Beheading a high-ranking dragon commander. That was how this downward spiral had begun. She should've seen it coming, she should've seen her beloved master's plan from the start. Her queen had always been a tricky little snake: scheming, assassinating, backstabbing, all for the good of Equestria. Twilight couldn't help but laugh at that now, 'Good of Equestria? Or good for you?' Twilight and her elite units had always been the ones meant to clean up things in Equestria:
She had been the one to slay Nightmare Moon after she'd brought the 8 days of night upon Equestria.
She had been the one to banish the avatar of chaos, Discord, to a place far worse than his thousand-years trapped in stone.
It was her blade that was driven through the heart of the Changeling Queen.
It was she who finally burned down that accursed Everfree forest when it grew wild.
And finally, it was she who annihilated Tirek after he'd nearly conquered Equestria again.
And now, here she was again. Standing upon a cliff looking out to the great dragon citadel: Sanctuary, while her remaining forces clashed with the dragon horde. Twilight was no fool, it was the strategy of an imbecile to fight the dragons head-on, yet she could not retreat. She had been forced into a battle that she could not hope to win with her meager forces, as powerful as they were.
A cry shot out from Twilight's flank: "GENERAL TWILIGHT, LOOK OUT!" Immediately following the warning, a torrent of fire shot towards her from a lone, suicidal dragon. It was not long for this world, perhaps it felt that it could at least take down general Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight's horn flared up, a protective bubble sprang up around her, shielding her and her soldiers from the dragon's breath. It wasn't long before a barrage of magic blasts from her unicorn artillery brought the mighty beast down, yet it stilled tried to crash its corpse into Twilight.
Spike, her massive dragon companion, rose to his full height and swatted the smaller dragon's body off course, it fell with a thud against the rock face, falling down into the crevice and imbedding itself on the sharp rocks below.
Twilight sighed, 'How many is that now? 50? 100? 400?' Twilight had lost count of how many dragons had been slain today. She'd never really liked pointless bloodshed, then again she never expected to be caught in a battle. It was supposed to be a simple diplomatic mission. That alone should've sent off several warning bells in Twilight's head. She was a naive fool, thinking Celestia considered Twilight too valuable to risk. But, Celestia had outplayed her...
12 Days Ago
When she passed Equestria's borders, into the dragon's land and stood at their gates with her army (a common practice when traveling into the dragon lands), she had not expected the dragon's to be so... hospitable. They let her into their sacred citadel with little to no problems, they were kind to her, and allowed her an audience with the Ancient dragon queen, Tiamat, as opposed to some delegates.
Twilight entered the gem covered grand hall along with her honor guards: Trixie Lulamoon, Sunset Shimmer, Blue Daze, Frost, and Arrow, all of them accomplished magic users, each of them capable of taking on a fully grown hydra on their own (although, a dragon was another thing, Twilight had confidence in them). This was supposed to be a simple negotiation to open trade routes with the dragon horde, yet Twilight was not stupid. Aside from Spike, Twilight wouldn't trust a dragon with her dirty laundry, let alone her life, if they expected her to go anywhere near dragons, she was doing it with a full security detail.
She looked upon the ancient dragon queen: scales of ruby that shined brighter than the morning's glow, massive golden wings held at her side, razor sharp, spiral horns on her head, and eyes the color of emeralds and sapphire. She looked as dangerous as she was beautiful. But Twilight's awe of the ancient queen would have to wait, it was only then, when she entered their magnificent grand hall did she look upon the severed heads of 9 dragons laid out upon the stone table. "What is the meaning of this?" It didn't take a genius like Twilight Sparkle to figure out that this was gonna end badly.
"I want you to look upon the faces of my kin, they were wonderful dragons. Strong, brave, noble, selfless, kind, generous, all aspects that every dragon should rise to meet. And one by one, you slew them in your own capital, and then... these arrive at my gates, your work."
It was a mistake, of course it was. Of the many things Twilight had fought, a dragon was not one of them. Well, technically, she'd had played her part at killing a single, rogue dragon, years ago; the head of that dragon was not present (it was probably decomposing in a hole somewhere). "I'm afraid, you are mistaken, Queen Tiamat. I-"
"Enough!" Tiamat rose from her throne of beautiful gems, she drew herself up to full height. "I will not listen to your lies. Your Queen told me of your silver tongue, and I will not be persuaded." With a swift motion of her massive claw, several of her dragon elite guards descended upon Twilight's honor guards.
Twilight was quick to throw up a spell shield, all but two of her honor guards were not. She could smell the putrid stench of their burning flesh, and hear the rumble of the dragon's landings. Twilight had always been adept at spellcasting, it was one of the reasons Celestia had chosen her as one of her acolytes. Yet, the flames of several dragons pushed the limits of magic that could be mustered by three ill-prepared spellcasters.
"We've been here for 30 SECONDS!" Sunset remarked, her shield starting to falter. "Great plan, Sparkle!"
"Quiet!" Twilight demanded, she needed a plan, she needed to think. "Trixie!"
Trixie smirked, she allowed her shield to falter while jumping into Twilight's shield. From out of sight of the dragons, she cast a new spell. She took their fire and surrounded the three mares in a hellfire tornado.
When the flames had finally subsided, the mares were gone.
Tiamat was absolutely furious, she demanded their heads on pikes within the hour or her honor guards would take their place.
What happened to the three mares? Well, Sunset and Twilight were very adept at transmogrification spells, all one of them had to do was keep the shield up while the other transformed them into something smile and unnoticeable. Mice, to be precise.
"So what now?" Sunset asked, while the three mice ran through the citadel, their dragon pursuers blissfully unaware of their presence.
"Celestia has betrayed us." Twilight announced, "I don't know why, and quite frankly, I don't really care. I'll deal with that later. Right now, we need to get back to our encampment. I have been in a constant mental link with Spike since we entered the Citadel, he should know of our predicament."
"At least our troops will be there when we rejoin them."
"If they can hold the line."
Present Day
Twilight's forces were not known as elites for nothing, and Spike, though still young in years, was just as vicious and ferocious as a dragon should be. Twelve dragons. That's all they sent to annihilate Twilight's encampment, they underestimated the ponies under Twilight's command. A foolish mistake that they would not live to regret.
Of Twilight's 500 strong elites, 50 had been either slain or wounded in the initial dragons ambush, (many more would die in the coming battles). They had perhaps hoped to catch Twilight's soldiers off guard, to slay them before they could turn their magic on the dragon soldiers. A bold plan worthy of Twilight's brilliant tactical mind, yet it was a predictable outcome.
Twilight could not pull her forces out of the dragon lands, she'd never make it back to Equestria before they burned her alive, and even if by some Faustian miracle she did make it back, she would not be greeted with open arms and honor. She would be greeted by the blades of a thousand spears piercing her flesh and that of her remaining soldiers. Twilight, was basically exiled from Equestria for a reason she did not know.
Sunset came to Twilight with Trixie in tow. Sunset had sported new battle wounds, and Trixie appeared to have lost a leg. While medics tended to Trixie, Sunset stood next to Twilight, overlooking the battle. "She betrayed us. We were her best, and she betrayed us."
"Are you going to say, I told you so?"
"Of course." Sunset smirked. Her horn sparked up, her wounds started to burn, closing on their own. Sunset gritted her teeth, it was obviously painful. "So, aren't you curious?"
"..." Of course she was, how couldn't she be. "How many... of our ponies have died?"
"I'd say, we've lost a good 3/4's of our fighting forces. Of course, that just means more for me to kill." Sunset showed off her necklace of dragon's scales, she'd gotten into the habit of collecting them over the past few battles, trophy kills. Sunset was one who lusted for battle and violence, not like Twilight. Twilight preferred subtly, for Sunset, the concept of subtly had been lost on her. Along with the concept of honor and mercy. Still, she respected Twilight as a rival she'd someday kill with her own two hooves, that was probably the only thing that kept them on the same side.
Twilight looked to the unconscious Trixie. "How'd she lose her leg?" Twilight trotted over to gently stroke Trixie's mane, when she noticed that one of her eyes had been wrapped in bandages, they were all a little injured. Yet Trixie seemed to be the worst for wear amongst the three of them. 'Always trying to prove yourself... I hope you don't die before I do.'
"Crazy mare threw herself into a general's throat, lost her leg but she burst right through his stomach. It was, messy. After that, I dragged her stupid ass all the way up here." Sunset showed off the newest edition to her collection of scales. "Little guy, hid in one of the caverns, I bent the ground into spikes and impaled him." Sunset sat next to Twilight. "Ya know, as much as I love violence, I hope you have some kind of plan, there's still a lot more things I want to kill before the reaper pony comes for me."
"A plan?" Twilight sighed, "We're boxed in. To the North: we have more dragons and our own military has orders to kill us, if I know Celestia she'd have planned for that. To the South: Sanctuary, the ancient dragon citadel. Right now, we're still in check. The only possible way we can get out of this is if we pull off a miracle and defeat Tiamat's army." Several screams echoed out into night, more ponies had been lost to dragons. "Celestia betrayed us."
"It was only a matter of time."
"We were her pride and joy, her best. She betrayed us all."
"She did, there's no doubt about that. She had those dragons killed, and then mailed to Tiamat with our names on it. Guess we became too powerful, she fears what we're capable of. And she's right to fear us."
"The longer this drags out, the less chance we have of surviving. I don't have any plans, there's no secret entrance, no official to blackmail, no mercenaries to hire. There's no cavalry coming, it's just us against a horde of dragons." Twilight stood up as the sun rose, bathing the sky in a blood red glow. She shouted out defiantly at the sun, feeling nothing but resentment for the one who claimed to be responsible for raising it. After her yell, she felt... at peace. "If Celestia wishes us to die, then I will not allow my soldiers, my friends to die alone." Twilight spread out her wings, "I will fight with them, and if today is when we should die, I will meet you on the other side." She held out her hoof to Sunset, "My sister."
Sunset bumped hooves with Twilight, "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on dying, at least... not until I burn our former queen."
Twilight soared above the raging battle below, twice had a dragon thought to strike at her, and twice had she brought it down with the might of her magic. "TIAMAT!" Twilight bellowed at the top of her lungs to the dragon citadel. For just a moment, all was quiet, as if waiting to hear Twilight's declaration. "I DID NOT SLAY YOUR KIN! BUT YOU HAVE SLAIN HUNDREDS OF MY PONIES! I HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT BY MY QUEEN, SENT TO DIE FOR HER FEAR! IF YOU WILL NOT LISTEN TO REASON, THEN I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE YOUR LIFE!" Twilight saw Tiamat rise from her citadel, she perched upon the city gate, awaiting Twilight's next word. "I AM NOT ABOUT TO TAKE THE FALL, FOR THE COWARDICE OF MY QUEEN! I INVOKE, DRAGUL KIRI! TRIAL OF SUCCESSION!"
Tiamat roared back: "I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!" The battle was started by a torrent of silver fire shooting at Twilight.
Twilight immediately shot up a spell shield, the white hot flames seared through the spell shield, singing Twilight's fur. She needed a new spell, thinking quickly, she fired off a panicked teleport. Blinking several feet higher.
Tiamat's might roar shook the skies and the earth as the fearsome dragon took off like a bullet, annihilating the section of the wall she had stood on. In an instant she was upon Twilight, her massive claws wrapped around Twilight.
Once again, a bubble shield saved Twilight, if only barely. She could feel the space around her tightening rapidly, 'I can't get into a test of strength with her!' Twilight knew her limits, and getting into a battle of strength with a dragon was a fool's task. Twilight grew spikes on her bubble, then started to spin rapidly, she could see the barrier spikes cutting into Tiamat's thick scales, her grip loosening. Twilight saw light, and she jettisoned out of her barrier and Tiamat's grip like a rocket. She turned to face Tiamat, who's ear-splitting roar briefly stunned Twilight. Twilight felt, what seemed to be, the force of a hundred bulls running full speed violently smash into her personal protection field. She slammed into the mountain, wincing from the pain the impact had caused.
Tiamat hovered in the air, laughing at Twilight. "You are a fool, little alicorn. I have destroyed citiess with just the beat of my wings, made mountains crumble from the weight of my massive claws, whole nations have been burned by me alone in the centuries I have lived. What makes you think that you can stand up to one such as I?"
Twilight freed herself from the mountain side. "Nothing. In all honesty, this will be where I die, but as I said. I will not just sit by and die as a pawn in Celestia's game of conquest. I do this because I have no other choice, and I do not want to see my ponies die for my master's fear of me." Twilight's horn gathered power. "If there's a slim chance, that I can live, I will take it with my own two hooves!" She let loose a powerful blast of pure magic that engulfed the mighty dragon.
Of course it wouldn't be over that easily. Tiamat rolled to avoid the magic blast, swerving to charge Twilight into the mountainside.
Twilight charged to meet her head-on. She watched as Tiamat's jaw opened to both shoot her searing flames at Twilight and to bite her in half. Twilight swerved to avoid the white hot flames, even being in close proximity singed her legs. She winced but continued to fly, spiraling past Tiamat's neck. Twilight was small, she was faster, more agile, she was in close now. She had the upper hand now!
She formed a dozen blade-like constructs and slashed along Tiamat's skin. They did little to injure the dragon's armored scales. Little cuts weren't gonna do it, she needed a big blast. She felt the mana in the air, gathered as much of it into her horn as she possibly could, all the while desperately avoiding Tiamat's tail and claws. Twice, Tiamat had rocked Twilight with her tail, even missing sent a gust that knocked Twilight off course, threatening to break her concentration.
Twilight ascended the clouds, watching as Tiamat followed. Twilight waited there, above the clouds, her horn primed and ready. As soon as Tiamat's head broke the cloud cover, Twilight shot forth like a bullet. Diving past Tiamat and gripped onto the spikes on her neck. She released her massive magical energy to greatly injure one of Tiamat's wings. The ancient dragon's anguished cry made Twilight both chilled and ecstatic.
Tiamat could no longer fly properly, she had made a foolish mistake, and it was about to cost her. But she would not go down just yet, she would not let Twilight Sparkle fly freely. She shot out a torrent of fire.
The fire had missed consuming Twilight, but it had been close enough where the feathers of Twilight's wings had been singed. She fell with the ancient queen, she used what magic she could muster to create constructs large enough to beat the queen dragon to death before she hit the ground.
Every missed swipe of Tiamat's claw send powerful gusts.
Twilight could feel her bones snapping with each powerful gust, but at the same time, she could see the cracks in Tiamat's armor. She hadn't been mindlessly beating at Tiamat's scales. No, she'd been focusing on one spot in particular. Tiamat's heart. Soft skin was exposed now. With one last blast from her horn, Twilight's magic drilled through the dragon's chest. The cries of her death throes echoed throughout the morning sky.
Yet she would not go down without a fight. She gripped onto Twilight and tried her best to twist her falling body to crush Twilight beneath her weight.
The two landed with a crash and a storm of dust. It was over now...
The queen looked out at Equestria's borders, she saw the armies of the Equestrian military waiting. Her dragons perched upon the cliff, waiting for the queen's signal to strike.
"Queen Twilight." A blue dragon with silver spikes stood by her side, "Our forces are ready. Are you certain, this is what you want?"
If that dragon had asked her years ago, whether she'd have thought she'd be returning to Equestria as a conqueror. She'd have laughed in his face. "Yes." It's funny how things work out, isn't it? Twilight looked out to the rising sun, and sighed. She spread her wings and took flight, leading her dragons into the first of what would be many more battles.
Author's Note
This was probably the fastest I've ever had to put a story together...
