NOIRE POV

We had spent an hour venturing through the steep and craggy mountains and the toll of the journey had taken its toll on everyone, some more than others. Spike was exhausted and Seahoof's legs looked so shaky I swore they were leaving afterimages. I offered to carry Spike on my back while Tidal had the 'luxury' of carrying Seahoof while listening to his rambling and insults. Lots of them. About half an hour in, they started arguing and had no intention of stopping.

"You should be thankful I was generous enough to carry your bony ass! Especially after you had the nerve to call me arrogant!"

"Why you little- YOU should be thankful I took the time to sail your cocky behind to this wasteland when I could be spending it with my wife!"

I was at my wit's end and was about to give them a piece of my mind but Spike tapped my shoulder, gaining my attention "Do you need something, Spike?" He looked nervous with how he was fidgeting with the collar of my coat. He was managing the effects of his summoning much better but his glow was getting brighter: a sign that we were getting close.

"I was wondering... how did you manage to win over Cadance so quickly?"

"Uh... what?"

"I mean, how did you manage to make Cadance fall for you? Even if her relationship with Big Bro Shining... didn't end well, I don't get how she fell for you so quickly afterwards. Was it the 'hero' thing? Did you bring her lots of flowers? Help her with her work?" I looked back to Twilight but she was preoccupied with Tidal and Seahoof's arguing.

"Well, I didn't help her with the intention of getting with her. It just kinda happened. Maybe a little too fast, now that I think about it." I replied shyly. It actually made me think why Cadance fell for me in the first place "Anyway, why do you ask? Is there a certain filly you're trying to impress?"

"No. It's a mare. Rarity, to be specific." I looked to him, bashfully playing with his claws and blushing under his scales. He looked seriously in love with this mare, which frightened me; I knew from experience how first crushes usually go "She's just so beautiful, kind and, of course, generous but she seems oblivious to all my attempts of winning her over." Spike paused for a moment and let out a long sigh of emotional exhaustion, or possibly relief "What do you think I should do?"

At the time, I was hesitant to give him advice in fear of it completely backfiring on him but the way his eyes were practically begging for the advice of an older, more experienced 'romantic' was just too much. I thought for a moment before responding "Have you tried straight up confessing to her?" Spike looked at me inquisitively, seemingly offended that I asked him what could be seen as me mocking him "I know it sounds incredibly stupid and patronising but stay with me. Back on Earth, my home planet, I had watched so many people try to make their person of interest notice their love for them through subtle acts that no sane person or pony would see as romantic. I think the best way for you to make hr at least acknowledge your feelings is by telling her. Maybe over a picnic or dinner so you don't look too unromantic but one way or another, it's got to come out. Get me?"

Spike pondered for a second "Yeah, I get it! I just have to tell her how I feel! Thanks for the advice, Noire!" He got off my back and raised his claw, motioning for a high five. I kneeled down a met his claw with my hand. I stood back up and we continued on our way to the mountain. It seemed close as we could hear the roar of several dragons nearby. The sound managed to shake the ground and even ended the argument behind us.

"Was that Torch?" asked Twilight.

"Sounds like it and he's not alone. Let's pick up the pace." With that, we all trekked over the last rocky valley before arriving the our first destination in the Dragonlands. Shatterback Mountain was almost exactly like it sounded. There was what looked like a gigantic stump of a mountain which could still tower over every dragon present. However, half of the mountain's top was left undamaged, making it look like a throne. At the mountain's base, was a ring of smaller mountains which confined all of the dragons inside. From our view from above, it looked like the announcement hall in Canterlot, but less refined. For some time, nothing was happening besides some chatter amongst the dragons but they were all silenced by a large shadow looming over the dragons, swallowing them with its presence. Without warning, the wings of the shadows sent powerful winds, forcing us to take cover behind a large boulder to prevent us from being blown away. Once we gained our bearings, we checked the situation again. We found that the shadow was produced by a dragon larger than any of the youths below. His scales were a dark blue and had a black chestplate. His wings and horns were a bright orange and atop his head was a crown made of jewels. He was large enough to fit the large throne completely.

"That must be our dragonlord," Tidal said.

"For now. Remember: he's called this many dragons here because he's going to select a new dragonlord," I added.

Spike let out an exasperated groan "Oh Goddess, Garble's here." We all looked to him "Look at the red dragon at the back middle," he said as he pointed to the dragon in question "During the migration, he and a few dragons were causing trouble, even trying to steal a phoenix egg to eat it. If he becomes the next dragonlord, we're never going to get the dragons' help: he doesn't exactly have the best opinion on 'namby-pamby ponies'" he finished with air quotes "He even said he would get revenge on us and with an army of dragons, he could do just that."

"So we need to find a candidate that we can trust to help us. The problem is who?" Tidal deduced. We looked back at the large group of dragons for anyone who could be at least trustworthy but was impossible with the distance. We were contemplating going down for a chat with Torch himself until a voice rang out from above. We saw a small, blue dragoness descend from the sky. She landed on Torch's shoulder and began yelling at him.

"What the hell, dad! Why did you leave me behind!? I can become the next dragonlord. It's practically my birth right!" she yelled furiously into his ear. Even though she was almost a speck compared to him, he recoiled at the volume of her voice.

"You know we don't do 'birth right' here! The title of dragonlord is earned through strength and a little girl like you has no chance. Now go back home to your mother: I'll be home when I'm done here." the little dragoness huffed and flew off into the distance "Now that that is out of the way," he muttered "The rules of the Gauntlet of Fire are simple; navigate the water geysers and fly to Volcano Island," he points to an rocky island off in the distance with a volcano peaking amongst the surrounding rock "Make it through the tunnels of stalagmite and crystal traps get the bloodstone sceptre from its hiding place. First one to seize the sceptre and show it to me shall become the next dragon lord!" The dragons all cheered and roared at the promise of such a title "So what are you waiting for? GO!" With that, all the dragons flew off in the direction of the island. We were about to follow suit until Torch spoke up "I suggest the ones hiding behind that rock show themselves before they are burned alive!" he yelled.

With our cover blown, we stepped out from our hiding spot while Torch rose from his throne and flew dangerously close to us. "What is little pony and," he paused when he stared at me "A human doing on my lands! Speak now and I may not burn you to a crisp!" he opened his maw and the inside of his mouth began to glow orange.

"We came to ask for your assistance against a new threat and Equestria- no- all of Equus!" Twilight answered.

Torch closed his mouth and chuckled "What's new?"

"Have you ever heard of Grim?" I asked. Torch's chuckling immediately stopped and his tone turned dark and cold "He's back,"

He's leaned even closer to me "One does not speak his name so freely without fear. Who are you?"

"My name is Noire. I am a code avatar like him but I am here to destroy him for good this time," I answered.

Torch scoffed at this "The last human who was out to stop him failed. What makes you, a fledgling think you have a chance?"

"Hear us out and you'll find out all you need to know."

We stared at each for a while before Twilight spoke up "Where are the others?" I looked behind me to find that Spike, Tidal and Seahoof were gone. I turned back to Torch for a response, but he merely shrugged.

"The baby dragon you were with left for the sceptre a while ago and I suppose the other two you speak of went after him, for good reason of course. I know of many unfortunate events that befall those unworthy of the title." Twilight went pale with fear and tried to run after them but I stopped her. She looked to me with rage but I held my grip.

"They are going to be fine. Tidal won't let anything happen on her watch. Trust me." Twilight resisted a bit but ultimately agreed. I turned back to Torch, who was looking incredibly frustrated "We believe that Grim is hiding somewhere in the Dragonlands and we need your help to beat him. So, what do you say?"

Torch stared at me, unamused "My ancestors spoke of these 'code avatars'. They said they ALONE had the power to destroy countries, continents. In fact, this land itself is a consequence of their bout," I raised his arm, pointing towards the chaotic land stretched before us. "Do you have any sense of pride in your power or are you just that weak?"

I was about to respond but he silenced me "No more words! There is only one way to earn respect amongst dragons. Show me your strength. I will decide if you are worth listening to afterwards."

TWILIGHT POV

"I will gladly show how strong I am. As long as you keep up your end of the bargain," Noire teleported down to the ring of stone and summoned his sword. Torch grinned and met his challenger, leaping into the ring and sending winds Noire's way. I made my way down to a safe spot to witness the clash of such titans.

"Then come." Noire wasted no time in sending three magic slashes at Torch but were swatted away with a flick of his claw "Is that all the new hero is capable of?! Show me your real power!" Noire summoned his longblade to attack Torch, leaping up to slash at his face "Weak!" Torch opened his maw and sent torrent of flames. When they had died down, Noire was nowhere to be seen. Torch looked around, frustrated "Come out, coward! Those flames weren't nearly hot enough to kill you!" I too searched around for him until I looked up and saw him floating above Torch.

"Decode Sword: Gardnablade." He summoned an even larger great sword and threw it straight at Torch's face. Torch was barely fast enough to react and was slashed straight through his right eye. He let out a blood curdling scream as Noire lowered himself down " Savageblade." The sword returned to its broadsword form but this time it was black and crimson colour and looked distorted.

"Noire! What are you doing?! We are supposed to be asking for his help- not killing him!" I yelled at him, appalled at his behaviour. However, Noire turned to me and revealed his red left eye. He countered my rage with a calm, cold demeanour.

"We do not require a weakling like him," he said. He was starting to resemble Sombra, with his black hair adopting a shadowy effect "We came to speak with the Dragonlord but Torch has already retired from his title. The way I see it, he has no power over the dragons anymore. I can even see that mot of his power came from that bloodstone sceptre. Pitiful that he would dare mock my weakness when he held up by an undersized walking stick. Final Decode" He let go of his sword but the sword floated up into the air and grew in size. He aimed the sword at Torch's head "This was shorter than I expected but this outcome is fine by me."

"NOIRE! DON'T!" I screamed.

"Murasame"

NOIRE POV

Within the abyss of darkness I found myself in, I could hear so many voices. Some I could recognise: Twilight, Celestia, Grim's but there were some I could not recall. However, in the sea of voices, two resounded in my ears more than anything, drowning all of the others out.

"What are you doing with that, Amanda?"

"Amanda? Remember when it was 'honey' or 'darling' or 'sweetheart'? But ever since the pregnancy, the depression and the drugs, we lost all of that! All because of that brat!"

"Put it down!"

Then came the sobs and wails.

"I'm sorry to say that your control over the piece of Grim's soul is weaker than I thought. I can help you hold it back enough for it retreat but this will hurt. You will start training at night." A light appeared in my vision stirred me from my slumber "I am truly sorry."

"AAAH!" I cried with agony as I lost control and dropped the sword, letting crash to the ground a mere inch from Torch's head. I couldn't care less as I felt like I was being torn apart and put back together. I could feel Twilight to my side trying to help but to no avail. However, as quickly as pain shot through my body, it quickly dissipated, leaving me in a sweaty mess of gasps and fuzzy memories. As soon as I could regain my senses I asked "What happened?"

Twilight seemed looked at me in disbelief "You don't remember? You lost it and almost killed Torch!"

I searched my memories for this event but all I could remember was Torch challenging and then a sensation of drowsiness. I looked to Torch, who was unconscious due to the pain and went over to him. I placed a hand over his wounded eye and tried healing him "I've only just learned this healing spell but this should at least stop the bleeding."
Once I had finished, Torch began to rise. He looked down at me and looked at his newly acquired scar across eye "You have earned my respect."

"Wait what?" I asked.

"It has been many years since a creature came around strong enough to wound me. Of course, your princesses could but they are too restrained by their 'friendship'," he squirmed and shuddered at the last word "But you have shown you have he power and the ruthlessness to oppose me. I will listen to you but first, you will have to meet the new dragonlord and voice your request to them. It seems that somedragon has already claimed the title." He looked to the sky, towards the figure in the sky holding the bloodstone sceptre. When I looked closer, I could see that it was the blue dragoness, Ember, holding onto Spike, Seahoof and Tidal. She looked like she was struggling and before long, she had given out and dropped them. Tidal was quick enough to create a water bubble to protect them from the fall but were left very wet.

"Sorry about that. Tidal was too heavy for me carry," Ember apologised, landing next to the group.

"EMBER! I thought I told you to go home! A small dragon is not fit to be dragonlord!" Torch yelled. However, Emer was stood firm.

"NO! YOU LISTEN TO ME! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BIG TO BE STRONG!" she countered with her own yell, which seemed to make Torch shrink a few inches "YOU ONLY NEED A STRONG HEART! MY 'FRIEND' TAUGHT ME THAT!" she pointed at Spike. Torch was taken aback at her response and was silent for a while.

"I guess if my little dragoness is strong enough to claim the throne, then I have no choice but to accept you as the new dragonlord." He looked up to see the defeated dragons flying back to the mountain "Now go solidify your legacy." Ember flew up and hugged her fathers face before standing atop her throne and let out a loud roar. All of us looked to the new dragonlord and the dragons let out their own roars.

I went over to Spike "Hey, so what happened back there?"

"It's a long story," he responded. Before I could say anything more, Twilight moved me aside and hugged Spike.

"I was so worried! You are so grounded when I we get back, mister!"

"...Man..."

Author's Note

The new chapter is here and I think you are going to like what this has paved the way for (or not. I don't rule you.)
The dragon war arc is coming starting become my favourite one to plan and write as this is when some character struggles will be ending and some will be revealed (at least to the characters. I have been poorly hinting at some for a while.) I hope I see all of you in the next chapter.

Stay dizzy. Wuzzy out.