Inspired by the song Die Trying by Art of Dying

Thunder crackled through the sky overhead, causing two little alicorns foals to scream in terror, the two running under the protective legs of an old unicorn, who was staring up at the beast who was sheltering him under her wing.

Unlike the three of them, she was not a pony, but instead she was of the race known as Draconequi, reality warppers who had been brought to the world of Equis to originally bring balance to the originally chaotic world.

Her body was covered in beautiful white fur, and she had the head and the back hooves of an equine. However, her forelegs ended in hands reminiscent of a dragon, and her tail and wings were like that of a dragon as well, though her tail ended in a great rainbow fin, and a similar fin ran from the back of her tail to the small of her back.

She had a mane as well, which billowed around her head, starting off a deep royal red near the base of her skull before taking on the colors of the rainbow near the tips.

But the most striking feature was her five horns. Like the unicorn and two alicorns she was sheltering, she had a unicorns horn which was situated at the center of her head. But unlike them, she had four more, two coming from behind hear ears, bearing a striking resemblance to deer antlers, and two more also coming from behind her ears, which curved down and alongside her mouth.

Another lighting strike sounded from the clouds above, causing the female draconequus to cringe a bit as she saw shapes moving within. “There here…”

“Then we shall face them together…”

“No,” said the draconequus, bending down to give the unicorn stallion a look, “I brought them here, it’s my responsibility to see that they are dealt with. You must protect our children.”

“But what about you?”

The draconequus smiled, leaning down and giving him a kiss before speaking, “Don’t worry, I am Faust, queen of my kind, none can conquer me. But if even one of them survives this battle, you must make sure that our children are there to confront it, for their harmony will balance the world.”

“But…”

“Trust me Starswirl,” said Faust, “You will understand…someday.”

Then, before he could protest further, Faust waved her hand, sending both him and the two alicorns into the far future, where they would be needed most.

Once that was done, she lifted herself to her full height, looking back at the black clouds above and letting loose with a deafening roar toward the sky, letting her challenge be heard.

Almost at once, her kin descended from the sky, hundreds upon hundreds of draconequi of every size and shape landing upon the ground around her, their landings causing rubble to fly up as their various appendages caused the ground underneath to crack.

She roared again, and then became enveloped in magic, growing in size till she reached her true height of 2,700 feet tall, towering over her kin as she let loose with another bellowing roar before charging at the thickest group of draconequi.

Many of them roared back, meeting her half way only to get swatted back by her tail as she spun at the last second, sending many of them flying back into the growing throng of draconequi behind them, flattening some and injuring others.

This caused the other draconequi to become enraged, many more charging her from all sides, only to be met with a shining barrier as she slammed her claws down into the ground.

She lifted her claws up as her kin battered at her barrier, growling as she pulled them to her chest before she flung them out to her sides, causing the barrier to change into a wave of harmful energy which blasted back those covering as well as the ones charging to pile on.

Knowing that would only stay a few, she breathed in deep, her tail, back fin, and mane beginning to glow before she let loose with rainbow flames, turning her head back and forth so as to hit as many targets as possible.

The draconequi roared in pain as they became covered in the flames, the harmonic energy in them doing more damage to them than any normal flame could.

Just as Faust was about to deliver another blast of flame, one of the draconequi struck hard, biting into her shoulder and causing her to roar in rage, her flames going wide and not hitting anything. With deft ears, she grabbed the offending creature by the head and yanked it off, grabbing both parts of its jaw and pulling till she ripped the creature in half, before using the torn halves against more oncoming attackers.

“COME ON!!!” she roared, stamping a clawed foot upon the ground as she looked at the hoard around her, her fangs bared as she opened her arms wide. “FACE ME ONE LAST TIME, AND ACCEPT YOUR END!!!”

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

Days Later:

The ground was strewn with the corpses of the dead, all of them lying in blood which had once been their own, but now it was mixed with the blood of their fallen kin, so much blood that the ground was five feet below its surface.

Standing in the midst of the carnage, a lone draconequus stood, her fur matted with blood and her claws caked with it, scars running all up and down her body.

It had taken her days to cause the carnage around her, though she wasn’t even winded, but she knew the battle was far from over, for one more of her kin hovered in the clouds above, watching her.

“WELL,” she roared up into the sky, “YOUR LITTLE PLAN DIDN’T WORK CRAVEN, NOW COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME YOURSELF, OR ARE YOU TOO COWARDLY TO FACE YOUR QUEEN!!!”

Slowly, as if he had been waiting for her call, a great black draconequus descended from the sky, landing softly on the ground instead of violently like his kin before him.

He had a equines head like her bearing the horn of a goat and the horn of and an elk, but unlike her it was situated on a snake like body, and his limbs were all mismatched. His right foreleg was that of a lion, his left that of an eagle, his right foreleg the leg of a bull, and his left the leg of a dragon. And as for his wings, one was that of a great bird, while the other was that of a bat.

All his features were colored the same oily black, all save for his eyes, which were blood red, with no irises or pupils to speak of, and he stood near 4,000 feet tall, easily towering over Faust.

“They were no longer needed,” said the Craven, his voice a low rumble which gently shook the ground they stood on, though Faust seemed unfazed. “And besides, once you are dead, I will be able to re-create our race for the better, unlike you, one who would taint herself with the seed of lesser beings.”

“We are the lesser, for none of you truly embraced what this place could be, you instead let yourselves be corrupted by its darker side.”

“We did not become corrupted by it, we embraced it, you just failed to see what it has done for us!”

“And what is that?”

Craven stretched out his arms, the skies blacking and the ground rumbling as he spoke. “Why co-exist when you can bend the world to your will, why guide the world’s life forms when you can rule over them like gods!”

Faust stared for a moment, and then sighed, “I can see you will not see reason, so let us not waste anymore words.”

“Agreed,” said Craven, before his wings spread and he leapt forward, smashing into Faust with enough force to send a shockwave outward.

Faust roared, slashing him with her claws before bighting down upon his throat, causing him to roar in pain before he slammed down his fist into her head, causing her to release him as she roared in pain. He quickly followed up with a smack of his tail, before his throat bulged out as a ray of black light, Faust roaring in rage before unleashing her own flames, the two beams meeting and causing an explosion, sending the two draconequi off their feet and into the blood below.

Faust was quick to get back on her hooves, leaping upon Craven and beginning to viciously slash her claws into the male, causing him to roar before she blasted him in the face with her flames, causing him to actually cry out in agony as the flames licked his body.

However, before she was able to continue with her assault, Craven delivered a ferocious kick with his bull leg, sending Faust onto her back before leaping upon her and using his claws to rip into her.

However, before he could give her any serious wounds, her horn lit up, and quick as a flash, she shot her head up, driving her horn into his stomach before firing the spell she had been saving, blasting him off her and leaving his lower body in a scared and bloody mess.

However, much to Faust’s shock, he started to get up, so she unleashed with more flames, causing him to roared more, but managed to get up fully, energy actually beginning to leak from his body before he roared as black thunder bolts rained from the sky.

Faust was able to dodge the first few, but eventually she was hit by one, its dark energies sapping at her strength and causing her to stumble, leaving her open for a vicious strike from his tail. However, before he could pull his tail back, she bit onto it, allowing it to drag her to Craven which gave her the opportunity to swipe at him, tearing out his throat before hitting the ground and rolling back to her feat.

Much to her horror though, when she turned back she saw that Craven was still standing, blood oozing from his wounds as he sluggishly stepped forward and roared.

Roaring in defiance, Faust finally pulled out her trump card, six gems appearing around her and beginning to glow, before forming a spinning circle in front of her mouth as she unleashed a great cone of flame. She kept the blaze going for a long while, pouring as much of her magic into it as she could before finally stopping, staggering a bit as the flames slowly died out.

As she steadied herself, she heard a low grumble; looking on in horror as Craven slowly moved out of the flames, most of his flesh burned away leaving behind exposed muscles, organs, and bones. However, after only a few steps, his eyes finally rolled into the back of his head, the beast falling down and causing the blood around him to fly into the air, Faust sighing a bit before collapsing upon the ground as she heard the sound of a spell going off.

“By all that is holy.”

Groaning, Faust looked toward the sound, her eyes widening a bit as she spotted Starswirl standing upon one of the few hills that breached the surface of the blood around them. Groaning once more, she lifted herself from the blood, moving toward her mate before slowly sinking down, getting a good look at him.

He was much older than when she had seen him last, his once beautiful black main and tail now turned silver, and adorning his face was a silver beard.

“You came back,” said Faust, “Why…?”

“Cause I need your help,” said Starswirl, “A draconequus has appeared, and he’s enraged, for he found out about our daughters, and he plans to kill them for destroying his…his fun…”

Faust stayed still for a moment, then stretched out one of her hands, holding it open and then gesturing for the unicorn to get on. “Come, I shall show you how to combat him.”

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

The going was slow, for Faust’s injuries, plus all the energy she had expelled to kill Craven, were finally adding up, and causing her to become sluggish. However, she was able to make it to her destination, lowering the unicorn down into a crevice before pointing to a cave, “Go in there…and tell me what you see.”

Starswirl nodded, and then moved inside, Faust waiting for his voice to reach her as he finally spoke. “It’s… it’s a tree, what is this?”

“It’s the Tree of Harmony,” said Faust simply, “I found it the first year I was here, long before the others fell to the dark temptations of chaos. It…it holds a power that our children will need, so please, burn this place into your mind, and when you go back, bring them here, they will...they will know what to do from there.”

She heard the sound of magic again, and then felt a small body nuzzle up against her face, looking down to see the stallion standing beside her. “What about you?”

Faust smiled, “I’ll be fine, I just need sleep…deep sleep, but I promise we shall meet again, some day.”

The stallion nodded, and then he vanished, leaving Faust alone as she sighed.

“Well…I hope he will forgive me that lie, but now, I must return what is not mine.”

She then lowered her hand once more; opening it and letting the crystals region with their tree. Then she sighed once more, before getting up slowly and heading away from the cave, covering several miles before finally stopping in a rocky area and lying down.

Then as the sun began to peak over the horizon, she breathed out one last breath, before turning entirely to stone, never to wake again.

Author's Note

Decided to Do a Kiju Rumble this chapter, which was really fun.