Aethia

Chapters

I - Descent
II - Instinct
III - Out of the shadows
IV - Into the inferno
V - Anomaly

I - Descent

"Yay! I got it!" said a brown-coated filly with a trigger in her mouth. "Look, Daddy!"

"Wow!" The winged stallion rose from his seat to get a closer look. "You chipped the edge! That sure was quick! Keep practicing, and you'll be scoring those bulls-eyes in no time."

She eyed the small break on the wooden figure. "Daddy? What happens when the arrow hits someone not made of wood?"

"Someone not made of wood?" He chuckled. "You mean someone alive? Like a pony, or a griffon?"

She nodded.

"Well, heh, it would hurt them of course," he stated. "A lot." His daughter stared at the crossbow in her grasp, and she moved it to the ground with hint of an innocent sob. He shuffled closer, placing a gentle hoof on her cheek where a streak of liquid had trickled. "No need to cry, Em. Just remember..." She opened her glistening green eyes to see her father's comforting visage at her level. "It's important that we do everything we can to keep ourselves safe. There's all kinds of dangerous creatures out there, as well as bad griffons and ponies who would use their own weapons for bad things." He held the small training crossbow between them. "When you're old enough to carry one of these, it will only be reached for when your life is in danger, to protect yourself from those who would try to hurt you and only them," he reiterated. "If you're lucky, you'll never have to use it at all."

She sniffled, her smile returning. "O-okay. I promise I'll always remember!"

"Yep! I know you will." He gave her a nuzzle. "Anyway, I think that's enough for today. How about we get dinner started?"

"Oh yes!" Her wings fluttered, and any amount of sadness on her face was gone. "Practice makes me soooo hungry!"

She took her father's hoof as they headed inside.

"Right side! Watch the rocks!" yelled Emerald Dream. Dazzleflash clopped across the rough cavern ground, leaping away just as a head-sized boulder crumbled down.

"Celestia's sake, girl!" he yelled. "You can't warn us any quicker? That's the fourth time I almost got crushed!"

"Sorry! It's not easy to see through all this dust, even from here." She ran a hoof through her light-blue mane and landed just short of where the rock had settled. "Besides, you're fine. It was just a little pebble."

"Yeah, a pebble that could have crushed or scraped something fierce," retorted Dazzle. "You use those pretty eyes well enough to judge your shooting. I'm sure you're capable of seeing through a little debris."

"Well you aren't crying over a tiny scratch right now, are you?" she replied with a smirk. "Although you might as well be."

"Oh, shut it you-"

"Uhh...guys?"

"What, Doug?!" Dazzle snapped at the gray-coated earth pony.

Doug fidgeted with a torch in hoof. A spade rested on his shoulder. "Should I...start digging now?"

The three shared a look towards the rocks and dirt that the unicorn's spell had left behind. "Yeah. Yeah, go for it," replied Dazzle.

"On it," said Doug. Long ago, in true earth pony fashion, a young Doug had discovered that he was good for nothing but digging and had since sported a small shovel on his flank. Soon after this revelation, his pa gave him an old spade as a "gift" right before hoofing him out on the streets, and in an act of self-pity with a side of defiance, Doug had held onto his shameful tool rather than casting it away; being an earth pony, he'd known as well as his father that he didn't require a spade to move dirt.

"We've been at this for hours," said Dazzleflash as the sound of Doug's digging filled the cave. "Are you sure that no-good featherbrained freak of nature was telling the truth? He had that look in his eye that they all share."

Emerald sighed at her unicorn companion. "Yes, Dazzle. I'm sure. I've lived here all my life, and the rumors about this mountain range go years back." She moved to help Doug, scooping a few rocks to the side. "As for Swooping Stan, he's a bit of a legend when it comes to hunting around here; he knows these slopes better than anyone. So yes, I'm positive he didn't mislead us."

Dazzle wiped dirt out of his red mane. "Well, I hope your trust isn't as messy as your sight. I haven't scored big in a while, and it'd be nice if that changed today." When it was Dazzle's time, fate blessed his flank with a treasure chest, the embodiment of want itself. Since then, he's done everything he could to keep up as selfish a nature as possible while seeking his untold riches.

Doug leaned his shovel against the wall with a nod. "You're up, Dazzle," Emerald said.

"Yeah, yeah." droned Dazzleflash. He moved to the wall, placing his horn on the rocky surface with an orange glow. "Just a... There we go. This is as sturdy a pathway as I'm getting." The orange glow intensified, dwarfing the light of Doug's torch. "Hold onto your flanks, because I sure won't."

Emerald flew up as high as she could, and Doug stepped back. The wall broke down until it was nothing but sparkling sediment. Doug coughed at the kicked up dust, feeling the ground shake beneath his hooves as it had before.

...And everything was still. "I-is that it?" asked the earth pony.

Emerald kept her eyes on the stalactites. "There's nothing going on up here." She placed a delicate hoof on the cave ceiling. "I think we're good. Did we break through?"

"I can't see through the dust," Dazzle said. Emerald landed with an adjustment of her holstered crossbow, and the three ponies stepped forward into the newfound cavern. Dazzle kept his magic glowing.

"Careful everypony," Emerald said. "If we broke through-"

"Whoa. What's that?" Dazzle's orange eyes widened. Down below was an ocean of reflections and multicolored light. It was absent on the right, where the darkness expanded to the larger cave network beyond. "I-it's metal! Gold! Gems! Treasure! We hit the jackpot, you guys!"

"Wow," said Doug with a chuckle. "We did, didn't we?"

"Hold on a minute-" Emerald's words fell on deaf ears. Dazzle dove into their prize as if it were a pool. He trudged through the gold, fishing out what seemed to be a sculpture of the first two alicorn princesses far from its rightful home.

"Ohhhh, this looks handsome! Professionally made, and it's in perfect condition! Dibs! This'll fetch a great price back in Equestria!"

"Uhh, Dazzle?"

"Shush, Doug! It's mine! I called it!"

"Dazzle..." Emerald grabbed Doug's torch.

"No! If it weren't for my painfully meticulous knowledge from working on that old rock farm, you idiots would still be out on the slopes-"

Emerald flew to where Dazzle sat and placed a hoof on his muzzle. "Shush for a minute. Look at this..." She lit up the chamber's left side, drawing amusement from Dazzle's face draining of color.

"Th-those are-"

"Eggs," Emerald said in a hushed tone, smirking at his discomfort. "We're lucky you didn't run into any of them during your little celebration." Gems clinked as she placed her hoof down. "Hmm..."

"Shouldn't we..." Doug gulped, trembling in place. "Uhh..."

"We're fine, Doug," Emerald said with a giggle. "See how there's only one entrance? We lucked out. This is an isolated cluster. The records I looked over said that chambers like these are far from the main network. We just need to keep quiet." She shot a look back at Dazzle.

"Oh. Well, if you're sure." Doug took a deep breath and plopped into the chamber. "What's all that stuff on them? It kinda looks like moss," he said with a curious eye towards the clutch, voicing Emerald's thoughts.

She placed a hoof on her forehead. "I don't know. None of the photographs looked anything like this." Emerald stepped closer and gently touched the odd coating. Each egg stood just as tall as she did. "It's softer than the rest of the shell. This one in the back is forming a few growths..."

"C-could it be the species?" Doug asked.

"A dragon's a dragon, you numbskull," Dazzle said, his voice muffled under the gems. "I'm sure these are just regular old eggs."

"No, Doug's right. Dragons have many different sub-species. Most here in the east aren't as complex as those in Equestria. They're more primitive, and typically larger starting out." She touched one of the growths and moved in for a closer look. "That still doesn't explain-"

Dazzleflash groaned, burying his head further beneath the treasure. "You're boring me to tears. I'm sure the brood mother is just sick or something. Can we grab our goodies and get out of here already?"

Emerald stared for a moment longer before shaking her head with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess so. Grab as much as you can, but keep quiet and stay away from the eggs." She stepped back towards their makeshift tunnel. "They're waiting to burst open like a couple of Equestrian spell mines. If we aren't careful-"

The cave began to shake again, and the ponies' eyes followed as a stalactite broke free with a crash, scattering the eggs throughout the chamber.

"Oh no..."

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Dazzle replied. The eggs began to shake with a bright glow before famished claws broke through. Distant roars echoed through the cave system, answering the young cries of the isolated newborns who were emerging for their first feast.

"Okay, we're done here," Emerald said, scampering through the treasure and nudging one of the eggs away. "Grab what you can! Let's go!" Dazzle placed the royal statuette in his gargantuan sack and began swiftly sliding in some of the gold and gems, only for Emerald to scoop the huge bag out of his hooves and fly back up to the ledge.

"But-"

"There's no time, Dazzle! We have to move!" She grabbed Doug's spade and helped him up while the lone unicorn glanced back, still in the same spot. "Move, stallion! They're almost-" A deafening roar interrupted her, and the cavern rumbled as Dazzle jumped. "Take my hoof! Quick!"

She and Doug pulled him up, and everypony turned tail just as one of the eggs thundered open. They reached the uphill portion of the tunnel, and another roar echoed louder than their hooves. "Not quite according to plan." Emerald panted as she spoke.

"You think?!" Dazzle yelled. "We were almost dragon food! Why weren't you watching for a collapse?"

"Ugh," Emerald said as they galloped upward. "Can't this wait until later?"

II - Instinct

A spring wind traveled through the aged griffon's orange feathers to balance the sun's heat. Decayed wooden structures rested a short way west across the plains, silent with the exception of an occasional settling creak. Further beyond towered the notorious mountains that would soon be casting a dark shadow over the buildings.

Breeg had settled down in the little town of Peak's Pass just short of three months before. At day's first light, most of the locals would fly off in search of game, leaving the town deserted until that Princess of the Night worked her magic from across the sea. It was then that they'd returned to barter their kills; Breeg had enjoyed peeking in at this process on some evenings to re-live part of his younger days. It was peaceful enough, but every few weeks a young hunter or two would run their mead-stained beaks about wanting to follow in the paw prints of some big-shot named Swooping Stan, going on and on about his status as 'Linone's Chosen.' They'd then get a pack together and soar off towards the mountains in spite of the warning cries, never to be seen again. Most agreed that these inexperienced packs fell to the chimeras that had earned the late Linone her fame, the slopes' most notorious beasts, but others spouted wilder theories, and some even went to that Swooping Stan himself seeking confirmation.

Breeg himself hated watching as so many young hunters flew off to their deaths, even after he'd lent his own words of caution. For the sake of peace of mind, he'd never partaken in the town's theorizing, nor had he bothered to dig any deeper as to Stan's apparent knowledge of the peaks; Breeg had never even seen the famed hunter with his own eyes.

The agitated griffon shook clear of his rampant thoughts, focusing on the soft grass beneath his paws. A quiet walk on the plains wasn't regular for Breeg. Something had felt amiss that day, and he couldn't put a claw on the source.

Could that huge pack have been the culprit? That pack Breeg had spotted in the distance soaring towards the mountains hours before? If that was where they were headed, he'd known they were likely dead by now, though their numbers seemed much larger than the typical reckless rag-tag bunch. He'd known for a fact that it wasn't her echoing, ferocious, despairing shrieks as he'd stepped through the doorway without looking back; his mind hadn't put that to rest in the weeks since his departure, and he'd refused to believe it would affect him any more than it already had.

Regardless of that pack's higher numbers, it was typical of the aged griffon's life in Peak's Pass. Various others flew by all the time, and Breeg had been told by a local acquaintance that the mountains were rarely ever their destination, although it always seemed it.

Breeg scratched through his orange feathers with a sigh. "I don't know why I bother," he said under his breath, scanning eastward across the fields. He turned towards the silent town, shielding his eyes from the intense sun that was starting to dip behind the peaks. "I could use a drink."

"Oh, thank goodness," Doug said, relieved at the feeling of grass under his hooves. "I really thought we were done for."

The three ponies took solace in the soft breeze that whistled on the slopes above. A late sunlight blanketed the surrounding peaks, casting shadows through the trees onto the green clearing just outside the makeshift tunnel. Emerald's eyes fell upon the sculpted memorial near the tree line for Linone, The Scorched Huntress, who'd saved the local denizens by slaying the largest fire-breathing chimera known to griffons just over a century before. The ponies had made camp under the huntress' sculpted gaze hours before descending.

Dazzle was thrashing around in the grass like a cockatrice that had lost its head. "There was so much! If we had more time, maybe I could have found something important to the featherbrained morons and made some quick bits here and now!"

"Or we could have been food for a couple of hungry whelps," Emerald said, wiping sweat from her brow as the unicorn rose to his hooves. "Relax. We grabbed what we could. Now..."

A piercing screech made her crouch down and drop the bags. "Wh-what the hell?!" She shot glances up above as it echoed off the ridges. More sounded as the first faded, continuing in a pattern.

"What's going on?" Doug asked, covering his ears. "More dragons?"

"I don't think so!" Emerald replied above the screeching. "It sounds more like-"

"Took you three long enough!" yelled a voice from above as the sound came to a stop. He landed between Emerald and the leveled-out tunnel, his leather vest scrunching with the impact. A blade was holstered just beneath his left wing.

"Swooping Stan?" asked Emerald, stepping back with the bags in hoof.

"That's my name!" he said. "You guys were sure in there a while! How'd it go?"

Emerald ignored his question and peered around, catching Linone's memorial in her peripheral vision once again. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm just out on a bit of business," said Stan. "A hunt, you could say. Emerald, when you were inquiring about these grounds of mine, I couldn't stop marveling at you and your associates' determination, especially the loud-mouthed one with the horn right here; he's got a rumbling, passionate hunger for stuff that I've never seen or heard anyone else exhibit on such a scale before." He shook his head at Dazzle. "I just had to stop by to see how you three ponies were doing. It's not every day that the stars align in such a way for me!"

Emerald shared a glance with Dazzle. "That's...nice of you, I guess, but how did you know exactly where we were?"

Stan removed his leather helmet and scratched across a scar where his dark feathers were absent. "Well, when a renowned predator is pursuing his prey, it's only logical that he finds them at some point. Wouldn't you agree?"

Doug tilted his head. "Your prey?"

Emerald gasped with a reach towards her crossbow. "Ah ah ah." Swooping Stan wiggled one of his claws. "I wouldn't do that in your position. And I'd think twice about using that horn of yours, magic-boy."

Emerald's breath caught in her throat, and she allowed herself a glimpse back towards the uphill trees. A dozen other griffons had appeared, some hovering above with their own crossbows primed forward. Others were grounded with wing-blades, axes and spiked mauls at the ready. Dazzle turned to whisper in Emerald's ear, "What'd I tell you?"

"This here's my flock," Stan said. "Or 'pack' depending on which you prefer. Now by the looks of it, you three have nabbed quite the collection from those slumbering beauties down below. If you have any amount of sense left over from your little descent, you'll hoof it over and we'll each go our separate ways. It's that simple."

"Huh?" Emerald said, her heart beginning to pound with rage. "Just like that? Do we really have a choice? What if we head to the capital and...I don't know, tell everyone of your thievery here? This gold won't do you crooked schmucks any good in prison."

"Emerald, what are you doing?!" Dazzle whispered.

"Wow, we've pushed a button. You're a feisty one behind those pretty eyes, aren't you Emerald?" Stan laughed. "You wound us! We may be hunters at heart, but we're not the type of griffons to kill ponies or any sophisticated life on a whim like that; our trigger claws only itch for true game. We're just looking to make a couple extra bits, and dragon treasure always sells well." He placed the helmet back over his beak and adjusted it. "And you're a quick one to judge! Who do you think the higher-ups will listen to? A renowned pack who have made themselves known in the region, or a rag-tag bunch of ponies consisting of a racist, a failure, and an orphaned pegasus who's pocketed a shady history over the years?"

Emerald tried to re-compose herself as the memories rushed back. "Oh, don't look so upset," Stan said, noticing a break. "If anything, you should be happy! You were close to making it big today despite your failure in the end. That's life for you, isn't it? You've just gotta keep trying!" He reached out with brown claws. "Now, our loot."

She glimpsed at her companions, and Doug gave her a nod. With a sigh, Emerald Dream tossed Dazzle's gigantic bag to Swooping Stan, the treasure clinking as he caught it in his talons. "Hmm. Not quite as much as I thought, but it'll fetch a nice price regardless." He bowed to the three ponies. "I'm glad we could come to..." His voice trailed off, and he shared looks with other members of his pack as the ground began to rumble.

"Oh Celestia, not again," Doug said.

Stan took another glimpse at his underwhelming prize. "What the hell did you idiots do?"

Dazzle scratched the back of his neck. "Well..."

"It's getting louder," a grounded female griffon said. "Sir -"

"AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Swooping Stan loosed a scream as he was flung into the air. A drake almost the size of an ursa minor erupted from beneath, sending grass and rocks flying with a deafening roar. The famed hunter couldn't recover in time and was caught in the beast's jaws, his screams fading as it flailed him around. Emerald helped up a grounded Doug before the three of them took advantage of the chaos, turning tail and galloping through the griffons as they regained themselves.

"It's a terra drake!" the same female griffon yelled. "Stay strong! Take it down!" The pack moved into a practiced formation. Two soared forward with blades drawn to rescue their leader, but they were swatted out of the air by rock-touched claws. Stan drew a parting gurgle as the beast crunched through his vest and swallowed, landing to devour the gem-filled bag with no care for the blades and bolts bouncing off its brown hide.

Dazzle tried to double back. "No! My statuette! My gold!" he yelled. Emerald and Doug held him in place.

"It's done for, Dazzle! This whole thing was a bust from the start! We need to get out of-" A second smaller drake emerged behind them, shaking the ground with its entrance as Emerald shielded her eyes.

"Another? Really?! How much worse can this job get?" Dazzle raged.

"Duck!" Emerald yelled, pulling the two others to the ground as the drake raised one of its forelegs. Their backs were hit with excess pebbles from claws that missed them by an inch.

"Get dazzled!" Dazzleflash shouted, jumping up and letting loose a bright wave of orange. Emerald and Doug covered their eyes. The blinded drake stomped back with a swipe of its earth-trimmed tail, timbering a tree and reducing Linone's memorial to rubble.

"Down the hill! Run!" Emerald yelled over the distant crossbow shots. "Watch the tail!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Dazzle replied as the three ponies began their gallop down the mountain.

The drake shook free of Dazzle's spell, its vision settling on the distant pack. It let loose a roar and charged forward to aid its draconic companion.

"Just keep running..." Dazzle spoke under his breath. "Just keep running...don't look back...just keep running...don't look back..."

"He used us!" Doug yelled, breaking the others out of their shock.

"You don't say?!" Dazzle panted and almost lost his balance on the slope.

"Th-there's no way we were the first," Emerald stated. "I've seen several others go to Stan for advice. D-do you think he ever went after other griffons?"

Dazzle let out a breath. "Well, we know for a fact that the moron was bad even in featherbrained terms. I don't think it's out of the question."

"Yeah," Doug chimed in. "I got the impression that he was practiced."

"Not enough, apparently," Dazzle said with a laugh. "Did you see his vest cave in beneath those teeth? What a sight..."

Emerald chuckled. "It sure was something," she said, agreeing with the unicorn for once.

A distant roar sounded from up the mountain, and the ponies broke into a quicker trot. "Wait a minute. Is that...?"

"What?" Dazzle asked.

Emerald squinted towards the distant plains in the mountain's growing shadow. "That's a town, straight ahead."

"So?"

She slid to a stop as another roar echoed. Smoke rose from behind the trees. "We have to warn them."

"What? Why?!" Dazzle pounded a hoof in the grass after coming to a stop himself. "Were you asleep back there? They almost killed us!"

"That wasn't them, Dazzle," Emerald said, gesturing towards the distant buildings.

"Well, whatever! I don't have time for this! It's been a nice and eventful couple of days, thanks for inviting us and all that, but I want to go home. I can find a way to score back in Equestria." He pouted. "Even if the princesses have their stupid dragon equality law. I swear, they're out to get me..."

"Hmm." Emerald's lips curved up in a sly smile. "You know, I'm sure whoever's living down there would be able to scrounge some stuff up for you-us, as a reward for saving their lives from a hungry bunch of drakes. It's worth a shot, don't you think?"

Doug slid a hoof in the grass. "Might as well," he agreed.

Dazzle had a hoof on his chin. "Well, when you put it that way...I am indeed a fan of stuff, and I'd like to walk away from this with something to show for it." He nodded. "Alright, we'll go with you. Just a minor little detour for riches. It's not like this day can get any worse."

III - Out of the shadows

"Ah, here he is," said the light-feathered owner who rose from his seat behind the counter. "Hey there, Breeg! What kept you? I was afraid you got yourself stuck in a tree or something, heh."

Old floorboards creaked under the aged griffon's talons. Breeg settled onto a stool and folded his claws as a thick guitar sounded from the stereo. He noticed two others seated by a window in the corner of his eye; their names were Jeneine and Simon, he'd recalled. Simon was asleep, and Jeneine sat silent with no look towards Breeg's entry. An orange sunlight touched her tan feathers.

"Evening, Zolf," Breeg said, grasping the bartender's paw with a shake. "I was just...on a stroll out in the plains. It's been a while since I've breathed in a good amount of spring air with my paws on the ground."

"Hey now! Got something against flying, big guy?" Zolf chuckled. "I figure the good mother of nature or whatever gave us these wings for a reason."

"Eh, I just feel we could benefit from taking our heads out of the clouds once in a while," Breeg replied. "Especially you, Zolf."

They shared a laugh before Breeg ordered his usual drink. His gray claws tapped in an agitated rhythm as Zolf prepared it; the seasoned griffon still couldn't tackle that feeling. Without letting his thoughts get to him again, Breeg relayed a curious, cautious voice to his acquaintance. "So how's everything been? Seen anything crazy? Have you had to take that bludgeoner to any talon-happy drunkards? Any fights?"

Zolf was chopping at a piece of meat. "Not really. It's been just as dry as always. There's occasionally a couple that'll get shouty, or a few guys who can't keep their mead down if you know what I mean, but none of that happens too often during the day." He scraped the tinier cleaved pieces into a mug. "Oh yeah. A few night hunters were giving the whole place an earful earlier about some ponies they ran into yesterday just after they'd set out. A unicorn in the group apparently touched a few of their nerves; 'that stupid horn-faced loser should go back to muzzling through the shit in his princess' royal asses. I swear, they've got no place here on our land, bleeeeghhhh,' that sort of thing. It was kind of funny at first, but I don't like tolerating talk like that here in my tavern, so I shut 'em up." He separated some of the meat and chopped again. "Other than that, it's been typical."

"Oh. I see," Breeg replied, scratching through his orange feathers. "Well... That's good."

"I guess," Zolf replied. He placed down the hatchet and grabbed a case of cider. Breeg's wandering eyes found the familiar framed photos of Zolf and his grandfather. In the middle, they cheerily posed with nonalcoholic drinks on a busy day, a young Zolf just about up to his old pop's knees in height. The photos kept going until the old-timer was in a wheelchair, still bright as ever with his number one apprentice and assistant at his side. Higher was the tavern's sculpted logo: a sharp talon touching the under-side of an outstretched paw, cracked from age. The Pawtapped Inn had been established by Zolf's family long ago, well before the famed Scorched Huntress made her mark. Linone's tale kept the numbers high for a time, but Peak's Pass had grown quiet in the decades following her mysterious disappearance in the mountains. The place wasn't what it used to be; most of the wooden boards were rotting, and the windows were cracked in places. Everything was gray, as if the town's spirit died with its savior.

Breeg was pulled back to reality when a thin figure brushed up against him.

"Hi there, handsome," she said, taking a seat on his left.

Breeg kept his eyes on the wall of photos. "Evening," he replied.

She drifted a delicate talon along the counter. "I don't recall seeing anyone of your caliber around these parts. You in here often?"

He leaned forward with a sigh as Zolf poured the cider. "Occasionally."

"Here's your drink, Breeg." Zolf shot a quick glance towards the newcomer, and Breeg passed three bits his way.

"Hehe. I'm feeling a bit thirsty myself, Breeg, and you look like quite the customer if I do say." She placed a stroking claw on his arm. "How's about you order me up a mug or three? I'd do whatever I could to make it worth your while..."

Breeg at last gave a look to his company. Her feathers were a light crimson masking strong violet eyes, and she had a curved dirk sheathed below her left wing. Given his recent circumstances, this exchange made the old griffon feel all the more unsettled. He'd wondered if her presence in town was the source of his persistent discomfort.

"I'll pass," he replied, taking a gulp and chomping on a rogue piece of meat. "You have the look of a...rather prideful huntress. I'm sure you're capable of buying a drink yourself."

"Awww, but where's the fun in that?" She all but threw herself onto him and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Just imagine it for a second..."

"Nira, come on now," Zolf said from his side of the counter. "This is the fifth of my patrons you've approached today. Can you not take a hint?"

Nira glared at the bartender. "Screw off, Zolf-"

"Unless you'd rather spend your night out front, I suggest you go back to your seat," he said, resting a claw on his mace. "If I catch you being bothersome again, you're outta here."

Nira split a cold glance between the two and spit in Zolf's direction. With a deep scratch on the counter, she rose and strutted back to her table.

"Some griffons..." Zolf sighed. "What was that you said? About having our heads too high in the clouds? Yeah..."

Breeg shared a chuckle with the bartender, taking another gulp of cider. "How many has she had?"

"None," Zolf replied, mimicking Breeg's low tone. "Can't afford any. She barely had enough bits to book a room for a few days."

"Wow," Breeg said with a quick peek backward. Nira was collapsed on the table, running a pitiful claw along the wooden surface. "Damned shame."

"Yeahhh, it's all sad and depressing," Zolf droned, chopping away once again. "But hey, she paid well and that's all that matters to me. As long as she cuts it out with the whoring attempts at extorting, she's free to stay."

A sudden sound from just outside interrupted their conversation. Zolf jumped, dropping his cleaver and running a claw through his white feathers. "Oh, don't tell me... Did part of the damned roof collapse again? I swear, if my Pop were still alive-"

The door swung open, and a young pegasus with a crossbow holstered to her back scurried inside. Beads of sweat lined her brown coat as she panted. There was a scar on her left side - which vanished when she folded her wings - and Breeg took notice when she closed her eyes tight with a sharp breath and slammed a hoof on the floorboard.

Simon had awakened at sound of her entrance, and Jeneine turned her head to stare at the tavern's new addition. All eyes were on the young pegasus.

"Oh! Hmm. This is a surprise," Zolf said as she continued to pant. "Don't worry, come on in. Take a seat. Ponies are just as welcome here as griffons, and you look like you could use a drink. An import of cider just came in from central Equestria. You're in luck." He placed a claw on his chin. "Mmm, what was the name of that town again? Ponyton? Hoofville? Anyway, yeah. It's good stuff. The folks who cured it definitely have a passion. I'm sure you'll enjoy, Miss..."

She took a deep, calming breath, wiping the sweat from her brow as she adjusted the small bag on her right and turned towards the bartender. "Dream. I'm Emerald Dream, and we need to-"

"Emerald Dream, you say?" Jeneine rose, interrupting the newcomer.

A sudden chill made Emerald step back. "Y-yes. That's my name."

The tan griffon stepped forward past Nira, her light claws tapping on the wood until she was a step away from the new addition. Breeg rose up from his seat.

"And let me guess," Jeneine said. She towered just about a head over the lone pony. "Your parents named you that...because of your eyes?"

Emerald peered up at the griffon and blinked her green eyes at the strange question. "...Umm-"

"How riveting," Jeneine finished with a spastic laugh. "Isn't that riveting, Simon? Hmm?!"

"Yeah, pretty riveting!" Simon slurred from across the room, joining in her laughter. Nira joined as well while Breeg and Zolf glimpsed at each other with beaks agape. Emerald was just as confused, but stood her ground.

"Alright Jeneine, that's enough," Zolf said.

"Dammit Zolf!" Jeneine's laughter came to a sudden stop as she addressed the tavern owner. "I told you yesterday to stop calling me that! Just call me 'Jen.' Please. All of you. I'm fed up with having to deal with this forsaken name."

Breeg moved closer to where the two stood and raised his gray paws. "How about we all relax for a second? It looks like our newcomer has had an eventful day as it is."

"Oh, so you fancy ponies then?" Breeg growled at the sound of Nira's voice and shot her a glare, after which she looked away with a masked submission.

"No more," he insisted, watching as Jeneine moved back to her table. "Let's let her speak."

Emerald sighed with a nod towards Breeg, relaxing herself. "Okay, look. We're all in danger. Dragons are tunneling up from beneath those mountains. We ran into two of them on our way down here." She gestured towards the door. "We need to get-"

"Whoa, hold on. Slow down a second." Zolf held up a paw. "Back up a little. Dragons? Isn't that..."

They were once again interrupted by a muffled voice outside. It looped around the building's right side exterior, becoming more legible with each clopped step. "...damned griffons and their stupid wings, building a town right next to a mountain..." Breeg caught white and gray silhouettes of two more ponies rushing past the windows, the gray one holding onto what looked like a shovel for dear life. "...Stupid Emerald with her flying ahead and leaving us to trudge all the way down here..." The door flew open once again, and they both pranced into the establishment. "Where's the loot?" the panting unicorn asked, wiping sweat out of his white coat.

Both Jen and Nira stood up at that. "What'd you say, horn-face?" Jeneine grabbed the holt of her maul. "Is that what this is about? You three want to scare us away with those stupid old rumors and ransack the place?! Well it won't work!" Zolf was moving around the counter past Breeg.

"No, it's nothing like that!" Emerald said, positioning her awkward self in front of the other two ponies. "These are my associates. We're just here to-"

"Hey, hold on," the unicorn interrupted. "You said they'd have stuff for us."

"Dazzle!" Emerald yelled, holding a hoof on her temple. Nira drew her dagger, and Jeneine followed suit with her spiked maul. Simon was rising on wobbling legs when Zolf put himself between Emerald and the griffons.

"Put the weapons away," he said, stern paws raised between both parties. "Calm down, everyone. I'm sure this is all just some kind of misunderstanding."

"Oh please," Jen retorted. "They're a bunch of no-good ponies who want nothing but a life-changing pay. You can tell by just looking at them."

"Swooping Stan is dead," said Emerald Dream with a stomp of her hoof. "And his pack have likely perished as well. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

With that, the bar grew silent except for that droning guitar from the stereo. Nira lowered her weapon a tad, and Zolf turned towards a silent Breeg. Jeneine took a step back, and Simon was asleep once again.

"Bull," said Jen.

"I think you're going to have to give us a bit more than that," Zolf began, stroking around his beak. "Stan and his pack are the only griffons who have hunted nonstop on those old peaks for five years running without, well, perishing. To hear that they've suddenly done just that is a bit hard to take in."

"A dragon came out of the ground and devoured the guy," Dazzle said, running a hoof along the back of his neck.

"Yeah. It was big. Both of them," added the earth pony.

"He was gargling in the thing's jaws right in front of us," the unicorn continued. "It was quite the-"

"Yes!" Emerald interrupted. "That's what happened. They called it a terra drake, and there were at least two of them. Another appeared and came after us, but we escaped. I'd imagine it caught them by surprise when they were dealing with the larger one that killed Stan."

Breeg began stroking the feathers beneath his wide beak. Zolf shot another unsure glance towards his friend before Jen's laughter filled the tavern. "How stupid do you think we are?" She holstered the maul and shook her head. "No way... You're seriously using those ancient rumors to push this ridiculous story? Stan himself has combed those mountains, and he's ensured us that there's no mythical dragon cave network beneath them." She chuckled again.

"He has?" the earth pony asked. "But he told Miss Dream-"

"I'll handle this, Doug," Emerald interrupted. "Look. From what we've come to understand, Stan only told the truth to those who he felt were experienced enough to make the trip in one piece. We went deep under and found the hoard, yes, but when we got back to the surface, he jumped us and took everything we'd gathered. He'd been stealing the treasure from whoever he led to those mountains with no sweat in his own fur." She took a desperate step towards the griffons. "Please, you have to believe us. His status as 'Linone's Chosen' made it easy for him to manipulate everyone around the facts."

Another long pause. Emerald glanced between all of the silent griffons, shifting uncomfortably in the guitar-trimmed silence. Breeg was still stroking through his feathers. She had hoped to convince them of the impending danger by cutting straight to the point while also saving time, but the looks on their faces alone indicated that she'd been too forward. Emerald's brown ears lowered, and with a pitiful sigh, she braced herself for the inevitable scolding.

"You're freaking insane," Jen said, chuckling once again. "Seriously, heh, what's your game with this? What in the hell are you trying to...?--snkkt-bwahahahaha!" She broke into another snorting hysteria. Simon jumped awake, taking a quick look around before joining in her and Nira's laughter. Even Zolf was letting out a chuckle. Breeg remained quiet, squinting his yellow eyes.

"Alright. These morons are a waste of time," Dazzle said over the guffaws. "Are we going now? Or what?"

"Yeah, it doesn't look like they're going to listen to us..." Doug added.

Emerald had looked away from the griffons. "...I guess so. Yeah. Let's-"

"Wait." Breeg spoke at last, and the laughter died down as he stepped further towards the ponies.

Jeneine rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't tell me you believe these clowns. We've gathered that you're approaching your twilight years, Breeg, but come on..."

Breeg paid no mind to her voice. "How many griffons were there when you got jumped?"

Emerald sifted through her thoughts. "Umm...a dozen, at least."

"More than that, I think," Doug added.

"Hmm," Breeg peered out the window. "I saw a rather large pack heading towards the mountains a few hours ago. They were too far away to make out any details, but there were a lot of them."

Emerald blinked. "Well...it did seem like they were searching around for a long time. Stan said something about us being underground 'for a while.'"

"Oh, c'mon!" Jen interrupted. "That could have been anyone, Breeg. It still doesn't change how insane this whole thing sounds."

"And something else about this tale is a bit strange to me," Breeg continued.

"You mean the whole thing?"

"Alright, can you give it a rest already?" Zolf intervened, interested in what Breeg had to say. "Let the guy speak."

Breeg nodded towards Zolf and continued on. "I find it strange that you would say 'terra drake,' as they're rarely ever seen above ground."

Emerald's ears perked back up. She hadn't read too much into the drakes themselves, but the griffon's words reminded her of a particular page she'd almost skimmed over. "Right. It's unheard of, isn't it?"

"Almost completely unless they're migrating in search of a mate, or a new brood network to call home, but that only happens once every few years," Breeg continued. "Now I may not know the full extent of who this 'Swooping Stan' is, but I was involved in a good amount of packs during my golden years, and I can tell you that terra drakes prey on ursa minors and other cave life while hardly ever venturing into the light of day; for the most part, they're underground until the brood mother's surviving young are ready to fend for themselves." He ran a flabbergasted paw along his forehead. "It's just so bizarre that they would tunnel upward to save her treasure. They'd only care that there were enough gems for the hatchlings to eat, and given how much a brood mother gathers before breeding, it's unlikely they would ever concern themselves beyond the cave network." Breeg glanced at the griffons and then back towards Emerald Dream. "If you're formulating all this for some devious plot, it seems very strange that you would skimp on something so obvious to those who have hunted for a living; it's known how dangerous terra drakes are, and precautions are taken to avoid certain routes when they're migrating. It just doesn't add up, especially after delving far enough to learn who this 'Swooping Stan' is." Breeg stepped closer to Emerald Dream. "If this truly happened..."

Emerald bowed her head and let out a sharp breath. "It did, I swear. We saw them. Two of them."

Breeg peered out the window, towards the distant slopes backed by a crimson glow. "...I believe you. Something isn't right."

Jen's beak had hung open throughout Breeg's entire explanation. "Do you two even hear yourselves?" She slapped two paws on her forehead. "So, what? Nature developed a will of its own and decided to screw Stan and his legendary pack...for no reason?! That's crazy! There's no way!"

"I don't know," Nira said while sheathing her dirk. "Breeg here may be a buzz-kill, but now that he's mentioned all that..."

Everyone quieted when they saw the look on Breeg's face. Zolf didn't have to glance out the window to feel a cold nausea enter his gut. Emerald shared Breeg's same frightening sight; that wobbling wingspan ascending over the tree-trimmed peak silhouetted against the setting sun. It stopped, hovering as it scanned the landscape with a long shadowed gaze until it faced the spec of a town in the mountain's shade. The distant beast was darkened against the sun, but Jeneine could almost feel its Tartarus-forged eyes burning through her feathers. It dove into a gliding descent, growing larger as it zoomed through the air.

"Oh no," Doug murmured, beginning to shake as if he'd fallen into a frozen lake.

The beat-up drake set down less-than-gracefully at a moderate distance from the window. A slight rumbling reverberated through the inn, causing Simon to wake up. When it'd settled on its legs, the drake began approaching with a slight limp in its stride, where one of several scorched-shut wounds were present.

"I-it's..." Jen froze in place, unable to speak.

"It's hurt," Nira said in a quiet tone. "Let's split-"

Their small relief was gone when a second beast answered the tremor. It erupted from the ground just behind its wounded companion, taking off on spiked wings and circling Peak's Pass.

"Well, we warned you," Dazzle said as he followed the airborne drake with his eyes. "You're all free to give me whatever you've got for compensation."

IV - Into the inferno

She listened as a long, slow breath was exhaled through the stallion's nostrils. His own crossbow was primed on his side. Father and daughter stood before the circular makeshift targets on the back wall of their home. Behind them, the wind softly breezed through the trees. "Always mind your breathing. That brain of yours should be clear when facing scary situations, no matter what."

His daughter blinked. "Like this?" She faced their targets and began to mimic the pattern, exhaling through her mouth.

"Yes, precisely," he replied. "Whichever way feels most comfortable, but be careful not to give yourself dry lips. That would be more distracting than anything!" He laughed before closing his eyes. "Concentrate on the breath. Imagine that it's a calm stream of water, flowing into your brain and out with each exhale, taking with it any of the butterflies that may be tickling your insides. Be relaxed. Be focused."

She stopped following along for a moment. "I'm supposed to see water? But what does my brain look like? What if I don't want the butterflies to leave, Daddy?"

Her father snickered. "Good questions! The butterfly thing is just a figure of speech, sweetheart, and your brain looks like a sort of squishy pink sphere with a bunch of lines running along it. Just imagine that." He re-shut his eyes and continued. "Imagine the warm water is trickling along those lines, keeping your little mind clear against a couple of bad griffons, or ponies. Feel that beat in your chest slow, and then visualize your target." He took in another breath. "A clear mind means a calm body; calmness means an accurate eye. You can't let those tickly butterflies distract you from the matter at hoof, or you'll get yourself hurt, or worse." She gulped, watching her father with full attention. "And when you're ready..." He opened his eyes and landed a bolt in one of the targets, dead center. The thrum almost made his daughter jump. Another bolt was in his teeth from the quiver strapped to his chest before the filly had processed the landed shot. He took it in his left hoof while winding the crossbow with his wing mechanism and settled it in the weapon. Another bulls-eye was scored not four seconds after the first. A few more thrums echoed off the wall out into the trees, and by the time he'd returned to his regular stance, five bulls-eyes had been scored in a span of just eighteen seconds.

"Whoa..."

"Just like that," he said. "The wind-up time could be a problem against a large group, but... Hmm..." His daughter didn't quite understand what he'd meant, but he settled away from his thoughts before she could voice a question. "We'll deal with that some other time. Show me what you've got, Em. It's all you!"

She placed the small crossbow in her mouth and focused forward.

"Heh, slow down there. Forgetting something?

"Oh!" She spat out the weapon and grabbed it in one of her hooves. "I-I-"

Her father laughed. "It's okay, hon. This is a lot to take in. Remember: concentrate, just like I did."

She nodded with a determined glare at the lone target hanging on the wall. The filly's eyes shut, and she began to tune in to her breath; she'd noted her inhale, noted her exhale, and the brief moments in-between. She could feel the stream loosening her body with each inhalation and exhalation. Her mind became still as an evening lake. There was a soft cranking sound, but her eyes stayed shut, just like her father's did. The sound soon faded to her, and the target began to show in her mind's eye through the trickling stream. She could almost touch it, but she'd known it wasn't that close; it was at least double that length from where she'd stood, well out of her little hooves' reach. She watched as it morphed into a mean griffon's face. It wanted to scratch her, chop her, and all sorts of other mean things that her dad had warned her about. It morphed further into a wicked mare's face. The water steamed down her blackened mane.

Emerald Dream took a swift breath in and opened her eyes wide. The target was gone, but she'd remembered that sound. It was louder now, much louder. It was moving as quick as a webbed wing that cut through the sky like butter. She locked the crossbow in her jaws and jerked her neck in one direction. It was in her sights, a good bit to the right. Emerald let loose her own thrum, and she heard the bolt plant itself deep in the wood.

The target came to an abrupt stop on the rope that it hung from. Her father's eyes were wide with shock, his teeth gripping the wooden lever. Emerald at last took a clear look at the target.

Her crossbow fell.

"Keep away from the windows!" Everyone scrambled on Emerald's command to position themselves outside of the beasts' visions; Breeg, Zolf and Dazzle dove behind the counter, while Nira and Jen ducked under Simon's table beneath one of the windows on the same side as the wounded drake. Emerald moved to the corner on their left, and Doug jumped to the adjacent one. Simon fell to the floor like a sandbag, but he was in a blind spot, and that was all that mattered.

"They left the network, left the young and the brood mother…" Breeg shook his head. "This is so strange..."

Jeneine peered up to look at the drake. The truth of the pegasus’ words seemed to hit her then and there like a sudden wave of magic. "O-oh Stan..."

"Really?! That guy was a crook!" yelled Dazzle. "He got what he deserved! Screw his stupid legacy-"

"Dazzle, stop," commanded Emerald. "We need to come up with... W-we need to think of a way through this right now-"

"Dr-dragons?!" slurred Simon before he jumped up and struggled to balance himself. "Screw this! I'm not waiting around to be a roasted snack! *Hic!* I'm outta here!"

"No!" Jen tried to grab him, but she was too slow. The wasted griffon pushed through the door past Breeg and Zolf and took off towards the eastern plains. "Simon! Wait!" Jen ran for the exit, only to be restrained by the duo who'd tried to stop her mate.

A ferocious shriek sounded from above. They all watched through the front window as the aerial drake swooped low, letting loose an orange-touched inferno that lit up the evening as bright as the sun. "NO!" Jen wrenched out of Zolf's grasp, but Breeg held on. Simon plummeted to the ground in the center of town, his agonized wails echoing off every building that had been torched with him. The drake landed and towered over its charred, twitching prey for a few moments before it silenced his cries with a crunch of its jaws.

"Luna...s-save..."

Emerald let out a slow, shaking breath. The tan griffon had stopped her struggling and was staring silent at the dancing lights. To her left, Zolf ran a paw over his eyelids as if he were trying to wipe away what he'd just seen. "Your princesses can't help us here," he replied to Doug. Emerald noticed the bartender's slight trembling. She'd imagined he'd seen some bad wounds and had maybe taken part in a few tense hunts himself, but he didn't strike her as a griffon who'd witnessed death before. None of them did, with the exception of Breeg. Emerald could see something in his grey-trimmed face - some hardened, but unsettled familiarity at the burning sight - that convinced her he'd experienced his fair share. "Listen." Zolf's voice returned Emerald to reality. "I've got a few more weapons stashed in the back room, but like Emerald here said, we need a plan. Fast. None of us are getting out of this if we don't keep it together and figure something out." He caught the drake rising back to the skies in the corner of his eye.

"Simon, y-you..." Jen collapsed from where she stood. Nira stepped up and gently settled a paw on her tan feathers, pulling her close.

"F-first things first," Emerald addressed Zolf with as calm a voice as she could manage. "Are there any others around here? Besides you guys? We could use any help we can get."

He sighed. "Nope, this is it. Those you see here are the whole of Peak's Pass during daylight..." He winced with a look towards Simon’s table.

The pegasus settled a still hoof on the wall. Breeg said, "Saura and her flock are usually the ones back earliest, from what I've gathered, but we've got some hours until then." He ran a paw over his face. "We'll have to make do."

Dazzle's orange eyes settled on Breeg. "Hold on," he replied from the aged griffon's side. "You're not suggesting that we march out there and fight these things? Did you not see what happened to the drunken moron a minute ago? That's the last thing-"

"Hey, watch your mouth you no-good saddle-back!" shrieked Jen.

"No, don't interrupt me with your featherbrained slurs, you piece of trash," retorted Dazzle. "It's not my fault that you picked from the lowest of the low for companionship. I have no intention of dying like your jackass of a-"

"Oh, I'll kill you myself!" Jeneine shook free of Nira's grasp and rose while drawing her maul. Dazzle stood to face her with a horn that glowed bright.

"Stop!" yelled Emerald, who put herself between the two just as Breeg grabbed Jen with stern claws around her dominant paw. Nira and Zolf pinned the unicorn to the floor.

"G-get off me you f-f..."

"Alright. Look, you two," began Nira. "I'm not fond of our situation either, but if we keep going like this, that is going to be us." She pointed to the flames. "So I suggest you both step back and get a damned grip while we plan our way through this. You can pummel and levitate each other later."

Jen tried to pull herself towards the tackled stallion, but Breeg kept his hold. With one last struggle, she let her maul fall to the floor with a metallic clunk. Her blue eyes shut tight, and Jen fell into the orange griffon's arms while angrily digging claws into the back of her neck. Dazzle rose silent as her loud sobs echoed off the grey walls. "H-how...?" Tears trickled through her tan feathers. A bit of blood was showing where her claws had been. "How do any of y-you expect us to get through this? Th-these things killed Stan himself, and h-his pack! How are we-"

"We have to separate them." Emerald spoke from where she'd stood between Dazzle and Jeneine. "Stan's pack had that larger drake cornered, and it looks like they gave it a beating. Fighting two at the same time was what did them in, I'm sure of it."

Zolf tilted his head. "How exactly do you suggest we-"

"We split into two groups." Emerald wasn't sure how much time they’d had. "You four will draw the smaller dragon to the other side of town and do what you can, while Dazzle, Doug and I take care of the bigger one. Whether or not you've done it for a living, I've lived here long enough to know that every griffon has gone on at least a couple of dangerous hunts in their lifetime, and you all seem to have kept up with your weapon experience. We can make it out of this."

Zolf glimpsed outside once again and fiddled with his mace. "We're taking the aerial one? I-I don't know..."

Emerald shared a look with her associates. "I'm a decent shot, but Dazzle and Doug haven't exactly done anything like this before, which is why we're taking the wounded drake."

Dazzle shifted his eyes. "Emerald, wait a minute-"

"If this is what we're doing, I'm staying with you three," said Breeg. "It may be hurt, but you can't underestimate something like this. You ponies will need a griffon with you." He took a quick look towards the door. "I'd prefer that no one else dies today."

"But Breeg," said Zolf, "wh-what about-"

"Uh, guys?" Doug's quiet voice sounded from his almost-forgotten corner. "I-I'm sorry for interrupting, but look. It's gone."

The bar grew silent. Everyone moved to get a good look through the windows. The evening was getting darker, but it was still light enough to see that nothing was there aside from the stretch of plains backed by the glowing mountains. Emerald inched forward as the foundation creaked in reaction to a spring breeze.

"So, just the one then?" Nira's voice broke the silence.

"I guess so." Zolf breathed a sigh of relief. "Breeg?"

The aged griffon paused. "I don't like this-"

A loud, shattering crash made the entire structure rumble beneath their paws and hooves. Emerald Dream raised a foreleg to guard herself from a wave of glass just as a roar thundered into the bar. When the flying window shards had settled, the brown-coated pegasus saw a large, white, pupil-less eye staring back at her, the other of which was slashed shut. The beast's maw began to open, and Emerald drew her crossbow on her left side in one fluid motion. With a deep breath to match the dragon's, she flapped down with her trigger-wing just as a bright light had formed in the throat. Her bolt pierced through the roof of its mouth. The terra drake stomped backward, its agonized shriek piercing through the shattered window.

"Get out of here!" Breeg's voice re-entered her consciousness. "Head straight for the store! It's just out the door to the left!" Dazzle was the first to retreat outside, followed by Doug, Zolf, Nira and Jen.

Emerald didn't move. She stared at the back door, recalling the bartender’s statement about stashed weapons. The pegasus had taken note of their current arms; the bartender, Zolf, had his mace, and Jen held a large spiked maul. The crimson-feathered griffon had sported a dirk, and Emerald held her own crossbow. Doug had his spade. Everyone else was unarmed.

It wasn't enough. She'd observed that having someone at a range to keep tabs on the whole target, claws and all, played a huge role in surviving against those things, and they only had one crossbow for two groups. Zolf's mace was scarred with use, and a dirk wouldn’t serve against a dragon. If they were to have a chance against these two terra drakes, Emerald knew they would need those weapons.

She felt a paw on her back and turned to see Breeg. "Emerald, there's no time! We can manage. You shot it good, but it's-"

The pegasus shook free of his grasp and ran towards the door. "Where's the key?!"

Breeg’s eyes scanned quickly across the counter. "I don't know! Zolf has it hidden somewhere!"

"Help me, then!" Emerald bucked the door as hard as she could. It didn't budge.

Breeg glanced outside to see the drake clawing at its mouth. "Emerald, we're out of time! We can't-"

"Help me!" She bucked the door again.

"Oh, for the love of..." Breeg positioned himself at Emerald's side. "On three! One... Two..."

They each rammed their weight into the door. Something cracked, but it still stood. He counted again, and again.

With that, the door flew off of its rusted hinges, revealing an assortment of crates alongside two weapon stands further in the back. The two ran to them and grabbed what they could; Emerald took a blade in her mouth and quickly holstered a longer sword and smaller crossbow on her back along with a dozen smaller bolts that she threw in her bag, while Breeg holstered a lone shield and gripped a sharp axe. Emerald was now beginning to feel the stinging cuts on her legs, and one on her forehead, but she shrugged it off and focused on grabbing the gear.

"Alright, that'll do it. We need to move." Emerald turned Breeg’s way with a nod, taking care with the sword she'd held in her teeth. The old griffon took a single step back into the bar with a glimpse…

"Hit the deck!" Emerald saw him silhouetted against a wave of flames as he doubled back. She leapt into the crates and felt the room shake, followed by a distant collapse. The sweltering (look this up) heat hit the pegasus' skin like a powerful spell. She took a breath in, but her lungs turned to fireballs. The pegasus collapsed closer to the ground, coughing and unable to stand.

I-I can't breathe. How do I stay calm?!

Her vision blurred, and a whirlpool of colors entered her mind's eye. She stretched a pair of shaking hooves forward through the smoke, grabbing for the shimmering blade that had fallen between two crates. Her saddlebag had become an anchor, and the weapons on her back didn't help. The colors started to fade, and for an instant, Emerald thought she could see that Princess of the Night from far across the sea...

A strong paw pulled the pegasus back to her numb hooves. Before she knew it, Emerald was leaning against the aged griffon on her right. She couldn't feel any feathers on his shoulder. "W-we're good. Stay by me," murmured Breeg as he coughed himself. The griffon maneuvered them back into the bar where the flames were spreading as they pleased. The front wall to the right of the entrance had been blown opened, and the tables and chairs that were still intact had been flung about. There was a painful amount of heat; Emerald realized that her companion was keeping them close to the flames, in the thickest part of the smoke for cover. Breeg stopped to grab something that Emerald couldn't see just before part of the roof collapsed on their left. They each broke into a hustle, struggling through the embers and overwhelming heat. The pair made it to the entrance and threw themselves out into the orange-tinted debris left in the fireball’s wake.

"Hey, there they are!" Emerald recognized the distant female voice. She heard the others settling around them in the grass.

"M-Miss Dream, you're bleeding," said Doug as he and Zolf helped her to stand.

"I-I'll be fine," she managed to say.

"What were you two doing?!" Nira pulled Breeg to his paws, taking care to avoid his scorched left shoulder. "We thought you were dead!"

Emerald let out a cough. "Wh-who's the best shot?"

Zolf was silent before his burning establishment, watching as his life's memories went up in smoke bit by bit. Breeg was about to place a paw on his shoulder, but was stopped by the deafening, ferocious roar from the other side of the flames. In that instant, their moment of rest had come to a halt.

Jen ran to Emerald's side. "Simon used a bow! H-he taught-"

"Take this!" Emerald hoofed the small crossbow her way with renewed strength, along with a dozen smaller bolts from her bag before motioning a shaking hoof towards the sky. "Keep an eye on your target! Let the others know what to watch out for."

Almost on cue, there was a second draconic shriek, this time echoing from the sky. "Uhh, I suggest we move!" yelled Dazzle as a distant crumbling sounded. One of the burning buildings had collapsed.

Zolf and Nira swiftly grabbed the axe and greatsword from the wounded pair, while Breeg in turn took the short blade and holstered the shield.

"Stay together, and don't stray from your groups!" Breeg held a free paw on his shoulder. "These things move fast, but they're slow to throw a hit! The eyes and neck are what you want to be swinging for!"

Zolf nodded. "Let's get this thing out of the air, you two!" With that, they took off, leaving the three ponies and Breeg with their own quarrel. Emerald watched as the airborne drake altered its course in the dim sky toward the three griffons, relieved that the plan had worked. All four figures soon vanished eastward behind the burning buildings.

"Alright, you three. Our prey is wounded, but that just means it'll be angry. Be light on your hooves and listen to everything the two of us say, and we'll get out of this just fine." Breeg nodded towards Emerald. The griffon seemed to have taken notice of her leading experience. "The sooner ours is dead, the sooner we can move to help Zolf's group."

"Right. Dead," said Dazzle.

"Why hasn't it shown itself yet?" asked Emerald, positioning her wing back on the firing mechanism. "I mean, since..." She gestured towards the inn.

"Probably waiting for us to make the first move," suggested Breeg. "These things aren't the smartest in the world, but they're still dragons."

"Or it c-could have collapsed, maybe?" a trembling Doug said. "From its wounds?" There was a strange tone in his voice, as if he were wishing for something he'd known was impossible.

"Only one way to know for sure." Breeg moved to the front of the group and motioned for them to follow. "Slow."

"Hold on a second, captain geezer," Dazzle interrupted. "If that thing's waiting for us to show ourselves like some tribal zebra assassin, why don't we use this opportunity to high-tail it out of here? Turn and run without looking back? It'd be-"

"These things lay deep inside pitch black ursa caves for hours, sometimes more than a day, waiting for the right moment to go for the young without the mother noticing." Breeg glared back at the unicorn. "Terra drakes are patient hunters, and like I said, they're not stupid. What's most likely going on here, is that our friend is using all that smoke and flames for cover," Breeg pointed at the burning inn, "with its eye on us as we speak. These things have good eyesight, you see, as they live underground. If we were to opt for your idea of an escape route, it'd be right on us, and what's worse, we'd most likely be surrounded by burning structures at every angle." Doug began to shake harder. "What we need to do is draw it out into the plains where you ponies came from, on its side of the inn. Out into the open where we can actually move away from its flames and swipes. Understand?" He was still glaring at Dazzle.

The unicorn looked away from the griffon with a short nod. "Yeah, whatever."

Breeg once again motioned their slow approach. At last, they began to creep towards their foe, one of two that stood between them and freedom from the inferno. Emerald minded her breathing. Her wounds weren't anything major, and her lungs were starting to return to normal, but there had been a lot of close calls one after the other leading up to this approach, way more than she was used to. When Breeg began to move them towards this great winged beast from below, Emerald couldn't help but feel a tinge of anxiousness. She listened for a hint, any hint, that the griffons across town were striking true, a pained beastly shriek, a triumphant hunting call, or anything else that could bode well, but the embers had become too loud for her to hear anything from their battle, as if she would anyway.

What she did hear, however, was the stomp.

"Move!" Breeg yelled out, breaking into a run. "Stay with me!"

Emerald froze as a single white eye peered through the smoke. With a roar that sounded as if it could split a mountain in two, the terra drake charged through the flames with such fury that it felt like an earthquake had arrived in its wake. Its wounded wings were spread outward, adding to the pegasus' horror as the ruined right side of the inn crumbled beneath the hulking dragon.

"Emerald!" Breeg's voice broke her out of her daze. She bolted after him towards the left, past what remained of the Pawtapped Inn's front door. The drake kept after her, leveling another establishment with its sudden change in direction. Emerald's heart thundered in her chest, almost as fast as the beat of her hooves. She had no idea how close the beast was, and she wasn't about to turn around to find out.

Breeg had been standing at the Pawtapped Inn's front-left corner, not seven strides away, but he'd vanished in the blink of an eye. "Just keep moving!" he'd yelled. As Emerald was about to catch up, a sweltering wave of heat began to wash over her amidst the quaking stomps; she'd now known for sure how close the creature was, and what it was about to do. As the pegasus and her ferocious pursuer cleared the side of the building, she caught glimpse of an orange figure crouched down in the back, right outside the room where they'd acquired the stored weapons minutes earlier.

"What are you-?!" Emerald couldn't stop in time to follow suit, nor did she want to with the stomping behemoth that was about to torch her like that poor intoxicated griffon. As she listened for the exhale that would light up her and the grassland, however, the pegasus instead heard her mother slicing through dinner with a kitchen knife on a peaceful night short after having arrived home from a busy few weeks...the evening silence interrupted by an agonized wail and a sudden fall; that ancient, bright, maddened mare in the moon a cowering filly compared to the horror that had risen beneath her light on that evening.

Emerald dove to the left when she'd realized what had happened, when a pained shriek filled her ears followed by a heavy rumble; the terra drake had come tumbling down to skid forward along the ground, its flame breath scarring the grass with its wail. Black blood oozed from a cut on its right hind leg. Breeg had struck true, re-opening a sizable wound courtesy of Stan's pack.

The pegasus sprung to her hooves and once again settled her left wing on the crossbow. She noticed Doug and Dazzle, who were adjacent to her from where the dragon had fallen, close to Breeg. The ferocious beast between the split group rose in a renewed rage, as if it couldn't feel the gaping wound it had just re-received.

Breeg launched forward to drive his blackened sword into the neck, but had to dive away when the beast's tail came swinging around. It roared again, and Emerald caught sight of smoke venting from its sizable nostrils.

"Watch for the flames!" she yelled across, landing a bolt just beneath the dragon's cleaved eye. A weak stream of fire whipped out of the beast's mouth in a pained hiss, and its half-gaze was soon settled back on the pegasus. Breeg replied with what sounded like a growl, escalating into a roar as he loudly bashed sword against shield, and the drake was back on him.

The seasoned griffon had assumed an upright stance with orange wings spread outward for balance. His yellow eyes glowed in the evening. The expression may have intimidated any common beast, but it was nothing to a dragon, no matter how wounded.

Emerald took another shot, only for her bolt to bounce off of the scaly neck without a graze. The pegasus had for the most part became accustomed to her shot judgment over the years with her unique "bow-saddle" firing technique, wherein she keeps the crossbow on her left side with a makeshift firing mechanism for her wing rather than going through the trouble of holding the weapon in her jaws, but the evening shadow and ashen air were creating trouble for her aim.

Breeg once again had to dive, this time to avoid the drake's crushing claws. He drew the beast further out into the plains. With no clear shots in sight, Emerald took the opportunity Breeg had provided her to soar across to her two associates. Doug was still trembling, and Dazzle was crouched behind the earth pony, still as a cockatrice's prey as he looked between the ongoing battle and the Pawtapped Inn's blasted back wall.

"What are you two doing?!" yelled Emerald above the not-so-distant quakes and roars. "Breeg and I can't do this by ourselves!"

Dazzleflash blinked at the pegasus, face blank. "Looks to me like you guys are doing just fine."

Emerald Dream wiped a trickle of blood from her forehead. "Listen, you two. We're not expecting you to rush in like a couple of royal dragon slayers. There are other ways you can help." She glanced back towards their foe to see their griffon companion's shield crumble against a swipe. "We need to move, now. Dazzle, do you think you could use that blinding spell again?"

The unicorn shook his head. "Not a good idea. If you'll recall, the drake up in the mountains took down that featherbrained monument short after I gave its retinas a taste of the dazzle, along with a tree. This one is angry, and has already had a bit of practice going in blind." Dazzle placed a hoof over his right eye. "I have a feeling total blindness would send it into a destructive rampage, and there aren't any trees for it to demolish out here, only us."

Emerald was surprised that the unicorn showed what could have been concern towards others for once, and even more-so that he'd said something logical rather than loud and venomous. "You're right. We'd be better off not taking that chance." She ran a hoof through her disheveled blue mane. "I'm having trouble getting shots off, though. Can you give me a bit of light without overdoing it? Without blinding the dragon? And can't you pull up a couple of boulders or something?"

He sighed. "I could give you light, yeah, but that's it. My magic doesn't work that way with the rocks, and I'd need them to be exposed to do anything in the first place. I'm no Canterlot Sorcerer. I can't just pluck them up from the grass."

"Okay, it'll do," Emerald said. "Doug, I'm going to need you to cover us. Breeg can take care of himself, for now, but if the dragon comes after Dazzle or I, we'll be in trouble. It'll be up to you to make sure it doesn't run us down, to buy enough time for Breeg to grab its attention again."

Unsurprisingly, the earth pony was shaking. "M-Miss Dream, I..."

Emerald was quick to place a gentle hoof on his shoulder. "Listen, Doug. I know it's scary, but we really need you to do this. You're a much stronger pony than..." She paused, moving to look at the spade that rested across his back. "Can I see that for a second?"

"Uhh, sure," he replied.

She grabbed and inspected it quick with another glimpse towards the dragon; it looked as though it had been blasting one of its shoulders with a long wave of fire. Breeg was nowhere to be seen. She quickened her speech, running a hoof along the stainless tool. "Doug, do you know what this is? This spade was made with refined metal enchanted by alicorn magic! You can tell by how scattered the light is across the surface." She held it up to the nearby flames' radiance. "Ponies in the west take their farming seriously, as I'm sure you know, and the most prestigious farmers' tools are made with this method for maximum efficiency. Believe it or not, weapons crafted for dragon slaying are also enchanted with alicorn magic, as the princess' power is the most effective force against them in this world." Emerald gave the spade back to him. "It was written all over the records I looked over! Alicorn-enchanted tools are so hard to come by! This is amazing!"

Doug let out a suppressed laugh. "Alicorn magic? My family w-was certainly up there, it's true. Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Emerald smiled. "If this thing goes after you, you'll have the best defense in the world against it! But it's only a spade, remember, so you should focus more on buying time for Breeg rather than slicing away. You'll be well-equipped, though! How lucky we are that you've held on to such a spade!"

The earth pony blushed. "I-I guess I'm good for something after all, heh. Okay, Miss Dream. I'll do my best."

Emerald nodded. "Let's go, then. Breeg needs our help."

Doug began his advance towards the struggle ahead of the two others. Dazzle's blank, lingering stare left the pegasus as he moved to follow the motivated stallion. Emerald's smile faded.

Breeg thrust his blade as high as he could, missing the drake's neck but cleaving a fresh wound near where its left foreleg met the torso. If the cut was painful, the beast didn't show it; Breeg spotted a swipe approaching from his left and raised his shield to meet it. He was too slow, catching two of its claws with his defensive steel but leaving the third to graze against his burnt shoulder. The griffon cried out, dropping the ruined shield along with his stance. He recollected himself just in time to dive away from its crushing maw, and soon heard yet another powerful inhale. Breeg jumped to his paws and dove through the creature's forelegs. When the evening brightened, the griffon bolted past two sets of giant claws to the right. The flames didn't recede, but judging by their path, it had lost sight of him.

The griffon took this opportunity to put some distance between him and his prey. When he came to an exhausted stop, Breeg glimpsed back towards the burning inn, where the three ponies were positioned well away from the struggle. It looked like Emerald might have been chewing into them, but he wasn't close enough to know for sure.

What a fool he'd felt like. Breeg could have been on the other side of Peak's Pass fighting off the smaller drake with his own kind, the only other griffons he'd cared to think about at this moment, but instead he'd decided to play the hero and help the Equestrians to have a fighting chance, the petrified Equestrians who were only there in the first place to score big from a brood mother's hoard.

A lot of good that choice had done him. Now he'd die with nothing but cowardice for company, and the others would perish under these twin drakes' onslaught. What's worse is that Breeg would never know what caused this; terra drakes never went on outright rampages like these two, and he'd still had that feeling that something was amiss, something huge. These dragons would burn Peak's Pass to the ground, but would they stop there? Hundreds more existed underground where these two came from. What's to say that more wouldn't rise to the surface all across Aethia? What about the dragons in Equestria? Were these two the start of something greater?

But alas, none of it had mattered, for Breeg was once again face to face with his draconic foe, and still alone. The wound he'd inflicted had been scorched shut like all the others. It stared at the small griffon with its one eye, tongue moving across its teeth.

Breeg stood as high as he could and drew his sword once again, roaring at the wounded dragon with dwarfed ferocity. He'd at least go out with glory, which was much more preferable than the age that was creeping up on him. Breeg would die in a solo effort against a ferocious dragon, the likes of which he'd never been brave enough to face in his golden years. Maybe his situation wasn't so bad after all?

He took a short breath and charged with all of the strength he could gather.

Emerald's crossbow thrummed through the night. Her bolt landed in the dragon's right foreleg that had been upraised. The shot seemed to limit its strike by a moment, giving Breeg just enough time to evade out of his charge.

"Sure took you three long enough!" the exhausted griffon yelled.

"Doug, stay by me," Emerald commanded. The earth pony moved to her side, spade clutched in his teeth. Dazzle was a little closer with the orange glow of his magic directed at their scaly foe.

"This good, Emerald?" the unicorn asked as Breeg dodged another blow.

"Perfect," she replied. "Keep it just like that." Another shot landed on the underside of the beast's jaw. It didn't flinch. She fired again, and again, and again. The dragon still stood. Emerald focused on the more recent gash on its back leg and landed a few bolts there; it had since been scorched once again, but the pegasus figured shooting the fresher wound would stagger or distract the beast, giving Breeg a chance at the killing blow. It didn't seem to feel that, either.

"Damn it!" Emerald muttered. The dragon all the while had been throwing blows and bites at Breeg as if the ponies weren't there. It was getting faster, throwing more powerful strikes that crashed through the earth harder with every miss. Breeg was getting slower. Emerald concluded that the dragon had now descended into such a rage that it couldn't feel her pokes, nor did the small bolts seem to be doing any real damage. Emerald's current strategy was useless, whatever the case. At this rate, the old griffon would tire out and the four of them would never see daylight again, along with the others across town.

Unless...

"Breeg!" Emerald yelled out. "Do you think you'd be able to keep it in the same spot for a while? Keep it from turning?"

Breeg evaded to his right before replying. "Uhh, I can try!" He spotted an oncoming high swipe and ducked just in time. "What's your plan?"

"We're coming around!" she replied. "That gash on its shoulder is deep, and still fresh. I want to see if it likes a few bolts in that spot!"

"Alright! Just..." The griffon jumped back to avoid yet another wide swipe and wiped sweat out of his orange feathers. "Just hurry up!"

"You two, let's go." Emerald and her associates carefully began to move into the beast's vision. She could see Doug beginning to shake once again, spade clattering in his teeth, but he didn't falter.

Dazzle shot a glance towards the pegasus. "Are you trying to get us killed? Grouping up in front will just encourage our friend here to incinerate us all at once!" The ground rumbled beneath another crashing blow. "This is a terrible idea."

"You think I don't know that?" Emerald retorted. "None of my shots are doing anything. That fresh wound Breeg carved out is our best chance to get its attention."

"Attention?" Doug asked. "B-but-"

"The plan has changed," Emerald stated. "Breeg is the only one with the strength and reach to kill this thing, but he's too wiped out to go on the offensive. He can't keep going like this, and neither can we. Our choices are to either make the dragon collapse from blood loss, or give Breeg a window to strike. Since it keeps searing all of its wounds shut, our hopes lie on the latter."

Dazzle looked into the hulking beast's eye for the first time that day, and sighed. "All I wanted out of this trip was riches..."

"I'm with you, Miss Dream," Doug said, spade tight in his teeth. "I-I'll do well."

She nodded, taking a step back to match Breeg's backward dodge. The hulking dragon now stood before them all, studying the whole group with a single white eye as it tried to split Breeg in half once again. The griffon almost stumbled out of his dodge. Emerald found her orange-tinted target on the beast's left shoulder, and with a deep breath, she steadied her stance. "Here we go."

Thrum.

The bolt sank into the still-wet flesh near the bottom of the cut, where Breeg's downward thrust had exited. The beast hissed at the blow, but it lowered its maw in yet another attempt to crush the exhausted griffon between its teeth. He dove well out of the way just in the nick of time, but was slow to regain his stance. Emerald reloaded as fast as she could.

Thrum.

This one landed on the edge of the wound, a little higher from where the first bolt had stuck. The dragon let out a short growl with its eye on the pegasus. It would have charged, but Breeg took this opportunity to strike at its right foreleg. The blade bounced off of its scales and out of Breeg's exhausted grasp. Their foe replied with a roar, lowering its head in an aggressive motion. He didn't have a chance to recover his weapon; the griffon braced himself, and was rammed on the dragon's blind side. His flailing body vanished into the darkness.

Dazzle gasped as the beast took in a breath. "Oh shit..."

"Scatter!" Emerald shot another bolt into its wound. "There's no stopping it! Scatter!"

Dazzle and Doug had moved well before her command. Emerald felt the familiar heat wave coming over her as she galloped further out into the plains. She didn't look back towards the light, even when her unicorn companion had cried out in a shrill agony. Emerald just ran as fast as she could; she'd dared not fly when their towering foe was still airworthy. Her legs accelerated into a canter until their deepest cuts were oozing again. She’d come to a stop at where she'd judged was three hundred feet out from the flaming Peak's Pass. Her associates, and Breeg, were nowhere to be seen in the darkness, but Emerald knew the scaly hunter would find them. Terra drakes know darkness better than the lunar princess herself.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Everything had fallen apart from one moment to the next. What could she have done differently to get the griffons to listen? And why did Dazzle have to open his damned mouth? Now the denizens were dying anyway, along with the ponies that Emerald herself had put in danger. She'd felt even worse for the griffons across town, who were most likely dead by now.

The lone pegasus opened her eyes to look up at the mountain that masked part of the growing sea of stars, where the dragons had broken the surface and slaughtered Swooping Stan’s pack. She cursed it with what remained of her breath, along with herself.

A heavy flapping sounded from behind. Emerald wiped more blood from her forehead before turning to face the hunter in the darkness, its wingspan cutting against the twinkling sky. It caught sight of her with a white eye that squinted in the night, as if the dragon recognized the one who’d last inflicted pain upon it.

It dropped down just in front of Emerald with a quake, growing silent for once. The drake just stood there for a time, staring down at the lone pegasus who had begun to tremble. It had seen her for sure; was it savoring the moment? Emerald didn't know enough about terra drakes to say, but she'd known for certain that it was over. In moments, she'd either be lit up for any of her surviving companions to see, or devoured on the spot, or both. The pegasus wasn't sure which she'd preferred, but she'd wished that the drake would get on with it already.

Emerald felt her quiver as if it mattered. There were three bolts left, no less useless than a full stock would be. She glimpsed past the beast to see the burning town in the distance, the old Peak's Pass that had been standing in what little glory was left to it just a short while earlier. The torched buildings were radiant, but Emerald saw something that was somehow even brighter.

Rising east in the distant sky, silhouetting the towering dragon with a dim light, was the mare in the moon. It, or she, had looked just as she had all those years before, although her lunar visage was now somewhat calming; was it something to do with her remedied madness? How could such a basic image look less 'insane,' or insane at all?

Emerald tried not to waste any more energy pondering over stupid questions. The mare in the moon would do nothing but watch, just as she had before. The pegasus was about to curse her lunar visage, but somepony had galloped to a stop between her and the drake.

Emerald blinked and squinted. "Pr-princess?"

"Run, Miss Dream," a shaking voice replied.

She saw moonlight glimmer against the metal near his muzzle and gasped as he inched forward.

"Doug, what are you doing?!"

"Run away!" The drake's eye moved to the stallion. "I-I can k-k-kill it!"

"Don't be stupid, Doug! Get back!"

He took the spade in one of his hooves. "That griffon was wrong. The princesses can help us. Their magic is right here!"

"No!" Emerald started to run forward, but she stopped herself when Doug upraised the tool. With two hooves grasping the handle, the earth pony brought all of his might down on the dragon's left foreleg. His spade whacked into the beast with a metallic clang, bouncing off of its scales without leaving a scratch. Through the moonlight, Emerald saw Doug's eyes open wide with horror as he tumbled backward.

The dragon brought chaos flooding back into the night with a roar; Doug glimpsed towards Emerald one last time before a gargantuan limb came crashing down on his back. He was unable to scream, even with his head and forelegs exposed through the earth-touched talons; Emerald let loose a furious wail of her own and shot one of her last bolts at the beast. It felt nothing. Even as she’d screamed, Emerald heard the crack as more weight was pushed down on the poor stallion. When the drake had had enough, it lifted from Doug's broken body and closed its teeth around his torso. The earth pony was still alive, struggling with his forelegs as it flailed him to and fro in its powerful jaws.

Emerald fired another bolt into the reddened darkness and heard it bounce off the drake's hide. She didn't know what else to do, and she couldn't let herself just watch, so she listened to what her cutie mark was telling her. It wasn't until she'd heard what sounded like something between a scream, sob, and choke come out of the flailing silhouette, that she'd come to terms with what had to be done.

Emerald Dream ripped the crossbow from its makeshift holster and set it in her mouth. She loaded the last bolt while adjusting her moon-touched eyes on the earth pony. Between the darkness and the motion, she wasn't confident of a lethal hit, but she had to try even if it was the last thing she'd do. One bolt was useless against the hulking beast, but if it could strike the right spot on a pony...

"Now, unicorn!"

The whole evening lit up with an orange radiance, and the drake threw the earth pony from its maw not two moments later with a shrill shriek. Emerald's vision took a time to adjust to the sudden light, but when it did, she saw a bloodied griffon grappled onto the dragon's back, sword in its neck. Breeg dug his claws into its scales for support and planted his sword further up the spine, driving the blade deep through hard flesh and bone all the way back to where he'd made the original incision.

The dragon reared up, releasing the loudest sound Emerald had ever heard as it spat out one last torrent of flames. Breeg leapt off his prey just as short streams of fire started to seep through the oozing wound, leaving the blade behind to melt amidst the spewing black blood. The pegasus took a short stride towards Doug before she collapsed and sheltered her ears from the piercing death wail. She could see streaks of flame whipping through the air just above, so bright that the constellations vanished from the sky. There was one last quaking crash, and Emerald knew it was over. The last of the flames receded, and the twinkling stars returned to the night.

The pegasus sprung back to her hooves without a thought of the carnage just a short way behind her, or the griffons across town. She trotted to where Doug lay and rolled him onto his side. Dazzle soon joined them with his orange glow.

Both of the earth pony's hind legs had been reduced to twisted appendages of ruined flesh. On his torso, Doug’s grey-coated skin had been stripped raw in a number of places from his flank to his front shoulders, including a complete omission of his right-side cutie mark. There was a large oozing wound between his two shoulder blades where the drake's middle claw had been, and the way his lower body was positioned suggested a severe fracture or two.

"Doug?" Emerald let herself say after a short breath in. Her tone was calm to match the hum of Dazzle's spell.

Doug coughed out a stream of blood before his vision settled to reveal the pegasus' broken visage; her blue mane was unkempt, and there was a sizable cut on her forehead along with smaller ones all over. Somehow, though, the earth pony was smiling at her.

"Try not to talk," Emerald continued, placing a delicate hoof on his shoulder. "Th-the dragon is dead, all thanks to you! You did it! Can you believe it? We're getting you out of here, Doug. Don't worry."

"C'mon buddy," Dazzle added with a noticeable strain. "We've still got big scores to make back in Equestria! You and me! You can't quit out now."

Doug let out a gurgled sound that may have been a laugh. He may not have been as hard-working as most farm ponies, but he still had that traditional earth pony build. He was strong, even if he'd never realized it. He could take a lot of punishment, Emerald was sure of it.

His voice soon came out along with more blood. "Y-y'know, Miss Dream... E-Emerald, your eyes..."

She shook her head. "No, Doug. Don't speak. We need to get you back to Westglide first. Understand?"

"Westglide?" Dazzle muttered through a pained breath. "Emerald, h-he won't be able to-"

Doug coughed and continued on despite Emerald's objections, almost at a whisper. "Those eyes... Y-you remind me of s-somepony I knew back...west, y-years ago. F-family friends. Th-they..." A single tear trickled down his cheek. "Sh-she was always s-so nice to me, her and her brother, whenever w-we'd play together...away f-from Dad..." He coughed. "Th-those were..." Doug's stare became distant, and she felt his hoof begin to fall limp in her grasp as a final bit of blood streamed from his mouth. The earth pony's eyes slowly shut for the last time, and he was gone.

Emerald tried to focus on her breathing, to keep herself calm and rational, but for the second time that day, it was impossible. Her mind began to race; she saw the face of Swooping Stan, of the Mare in the Moon, of her father with an arrow in his grasp, and finally of herself. Emerald let Doug's hoof fall and turned away from the corpse in silence.

"Uh, shouldn't we-"

"Let's go," Emerald interrupted. "We'll make sure Breeg is alright, and then we're getting out of here."

Dazzle blinked, glancing away from Doug's still body to look at the pegasus. "Umm, as much as I'd prefer not having featherbrained companions, you should reconsider that strategy. We've heard nothing from the group across town. Have you forgotten about those records you've been constantly reciting since we set out? About the drunken idiot who got himself killed earlier?" He limped to her side. "If that other drake is still alive, which it probably is if today's unrelenting bullshit is anything to go by, we'd be as good as dead on our own. These things live in the dark; they hunt in the dark, and it doesn't look like either of these two were planning on scooting back underground anytime soon. What makes you think they'd stop here? It would hunt for us, and kill us well before we got back to whatever passes as civilization on this cursed continent." Dazzle stopped for a moment. The sound of his magic filled the air between them. Emerald didn't meet his stare, nor did she reply. "And another reminder: it's a quarter of a day's trek back to Westglide. We're exhausted, and wounded on top of that! How the hell do you expect just the two of us to make it all the way back through the night?! You live here, for Luna's sake! You know how dangerous it gets out in the wild! We've still got a lot of night ahead of us, you cloud-breathing moron. The Mare in the Moon has barely risen in the sky, so I suggest you-"

"Don't talk to me about the Mare in the Moon," interrupted Emerald, stepping towards the unicorn with a threatening glare. "And don't lecture me on what to do. I don't care about the dragon or the griffons! We're moving when I say so, and it matters not to me if I have to fly off without you and your flapping tongue. Celestia's sake, I've had enough of you, of this town and of these damned mountains."

Dazzle had to step back from the stronger pony's advance. He peered away from her. "Well gee, I sure wish you'd felt that way earlier when our two ferocious friends were preoccupied with Stan's pack. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess then. Maybe..." The unicorn's voice trailed off. He glimpsed at the earth pony.

Emerald gritted her teeth in preparation for another heated reply, but she stopped herself. What was she thinking? Dazzle was right; they wouldn't last through the night in their state, especially with a dragon on their tails. Their only chance was to travel together with the griffons to Westglide. That is, if the three others were even alive.

Her breath became less heavy, and the red was soon gone from her vision. Emerald took another reluctant glimpse at Doug's orange-tinted corpse, dropping from her high posture with a sigh. "I...I meant..." The pegasus cleared her throat as a single tear showed itself. "We'll patch Breeg up, and do what we can to help the others. Then we'll worry about...other things." She sniffled. "I-I'm sorry."

Dazzle glared back at her. "It's not me who needs the apology."

Breeg laid where he'd landed, cherishing his moment of rest next to the motionless drake. The grass felt great against his wounds, and the thick black blood that was trickling onto his fur made it that much more peaceful. He'd been on a lot of hunts, had conquered various creatures from harpies to ursas, but now Breeg was a dragon slayer. He'd never thought he'd have the opportunity to coat himself with the life's essence of an alicorn-forsaken dragon, and in his graying years no less, but there it was, and damn was it sweet. The dead drake at his side gave him more pleasure than she whose beastly shrieks split his mind to the core. Shrill, angry, wounding wails that put the dragon's to shame.

Breeg closed his eyes tight. Why in Tartarus were those memories still there, and why did they always surface during the best of moments? They were useless. He was a mighty dragon slayer now, what every griffon dreamed to be from the time they learned to fly. There was no sense in ruminating on the past. He was mighty, inspiring, ferocious even, above such petty knives in his skull. So why? Why did they keep slicing about?!

The griffon sighed. It wasn't him alone who'd brought the beast down. If he hadn't run into that unicorn, Dazzleflash, after the group had been separated, he never would have been able to land his strike, and Emerald and the earth pony had kept it busy just long enough. None of them were cowards after all. They pulled through, and the whole gang might just live to see tomorrow thanks to them depending on how Zolf’s group was doing.

Zolf... The bartender had told him a tale or three about his own trips into the wilds; he'd gone on a few hunts with his grandfather, and had joined up with a couple of packs after his death as a hire whenever the inn wasn't doing too well. He'd never killed anything larger than a cockatrice, but Breeg had seen him take the mace to a couple of disruptors. Some of the guys he'd beaten or intimidated into submission were pretty big, and skilled with their own weapons. Zolf wasn't one to let fear or uncertainty get the best of him. Breeg was sure he'd be fine, even against a dragon. As for Nira and Jeneine, Breeg didn't know what to think, but they'd seemed seasoned enough in one way or another.

The old griffon rose, groaning from the aches in his joints. His pony companions were still nowhere to be seen. He'd hoped they hadn't somehow perished in that last torrent of flames, although he wasn't sure how they could have with the beast blasting its last breath towards the sky.

Standing tall, the griffon came to realize just how busted up his left foreleg was. It had been knocked dead by the ram; whether it was dislocated or broken, he couldn't say, for the dragonflame's stinging graze on his shoulder overwhelmed everything else. He could see in the moonlight that there were no feathers present on the burn. There were also a few gashes on his upper back and torso, and it felt like a couple of ribs were broken, but those were the least of his worries. Breeg winced at the sharp pain as he lifted his wounded leg off the ground. With no weapon to boot, Breeg knew he would be dead weight against the other dragon, and it was unlikely the ponies fared any better. He'd hoped he wasn't wrong about Zolf and his companions; if that other drake still stood without any critical injuries, Breeg feared they would all be dead well before any of the local flocks returned.

Emerald watched as the orange-tinted beast became clearer with every step. Dazzle's magic casted a shadow beneath the unfolded right wing. Its webbing had arced outward over the grass, and the body itself was on its stomach, head and neck resting upright. Black blood oozed down the side of the long throat like a stream. Next to its closed jaws, seated in the growing pool, was Breeg. His hind legs were soaked with the black fluid, along with the rest of his fur, and his tail. He held his burnt foreleg across his chest.

"Hey there, ponies," he called out. "Glad you could join me. I was getting worried."

Emerald crouched to his side and reached into her saddlebag to grab a flask of water. She poured it over his feathers wherever blood was seeping through, letting the liquid trickle red off his body.

"You guys alright?" He winced as the pegasus treated the deepest cut with a bandage. "Still in fighting shape? No major wounds yourselves?" His yellow eyes peered into Emerald's visage. There was no reply. She kept her focus on his wounds. "Hello? You're bleeding, Emerald. Are you in good shape? Why aren't you two saying anything? And where's-"

"Doug's dead," Emerald replied without moving her vision from the reddened feathers. "It got him just before you two showed up. He wasn't quick enough."

Breeg blinked a few times before sighing out his grief. "Forgive me, I... I heard you scream, but I didn't..." He paused. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, griffon," Dazzle said. Emerald could feel his orange eyes burning into her.

She applied the last bandage and moved to his hanging shoulder. His featherless flesh had been scorched a yellowish-white, with a bit of blood caking the feathers just below it. "It's burned pretty bad and scraped on top of that. I think you can expect to have a scar." She doused the wound in water and took care of it as best as she could. "This might hurt a little." Emerald placed one hoof on his lower joint and the other behind his shoulder with a push, popping it back into its socket. He winced with a shorter groan than she was expecting. The pegasus was no doctor, but Breeg would be fine for now.

"So, what about me?" Dazzle turned sideways for them to see. He winced hard when his hoof was settled on the ground. Emerald hadn't noticed; the whole lower part of his right hind leg was charred black all around, and his whole flank was yellow and furless. He must have been hit full-on by the flames, whereas the old griffon had avoided the main blast. If Dazzle didn't get treated soon by someone who was qualified, he could be in more trouble than Breeg. Emerald opted not to tell him that until they were finished with the matter at hoof.

As she prepared to do what she could for the unicorn’s wound, Emerald noticed that Breeg's attention had moved to the distant glowing town. "Someone's sounding off."

Dazzle tilted his head. "Sounding off? As in, annoying griffon sounds?" He winced. "What are they saying?"

Breeg ignored the unicorn's jab. "Well, it's a sort of call," he replied. "Hard to make out from way out here. Depending on intensity, it could be used to either alert others within a pack that the prey has arrived, in an ambush or trapping sort of sense, or as a warning, or, in a more optimistic sense, as a..."

Emerald moved back to Breeg's side, who’d looked up towards the smoke-filled sky above. "What?"

He rested a paw on his forehead. "Run."

"What? What is it?" Emerald soon saw the large shadow approaching through the star-kissed smoke, heard its heightening shriek as it soared closer.

"Run!" Breeg repeated. "Towards the...the mountains! Kill your magic! Stay together this time!"

"Celestia damn it, really?!" Dazzle's glow vanished in an instant. "We're dead! This is it!"

"Shut up and move, Dazzle!" They all booked it towards the peaks, where more drakes could be lying in wait at every cliff. This wasn't a smart plan; odds were they'd perish well before reaching the upward path, but what else could they do? They weren't in any state to fight, and the mountains were their only hope for losing the drake. Their best bet would be to dig out another makeshift cave with help of Dazzle's magic and hunker down inside, with hope that their scaly friend would move on by daybreak. Maybe then they could find a flock to see them back to Westglide safely.

Their foe didn't breathe any flames, however. Nor did it keep on its pursuit; no, the dragon simply plummeted into the ground like some ancient anomaly from the stars. They'd heard and felt its landing from the distance they’d ran across the plains, and turned to see it slide in the moonlight next to where its larger companion had fallen. It didn't rise. For the first time since the sun had vanished, Emerald felt a cool breeze flowing against her coat.

"Umm, is that it?" The unicorn's orange eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

"This evening just keeps surprising me," Breeg said. "I doubt any griffon has ever seen that before either, or pony for that matter."

Emerald looked towards Breeg when the unicorn's orange light returned. "Should we approach? Or..." She paused. "What should we do?"

Breeg scratched below his wide beak. "Keep low, and stay quiet. Follow my lead."

The group prowled back towards their fallen foes, silent through the night. Some unforeseen consequence had indeed caused the drake to plummet down into the earth below. Its neck had been twisted beneath the body, with its motionless head protruding out on its right side beneath the foreleg. A second pool of black was spreading from the fresh kill, merging with the life's essence of its larger companion whom Breeg had felled just a few feet away.

Dazzle blinked. "What the hell am I looking at here?"

"It's dead," added Emerald with a relieved laugh. "H-how...?"

Breeg had already moved to inspect the body. "Well, it's clear to me that the bulk of the impact was absorbed by the neck. That's what killed it. Something messed up its ability to control itself in the air, which you can see here..." He touched the underside of the unfolded wing. It had been cut at about the halfway point, where the blood-soaked webbing was barely being held together by a twig of skin. The wing had bent across the grass in a grotesque direction from the wound onward, coming to rest where the beast's head should have been.

Dazzle swayed where he stood for a moment and soon planted his flank in the grass. "W-we're home free. Thank Celestia..."

V - Anomaly

There was a figure approaching from the edge of Dazzle's light. Emerald breathed a sigh of relief and rose from the earth pony's side. She, Breeg and Dazzle had moved away from the two drakes' corpses, over to where Doug had come to rest. The old griffon hadn't the energy to fly after their struggle; it had fallen to Emerald alone to perform a quick sweep around Peak's Pass following the smaller dragon's unexpected plummet, but she couldn't make anything out in the darkness, and she'd dared not settle down within the town itself. While the inferno had shrunken since that poor drunk griffon's attempt to flee, several flames had still been raging on, and there was no way the stability of the remaining structures could have been deemed safe. Their only option was to hang tight in the dimness of Dazzle's glow with hope that Zolf and the others would spot them, and thankfully, they hadn't lingered long before someone had come near.

"Looks like just one," Breeg said softly. He moved past the unicorn and stood as tall as he could. "Who goes there? That you, Zolf?"

The figure stepped further into the light. A glimmering large sword dragged behind in his free paw, its blade half-coated black from the tip. His white feathers were streaked and spotted with crimson, as was his light fur. It was Zolf alright, but he wasn't alone; slung over his right shoulder was a tan griffon who’d looked much worse for wear. Jen's left wing wasn't recognizable, and both of her hind legs had been scorched raw. When Zolf laid her down, they all saw her face: a bloodied, chipped beak, a bleeding right eye, and a few spots that were void of feathers. There was a long gash across her chest. Somehow, she was still breathing.

"By the First," Breeg muttered to himself. Emerald cast her gaze on the graying griffon. She'd never heard such an old saying spoken out loud before. While the pegasus knew naught of the exact details, she'd been made aware throughout her childhood that the griffons had held some sort of belief system in ancient times, their own vision of how the world had come to be that didn’t involve some powerful pony-like being. These beliefs had been all but abandoned in the thousands of years since the alicorn princesses’ arrival and were rarely ever spoken of outside of the occasional citing by historical scholars. Emerald couldn't be sure whether or not Breeg had practiced those ancient beliefs, but his tone and outright usage the saying had inferred to her how much these losses were affecting the old griffon.

The large sword toppled into the grass. "Easy there." Breeg helped Zolf to sit. Emerald was at Jeneine's side, and the old griffon moved to assist when his friend was secure.

Emerald was quick to bandage Jen's chest and douse her hind legs with water. The wounded griffon remained silent. "I-I can't do anything for her burns, Breeg." She sighed and wiped blood from her forehead. "And I don't think she'll be walking on our way..."

Jen opened her good eye and moved a bloodied paw to her chest. She looked towards Emerald with a spit of blood. "I h-hope you p-ponies are proud of yourselves..."

Emerald felt a chill creeping up her spine as she stared into the griffon's wounded face. She almost didn't notice the brief dimming of the orange light.

"None of that," Breeg said. "We're all going to be together for a while yet, I feel, and I'd prefer that we not be at each other’s throats during this whole ordeal."

Jen coughed. "Heh. You'd prefer. R-remember when you said that after this one came up w-with her little plan, right before y-you left us to help these murderers?" She paused. "Y-your words mean...nothing...y-you..." She lost consciousness.

"Help me sit her up," Breeg said to Emerald. He showed no noticeable reaction towards her words. "It's a good thing she decided to pass out. I'm afraid there's a problem with her wing. She's losing a lot of blood, and I doubt you have enough bandages to fully stitch her up with how much of a mess it is…"

Emerald looked away from Jen's broken visage. "Breeg..."

"We have to do this, or she dies," he concluded. "Zolf, you with us? Can you pass me the-"

"We all heard it," muttered the bartender without looking at Breeg, "f-from across the flames. Something loud. It h-heard it too, and it went into a f-frenzy. It was hell-bent on getting t-to the source, but we kept it. We kept it. All of us wound up in th-the air with it. We knew what it was going for. I... I..." He looked towards the sword with wide eyes. The light dimmed again. "I clipped it, but n-not before...bl-blood-curdling screams..."

Emerald stared at the broken griffon in silence. Breeg moved over and rested a paw on his friend's shoulder. "Nira?"

Zolf covered his face with folded forelegs and dug two pairs of claws deep into his shoulders. He said no more.

Breeg took a quick step and began rifling through Emerald's saddlebag. "Hey, wh-what are you-?!" As the pegasus started to move away, while still holding Jen upright, Breeg's paw emerged with a picture frame grasped between the claws. On the photo was a teenage griffon with two paws settled on the wheelchair of his elder.

"I was able to save this when that fireball hit your place," Breeg said. "I know it's not much, but..."

Zolf took the picture and gazed into it. He brought his forehead to rest against the cracked frame.

"I heard your outcry when you sliced its wing,” Breeg continued. “It must have been exhilarating, felling an airborne dragon. You should be proud, Zolf. That thrust saved us all.”
He looked Breeg’s way and smiled. For the first time since his arrival, Zolf looked hopeful. “I need you to turn around for me now, buddy,” the old griffon continued. “Don't look away from your old pop's face. I'll let you know when we're good."

Zolf nodded and followed Breeg's instructions. The old griffon grasped the sword and moved back to Emerald's side. "Sorry about that. Thanks for not bucking me one." He sighed. "Hold her still for me."

Emerald did as he said. She looked away from the wounded griffon and squinted in preparation for a torrent of blood. Dazzle was swaying near Doug's corpse. His glow went dim again.

"Unicorn, I need the light."

Emerald watched him sway. When he turned to face them, he looked as though he were intoxicated.

"Light please! We don't have time for this!"

Dazzle sat himself down, and his magic went out for a moment.

"What's going on back there?"

"Dazzle...?" Emerald let go of Jen and inched closer to the burned unicorn.

"Y-you guys almost done?" he slurred. "Not sure why, but I-I'm suddenly exhausted..."

Emerald shook him. "Hey, stay with us, Dazzle. We're not out of this yet, but we'll make distance tonight and get you to a doctor in no time. There’s a comfy bed waiting for you! Just stay with us."

Dazzle took a gulp. His light blacked out once again. "I-I can't feel my legs, or anything. Heh... It's like I'm a parasprite. Wheeeeee!" He moved his two shaking forelegs upward. "Eh, y-you're still working on that griffon? Just leave her. Th-the only good griffon's a dead..."

Emerald was about to shake the unicorn again, but a strange sight stopped her. In the dimming orange light, the pegasus saw what looked like some sort of plant waving back and forth from the ground a short way behind the unicorn. It seemed to be black all the way up, with a larger triangular shape on top. With each dimming of Dazzle's light, it appeared to be moving closer and closer as if the soil were a pool of water. Emerald's suspicion was soon confirmed; the grass was parting with its approach, leaving a line of dirt in its wake that seemed to collapse downward. Dazzle's orange light went out again for a few long moments, and when it returned, this strange organism had come to a stop at Emerald's left side. It was taller than a standing pony.

"What in the alicorns' names?" Breeg voiced Emerald's thoughts.

The thing turned towards the earth pony's corpse, and a dim yellow sphere appeared in the center of its triangular tip. It swayed in place, staring at Doug as if plotting something.

"Wh-what is that?" Zolf had turned around when Breeg spoke.

Emerald inched herself and Dazzle away. The thing seeped forward through the grass until it was right up against Doug's cut torso. It bent over his side and swayed against his motionless body before wrapping itself around the corpse. When it had made four passes around his torso, the soil beneath began to part. Doug's corpse was being taken below.

Emerald left Dazzle and ran to the earth pony's side. She grabbed onto his hooves. His descent slowed.

"Emerald, don't!" Breeg yelled. "We have no idea what that thing is! Just let him go!"

The pegasus kept her hold. "N-no! I c-can't just…"

Breeg laid Jen down and prepared to intervene, but he stopped dead in his tracks.

They felt a rumbling.

Dazzle's light went out.

Emerald saw more of the strange organisms rising from the ground.

There was a roar.

Not organisms.

Or were they?

I...

I remember…

The onyx horror rose from below, sending boulders and debris soaring about. Somehow, the evening brightened with its rise. Or had her eyes adapted to the cursed moonlight that allowed her to look upon such a horror?

It was four times larger than what they'd already faced that night. The tendrils protruded from its scales, its wings, anywhere there was flesh. Each one was spaced out with enough room to creep; to creep and gaze with their yellow sockets that burned brighter than the beast's own two eyes, filling all those they looked upon with hopeless dread.
It stood there, savoring and searching, drooling as its plant-like appendages dancing about. A seasoned voice yelled out. The pegasus couldn’t understand it.

At that, the draconic horror sent a deep, piercing wail through the night. The pegasus couldn’t move. Zolf took to the skies. The tendrils reached, grabbed, and wrapped him out of the air. He struggled. There was no hope.

No. Leave them. Let them go. Please...

Emerald heard that same grizzled voice again, but it was Zolf's horrified shrieks that formed words in her mind.

"WH-WHELPS!" he yelled, tears in his eyes. "WHELPS ON THE LEFT SIDE! THEY'RE COMING OUT OF THE GROUND! S-SOMEONE, BREEG, PLEA-" A tendril wrapped around his neck. Snap.

The griffon fell limp. Someone shouted from behind. Onyx whelps with small wings swarmed about the corpse and devoured to their fill.

She could only watch as it added to their meal with a delirious unicorn. It took him in its appendages, cracked his legs backward, and threw Dazzleflash into the frenzy alive. His screams persisted through every crunch. She still couldn't make out the voice behind her. She just stared, numb.

The two pure eyes settled on Emerald Dream, and then the rest from the triangular appendages. They’d all darkened to a burning orange upon touching Zolf’s flesh. The pegasus stood motionless as each dancing sun crept closer...

There was a downward chop. The extended tendrils dropped to the ground, fading to onyx dust before hitting the grass. Their slimy stumps started to grow, to replace themselves, while more swarmed forward from the horrible beast. Jen was as good as dead. They all were.

He shouted something that made Emerald turn hoof and book it towards the burning town. Why the town? Why am I running? She'd known it wouldn't do her any good.

The pegasus lost sight of them when she passed the remains of the Pawtapped Inn. She came to a stop at the structure that the wounded drake had leveled with its charge, minded her breath for the first time in what seemed a century, and rifled through the debris, searching for anything she could use. Her eyes settled on an old, seemingly vacant establishment that wasn't burning, adjacent to the inn.

The brood mother came barreling through the Pawtapped Inn, decimating what remained of it. Breeg had come into town. Emerald saw him, standing before the appendages that swarmed towards their prey. He glared at the horror without a hint of fear, before a cracked stake of wood bounced off the brood mother's maw. It turned all of its piercing enigmas to face the pegasus.

Emerald ran towards the adjacent building with the horror hulking after her. She was quick to check every rotting door, hoping to the moon and back that the establishment had what she was looking for. On the fourth creak, her hopes had been answered. Emerald soared down the stairway into a basement that was probably used by an opportunistic business griffon to store supplies during the town's golden days. She ran across the stone floor to where she'd judged was furthest away from the stairs, furthest from the building above. There, Emerald Dream crouched down in the corner, hearing and feeling the ferocious destruction above. She reluctantly kept herself looking at the back of the stairway. A gigantic, onyx leg smashed downward with a loud bang, causing the stairs to crumble. A few pieces of the building above joined the destructive descent. The horror was carving out a larger opening from above, through wood and rock. More debris crumbled down, but the pegasus was well out of the way where she'd crouched.

The horror descended its maw into the basement, showing its blackened teeth not seven inches from where the pegasus sat. Two enraged supernovas branded themselves into Emerald's being. The tendrils slithered down through the rubble, past the maw to bring forth their own orange glows. They slithered around the pegasus; around her hooves, her wings, her back, and stretched her legs into four adjacent directions. She was off the ground. The horrors were almost calming against her coat, swaying ever so slightly as they pulled. Her crossbow dropped to the floor, as did her saddlebag.

A high series of shrieks echoed against the stone. Some of the whelps had plopped down into the chamber, their jaws opened, ready. She'd known that the horror was about to break her, kill her, but she’d given Breeg a chance to get away. She'd hoped he'd taken it; hoped he was soaring off to Westglide with Jen in his grasp, preparing a tale or two for the locals. That was all that had mattered to the pegasus at that point. There would be two survivors from the hellish evening. As for herself, she would go without a tear. She would let this horror take her at last.

The soft, wet appendages began to yank tight against her spine while pulling her legs and wings back towards the wall. She felt the sharp pain all through her bones, heard the snap in her right hind leg followed by numbness, but she wouldn't yell out. She would face the horror without falter until the onyx void was all she saw, until her body was cracked and torn into giblets beneath the thousand razor fangs...

The appendages froze.

A collective agonized wail echoed off stone from mother and whelp alike. The tendrils retracted, releasing Emerald to plop onto the stone below. She looked upward through her clouded vision to see the brood mother smash its onyx horns into the ceiling above. Dust and sprinkles of dirt crumpled onto the floor. The horror raised its neck through the makeshift opening and cried out one last time. Its offspring in the debris-ridden chamber were thrashing about, but their death wails were snuffed out by the pegasus’ ringing ears, followed by a groan that rendered her motionless.

She let the darkness take her.

Her father stepped closer to the target.

"That's...a perfect shot, right on point."

Young Emerald blinked her green eyes; she'd noticed she'd done that quite a lot on that day. "I-isn't that called a bulls-eye? Did I get one? I got one, right?!" She fluttered her wings.

"Yes," her father replied, "a bulls-eye on a moving target. Em, did you know what I was up to? That I was going to make it move?"

She rubbed her little hoof in the dirt, peering downward shamefully. "No, I… I-I heard it."

"Heard it?"

"Mhm," she replied. "That noise it was making. W-was I not supposed to use my ears?"

"No-no!" her father reassured. "Hearing is just as important as eyesight when wielding such a weapon. I just had to ask, because, well..." He paused. "We've only been at this for a few days. I thought you'd be able to land a bolt in its general direction, at least, or maybe even graze it, but I wasn't expecting your best shot thus far to come out of this little test, not at all." He smirked. "Has someone been sneaking out of bed to practice on her own?"

She looked up and shook her head. "No, Daddy. You told me, ‘sleep is good for a balanced and efficient learning experience.’ I breathed, like you said, and saw it in the dark through the water. When I heard it, I just…"

The young filly was interrupted by a tingling sensation on her flanks.

There was a scent of ash in the air.

Emerald awakened to a coughing fit on the cold stone floor. She fought herself to stop, unsure if any whelps had still been lingering in the town above. When she was calm, the pegasus laid there motionless for a time, trying to ignore the pain in her joints. She listened through the ashen evening with a quiet breath against the stone.

For the first time that night, there was a dead silence.

Emerald wiped spittle from her mouth and rose, holstering her equipment and peering forward for the first time since awakening. Through the blackness, it looked as though more debris had crumbled down since the brood mother’s descent. She limped forward, setting her hooves on the pile of ruin that had spread out from where the stairway had stood…

…and tumbled down the far side of the debris, crashing onto the stone floor where the front of the stairway had faced before its destruction. She winced and grabbed at her aching leg, her teeth clenched to suppress the cry of agony in her throat. She could feel that a few of her cuts had re-opened from the fall. Had the horror left her like this in some self-aware act of sadistic cruelty? Emerald was alive, yes, but her right hind leg was broken, and a few of her other limbs may have been sprained. On top of that, she had all but exhausted the bandages in her saddlebag. How was she going to get back to Westglide in such a state? She’d assumed she hadn’t been out too long; no one had found her in the wide opened basement, and if she were correct, there was still quite a bit of time to go until Breeg’s estimate as to the local flocks’ return. Would she live long enough to witness their arrival? She’d imagined the onyx horror hadn’t moved far.

They’re gone… Your fault…

Emerald groaned and moved her left hoof to stand, but something brushed against her foreleg. It felt nothing like stone. She tried to shuffle away, wincing as her broken leg had dragged across the floor, but she heard nothing. She stopped and let herself look forward. On its side, stretched motionless across the stone floor, was a whelp. When Emerald’s eyes further adjusted to the darkness, she saw that there were others strewn about, all throughout the intact side of the basement that the stairs had faced. None of them were breathing.

She stood up and limped to inspect the corpses. Emerald figured that a pack had arrived after all and had overlooked her passed out self in the darkness, but her inspection proved otherwise. All of the whelps were intact; there were no cuts, no shattered limbs, nothing like that. It seemed as though they had all just dropped dead.

The wounded pegasus had no idea what to make of it, but she didn’t waste any time theorizing. Emerald began to test her wings, ascending a short distance above. She stayed afloat while doing her best to keep her wounded leg from swaying, and when she was sure her wings were fine, Emerald took off through the makeshift opening above.

The town was still burning, but most of the flames were mere embers, whereas the largest had shrunk by about half. It was still bright enough to overwhelm the pegasus’ night-touched vision. Without thinking, she flew out past the destroyed Pawtapped Inn to where all Tartarus had broken loose. There were more whelps, motionless all around where the horror had made its ascent. Various streaks of blood coated the ground near the draconic corpses. With a quick glimpse around, Emerald had seen what she’d feared; a griffon on her back with bone showing through her ruined torso. Jeneine’s eyes were shut, her blood-covered cracked beak opened slightly as if frozen in its final, eternal death wail.

You did this…

Emerald almost lost her balance. She did her best to stay composed while searching the immediate area for anyone else. There were just whelps, and blood. Doug was gone. Zolf was gone. They were all gone.

She didn’t bother flying. The pegasus limped back into town, despising her breath more and more with each slow step. She walked past the general store and stopped, her eyes tearing as they adjusted to the burning light. No surprises here; there were more dead whelps all over the place, but something was different about them. The onyx tone on their scales was gone; they had all reverted back to their traditional bronze, sort of like...

Emerald shook out of her thoughts. She wouldn’t think about that, not now. Some of the whelps were charring in the larger flames that were still burning within the crumbled structures, as if they had sought to quicken whatever caused them to die. No griffons or ponies were in sight. All the pegasus had for company were dead dragons, ash, and piles among piles of charred debris that had spread out from each destroyed building.

She walked closer to the flames that still burned at the Pawtapped Inn. The roof overhanging the two-stepped entrance had collapsed, inviting the dragons’ fire to spread through to the front. Emerald heaved a young dragon corpse off the steps and set herself down as close to the flames as she could get, gazing into the orange fire with sweat dripping down her face. She could almost see the late bartender in the inferno, weeping over the loss of his home and physical being with naught but a cauterizing family photo for comfort. The spirit morphed into her father, whose eyes melted into Emerald with a shunning glare. He turned hoof towards the cursed mountain range and vanished into a sudden wave of tendrils.

Emerald felt her flesh begin to crawl. She lifted herself and stepped back, almost falling over again while taking clean deep breaths away from the smoke. She felt her heart rate increasing as she limped back to the town center, near where the stone hole in the ground had resided. Pieces were everywhere from the horror’s wrath. Further past its destruction were more glowing buildings, with one in particular missing a large chunk of its roof as if something big had grazed it. This town was once a famous, bustling landmark that had housed hunters from all across the land, and had attracted tourists and hunters way out from more populated lands for decades following, and its lasting mark on the world would be a scar of cinders, a fate that would spit on the namesake of the legendary huntress that had given the region its fame.

All because of you.

There was nothing left for the local flocks to rescue. Emerald stared at the orange glow that had been flickering from the structure with the destroyed roof. She walked towards the flames, almost in a trance. The wave of heat kissed her flesh, wrapped her lungs in a tight embrace. It was the most peaceful she’d felt in days, and she had no intention of letting it go. The roar of the flames thundered as they took her…

She heard a groan.

Emerald stopped in her tracks and returned to reality. She plopped to the grass in a coughing fit with pain shooting up her leg. Sweat from the flames trickled down her whole body. When she was calm, she perked her ears up and listened.
There was another groan, followed by a cough. Someone was close, and alive. Emerald crouched closer to the nearby debris.
The pegasus stood herself up and dug through the bits and pieces of wood as quick as her fatigued self could. She was distressed to find that quite a few were smeared with blood, both crimson and black. She dug faster without stopping, even as her head swam.
Emerald removed one last large piece of a wooden beam. Beneath was a brown, scaly beast with a shredded set of wings, its head resting on the grass below with wide open jaws. The long neck was cast over an orange-feathered torso, where the tips of its young claws had found flesh. Various gashes and streaks covered the griffon’s body, but he’d shoved the large sword through the side of its torso before it could reach his neck.

“H-hey there, Emerald. Good to see you.”

The pegasus gasped and backed away as stars formed in her vision. She sat herself down.

“Whoa, easy there.” Breeg chuckled. “Y-you look like you’ve just seen a ghost or s-something.”

Emerald recalled the flaming figures. She could see them clear as day in her mind’s eye. “A-are you okay?” she asked.

“Mmm, been better,” Breeg replied. “Got a c-cut here, a scratch there... Oh, and there h-happens to be a young dragon plastered over m-my body, guts and all. It’s not so bad, though.”

Emerald blinked until her head was on straight. “S-sorry. Let me…” She rose and helped the griffon to move the scaly corpse. It rolled onto a piece of wood with a wet sound.

“Well, I can breathe now.” He sighed. “That’s something.”

Emerald’s eyes were locked on the old griffon’s hind legs. In the orange glow, she could see that his left was twisted at both joints, and his other had been bit and clawed all over.

“Looks bad, eh?” Breeg peered up at the pegasus. “Doesn’t feel all that great either.”

She gulped. “Can you walk? Or fly?” She already knew the answer.

“No way,” he replied. “Th-that thing messed me up pretty bad. I’m afraid I’m grounded, completely.” He chuckled to himself. “Wh-what of Zolf? And the others? Did you find them?”

Emerald closed her eyes and sighed. “Th-they’re all gone. I found Jen right where w-we left her, but they stripped her to the bone. She’s dead.”

Breeg rolled his head back to stare at the smoke-filled sky. He squeezed the small bits of wood in his working claws and started to shake. Emerald saw an orange-tinted droplet trickle down the side of his face; whether it was perspiration or a tear, she couldn’t say. “Fuck this night,” the old griffon rasped. Emerald said nothing. She thought back to a few days earlier, when she’d arrived in Westglide after a lengthy bit of research in the east with an idea that could set her up for life. All she’d needed was a contact to point her to the right place and a team of earth ponies who’d known how to dig in a precise downward direction. She’d thought she’d lucked out with the greedy unicorn Dazzleflash, who’d spent years on a rock farm learning the ins and outs of manipulating the stuff with his magic, and on top of that, had broken into a few smaller dragon lairs back in Equestria before getting himself busted, and the cast-out Doug, who was an earth pony with an even stronger talent for digging than others, but then the pegasus ran into Swooping Stan himself who’d happened to be taking a short leave from patrolling his feared, profitable hunting grounds. Emerald had heard the stories, as had anyone else who’d frequented the area, and kind Stan who’d already had all he’d needed in life had assured her that every word was true. Her bravery and determination had impressed the famous hunter, and he generously gave her a full rundown on the network along with the safest location to dig to it without attracting any of the ancient protectors below: just a few paces south from the Scorched Huntress’ statue, where grass turned to dirt and cliffs hanged above as if protecting Linone’s likeness from rock slides. ‘Dig down diagonally until the rocks glimmer with tiny crystal shards, and then head straight. You’ll find an isolated egg cluster, dozens of yards out from where the big ones reside. The brood mother always provides for the whole clutch, no matter how large the network. I’m confident you’ll be able to find something, even that far away from the main network.’

Thinking back, it had all sounded so deceptively simple. Emerald should have taken a moment to think it all over, but impulsiveness got the better of her, and they had set out a mere hour later to their doom. She was almost in disbelief at how wrong everything had gone for everyone involved; a famous pack had perished, a monument was destroyed, a landmark had burned to the ground, and four others were lost, all from some strange and horrible anomaly in nature that Emerald could have avoided if she’d given herself time to think.

But it wasn’t nature. You know that.

“Hey, wh-what are you doing?”

Emerald had moved a hoof forward to lift the old griffon on his right side. She crouched down, pulled him up with her two front hooves, and soon had Breeg balanced on her back. She loosened her crossbow and saddlebag and let them fall.

“Emerald…”

“I’m g-getting you out of here,” she strained, “t-to Westglide.” He wasn’t as heavy as she thought he’d be, but she would be walking for a while yet, and it didn’t help that one of her legs was out for the count.

Breeg turned his head to glimpse towards her blue mane. “Westglide? It would take hours just to fly there. Odds are we’ll be food for a couple of harpies, or timber wolves. We’re not in fighting shape, Emerald. And how do we know that that thing isn’t still-“

“Sh-shut up!” she interrupted. “I’m not leaving you to bleed here, o-or worse. We’re both getting out of this. Don’t try to t-tell me otherwise.”

Breeg took a deep breath in. “Emerald, l-listen to me. You have a broken leg, but if you can carry me like this, that means you’ve still got the energy to fly-“

“Stop-“

“Listen,” he repeated. “Between both of our w-wounds, I’m a lost cause. Y-you have to leave me here. Fly to Westglide, get yourself fixed up, and move on. My day’s been a long time coming. You’ve still got a l-life of your own to live. Just-“

“Shh!” Emerald perked her ears higher. They were about to pass the last of the buildings, and this one wasn’t aflame; it wasn’t a collapse she’d heard.

“Wh-what is it?” Breeg whispered.

Emerald followed the trail of roof bits with her eyes, out into the plains from the building where she'd found Breeg. On the other side of the last structure, grounded in the grass that had parted with its landing, was the horror. Its appendages were idle across the ground with the occasional twitch. It raised its head to stare at the duo.

“I-it’s alive,” Emerald stammered.

“Run! G-get out of here!” Breeg yelled. “Leave me! Get away-“

“Hold it, Breeg,” she interrupted. “I don’t th-think it’s in any shape to…”

The horror hissed before Emerald could finish. It tried to rise, but came crashing down hard with its head in the dirt.
Emerald stepped closer, cautious. The brood mother twitched, and cried out as if in pain.

“Emerald, what are you-”

“Quiet, Breeg. P-please,” she replied. “Just give me a minute.”

The pegasus limped to where the humongous head had come to rest. It moved to rest the bottom of its jaw in the grass. The left orange eye rolled to look at Emerald, half-opened. It made no move.

Emerald Dream raised one of her hooves and touched the brood mother beneath its eye. It let out one last suppressed hiss as one of the nearby tendrils twitched.

“What’s going on?”

The brood mother’s eye closed. Its breath evened and grew weaker until it came to a quiet stop.

“I…” She stared at the dead beast as its black skin began to fragment. The appendages shriveled small and faded into onyx dust one by one, along with the peelings of flesh. Soon, the brood mother’s hide was returned to its blemish-free bronze. Emerald gazed into the scales with a sudden dizziness.

“Emerald, you’re shaking,” Breeg said.

His voice pitched into a ring. The pegasus’ vision blurred. Pins and needles split out from her flesh.

“Emerald? E-Emerald?!” The ground swarmed up to meet her.

”I did it, Daddy! Look! Look! I got my cutie mark!” The young filly pranced around in a circle, trying to get as good a look as she could at the crossbow emblem on her flank.

Her father looked on, still as stone. “Wow, honey! That’s, umm…”

”I can’t wait to show Mommy! She’ll be so happy at how good I am at shooting!”

”Yes, I’m sure she’ll be… Heh.” A bead of sweat trickled down from the stallion’s forehead.

”Does this mean that my learning is complete? But I don’t want it to be! It’s so fun! And… I can’t wait to be big! I’ll shoot all the bad guys! Mommy will love it!”

”Hold it there, Em. Not so fast. I, umm…” He cleared his throat and recomposed himself. “This cutie mark, this talent of yours, could mean all sorts of things. Take mine for example.” He glimpsed back at his own. “It’s a big old metal hammer. Now, I had a few years on you when mine appeared, and when it did, I wasn’t completely sure what to make of it. Did it mean that I was good at hammering those nails in, and nothing else? Could it have meant that I’d be good with a hammer for self-defense purposes? There were all sorts of possibilities.” He pulled her close. “Through years of self-discovery and experimentation, I discovered that my cutie mark was telling me that I’m good at building things; I’m good with my hooves, with using tools to put huge foundations and projects together. That’s how I was able to build this whole targeting range, and modify my weapon to have a wing-trigger.”

The filly looked at him with big eyes. “Wow… But, how do I do that? What should I do now that I have my cutie mark, Daddy?”

”Keep practicing,” he replied. “Hone your abilities and look at every possible option that can branch out from such a talent. I’m confident that when it’s time, you’ll use your gift for something truly amazing and inspiring. When that day comes, I have no doubt that your mother will be so, so proud of you; proud of your talent, and the mare you’ll have become.” He kissed her on the forehead.

”And so will I.”

Author's Note

HELL, IT'S ABOUT TIME.

So, months and months ago I conceived a story set within the My Little Pony universe where three "mining ponies" go on a treasure hunt to find stuff for riches and all that. I wrote some stuff down in the trusty notepad, and after much development and thought processes and stuff, this is the premise that I came up with.

And it was a lot of fun to write.

Regarding the gap-filled schedule, well... I'm certainly a slow writer, there's no doubt about that. The way I write, I don't just poop out drafts; I'm meticulous with every word and plan every scene, climax, and twist all in advance in my notebook with my trusty pen that's since run out of ink. This is to ensure that I don't Mass Effect 3 any of my stories. I generally come up with the lore and side-character tidbits on the fly as I write (the whole background with Linone, Swooping Stan's fame and deception, Zolf's family background, to name a few). Heck, one of the reasons I'm so slow is due to my short attention span; I have trouble writing one story without brainstorming for future plot points and events, sometimes for other stories, even. But this is what I love about writing. There's just no limit to it. There's so many variables that have allowed storytelling to remain fresh and awesome throughout centuries up to now, and it's incredible. Creativity is truly infinite, and it feels amazing to be a part of that delicious infinity-ness.

But, *ahem*... As I was saying, some pretty heavy unrelenting real life stuff has been going on for me since around Thanksgiving of last year, which is why the gaps in this story's upload schedule are so large. I mean, odds are they still would have been fairly large due to how crap my attention span is, but yeah. Sorry for any of those watching me who may have been waiting for updates. What matters is that it got done, though, like that George R. R. Martin guy said about no one caring about the time it takes to write a story ten years down the line or something like that. Yeah.

Anyways, I'd like to give big warm thanks to Chris and Authority2 for taking a look (several, even) at a few of my earlier in-progress chapters, and to Horizon for being such a coolio swellio fellow, and to PsychoMotorBoat for voicing a few things when the story was in a much earlier production stage.

Yes. Hope you guys were able to find enjoyment in my little project here, and please please PLEASE leave your thoughts and critiques in the comments if you have the time. I love to read all that stuff.

Oh, and don't worry. Aethia will be returned to in the (hopefully) near future. Keep your eyes opened...

Now if you'll excuse me, the floodgates for Witcher 3 opened around fifteen minutes ago. TOODLES!