Chapters It was a glorious day in Canterlot. Thousands of ponies had gathered in the center of city. Hovering above them was a massive airship, larger than a hoofball field. Princess Celestia stood on a stage along with princesses Luna, Cadence, and Twilight. Celestia approached a microphone and addressed the crowd.
“Citizens of Equestria! It is my honor to unveil the largest airship in the Equestrian fleet, the Ray of Dawn!” The crowd applauded and cheered. “With this magnificent airship, I and the other princesses will tour all of Equestria. We will be stopping at all of the major cities, from Manehatten and Baltimare to Vanhoover and Las Pegasus. By doing this, I hope to connect with my subjects all across the land and establish a more personal relationship!”
The Ray of Dawn lowered and the princesses began to board the airship. As it took off, the citizens of Canterlot waved goodbye. The Ray of Dawn was escorted by the the Wonderbolts, with Rainbow Dash leading the starboard side, Soarin leading the port side, and Spitfire taking the lead.
Twilight and Spike looked out over the outer deck, admiring the view. “I still can’t believe that Princess Celestia invited you to join her on her tour of Equestria.” Said Spike, a look of excitement upon his face.
“Well, this tour is more about all of the princesses, not just Celestia.” Twilight said humbly. “But I’m really glad that you could come along Spike. I can’t remember the last time we just spent time together as friends.”
Twilight’s words made Spike think. He mostly worked with Twilight as her assistant, but she meant more than that to him. As far back as Spike could remember he viewed Twilight as a big sister/mother.
Twilight and Spike looked out and spotted Rainbow. They waved and she waved back. “Too bad the others couldn’t make it.” Spike said.
A supply crate then burst open, spreading confetti and streamers everywhere. In the center was a certain pink party pony bouncing on her tail. “Hey guys!”
Twilight and Spike both looked in shock. “Pinkie?!” They shouted unanimously.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!”
“Pinkie, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked.
“I invited her.” The two ponies and one dragon all turned to see Princess Celestia casually walking towards them. “In order to make this tour a success, I brought along the best party planner in Equestria to help with the festivities in each city.”
“And each city is going to have a different party theme! Wild west, circus, pirates, ninjas, summer, winter, balloons, ducks.” Pinkie kept naming off themes for several hours, not noticing that everyone had moved on some time ago.
Celestia stood at the bow of the ship, using her magic to lower the sun. Luna Stood beside her, using her magic to raise the moon. Celestia let out a yawn. “It is time for me to get some sleep Luna. You’re in charge for the night, as always.”
“Very well dear sister.” Luna replied with a smile. “I will make sure that you have pleasant dreams. Celestia then retired to her quarters.
As Rainbow flew on the starboard side, she looked to her right and saw several lights in the distance. At first she thought they were stars, but then she noticed that they bright orange. “Huh, I wonder if that’s the night watch.” Rainbow thought to herself. She then flew up to Spitfire. “Captain, is it time for the night watch to be taking their shift?”
Spitfire gave Rainbow a puzzled look. “It’s only 2100 hours. The night watch shouldn’t be here for another hour.”
“Maybe they’re early?”
Spitfire shook her head. “No, I would have been informed of a schedule change.”
Rainbow became concerned. “Then, who’s flying right towards us?”
Just as Rainbow was done asking the question, fireballs came hurling toward the Ray of Dawn. They impacted the airship, exploding and setting it on fire.
Twilight and Spike were in their room when the attack happened. Twilight was reading one of her books, and Spike was reading one of his comic books when the room violently shook. “What was that?!” Spike shouted.
“I don’t know, but we’d better find out.” Twilight opened the door and went out onto the deck to see what was going on. The sight before her left Twilight in shock. The Ray of Dawn was on fire, and ponies were screaming in pain from burns and splinter injuries.
Twilight began to put out the flames with her magic while spike tended to the wounded ponies. Suddenly, a group of armoured dragons landed on the airship. Their leader, a dragon with green scales, and orange belly, three blue horns(two on his head and one on his nose), blue spikes running down his back, and a trident shaped tail, called out orders to the others. “Search the vessel! Find Celestia!”
“Yes commander Torch!” The dragon soldiers said. Half of the soldiers began searching the ship while the other half battled the guards and the Wonderbolts. Luna attempted to fight off the dragon soldiers, but their armour simply deflected her magic.
Cadence was tending to the wounded when Torch grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. “Tell me where Celestia is, now!” Torch demanded.
“Get your claws off of my sister-in-law!” Twilight shouted.
Torch turned and faced the princess of friendship. “So, you must be Celestia’s star pupil.” Torch released Cadence. “Go ahead, hit me with your best shot!”
Twilight charged up her magic and fired. Torch crossed his arms and blocked the blast with his gauntlets. Twilight stood in shock as Torch didn’t even have a scratch on him.
Torch then charged forward and nailed Twilight with an uppercut. Twilight was sent flying and landed hard. “Gah! I haven’t been hit that hard since I fought Tirek! ” She thought to herself.
As Spike aided the wounded, he suddenly found himself surrounded by dragon soldiers. “Traitor!” One of them shouted. Spike curled up as the soldiers were about to pounce on him, only for the soldiers to blasted off the airship. Spike opened his eyes to see Pinkie Pie with her party cannon smoking.
“Pinkie!” Spike ran up to her and and hugged his friend.
“Yesh, what was their problem?” Pinkie asked.
Torch grabbed Twilight and placed a magic-suppression ring on her horn. “So, you must be the star pupil of Celestia that I’ve heard so much about. I must say, I am not very impressed.”
Cadance tried to come to Twilight’s aid, but Torch just struck her with a spinning back kick that sent Cadance flying. “Now, let’s go find your teacher.” Torch dragged Twilight with him as he continued his search for Celestia.
Twilight was barely conscious as Torch dragged her by the scruff of her neck. “Spike, please be ok .”
Torch soon found Celestia’s room and kicked down the door. “Hello Celestia. It’s been a long time.”
Celestia stared at Torch with wide eyes. She looked like she had seen a ghost. “Torch?!”
“I’m surprised you even remember my name.” Torch took a step towards Celestia. “Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
Celestia gave Torch a dead serious look. “We both know that you can’t take me.”
Torch simply made a sinister smile. “True, however-” He then hoisted up Twilight and wrapped both of his hands around her neck. “We both know that I can easily snap your student’s neck before you can even move an inch. Do you really want to risk her life?”
Celestia lowered her head in defeat. “I surrender. Just please, do not harm Twilight.”
“Very good.” Torch placed a magic suppression ring on Celestia’s horn. “Now we must be going. There is still much to do.” Torch snapped his claws and two soldiers came in to escort Celestia.
Torch turned to one of his soldiers. “We’re done here. You know what to do.” The soldier saluted and flew off. He joined up with other soldiers flying over the Ray of Dawn, and the group staffed the massive airship with their fire breath. The Ray of Dawn completely burst into flames and plummeted from the sky.
The Wonderbolts began evacuating as many ponies as they could. Pinkie and Spike saw Celestia and Twilight being carried off by Torch and his soldiers. “Stop right there!” Spike shouted. He charged at Torch with all of his might, but Torch just swatted him away like a fly, sending him crashing into a wall.
Torch took a brief moment to look back at Spike. “Pathetic.” He said bluntly with an expressionless face. Torch then took off with Celestia and Twilight in tow.
Pinkie rushed to Spike’s side. The Ray of Dawn then tilted sharply starboard, and they both off of the side. The two held each other as they fell, only for Rainbow to snatch them up before they could hit the ground.
“Are you two alright?”
Pinkie nodded her head. Spike looked towards the horizon as Twilight and Celestia were taken away by Torch.
“Twilight.” Spike muttered under his breath. His eyes filling with tears.
The Wonderbolts helped all of the survivors to the ground. In the distance, the Ray of Dawn crashed and erupted in a giant ball of fire. Rainbow Dash landed with Spike and Pinkie Pie.
“Are you two hurt?”
Pinkie looked herself over. The tip of her tail was on fire, but she blew it out. “Nope, I’m fine.”
Spike just sat on grass, his arms folded and his face buried in his knees. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He said under his breath.
Luna and Cadance approached Rainbow, Pinkie, and Spike. “Are you three alright?” Luna asked.
“We’re fine.” Pinkie said. “But where did those dragons come from? And why did attack us?”
“The dragon kingdom must have something to with this!” Rainbow said angrily. “I bet this is all part of an invasion!”
Spike suddenly stood up. “No! The dragon kingdom couldn’t have done this! I know Ember, she’s been trying to make peace with Equestria!”
Cadance spoke up. “Spike is right. Now is not the time to be jumping to conclusions and pointing the blame at others. Celestia and Twilight have been taken, and we need to find them.”
Luna stood silently, looking perplexed. “Is something the matter?” Cadance asked.
“I can’t stop thinking about that armor the dragons were wearing. Somehow, it was able to deflect the magical attacks I used against them.”
“You’re right.” Cadance said. “I saw Twilight use her strongest attack against their leader Torch, and he wasn’t even phased.”
“Well we aren’t going to get any answers standing around here.” Said Rainbow. “I say we head to the dragon kingdom and speak with Ember.”
“I agree.” Said Luna. “We must make haste.”
Spike stood before Luna. “I’m coming too!”
Luna wanted to object, but she knew that Spike was friends with Ember and knew the dragon kingdom better than any pony. “Ok, get on.”
Spike got on Luna’s back, and they along with Cadance and Rainbow Dash set off for the dragon kingdom. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll rescue you!” Spike thought to himself.
Twilight awoke with a headache. The first thing she saw were prison bars. After getting up on her hooves, she could see that she was in some sort of cave. There were also veins of metal similar to what the bars appeared to be made of running through the walls. “What is this place?”
“A place I thought was buried long ago.” Twilight was nearly scared to death when she heard the voice. She soon recognized it as Celestia’s and turned around to see her sitting in a corner, her head hung low.
“Princess Celestia, where are we? What’s going on?”
Celestia did not know where to begin. “We are currently locked up in an old mine. You may have noticed the metal in the walls.” Twilight nodded her head. “Well, it’s called magicnanium. It can naturally repel all kinds of magic. It’s what the armor those dragons are wearing is made of.”
Twilight had a million questions in her head, and did not know where to start. “How did these dragons get ahold of this magicnanium?”
Celestia lifted her head. “Because I discovered this mine, and commissioned the armor to made.”
Twilight could not believe what she had just heard. “Wait, you gave these dragons their armor? Why?”
Celestia breathed a deep sigh. “500 years into my reign as the sole princess of Equestria, it became apparent that I could not handle everything. Raising both the sun and the moon was hard enough, but keeping everypony safe from danger was beyond my control. So, I approached the dragon lord and asked him to give me a group of hatchlings. My goal was simple: to train an elite fighting force that could do what no pony could and go where no pony dare tread. For a hundred years they were trained in the deadliest arts of combat ever conceived. One rose up through the ranks faster than the others, and so I declared him to be the squad leader. His name is Torch.”
Twilight was perplexed. “Torch? As in the former dragon lord?”
“Actually, princess.” Twilight and Celestia both turned to face the bars to see Torch standing on the other side. “Torch is actually a fairly common name amongst dragons. I bare no relation to the former dragon lord.”
“You! What do you want with us?” Twilight demanded.
“Before we get to that, I think Celestia should finish her history lesson. No, wait. She’ll just tell you more lies, like she always does. I shall finish the lesson.”
Torch leaned against the bars. “For a hundred years my squad and I, codenamed The Firebolts, secretly fought all of Equestria’s enemies. We battled changelings, griffons, minotaurs, and any nasty creature that emerged from the everfree forest. Celestia even discovered magicanium, and used it to make our armor to protect us from Equestria’s more magical fiends. And all the while the ponies across the land lived blissfully unaware that we prevented their destruction on a daily basis.”
Torch then turned and gripped the bars, a look of pure rage upon his face. “But when there were no more threats, we were left with nothing to do. We could have gone home to dragon kingdom, but that didn’t happen. And why was that Celestia?”
Celestia whispered something under her breath.
“Care to speak up Celestia? I’m not sure the whole class heard you.”
“I was afraid!” Celestia shouted. “You began starting fights with the royal guard, and you even fought each other. I was afraid you would become a threat to both the dragon kingdom and Equestria.”
Torch banged his fists against the bars. “We only did what you taught us to do! What you ordered us to do! What you made us to do! YOU MADE US!”
An eerie silence filled the air as Torch took a moment to compose himself. “You could have sent us home. But no, what you did was beyond cruel.” Torch looked right at Twilight. “Your teacher imprisoned us in a pocket universe, where time stood still. We were surrounded by an endless wall made up of hyper diamond, the strongest substance in the universe.”
Tears flowed down Celestia’s face. “I had to do something. I couldn’t risk you running around destroying anything, but you had been so loyal. I couldn’t banish you to tartarus. Exiling you to another plane was the only choice.”
Torch’s lips curved up into a smile. “My soldiers had given up. They were ready to lay down and slowly turn to dust. But not me. I just looked at that wall. And I punched it. I punched it as hard as I could, and I did not stop. Soon the others joined me. Every time we stuck that wall we grew stronger, our claws became sharper, our fire burned hotter. Then we finally broke through the wall and freed ourselves. In Equestria only 300 years had passed, but for us, it took 4.5 billion years. I know because I counted every day, every hour, every minute, and every second.”
“You have me now, so what do you plan to do with me?” Celestia asked.
Torch let out a laugh that echoed throughout the mine. “I plan on doing nothing to you. I just want you to have a front row seat and watch as Equestria burns.” Torch then turned and walked away, calling for his soldiers. “Fall out! We head for the dragon kingdom!”
Author's Note
If some of you are wondering, yes Torch's imprisonment and escape was inspired the Doctor Who episode "Heaven Sent."
After Torch and his soldiers had left, Twilight turned and faced Celestia.
“Why did you never tell me about any of this?!” Twilight said franticly. “You created a group of dragon soldiers and then banished them? Why would you do that?”
Celestia finally stood up on her hooves. “It was a different time Twilight. The elements of harmony had not yet been gathered. After dealing with Discord, Sombra, and Nightmare Moon, I needed a task force that could not only stand up to these threats, but also rival them in battle.”
“But, why dragons?”
“Dragons are different from ponies, in more than obvious ways. Dragons are natural warriors. They live in, and breath fire. They can withstand punishment that would kill an average pony. They were the perfect choice to perform dangerous missions.”
“Does Luna know about them?”
Celestia shook her head. “No. Only a small hooffull of ponies knew about the firebolts, and they are long gone.”
“What do you think they have planned?”
“Whatever it is, it could mean the end for all ponykind.”
Luna, Spike, Cadance, and Rainbow all arrived at the dragon kingdom. As they approached the throne of the dragon lord, they were stopped by a pair of guards.
“Halt! No ponies are allowed here!” One of the guards shouted.
“Stand down.” The guards turned around to see dragon lord Ember approaching them. “I know these ponies, and this young one.” Both guards stepped aside. Ember smiled as she walked up to Spike. “Hey Spike, what brings you around here?”
“Ember, we have a problem.” Spike said. “We were attacked by a group of dragons, and they took Celestia and Twilight!”
A look of shock came over Ember’s face. “That’s terrible!”
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this, would you?” Rainbow said accusingly.
“I can assure you that no dragon in this kingdom had anything to do with this attack.” Ember said defensively. She and Rainbow came face to face. Fortunately, Spike stepped in between them.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Spike said as he separated the two. “We didn’t come here for a fight. We came here to find Twilight and Celestia.”
“Spike is right.” Cadance said. “Ember, do you know of any dragons in your kingdom that would have it out for Celestia?”
Ember thought for a moment. “There is only one dragon that I can think of who has an open hatred for ponies, Garble.”
A look disdain came over Spike. “Great. HIM again.”
Luna looked down at the little drake. “I take it you know each other?”
“Yeah, we’ve met.” Spike said with a sigh. “I met him and his gang during the dragon migration, and again during the gauntlet of fire. He’s a grade A jerk.”
Ember spoke up. “Garble and his cronies usually hang out at the rocky cliffs by the beach.”
“Then let us speak with this Garble.” Luna said.
Garble and his gang were wrestling with each other when they saw Ember, Luna, Cadance, Rainbow, and Spike approaching.
“Well, well. Look at what we have here. Our so called leader, three namby-pamby ponies, and a pathetic little baby. What you want?” Garble said.
Ember was angered to say the least. “Hold your tongue, Garble! I am your dragon lord, and you will not speak to me in such a tone!”
“Chill out dragon lord.” Garble used air quotes when addressing Ember’s title. “No need to lose your temper in front of our guests.”
“Why you smart-mouthed-” Rainbow tried to charge at Garble, but Cadance held her back with her magic.
“Look, the reason we’re here is because a group of dragons have kidnapped Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight. Do you know anything about this?” Spike asked.
“Why ask me? And why do you care?” Garble replied.
“Because I’ve heard you say that you want to invade Equestria in the past. And not that it’s any of your business, but Twilight is my friend.” (As well as my family ) Spike thought to himself.
Garble broke out laughing. “You’re telling me that two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria have been taken by dragons? This is too rich!”
“Did you have anything to do with this or not?” Ember asked with irritation in her voice.
“No, but I wish I did.” Garble said with smug grin. “A punch of ponies getting their flanks kicked by dragons? It’s too bad I wasn’t there to see it.”
“Tell me Garble, why do hate us ponies so much?” Luna asked.
“Why? Because you have everything and we have nothing! Just look around, the dragon kingdom is practically a wasteland while Equestria is a paradise! You ponies also have control over most of the planet, while we dragons don’t even have pillows!”
This made Spike stop and think. The dragon kingdom was extremely small compared to Equestria, and much harsher to live in. Spike also remembered that in pony society dragons were, for the most part, still viewed as monsters.
Out of nowhere, Torch came down between Garble and Ember. He landed with such force that he caused a small crater to form underneath him. Torch stood up and faced Ember with a smile. “Hello Ember.”
“You!” Spike charged at Torch, punching away at his leg with no effect. “What have you’ve done with Twilight and Celestia?!”
Torch simply kicked Spike away like a ball. “The adults are talking hatchling.”
Rainbow ran over to Spike to see if he was ok. Luna and Cadance blasted Torch with their magic, but it had no effect due to his armor. With incredible speed, Torch then took down Luna and Cadance with a roundhouse kick and a punch to the face, respectively.
“Yeah! Kick the flanks of those wimpy ponies!” Garble shouted. Torch turned his head and glared at him. Torch then smacked Garble in the face with the back of his hand, knocking him to the ground.
“You call yourself a dragon?” Torch said with disgust as he looked down at Garble. “You are nothing more than whiney teenager. You haven’t even bled for your kingdom! A true dragon shows strength and is a warrior! You are pathetic.”
After making sure that Spike was alright, Rainbow flew at Torch. However, Torch was able to surround himself and Ember with a ring of fire before she could get close enough.
“That should stop any more interruptions.”
Ember watched everything that had happened while in a stunned silence. It took her a moment to come to her senses. “How do you know my name?”
“It is understandable that you do not remember. You were but a hatchling, but so was I. We were hatched around the same time. My parents even named me after your father, the previous dragon lord, as a means of appeasement.”
“What do you want?”
“Your staff. I need it.”
Ember tightened her grip on the staff. “For what purpose?”
“To make this world burn. And from the scorched earth, dragons shall rise as the true rulers of this world.”
“You’re insane!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Torch then lunged at Ember. The two dragons fought tooth and claw over the staff. Eventually Torch locked Ember in a choke hold, forcing her to let go of the staff.
“Fortunately for you, I do not want you to perish.” Torch bent over and picked up the staff. “Once I am done rebuilding this world, there will be a place for you and all dragon kind in it.” Torch then took off into air. “My plan is nearly complete .”