When A Good Mare Goes to War
By Sam Cole
Chapter One: Unexpected Guests
Twilight Sparkle, royal student of magic under the guide of Princess Celestia herself, watched the skies this warm night, savoring the serenity. She was on one of her favorite hills outside of Ponyville with her six closest friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike the dragon. The whole gang was enjoying a camp out, celebrating Fluttershy and Spike’s recent achievement.
“Congrats Spike and Shy!” Applejack beamed at the two, “Y’all are certified first responders now!”
“Aww, thanks Applejack,” Spike blushed, shuffling his feet on the grass. “I just thought it sounded fun, but I had to put in a lot of hard work.”
“Well, I’m proud of you Spike,” Twilight said hugging the little guy.
“Me too. My little Spikey-Wikey is growing up,” Rarity said joining in the hug.
“Thanks everypony. But I hope I never have to use my new skills,” Spike laughed.
“I hope so too,” Fluttershy said to a round of agreement from everypony.
Rainbow called out come sit by the fire and tell ghost stories, and they all went over and had a wonderful evening. Twilight was distracted though, by an odd star, that seemed to be moving, slowly. Eventually, the gang all laid down for the night, saying their goodnights and all. Twilight remained awake, as she watched the strange star, and decided that it must be ice in the atmosphere or something. She hunkered down and went to sleep fast, dreaming of numbers and equations dancing around, happily solving them. At about three am though, a loud crack woke them all up, as a giant ball of fire scooted across the sky.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack yelled as she grasped her hat to keep the now hot wind from carrying it away.
“It’s huge!” Rainbow cried as she shielded her eyes. “What is that thing? Space rock?”
“A meteor. And no, its way to slow,” Twilight yelled. They were all just feet apart, but had to yell just to be heard. The noise was so great it made their teeth hurt.
“Then what is it?” Rarity shouted.
“I have no idea!” Twilight screamed as the object broke the sound barrier at last. The boom was deafening, leaving all of them with severe shell shock, and severe chest pains for Rarity and Twilight. Twilight painfully watched as the object slowed some more, then finally set down in a fiery plume just outside of the Everfree Forest. She fought for consciousness but eventually fell victim to the agony induced sleep that threatened to be her last.
“Twi- light. Come- on,” Spike panted as he shook the lavender mare. Spike looked around to the unconscious ponies. Rarity was looking pretty bad, her breathing extremely labored. Everypony had a small amount of blood dripping out of their ears, and Applejack had some coming from her nose as well. Rainbow Dash looked better than most, being used to odd G forces and pressure, and was starting to move, but the injuries she had right now were too great for her to be an asset. Twilight was the worrisome one though. She was cooling off fast, with no heartbeat. Miss Sparkle was dead.
“No you don’t! Come On Twi!” Spike shouted as he rolled her on her back and began CPR. He timed his thrusts, counting out loud as he tried to remain calm under the stress. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Come on damn it! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
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Princess Luna watched her beloved night sky, reveling in the beauty of the darkness. She longed for a flight right now, the early summer night was almost calling to her. But she had her duties, to guard the night as always. Luna sat down and floated over a cup of tea and her new book, just enjoying the warming breeze. A little too warm actually. It was 3am, why was the wind getting hotter? Luna looked up and saw the sky was illuminated a deep orange, as if heaven itself was engulfed in flame. Luna gasped, fear gripping her as she retreated into the castle to find her sister, maybe she knew about this. As the princess of the night glided down the halls, a massive boom shook the castle. It knocked the poor mare down, and shattered several windows. Luna rose slowly, and continued on, finding Celestia racing towards her, panicked.
“What was that Luna?” Celestia cried as the two closed in.
“I knoweth not dear sister. The skies themselves were but a moment ago aflame,” Luna spoke, heaving as she fought for breath.
“Send the guard. Investigate the... What ever it was,” Celestia ordered her personal guardian. He saluted sharply, and tore off down the hall like his flank was on fire. Celestia turned to Luna, worry in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, art thou?” Luna asked, hugging her sister as the adrenaline wore off and fear settled in.
“Yes... No... I don’t know Sis. I don’t feel right. Something's wrong,” Celestia cried into her sister’s shoulder. Celestia feared greatly for her people, all of them her friends, and now in very real danger it seemed.
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Twilight gasped a sharp breath as Spike thrust her chest again. She rocketed up, flailing a bit as she came back from her early trip to the other side.
“Twilight, Thank goodness!” Spike said hugging Twilight, then placing his claw on the side of her neck and started counting.
“Spike,” Twilight rasped, “What happened?”
“The boom made your heart stop. I had to resuscitate you,” Spike fussed and he made sure Twilight was stable before moving on to Rarity.
“I’m so glad you took that class Spike,” Twilight said trying to rise, but found herself much to weak still. “What’s wrong with Rarity?”
“I think one of her lungs collapsed. I need a needle,” Spike said looking around. Twilight looked and saw Rarity was having trouble exhaling. Her chest looked a slight bit off, but not much. She was unconscious, most likely from the pain she was feeling right now.
“How long was I out?” Twilight asked.
“Not long, but we need to get you all to the hospital,” Spike said as he pulled an ornately large, hollow sewing needle out of Rarity's pack, and nipped both ends off. He felt her ribs, counting down to the fifth intercostal space on her side, and slowly pushed the needle in. He then fixed it in place with some tape from Twilight’s first aid kit.
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked the dragon.
“Needle chest decompression. Letting the air out,” Spike said. “I had nothing to create a flutter valve from, so let’s just hope I keep a close eye on it.”
“Spike,” Rainbow groaned from behind Twilight, “Help me. I'm going to be sick. Where are you?” Spike had Twilight monitor the needle, and rushed to Rainbow’s aid.
“I’m here RD. What hurts?” Spike asked sliding into place next to the fast flyer.
“Spike,” Rainbow managed weakly. Spike checked her pulse, she was fine, just concussed was all.
“Rainbow. I need you to stay up now, alright. Don’t go to sleep,” Spike warned.
“I don’t feel too good,” Rainbow moaned and rolled over to her side, throwing up a sickly looking dark brown sludge, that looked like coffee grounds. Blood.
“Rainbow, don’t sleep,” Spike said again, but worried now, “You have internal bleeding. I need you to stay awake til I can get help.”
“Spike,” Twilight called out.
“What is it?” Spike asked from his post next to Rainbow.
“Send a letter. Tell the Princess,” Twilight called back.
“In a minute. I want to check the others first. Rainbow, I need you to stay awake,” Spike yelled as he tried in vain to keep Rainbow among them. She was slipping though. Spike cursed himself for not evaluating her correctly earlier, but knew he had two cases that needed his care more. It was a judgement call, one he would carry the rest of his life now.
A sudden fit of coughing drew his attention, as he looked over and saw Applejack coughing up a good amount of her dinner. Spike rushed over, asking Twilight to pull double duty on Rainbow Dash as well.
“Applejack, talk to me,” Spike called as he closed in.
“Mah head,” Applejack groaned. Spike came in and took her head in his claws, checking her eyes and nose by using a small stream of his fire as a light.
“You should be fine, the boom just ruptured a capillary in your nose AJ,” Spike said relaxing. He checked her bleeding ears and let out a sigh. “Looks like you’re eardrums might have been perforated.”
“What does that mean?” Applejack asked, barely able to hear the small dragon.
“There’s a small hole in your eardrums. You should be fine a few days,” Spike reassured. He ran over to Fluttershy and Pinkie, confirming they both had the same perforated eardrums. Spike, relieved a bit, ran back to Rainbow Dash. She was still breathing, but he and Twilight were pulling double duty with her. She was not getting better.
“Spike, what happened? Why are we all so hurt?” Twilight asked as Spike tried to send a letter out. It was a simple letter, ‘Need medevac, EF 2010 7212. Spike. 2 urgent surgery, 4 urgent. No special equipment. 6 liter. No monsters in area. Marked by pyro. Smoke hazard.’
“I don’t know what it was, but something fell just outside of town, about 5 miles if I had to guess,” Spike said as he turned to the cyan mare and checked her airways. She hadn’t thrown up again, but better check anyways.
“What was that letter?” Twilight asked as she felt a wave of nausea hit her. Everypony was starting to look a little green actually. The smoke was starting to blow towards them.
“Twilight, get low. Less smoke near the ground. That letter was a standard Equestrian 8 line medevac,” Spike explained. Twilight was too sick to talk anymore, and was fighting for consciousness now herself. Spike looked fine, and this made Twilight feel safe. Soon she saw two chariots drop from the sky, and several ponies rush them all, taking over for their medical care. Twilight watched as Spike briefed the guards pulling the chariots. Soon enough, they were all airborne, and Twilight looked down to the empty field, seeing Spike had set a large bush on fire, the green flames standing out as a marker. She smiled at the dragon’s ingenuity, before she slipped into the dark sleep yet again.
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Celestia raced through the hospital, her hooves throwing off sparks. She rounded a corner, nearly taking out a nurse with some morphine, and pressed into her students room.
“Twilight!” Celestia cried seeing her favorite student, her close friend so banged up, laying in a hospital bed in the recovery room, having just spent far to long in the OR. She pulled over a chair and sat with the smaller lavender mare, stroking her mane. “I’m sorry my friend. I should have dispatched rescue teams sooner. It took far too long for us to respond tonight. I'm so sorry about what I had them do to you, I'm so sorry, there was no other way.”
Spike cleared his throat, getting the royal mare’s attention. “Princess,” He tentatively asked, peering around the doorway.
“Yes, come in Spike,” Celestia said smiling at the little guy and wiping away her tears. “You’re quite the hero,” She beamed as he took up a seat on Twilight’s bed.
“Thanks,” Spike mumbled, looking rather down for the ego prone fellow.
“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked, placing a hoof on Spike’s shoulder.
“I made a bad call. If I hadn’t taken my time, I would have seen how bad Rainbow was, but I didn’t. I focused on Rarity,” Spike said holding back a tear. “As much as I hate to say it, Rarity had time. Time Rainbow might not have had. And Twilight need surgery too. What if...”
“Spike,” Celestia said in her most reassuring tone, “Rejoice, my young friend. You single hoofed saved 6 lives tonight. You should not be so hard on yourself. There was no way you could have known the extent of Twilight's injuries, nor Rainbow's at first glance.”
“I know. But still..” Spike said, and the Princess just brought the poor guy into a hug. He needed this right now. And really, Celestia had no idea how to help the dragon. She had a lot on her plate right now, with half of the Everfree Forest leveled by the impact of that... that thing.
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Twilight awoke to the light shining on her face. She looked out the window, to the sky that only last night unleashed such devastation upon them. She was alerted to a pony in the room as someone started to snore. Twilight looked over and saw her princess, Celestia, laid awkwardly upon the couch built for normal sized ponies. Twilight snorted and laughed, waking up the ruler of the land.
“Twilight!” The sun goddess beamed, a smile as warm as the sun on a perfect day.
“Hey Princess,” Twilight rasped. She was surprised at her voice, and brought a hoof to her sore throat.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Celestia said walking over and nuzzling the lavender mare, “I had the others rushed to Canterlot early this morning, once they were all stable. You, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were brought straight here, for surgery.”
“Surgery?” Twilight piped, then winced at the pain in her throat.
“Looks like you have some damage from smoke inhalation, so try not to speak too much, okay? And yes, Rarity had a collapsed lung from the force of the shock wave. Rainbow Dash suffered far worse, with multiple organ failure and massive internal bleeding. And you...” Celestia said, faltering at having to tell the mare, “ Your heart was stopped for a minute by the shock wave.”
“My... heart?” Twilight asked, placing her hoof to her chest, feeling the slight beat of the muscle pumping away, and the bandages that she could now tell covered surgical scars.
“Yes,” Celestia said saddened.
“Why did I get surgery?” Twilight asked, looking to her longtime mentor.
“When the shock wave hit, you instinctively put up a magical force field to protect everypony near you, but the strain of trying to redirect so much power overwhelmed you, and destroyed most of your heart. Spike somehow got your magic to hold long enough to pump blood manually. How he did that is still unknown, but regardless, he saved you all last night,” Celestia smiled again.
Twilight just looked off into the distance, feeling her chest, and knew what that also meant. "Who's heart do I have now?"
Celestia's smile faltered, as she swallowed hard and spoke, "You don't have one now Twilight. I had them install a magical prosthetic heart, there was no time to try and find a donor. As long as you never completely drain your magic, you will have a beating heart my student."
"So what does that mean?" Twilight rasped.
"I gave you time, but it's not perfect. The best hope is ten years," Celestia said bravely despite the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Twilight could tell this subject was too much for the overburdened mare and changed topics. "You mentioned Spike, how is he?"
“Worried sick, but other than that, never better. As a dragon, he was protected against the shockwave. The doctors say if he hadn’t been there...” Celestia began but left the sentence to itself. Twilight nodded, and resumed looking out the window.
“What was that thing?” She mused.
“Luna’s investigating it,” Celestia said, laying her head upon Twilight’s shoulder and relaxing for the first time since it happened.
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Princess Luna stood about one mile out from the fallen object, surveying the land with her guard contingent and scientific research teams. The trees were all scorched, the ground muddy from the downpour the weather patrol had made early this morning to exhaust the flames. The lunar mare sighed at the loss, it always pained her to see such devastation. All in all, it had been bad, with over 50 ponies losing their lives last night.
But what she saw now struck a chord with the ruler of the night, a chord of anger. Dragons, about twenty of them, had surrounded the object, and where trying to get inside it. It was just a large metal thing to Luna, larger than Ponyville and taller than the castle. But Luna could not shake a feeling that whatever those dragons wanted with it was bad news for them.
"Dragons!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Tell us thy intent, or be forced to. We seeketh not to do battle, but do not mistake our kindness right now for weakness."
"Go away stupid pony," One yelled at her, waving a claw dismissively.
Luna practically fumed as she shook with rage. Being insulted is one thing. Being ignored another. But being heard and dismissed as if of no consequence? That would not stand. Her guard was well trained to handle combat with the dragons, and they knew this. The dragons where out numbered about two to one, the way the guard was trained to fight. The advantage was theirs. As Luna was about to give the last warning though, a small pony scientist grabbed her mane and pulled softly, but enough to get her attention.
"Princess, we have to leave now," The pony said, shaking a bit as she looked to the dragons and back, scared of something the Princess did not know yet.
"What is it Miss..." Luna said politely. She knew to never be hostile with somepony for just doing their job.
"Flowers. Violet Flowers. And that- that thing, what ever it is, its hot!" Miss Flame shouted.
"Well yes, it was but aflame last-" Luna began.
"No. It's radioactive. Whatever it is, it's Nuclear," Miss Flowers said. And now Luna understood.
"Dragons! Stop! That object is not to be touched! It's Dangerous!" Luna shouted to the dragons. One turned to her, and bellowed a mighty roar.
"Back off pony! It's ours!" The dragon yelled back.
"That object is radioactive!" Luna shouted, trying like mad to get everything away from it and fast.
"We know this!" The Dragon yelled back. "We dragons can feed on radiation. We can feel the power coursing within us already! Soon not even your mighty magic will be able to hold off the dragons. It is now our time to rule this world!"
"Buck me..." Luna said under her breath.
"Huh. Dragons are nuclear. You learn something new everyday," One of her guard mused. "Princess, we can't fight them, not here. That thing will bake us before we can close the distance, and the Dragons are already within the cordoned area. This is a loss," The guard said more professionally. Luna just stared at the dragons in the field, knowing now that the longer they stood there, the stronger they got. This was bad. Very very bad.
"Retreat. Warn thy sister of this most upsetting of discoveries. Do not let any creature near the object, nor let any away. Use of lethal force is authorized," Luna said finally. The dragons close enough to hear this did not like this news. They roared, and charged.
Three dragons barreled into the line of guards, who stood at the ready. But their spears found no soft spots, their shields failed to hold. The first rank dissolved into ash before Luna's eyes. She watched unblinking in horror as the giant lizards tore threw the guards like a hoof through tissue paper. The regal mare stood there, shaking with fear as her beloved guards and scientists were laid to waste. A young guard, fresh out of the academy, tackled her to the ground, and told her to magically teleport away, leave them.
“You are not going to die here your highness!” The guard shouted.
“I refuse to leave you!” Luna cried, tears running down her cheeks.
“Go! Now!” The guard commanded.
“Never!” Luna protested.
“If you die, then what the buck did any of us accomplish! Live on, win this war, and avenge us you stupid bitch!” The guard yelled. Such language would normally have been dealt with severely, but right now, it was fitting. It shook Luna into action, making her focus her magic and leave.
Right before she vanished from the field, as she lay in the mud, she saw the guard rise and catch a spiked tail to the head. His eyes went wide with shock, then placid as the spark of life left them. That poor colt, not even a week on duty, was dead before he hit the ground. Luna had never even asked the poor boy his name, but later vowed that he would be remembered as a national hero for this, one day, when this was all a nightmare for the regal mare. She would never, no matter how hard she tried, forget the look on the poor colt’s face.
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17 hours ago, the crew of Sister, the colony ship from The Collective, was approaching Local planet E-DD Laude 4. They were taking readings, happy to have found such a planet.
“Captain,” Six, the first mate, saluted.
“Please Six, we are of the same batch, just call me Three,” Three told her. She smiled and continued.
“Three, we have a found the planet to have a rich 70/20 atmo,” Six reported.
“With normal gravity as well? This is just perfect. Seven and Twelve, take us in, we need to get the electromagnetic readings now,” Three ordered.
“Right away Three,” Twelve chimed. He loved flying the Sister, pride of The Collective. She handled like a dream, not to mention the leadership was always relaxed here, unlike the warships. They neared the planet, sensors taking their data, when something went wrong. The ship lost power, and started a slow slide out of orbit.
“Report!” Three commanded, rising out of his chair as the artificial gravity field quit.
“Dark matter manipulation field! Fracking hell boss, this is an S-Class Civ!” Seven reported.
"All hands, brace for impact. Get comms up now, tell the Collective we have an S-class here. May the merciful maker Zero Prime have mercy upon us now,” Three ordered as the ship started to heat up, the atmosphere igniting around their ship as they fell to the surface. He took this last chance to look to Six, wondering if today, she would finally become Three. The thoughts of his own imminent death did nothing for his now shot mood.
As the doomed craft neared the planet, the last order from Three was given. Fire the thrusters, try to slow their impact. His only hope was to not ignite a war. A war with an S-class would not end well. Comms never went out though. This would go down in the record as another ship lost to the Verse.
Chapter Two: Draconic studies
“My dear Ponies, it breaks my heart what befell our nation last night,” Celestia spoke to the assembled ponies and various concerned parties. “Times like this, it is needed of everypony to stand together, to present a strong face, a wall of faith and hope. But I am afraid that this- this thing from the stars, is no longer our biggest concern.” A murmur ran through the crown as ponies looked to one another, each unsure they had heard the ruler correctly.
“My Sister, Princess Luna, went with our guard contingent and scientific research teams to the crash site this morning. What she found was- was most, I’m sorry,” Celestia cried looking at the report. She could not bring herself to say this. She needed to. She needed to be strong right now in the face of adversity, to be a moral rock for her ponies. But she could not, knowing what she knew.
A servant and old friend of her’s stepped forward, placing a hoof on her shoulder. The picture of that scene would grace many newspapers, the leader being consoled. It was a nice touch actually, humbled the ruler and drove home how much she cared. Celestia was lead over to a large pillow laid out for her, and nestled down while Captain Shining Armor finished the report. Celestia looked out over the scene, what had been meant as a press conference had grown to a national broadcast in one hours time.
“Our teams found the impact last night to have been caused by some sort of militaristic craft from another world,” Shining Armor said to an outburst from everypony assembled. They all raged as he sat there, fuming. “Quite!” He bellowed, as if talking with unruly recruits. The temperance worked well for the cause.
“As I was saying, we discovered the object to be not of this world. We were unable to gain further information to the origin or purpose of the craft though, as the area is contaminated with lethal amounts of radiation. But that leads us to our main problem,” Shining said to another outburst, just one.
“What do you mean, main problem? Is there another health hazard from the craft?” One pony asked.
“Not as we would have it, no. But our teams discovered a group of twenty dragons at the site,” Shining said as more whispers roared through the crowd. “Ponies, please. The dragons are, immune we shall say, to the radiation, and actually appear to feed on it,” Shining reported. He had expected to lose them there, to be unable to get a word in edgewise. But no pony moved even. No pony breathed it seemed. They just gaped at the Captain, hoping he was joking.
“Are they- are they getting stronger from it?” One pony finally asked.
Shining sighed before he answered, not wanting the news to be true himself. “Yes. They are in fact gaining strength from the radiation at the site. One mile out is our cordon, where we are already experiencing over 20 rads in background radiation, with the numbers increasing almost exponentially from there, to unknown levels. The dragons have no issues with the high rad count to our knowledge. Three of them attacked our guards, killing them all along with our scientist. Princess Luna escaped the field, and has since been hospitalized. She will not take any-” Shining continued into the storm of reporters now, giving the typical breakdown he dealt with from time to time.
“Ponies of Equestria,” Celestia said stepping forward, her face set in resolve, “I hate to ask this of you, but know this action is of the most importance to our national security, neigh, our lives. I am forced today to institute a draft. The dragons have made clear their intents for a war with us ponies, and I refuse to let them have an easy go of it. I would also like to request any military or ponytarian aid from our allies and friends. Please, Equestria is in a dire situation. We have our best minds researching the dragons now, but we need help. We ponies have not had a war in over two thousand years. It is a lost art to us. I had hoped war would never find us here, but it has, and it will not be dissuaded. I will not rest till my ponies are safe.”
“There she is, welcome to the party!” Pinkie sang as Rainbow was wheeled into her new recovery room. She was getting to share the room with Twilight and Rarity now, a vast improvement in some regards. Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy had been discharged earlier, and were now visiting everypony here, trying to lighten the mood some.
“Hey AJ, can you finally hear Fluttershy with that fancy hearing aid?” Rainbow joked, laying eyes on Applejack’s new earpiece.
“Oh yeah. She says yer jokes are lame by the way,” Applejack smugly replied.
“No I didn’t!” Fluttershy shouted at her loudest, which was everypony elses normal.
“Aw, sorry Shy. Didn’t mean to worry ya, twas a joke sugarcube,” Applejack blushed. She was normally more tactful around the shy mare.
“Oh. I’m sorry I ruined the joke...” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Tain't nothin,” Applejack smiled.
“So Twilight,Rainbow,” Rarity asked looking at her friends, “What exactly happened to you two? I apparently lost a lung. Which stinks, because now they want me to quit smoking,” Rarity growled. She was a light smoker, about a pack a month, but that pack often meant some rude customer did not get their flank beat for back talking her.
Everypony hushed at the comment, remembering how close they had come to deaths door last night. Rainbow answered first, almost laughing. “I lost my lunch and they cut me open. But seriously, I had to get my guts rebuilt. They say if we had been subject to the whole force of the hit, we would all be dead. What happened with that?” Rainbow asked looking at Twilight, able to put two and two together.
“I, um..” Twilight began, blushing a bit and feeling a slight pain as her magical heart beat faster. It was now or never. “I put up a force field to save us all, by reflex. But the strain did some damage...”
“I remember Spike yelling ‘No you don’t Twi!” and ‘Come on Twi! Don’t die on me!’ How much damage did you take?” Rainbow asked. Twilight began to silently cry as she swallowed and spoke.
“My heart was destroyed. I have an artificial heart now, but it’s projected to only last ten years, at best,” The lavender mare said breaking down. The ambulatory ponies walked over and hugged her, whispering their encouragement.
“Twi, I- I’m sorry...” Rainbow flushed, guilt washing over the mare.
“Don’t. I needed to tell you. I just- I-” Twilight tried but choked on the words, tears rolling more with every word.
“Darling...” Rarity said, a tear in her eye as well.
“No, I’m- It’s... Please, don’t let me go like this girls, stuffed in a bed, looking out the window,” Twilight begged.
“Of course sugarcube. Ten years is a long time. We’ll have all sorts of adventures,” Applejack said with a laugh.
“Yeah. Nothing’s going to keep us from living it up now!” Rainbow rallied.
"Twilight, just how did ya survive then?" Applejack asked, confused.
"Spike. Tapped my magic. Made- Made it work," Twilight gasped and sobbed.
“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “Does, does Spike know about your heart then?”
“Not yet, I had him go get my folks. I wanted to tell them all at once,” Twilight sniffed and heaved, her crying subsiding a little. A gentle knock told them they had company, and it was not the kind that wanted to see them in a hospital, judging by the murmuring from outside. “Come in,” Twilight called, her voice breaking.
“Twinkle!” Twilight’s mom, also named Twilight, cried as she rushed in, laying hugs and tearful kisses on her daughter's forehead. “What on Equis happened to you?”
Night Light, Twilight’s dad, trotted in with Spike on his back, the dragon holding a ice pack to his right eye. “Baby girl! Look at you! Oh damn it all!” Night cringed looking at his little girl laying in the bed.
“Me? What happened to you Spike?” Twilight asked looking to her hero.
“We’ll get to that in a minute deary. Oh my goddess, you look like you had surgery!” Twilight senior sobbed.
Twilight breathed, and shook, her eyes closed. She felt a hoof slip over hers, and knew that she had the love and support of everypony there. She opened her eyes and saw her mom holding her hoof, and began to tell the horrid truth.
“Last night, I used my magic to protect everypony, but at a cost. I couldn’t stop so much power, and it damaged my heart...”
“Oh my goddess, Twinkle!” Twilight senior cried. “How badly were you hurt?”
Twilight had just stopped crying to, damn it. But now the tears flowed again, her breath caught in her chest. Twilight hugged her mom, and cried harder than ever.
“Twinkle?” Night asked. sitting on her other side. Spike sat at the foot of her bed, just watching in agony as his family felt all this pain he had almost not been able to stop. Nor did the dragon look around, not wanting to see Rainbow now. Rarity coughed, though it sounded polite at first, the action spiraled down to the most painful bout Rarity had ever faced. Pinkie and Fluttershy went to her aid.
“Thank you both. I’m fine,” Rarity lied horsley, “But I wanted to say, Mr. and Mrs. Light, your daughter saved my life and everyone else here last night, along with Spike. You should be proud. This is hard for Twilight to say, so may I? I don’t want her to have to again,” Rarity asked. Twilight could not stop crying, so she continued. “Her heart was completely destroyed last night.”
“What!?” Spike and Night asked. Twilight senior just hugged Twilight tighter, and began to cry herself.
“Yes. Spike somehow accessed her magic or something, and got it to pump blood. But Twilight here,” Rarity said, her voice breaking again, “Has an artificial heart now, one that runs on magic. It’s really good I hear,” Rarity said as she dissolved back into a coughing fit.
“Twinkle?” Twilight senior asked, shakily.
“I have about ten years they think,” Twilight sobbed, wiping at her eyes.
“This is the worst day ever,” Spike groaned, moving up to hug Twilight along with her parents. Twilight nestled the dragon in her lap, wanting him to feel welcome, to stop distancing himself.
“Baby girl, I’ll tell Shining when I see him later, okay, you don’t have to worry about that,” Night said, kissing her forehead.
“Thanks daddy,” Twilight said. “So Spike, what happened to you?”
“Some pony threw a rock at me,” Spike grumbled. “Yelled something about a dragon killing all those ponies, and that I had to die just like them.”
“Oh my bucking goddess,” Rarity said, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Pardon my french. Why would somepony say that?”
Spike, Night and Twilight senior lead into the breakdown of the press release that morning, about the new dragon threat. Twilight junior just stroked Spike’s ridge, listening but not believing. The world had officially gone nuts.
“War?” Fluttershy squeaked, surprisingly the first to say a word about it.
“Yes my friends,” Celestia said from outside, stepping in. It might have been the light, but she looked older now, closer to her true age. “I came here to check on you all. And tell you the positions I have lined up for you when you’re ready. I am sorry to ask this, but I have to put my nation’s security above any friendships. You are all amazing ponies, but those talents also make you key player I believe.”
“Whatever it is yer majesty, we’re on it like red on apples,” Applejack said for the group.
“Thank you all. Rarity, I need you to make a fast recovery, we need armor, something that blends in with nature, is light, but strong. Think fire retardant and tear resistant,” Celestia said.
“Yes your highness. I hate what you imply about the fashion to come, but I’ll make it happen,” Rarity said.
“I thank you. Pinkie, you’re in charge of the morale, welfare, and recreation of the ground troops. Think of it as a giant party,” Celestia said. She was trying so hard to be brave, so hard.
“I think I can handle that,” Pinkie said with a smile. She had no concept of the word war, a trait everypony else envied right now.
“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you two-” Celestia began.
“We’re on it, right pardner?” Applejack asked, smirking to her friend.
“Right!” Rainbow confirmed, “We're gonna kick dragon butt!”
“No you two,” Celestia said, her kind tone gone, a fire in her eyes. “None of you are going anywhere near the frontlines. I refuse to lose anypony that close to me like that, never again.”
“Princess, Ah-”
“It’s alright, but know that I need you at your cousin's farm Applejack. We need food, lots of food for the troops, and all the displaced citizens. Rainbow, you’ll help her,” Celestia said sternly. This was not open for debate.
“Of course,” Rainbow said awkwardly.
“We’re happy to help however we can,” Applejack nervously smiled.
“Thank you both,” Celestia said letting her tone soften again. “Fluttershy, I would like you to work at the Red Cross in Canterlot here, help the Ponies get well,” Celestia said.
“Of course, but... Um...” Fluttershy began.
“Ponyville is too close ‘Shy,” Rainbow said, looking out the window. “The dragons are at the crash, right on top of town basically.”
“But- buy my friends? The animals? What about them?” Fluttershy begged.
“We’re doing all we can Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “Twilight, that leaves you and Spike with my most important task.”
“Anything. How can we help?” Twilight asked.
“You two are in charge of the dragon research team. I need a weakness, and I need it now. If they get to rally their forces and all of them feed, we are done for. I know you are still recovering, but please, start with whatever research you can. That knowledge will save millions, so it is top priority. You’ll have whatever you need.”
“Yes ma’am,” Spike said saluting before he deadpanned, lowering his claw. “Buck me, I’m the guinea pig, aren't I?”
Celestia giggled, "Think of it as your the Dragon Spy, Spike. You are the only dragon even talking to ponies right now, so we can not afford to pass up what ever chance we have."
Twilight watched as Celestia bowed, and made her way to the door. "Princess," Twilight called, "What was the old saying from the last Dragon War? Dragons flee, when a good mare goes to war." Celestia never turned around, never let her friends see the tears running down her face.
“Lord Razorfin! Hail to thee!” A dragon saluted, his claws stained red with what could only be blood.
“My child, I am pleased to see you have the power in control. Come, let us feed,” The leader said as he landed. He was a large dragon, even by their standards, and looked as strong as he did fierce.
“My lord, I think it is best you stay here. we ran into a.. unforeseen issue,” The dragon said, looking over his shoulder to the craft.
“You dare refuse me power? You think you’re little sample will allow you to rule?” The dragon leader cried, arching back his massive arm.
“No my lord, but... look at them,” The dragon offered. Razorfin looked past the guard and saw a long stretch of field, the craft jetting out of the earth like a tower of death, and seventeen mounds. Mounds that looked like-
“By the elder God, Zilla, What happened to them!?” Razorfin bellowed.
“It seems even we mighty dragons have a limit to the power. They died of overdose my lord,” The guard said.
“How did you survive?” Razorfin asked, seeing nothing but red.
“We were on the edge, by the pony cordon. We did not absorb as much as they did. We spent a lot of time close to the object though,” The guard informed.
“What do you mean to say?” Razorfin asked.
“Well, Shellcracker is nearly dead, and soon me and my brood brother Naitail will follow. We can’t handle this power for too long. Whoever fights,” The guard said solemnly, “Fights to the death.”
“Tell thee, what is thy name?” Razorfin asked.
“Blowtorch, my lord,” Blowtorch said, his last words to anydragon beyond his two guards.
“My son, I will not forget this. You will be honored when this land is mine,” Razorfin sid taking off, and flying as far away as he could. That night was rather cold, but three dragons never felt the bitter sting of the cold. They felt nothing at all actually.
