still curved to where his blade was still hovering over her head, dripping in her blood, while his face was contorted into an snarling glare of utter anger and hate.

And when she looked into his eyes at that one moment , Luna, for the first time in her eon-long, supposedly immortal life, finally knew what it meant to truly fear death.

"I'm done *playing with you."*

Luna didn't get a chance to plea for her life before the large claw snatched her as the owner tore past in flight.

Folding his wings outwards to his sides, Spyro jerked out into a high-speed glide only a few meters from the earth, tearing across the plateau and alongside the outer palace wall at incredible speeds. Luna didn't have any time to prepare before, with an angry roar from the dragon, she was slammed into the wall with an explosion of rock, dirt, and blood. She could only scream long and loud as she was dragged along the structure, bringing it down with a continuous spray of rock and dirt as they tore through, ripping her apart and crushing every bit of her body. Spyro gave a monstrous roar of rage and victory as he did so, his eyes glowing so brightly that his pupils were barely visible.

He then tore away, flapping hard as he bolted back up into the sky, flying higher and higher, and continued to go higher until he and his captive breached the cloud barrier. The final remnants of the MiiraadziemSovaarre were the large storm clouds that still hung about the skies, having yet to dissipate and fade away. Brief flashes of lightning lit up the inside of the cloud, revealing the rolling black forms and the dragon flying through them.

Spyro gave a stern bark of a growl before he promptly threw Luna into the upper sky; the alicorn barely had time to give a garbled scream before she was slammed by the dragon rocketing past her full force, smashing the ribs along her left side and tearing a large gash in her side with his claws in the process. She didn't even have time to recover from the first blow before the dragon came at her again, coming out from the side and crashing into her head on, sending her spinning through the air as he disappeared into the clouds. He then came at her again, and again, and again, and again! It was as if she was being attacked by twenty dragons at once, all working in unison to rip a piece off or smash everything within her as they tore past, disappearing just before the other appeared. Like a bolt of purple lightning he attacked again and again, pounding and tearing her from every angle without mercy, until the very clouds began to stain red with and rain down her blood. His teeth flashed in the lightning as he tore into her. His roar bellowed louder than any of the thunderclaps around them. Ans his eyes burned with pure white fire like that found only in hell.

Then it came, the final attack: in a brief let-up from the beat-down she was receiving, a bloodied and mangled Luna tried desperately to catch herself. To just take flight and fly. Fly to the farthest corner of Equestria, and then keep flying, and flying, and flying until she was sure he would never be able to find her...but in that desperate action of opening her twisted, featherless wings, she set herself up for the kill.

No sooner were they open did the dragon erupt out the clouds behind, roaring a loud, long, angry battlecry as he swung his claws down at them.

*SLASH!!*

Her ears could only hear a loud, high-pitching ringing, even as she screamed long and loud as her wings fell from her sides and plummeted to the earth below.

She would've fallen as well, but Spyro prevented it by diving after the falling pony and catching her in his claw. Satisfied with his work, he simply folded his wings to his sides and allowing himself to free-fall with his fallen opponent in his grasp; he continued to fall until he fell below the cloud barrier, spreading his wings to catch himself. He took a moment to level himself out into a simple hover before looking down at the once proud and mighty Nightmare Moon. The pony in his clutches was nothing more than a fleshy, blood-drenched, mangled carcass of her former self, her limbs either twisted into unnatural shapes, or even missing altogether, while what tiny patches or strands of hair and feathers had been torn off and laid scattered across the plateau and forest; her wings and horn alike were nothing more than bloodied stumps now, both being torn from her body, the parts that once symbolized her supposed 'god-hood' for gone. Apart from brief twitches and jerky flicks of her...parts...she didn't appear to be alive,  and for a moment he thought she was dead...

...until she spoke.

"...P...Please..." Luna begged weakly, barely even sounding more than mere whispers in his ears. "...I...I give...M-Mer...Mercy...please..."

The plea was so soft...so broken and fearful...that for a brief moment even the mighty Spyro felt a brief spark of such mercy...but it was snuffed out just as quickly, consumed by a raging inferno of insulted fury. Mercy...like the mercy her Briinah begged for before she tried to murder her? The same mercy that she intended to make Goraan Twilight beg for before she sentenced her to banishment from the kingdom?! Or the mercy that this world as a whole would be screaming for as it died a slow, freezing death while she laughed at their misery?! How DARE she ask for the one thing she refused to give to anyone before her!! HOW DARE SHE!!

(2) NAAL FAAL STAHDIM BORMAH AKATOSH, HI FEN SALUK KOTIN OBLIVION MINDOK FOS NII VAHZANGAAR SEIK WAH DIR!!

Eyes bursting into white flame, he pulled his forearm back and, with a mighty roar, hurled the broken mess of blood and limbs at the ground with all his strength; Luna finally managed to scream: a long, blood-curling, heart-wrenching wail of despair and terror as her broken body rocketed down to the earth as it fired from a cannon, and she could only continue to scream before she struck the ground with enough force to pulverize her spine and ribs.

It was a good thing her spine broke though, fore it meant she didn't feel a thing when Spyro spun forward in the air a few times before firing himself downwards in a Horn Dive. His body shot down so fast it broke the sound barrier, creating a miniature sonic boom, but even that didn't prevent the thunderous, primal roar of sheer ferocity from reaching her ears before it all went white.

*BOOM!*

That was it. The final blow. The straw that broke the camel's back. What remained of the ruins, which had undergone so much torture and destruction in that night, could stand no longer. With a mighty crash like thunder and a shock wave of dirt and ash, the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters...a relic of Equestrian history that had stood before the reign of Discord...the palace that withstood both attacks of Nightmare Moon...and the area that witnessed the beginning of the Age of Fire...finally gave way and collapsed in on itself. The weakened, withered walls crumbled away like sand on a beach, and the once tall, mighty towers toppled like trees with great crashes, shattering into rubble upon impact. The rooms containing priceless artifacts and magical items, including a library full of now-vaporized ancient tomes and a sinister green book, collapsed in on themselves, crushing and destroying anything that had escaped the MiiraadziemSovaarre's storm. And finally, the flimsy bridge connecting the plateau to the outside world snapped, crumbling into aged splinters and plummeting into the gorge.

The tremors from Spyro's horn-dive could be felt as far as Manehatten; those closer would think the world was coming to an end, as the very earth seem to shake from being struck by a meteor. Ponyville itself was once again sent into yet another panic as the earth shook the already damaged town.

It would be a strange day for Canterlot, as the impact had broken off one of the outer platforms supporting the Mansion for House Philharmonica, sending the entire house, all its belongs, and the entire family inside plummeting to their deaths in the lake below. However, since all the members of House Philharmonica (minus the twin sisters of music that lived in Ponyville, who would come to inherit the entire family fortune and all that was dragged out of the lake) were complete noble society whores of the worst sort, nobody could decide whether to mourn or celebrate the disaster. Not even Celestia.

Applejack was forced to spend the rest of the night awake, trying to get everyone to calm down and then helping to repair the damages caused by said panic. She would not get a wink of sleep until late following day.

Fluttershy fled her house altogether, taking Rarity's offer to spend the night in the boutique, on the opposite side of town from the Everfree. Angel Bunny found himself forced to sleep with the other animals that night.

Pinkie Pie would give the pony equivalent to a rage-quit as the impact knock over the map she was constructing out of building blocks for the party. She went to bed soon after, grumpy as a goose...if gooses got grumpy, that is.

Rarity regretted going to bed in a full mud mask and pickle slices as she was knocked off the bed and onto the floor, landing face-first into Opal's bed with a messy 'Splat!'. The cat responded with the appropriate claws to said face, thus ruining the unicorn's night even further.

Rainbow Dash slept through the whole thing, thanks to living up in the sky. She spent the rest of the night and most of the morning deep in a peaceful slumber, dreaming of going on adventures with her idol Daring Do.

Spike was knocked out of his trance and into unconsciousness as a large book fell from the shelf above and beaned him on the head. His last thought before passing out was how many gems could he stash in his basket.

And Twilight was saved from plummeting to her death in the rubble by crystalline branches that erupted out of the ground and stretched out to catch her sleeping form, landing her in a cushion of glass-like leaves that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.

As the dust and stone continued to rain down amongst them, Spyro rolled over onto his feet and wrenched his head off of her now crushed form; he actually felt her bloodied body stick to his head before gravity pulled it off with a sick 'plop', landing on the ground before him. He back up a few good feet before returning to stand over the so-called 'goddess of the night in a more comfortable position, his wings gripping onto the nearby crystal formations as he lowered himself like a great serpent. Still, if she possessed anything of a god, with was the endurance of one, cause after even that, with her form broken beyond mortal life, he could still see her fleshy sides weakly gasping for breath, and hear the very faint beating of her heart. Even when paralyzed from the neck down, she still had the strength to shift her broken skull slightly to look up at him, with eyes that had miraculously remained unharmed.

"I was almost tempted to let you go and make your demands to your sister, if only to see her deny you in favor of Twilight Sparkle." He snarled with a dark chuckle, eyes glinting with amusement. "To watch her defy you; to reject the sister she lost an eon ago, in favor of the one who replaced you as her new family..."

If Luna wasn't dead physically, then she knew what it must've felt like, fore even in her death-like numbness, she could feel her heart break.

"...but I think not..." Spyro growled as he back up, shifting his body in a serpentine manner. "I think our little game ends here. So tell me, Nightmare Moon*..."* And with those words, his inner chest glowed with fire.

"How do you choose TO DIE*?!"*

"STOOOOOP!"

It was only thanks to Spyro's split-second reaction time that he managed to twist his head to the side as he lunged, snapping on thin air with a crack like lightning, barely missing Twilight Sparkle as she threw herself between him and the near-death Alicorn. He pulled his head back in aggravation, eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you-?"

Silence.

That was what made Spyro recoil the most, the fire in his chest and eyes unknowingly dying down in response: just the sheer amount of dead, horrified silence. Twilight Sparkle, the pony he had come to own as his companion...as his friend...stared up at his bloodied jaws and monstrous form with nothing short of terror and heartbreak. Her body was trembling like a leaf in the wind, and he could tell she was struggling to keep from running in fear; her mouth was once more flapping wordlessly, though this time it wasn't entertaining, her bottom lip quivering and throat bobbing fearfully...but what was, by far, the most impacting were her eyes: they were even worse than they were when he attacked her friends just a few hours ago. They looked upon him with horror, wide and tearful, a storm of emotions flashing through them: fear, horror, lost, sorrow, betrayal, pleading, and many more...and they pierced into his very being even more the tears began running down her face.

Then she finally spoke, her voice quivering with sorrow and fear. "P...P-Please...D-Don't do this." She begged, hiccuping softly as she struggled to keep from sobbing. "D-D-Don't...k...k-k...kill her..." The first sob finally burst forth at the word 'kill', a word she had no doubt never even thought of before this day , and she wasn't able to get them to stop. "P-P-Please-e-e-e..."

"You wish for me to spare the life of Nightmare Moon?" He asked carefully, cocking his side slightly. "Even after all that she has done?"

"S-S-She's not N-N-Nightmare Moon any-m-more!" She sobbed, falling back on her haunches; the tears were now flowing down her face, and they showed no signs of stopping. "S-S-She's c-c-changed. We...We made s-sure of...i-it."

"Could've fooled me." Spyro spat, glaring at the mangled mess of flesh behind the purple pony. "You of all ponies should want to see her dead, and I will not sit around and..."

He trailed off when felt something fuzzy and trembling latch onto his left wrist as if its life depended on it; he looked down to his arm to find Twilight hugging it as tightly as she could. Her body was stiff, minus the soft sobbing shaking her form, as if she was frightened just being in contact with him...and yet she stayed there, clinging to his arm like a child pleading to her parent, truly trying to reach out and plead to a dovah. She pressed the side of her face against his wrist, the tears running down his scales as she silently begged him to spare the nightmare's life. The pleading look of pure sorrow in her eyes was almost unbearable, even for a Jendovah, as Spyro found himself conflicted over killing Luna...conflicting over killing someone...a villain, no less!

Truly this was a force not to be taken lightly.

"Y-You won..." She whispered, choking her sobs down, though the tears still ran down her face. "P-Please don't do this...don't take her life before she had a chance to redeem it..." Her grip loosened a bit, though she still held on, even gently stroking the limb for comfort. "...and don't take a sister from the Princess. Please..."

A tense moment of silence passed, neither of them making a move...before Spyro simply gave a deep and slightly-aggravated sigh; twin streams of flame blew from his nostrils, lighting up the darkened area briefly, before going out at the end of his breath. The dragon then turned his gaze to the still-motionless Luna, who had been laying there in a pool of her own blood the entire time, watching them with scared...yet ashamed eyes...which quickly turned to fear when he shot her a deep, stern, predatory glare that would've killed a mortal.

"Any other day, I would make you BURN*..."* He growled at the alicorn with a deep, hateful snarl. The broken night princess whimpered in response. "...but you can thank the pony you sought to punish for letting you live..."

Before either Twilight or Luna could respond, no doubt out of immense gratitude, Spyro suddenly raised his free forepaw up before slamming it upon the ground; both Twilight and Luna reacted out of instinct, with Twilight jumping away like a frightened rabbit, and Luna groaning in pain from the impact...which continued to shake; a soft, deep rumble that slowly grew stronger...and stronger...and stronger...as the source tunneled its way out of the dirt behind Spyro.

Enough.

We are done hiding.

A new era is upon us. And we will not spend it hiding in darkness.

IT'S TIME WE RISE.

With a flurry of dirt and ash, a massive glowing crystalline formation erupted from the earth behind the dragon, who turned his neck about to watch; it twisted out and about, growing like the trunk of a great tree...until Twilight realized that, with the largest amount of disbelief she had her entire night, it was a tree: the crystal trunk continued to grow until it was even larger than the dragon, branching out into five main branches ending in a solid, spherical end, which formed out into an almost star-like shape, along with dozens of smaller branches, from which grew beautiful, glassy leaves and long vines strung with bead-like crystals. The trunk stopped growing out and formed out a large, mighty base with dozens of strong roots, anchoring it in the base of the plateau, and within the trunk from out symbols carved from the chunks that fell free from the base: the symbols of a blazing sun, a crescent moon, and in the center of the branches, a great six-pointed star.

The Tree of Harmony had come out of hiding, and into the light of Equestria.

Spyro turned back to the alicorn, the light from the tree illuminating his scales with an almost heavenly glow...which heavily clashed with the hellish blaze of his eyes. "...in return for sparing your life, you will do something on my behalf...." He told her with a strong, battle-ready tone, even as the roots of the tree began to grow large vines and wing-like leaves around her form, readying to send her back home. "Return to your sister, and deliver this message to her and ALL of this world:

"All. Hail. Jendovahzoor."